This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.
NPR‘s Claudio Sanchez did a report on a study of Texas students that found 60 percent were suspended or expelled at least once between 7th and 12th grade, a finding that Sanchez said surprised even veteran educators.
The unprecedented study, which followed one million students for six years, also showed clearly that these policies are often the first step to dropping out or incarceration and that African Americans and students with disabilities were disciplined at higher rates than others.