School Suspensions Rise in NC

Ten percent of North Carolina's public school students were suspended in 2004 - a rate significantly higher than the national one. All together, the 150,000 North Carolina children suspended in 2004 missed almost one million instructional days. Even more alarmingly, the growth in the number of yearly suspensions is outpacing the growth in the general student population.

These findings come from the new report "One Out of Ten: The Growing Suspension Crisis in North Carolina" published by the North Carolina Child Advocacy Institute in Raleigh. The report further finds that black males, ninth graders and special education students are most apt to be suspended, most typically for non-dangerous offenses.

While suspensions are troubling in and of themselves, the authors note that suspensions "also are correlated with other undesirable indicators, such as poor academic performance, being less connected to and engaged in school, suffering poor health (especially mental health), dropping out and getting involved in the juvenile justice or corrections system."

To address the growing problem of school suspensions in North Carolina, the report calls for better involvement of families and caring adults in the lives of at-risk children, risk assessments for suspended fifth and sixth graders and alternative learning programs for suspended students.