Sad Results Of A Peculiar Condition
According to a 2003 informational release by the US Justice Dept.
10.4% of the entire African American population aged 25 to 29 was incarcerated. By comparison 2.4% of Hispanic men and 1.2% of white men in the same age group suffered the same fate.
US prison population surpassed 2 million for the first time and since 1990 has doubled in size.
10,000 inmates under age 18 are held in adult prisons and jails in 2002
Women in federal prison reached 97,491
In 2000, 791,600 black men were in prison while only 463,700 were enrolled in college nationwide.
According to a 2008 report from the Justice Policy Institute
3,161 African-Americans per 100,000 were under the custody or care of federal or state penile system, this compares to 1,200 per 100,000 Hispanics and 487 per 100,000 whites. This means that black men in the United States are 6.5 times more likely to be in prison than white men and that Hispanics are 2.5 times more likely to be in prison than white men.
These numbers are astounding and only tell part of the story. One could question how education could be associated with these sort of results. Although these numbers don't tell a simple story, education, and lack of educational opportunities, even if that means squandered educational opportunities, have contributed to many of the current trends that we see in crime and the sheer incarceration numbers that we find within the black community in general. Although in many cases the table of justice has been slanted against the poor and minority, the inability to secure and experience a quality education cannot go without examination.
Access to education and a solid educational experience is a must in order to create and facilitate change within society. Across the nation, Black students tend to be suspended at much higher rates than students of other races or ethnicities (Hoffman, Llagas, & Snyder, 2003). Based on what we know and what we are currently experiencing we must hold Peoria District 150 accountable and we must hold the results of the educational experience of the black and minority community under greater scrutiny.
Peoria Dist. 150 Black Student Suspension Rate:
Here is why we are concerned:
For the school year 2008-2009 district 150 enrolled approximately 14,722 students.
Approximately 61.1% or about 8,995 of students were Black
In 2008-2009 school year there were approximately 7,189 out of school suspensions. This is a 48% overall suspension rate.
86% of all suspensions (6,206 suspensions) were incidents involving Black students.
A core of 2,567 Black students generated 6,206 suspensions mentioned above.
This means that the suspension rate of minority students (Black students) was 28.5%
