Black children with disabilities are two-and-a-half times more likely to be suspended than their white peers, a new report indicates.

The report from the National Education Policy Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, suggests that children from minority backgrounds and those with disabilities are more likely to be suspended. What’s more, those who belong to both groups appear to be doubly impacted.

During the 2007-2008 school year, an average of 6.67 percent of white children with disabilities in the nation’s schools were suspended, the report found. At the same time, 16.64 percent of black students with disabilities received out-of-school suspensions.

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“The application of discipline is unfair and unequal in this country,” said Dan Losen, who authored the report, which is based on disciplinary data collected by the states and the federal government. “Kicking out students for minor offenses has no academic justification. Yet, students and especially minority students are removed for small infractions every day, causing them to suffer academically.”

Even among typically developing students, suspensions are on the rise and appear to be distributed disproportionately, the analysis found. Among white students, suspensions rose from 3 percent in 1972-1973 to 5 percent in 2006-2007. During the same period, suspensions for black students increased from 6 to 15 percent.

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