Black students in Seattle cause four times more trouble than their white classmates, based on their suspension rates — and that’s simply inconceivable:
More than 800 black students were sent home last year, many missing weeks of instruction for comparatively low-level offenses like “disruptive conduct” or “disobedience” or “rule-breaking.” At some schools such as Seattle’s Washington Middle — where, despite comparable populations, 94 African-American kids were disciplined and just seven whites — the data is so lopsided that confrontation with uncomfortable questions becomes difficult to avoid.
As striking as the racial split is the age at which it begins: kindergarten.
Statewide, more than 8,716 students younger than sixth grade were suspended or expelled in 2012-13, and patterns in Seattle suggest that a disproportionate number were children of color. (The state has not released breakdowns by race in students that young.)
The reason given for these sanctions speaks to the enormous role that individual judgment plays in disciplining kids. While there were only 119 suspensions for clear-cut violations like alcohol, tobacco or drugs, schools logged a whopping 7,479 incidents for “other behavior.”
The meaning of this data confounds African-American parents, who wonder whether white teachers are targeting their children and has made educators increasingly uncomfortable.
Steve Sailer dubs this the racist nice white lady menace.
The Seattle School District is an odd bird. Seattle is a rich whitopia, but a lot of well off families stay out of the public school system, mostly by heading off to the east side once the kids hit school age (Bellevue, Redmond, Mercer Island, Issaquah, etc.) looking for “a good school district”. According to La Wik, Seattle is about 8% black, but its public school district is 21% black.