Report claims disproportionate discipline rates in local school districts

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A newly released report claims North Carolina schools aren't doing enough to help students of all races.

“Youth Justice NC" issued a racial equity report card for every district in the state.

They said students of color are more likely to end up in prison, and are calling on schools to do more to help students.

Channel 9 has looked through the numbers and found that in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, black students were nearly nine times more likely to be suspended than their white classmates.

In Union County, black students were six times more likely to be suspended, while black students in Iredell-Statesville schools were nearly five times more likely.

“The Racial Equity Report Cards are intended to be a launching point for community education and discussion,” said Peggy Nicholson, co-director of the Youth Justice Project. “They are not meant as an attack on the critically important public institutions that serve our youth, but rather, as a call-to-action for students, parents, advocates, policymakers, and institutional stakeholders to collectively examine the causes of racial inequity in their community and develop solutions that will help young people, especially youth of color, avoid and escape the school-to-prison pipeline.”

To view this year and last year's report cards for all school districts, click here.

Cox Media Group