Chicago Public Schools Suspension Data
Chicago Public Schools serves approximately 407,000 students in 675 schools. It is the third largest school district in the country. Data from the Illinois State Board of Education suggests that 23,664 CPS students were suspended once in the 2008-2009 school year. However, traditionally these data undercount the number of actual suspensions that take place in Chicago Public Schools. In addition, they do not count any arrests on school grounds.
| CPS Students Suspended Only Once – Grade PreK-8 – 2009 | |||
| Male | Female | Total | |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 10 | 4 | 14 |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 65 | 13 | 78 |
| Black or African American | 5,310 | 3,201 | 8,511 |
| Hispanic | 1,740 | 729 | 2,469 |
| White | 312 | 83 | 395 |
| Multiracial | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| GRAND TOTAL | 7,440 | 4,030 | 11,470 |
| CPS Students Suspended Only Once – Grade 9-12 – 2009 | |||
| Male | Female | Total | |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 8 | 9 | 17 |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 81 | 38 | 119 |
| Black or African American | 4,150 | 3,731 | 7,881 |
| Hispanic | 2,174 | 1,363 | 3,537 |
| White | 406 | 232 | 638 |
| Multiracial | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| GRAND TOTAL | 6,820 | 5,374 | 12,194 |
http://www.isbe.state.il.us/research/pdfs/eoy_suspension08-09.pdf
Data from the Illinois State Board of Education suggests that 17,727 CPS students were suspended more than once in the 2008-2009 school year.
| CPS Students Suspended More than Once – Grade PreK-8 – 2009 | |||
| Male | Female | Total | |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 12 | 1 | 13 |
| Black or African American | 4,362 | 1,674 | 6,036 |
| Hispanic | 919 | 212 | 1,131 |
| White | 118 | 21 | 139 |
| Multiracial | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| GRAND TOTAL | 5,414 | 1,910 | 7,324 |
http://www.isbe.net/research/pdfs/eoy_student_suspensions_more_0809.pdf
| CPS Students Suspended More than Once – Grade 9-12 – 2009 | |||
| Male | Female | Total | |
| American Indian or Alaska Native | 11 | 4 | 15 |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 28 | 18 | 46 |
| Black or African American | 4,787 | 2,936 | 7,723 |
| Hispanic | 1,589 | 620 | 2,209 |
| White | 295 | 111 | 406 |
| Multiracial | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| GRAND TOTAL | 6,711 | 3,692 | 10,403 |
http://www.isbe.net/research/pdfs/eoy_student_suspensions_more_0809.pdf
School suspensions significantly contribute to dropping out of school, and dropping out of school is a significant predictor of incarceration. Dropouts are 3.5 times more likely than high school graduate to be incarcerated in their lifetime (Martin & Halperin, 2006) and 68% of state prisoners are dropouts (Harlow, 2003), demonstrating that the pipeline end at prisons and jails.
Disproportionate Targeting of Young Black Men
As with arrests in school, a disproportionate number of students suspended from school are African American children (particularly black boys). According to a Catalyst analysis of data from CPS and the Illinois State Board of Education:
1. The overall number of suspended students declined in 2009 to 43,972 from 50,031. But black boys made up 48 percent of suspended students, up from 45 percent, although they are just under 25 percent of the student population.
2. Slightly more black male high school students were suspended more than once in 2009 compared to 2008: 4,787 vs. 4,478.
3. Black male students made up 57 percent of expelled students in 2009, down lightly from 2008.
