A new U.C. Riverside report found overall suspension rates are down for Inland Empire students, but rates for some minority groups remain disproportionately high.
The U.C.R. Center for Social Innovation report says Black and Native American students are two and half time more likely to be disciplined as white students and 10 times more likely than Asian students. Researchers have linked high rates of discipline to negative outcomes later in life, in a trend they call the “schools to prison pipeline”.
The report also found racial disparities in access to early childhood education, elementary math and language test scores, and in who finishes college. Thirteen percent of Black students in the region complete college compared to 30 percent statewide
One positive finding is that test scores for Inland Empire Black and Native American students are higher than the state average, but these scores are considerably lower than their white and Asian peers locally.
The report also profiled a number of local organizations working to improve educational equality in the region.