Suspensions higher for minority students

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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- African-American K-12 students were more than three times as likely to be suspended from U.S. schools than their white counterparts, federal data indicates.

The analysis by UCLA's Center for Civil Rights Remedies at the Civil Rights Project found that during the 2009-10 school year 17 percent of African-American students were suspended compared to only 5 percent of white students.

The project said the comparable rate for Latino students was 7 percent.

"The frequent use of out-of-school suspension results in increased dropout rates and heightened risk of youth winding up in the juvenile justice system," said Daniel J. Losen, the study's lead author.

The review covering school districts across the county found that in nearly 200 districts, 20 percent or more of enrolled students were suspended from school at least once.

For students with disabilities, regardless of race, more than 400 districts suspended 25 percent or more of disabled students.

Black students with disabilities were most at risk for out-of-school suspension with an average of 25 percent nationally.