Discipline Data: Charter Schools vs. Noncharters

DISCIPLINE: A closer look at districts in two cities shows changes in out-of-school suspension and expulsion rates as enrollment in charter schools has grown over the past three years. CHARTERS vs, NONCHARTERS Traditional Public Schools 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Los Angeles .2% 2% 2% 2% Expulsions ENROLLMENT 60,643 69,935 82,788 617,789 601,713 581,445 EXPELLED 36 16 44 123 136 141 SUSPENDED 5,275 4,398 7,643 37,465 34,960 18,128 8.7% 9.2% 6.3% 6.1% 5.8% 3.1% Suspensions New Orleans Parish School Board 4º% .1% .1% 1% 3% Expulsions ENROLLMENT 7,749 7,975 6,935 2,921 2,939 9,809 EXPELLED 34 17 3 SUSPENDED 640 522 561 381 368 682 13% 12.5% 8.3% Suspensions 6.5% % 8.1% New Orleans Recovery School District .3% .19% O% Expulsions ENROLLMENT 15,596 20,407 22,398 13,845 11,122 4,934 EXPELLED 30 41 61 47 12 SUSPENDED 2,356 3,539 3,530 3,015 2,104 1,293 26.2% 21.8% 18.9% 15.1% 1/3" 15.8% Suspensions Notes: New Orleans data do not include a separate discipline category for "in-school expulsions." Los Angeles charter schools are not required to report suspension data; this information is from those that did choose to report data to the school district. SOURCES: Louisiana Department of Education; Los Angeles Unified School District EXPULSION RATES: 2011-12 CHARTERS vs, NONCHARTERS Traditional Public Schools Philadelphia Expulsions 27% 07% San Diego .14% .15% District of Columbia 72% 01% Chicago 54% 08% SOURCES: Pennsylvania Department of Education, Chicago Public Schools, District of Columbia Public Schools, San Diego Unified School District FEDERAL DISCIPLINE DATA: Charter schools did not report using discipline at higher rates than traditional schools, according to federal data from the 2009-10 school year that includes most regular public schools and about one- quarter of charter schools. Charters and noncharters within individual school districts, 2009-10 however, posted varying rates of both expulsions and out-of-school suspensions. CHARTERS vs NONCHARTERS Traditional Public Schools National Rates .12% |.20% RATE OF EXPULSION 4.2% 6' RATE OF SUSPENSION Newark, N.J. 3% 0% SUSPENSIONS 1O 0% EXPULSIONS Milwaukee SUSPENSIONS 8.6° 112% .22% I 1.27% EXPULSIONS Miami-Dade, Fla. 3% 0° SUSPENSIONS 1.9% EXPULSIONS San Diego 4% 1.1% 8° SUSPENSION EXPULSIONS .1%I Note: Discipline data are for students without disabilities, SOURCE: U.S, Department of Education Office for Civil Rights ABOUT THE FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS DATA COLLECTION are part of larger school districts However, charter schools that operate as their own "local education agencies," or school districts, with enrollments less than 3,000, are underrepresented. Approximately every two years since 1968, the federal government has gathered data about the nation's public schools through the Civil Rights Data Collection. Its primary purpose is to give federal officials the information they need to enforce civil rights laws that provide for equal educational opportunities for students regardless of race, gender, disability, or English- speaking skills. The most recent such survey by the U.S. Department of Education-for the 2009-10 school year-is the most expansive to date. It includes information from That means, for example, that most charters in Arizona and Ohio, which define charters as their own districts, were not surveyed for the data collection. It is also not known whether this particular sample of charter schools may have especially lenient, or strict, discipline policies, which could further affect the results. The next data collection, which will focus on the 2011-12 school year, will include every school, including every charter school, in the country. Its results are not likely to be available until later this year, at the earliest. every school district in the country with at least 3,000 First-time questions in the 2009-10 round of the data survey included information about suspensions, expulsions, and student retention and promotion; algebra enrollment and passing rates; and participation in college-preparatory subjects, including mathematics students, as well as many smaller districts. That's 6,835 districts, a bit fewer than half of all districts in the country, but accounting for 85 percent of all public school students. The data set, which federal officials say is nationally and science courses such as physics and calculus. representative of all schools, includes 1,601 charter schools, or about one-quarter of all those public but independently nun schools nationwide. That makes for an underrepresentation of charter schools, specifically Data for all schools and districts included in the collection are available at ocrdata.ed.gov. The Education Department's office for civil rights rounded the figures it collected to prevent any students' identities from being revealed. It applied the same rounding methodology, which it would not disclose, to every figure, regardless of how large or small the -MICHELE MCNEIL charter schools that are classified as their own districts by state law. Since the 2009-10 sample includes all districts with more than 3,000 students, all charter schools that numbers were. EDUCATION WEEK