DALLAS -- A study out today finds almost 60 percent of Texas public school students received punishments ranging from expulsion to in-school suspensions of a single period at least once between seventh and 12th grades.
The nonprofit Council of State Governments Justice Center did the study with Texas A&M’s Public Policy Research Institute.
Center director Michael Thompson says policymakers should be asking if the school discipline system is getting the outcomes they want.
The study followed about 1 million Texas children who began seventh grade in 2000, 2001 or 2002.
Those in the school disciplinary system averaged eight suspensions or expulsions. The study also found that black students, especially males, were more likely to be disciplined.
