Student suspensions, expulsions soar -- baltimoresun.com School suspensions and expulsions have risen significantly in Maryland, with African-Americans, boys and special education students more likely to be disciplined, a University of Maryland researcher said Wednesday. Peter Leone criticized the rising suspension rates, saying students who are suspended many times are more likely to end up in the juvenile justice system.
'When kids are suspended from school, what do you think they are doing?' Leone said. Students are more likely to get into trouble when they are left at home alone than when they are in school, Leone said at a forum sponsored by the Open Society Institute, a nonprofit that has funded projects in Baltimore to address urban problems.
The number of suspensions in Maryland from 1995 to 2003 rose much more rapidly than the number of students, according to figures distributed Wednesday.
In the 2005-2006 school year, 8.7 percent of students in the state were suspended at some point.
"The odds that an African-American student will be suspended is two and a half times the odds of a white student being suspended," Leone said.
