A group of children sitting at desks in a classroom.

Civil Rights Data Shows Disparities for Students with Disabilities and Students of Color

The Office for Civil Rights, Department of Education, released last week, the results of the national data collection for the 2011-2012 school year.

African American students are suspended and expelled at a rate three times greater than white students; and students with disabilities are more than twice as likely to receive out-of-school suspensions that students without disabilities.

Another shocking statistic: students with disabilities represent a quarter of the students arrested and referred to law enforcement, even though they represent 12% of the student population!