Black students and students with disabilities are suspended from charter schools at higher rates than their peers, according to a study by The Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the University of California.
The center compiled and analyzed data from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights from more than 5,000 charter schools based on data from the 2011-12 school year, and found Black students are four times as likely to be suspended from charter schools as white students, and students with disabilities are suspended at two to three times the rate of non-disabled students in charter schools.
The report also found charter schools at all levels of education suspended 7.8 percent of students, compared with 6.7 percent of students being suspended at non-charter schools. Among students with disabilities, the study found charter schools suspended 15.5 percent of students, compared to 13 percent of students being suspended at non-charter schools.
Daniel Losen, the director of the Center for Civil Rights Remedies, said the report should not be used to generalize about all charter school discipline, as there were also schools that did not suspend students at high rates.
“There are other ways to address school discipline that hold kids accountable,” Losen added.
The Indianapolis Recorder reached out to many Indianapolis charter schools, including Christel House Academy, Andrew J. Brown Academy, Nexus Academy of Indianapolis, Indianapolis Metropolitan High School, Paramount School of Excellence, Carpe Diem, Hope Academy and Hoosier Academies, for administrators’ perspectives on the study, but none of those schools responded to requests for comment.
Kim Randall, principal of Lighthouse Academies Elementary, said since taking the role last year, suspensions have decreased from 400 suspensions (in and out-of-school) in the 2013-14 school year to 60 total suspensions in the 2014-15 school year. So far in the 2015-16 school year, Randall said there have been four suspensions.
“We believe in fixing mistakes, restorative practices and helping students become their best selves rather than suspending students, which can lead to a significant instructional cost,” said Randall.
Randall explained the first step to keeping students in the classroom is to change the mindsets of adults.
“Instead of punishing students, we help them fix the mistakes they made,” said Randall.
The next step is to build relationships with students and spend time listening to them.
“By doing this, we will understand the underlying cause of the misbehavior, and because all behavior is communication in someway, we have to figure it out,” said Randall.
Randall said it’s important to provide opportunities for students to fix their mistakes in a way that makes sense.
“If they write on a wall, they repaint it. If they disrupt learning, they make up that wasted learning time,” said Randall.
Randall said the final step is to involve parents.
“We involve parents in the process so they can be our partners in helping their children become their best selves.”
Earlier this year, U.S. Department of Education took a step forward toward addressing widespread disparities in the treatment of students of color with disabilities by proposing a new rule to improve the equity in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
IDEA aims to ensure fairness in the identification, placement and discipline of students with disabilities.
“We have a moral and a civil rights obligation to ensure all students, with and without disabilities, are provided the tools they need to succeed, regardless of background,” said acting U.S. Secretary of Education John King Jr. “IDEA exists for the purpose of ensuring students get the unique services they need, and we owe it to them and to ourselves to uphold all of the law’s provisions.”
The proposed Equity in IDEA rule would, for the first time, require states to implement a standard approach to compare racial and ethnic groups, with reasonable thresholds for determining when disparities have become significant. That determination is critical to ensuring students get the support they need and deserve. Once identified as having a significant disproportionality, the district must set aside 15 percent of its IDEA Part B funds to provide comprehensive coordinated early intervening services. Further, the policies, practices and procedures of the district must be reviewed and, if necessary, revised to ensure compliance with IDEA.
The proposed rule would also provide identified districts with new flexibility to support the needs of students. The Department has proposed to broaden the allowable uses of the 15 percent set aside, currently used to fund early intervening services, to include services to students with and without disabilities, from ages 3 through grade 12. Until now, identified districts could only use these funds to support students without disabilities, and only in grades K through 12, severely limiting the use of interventions that might address early needs and reduce disparities in the placement and discipline of students with disabilities.
