statistics || policies || defender's experiences || story angles

The Statistics

Statewide and nationally, a disproportionate number of minority youth are excluded from school and the numbers are increasing. In the 1998-1999 Massachusetts school year, minority students comprised 23% of total student enrollment but 55% of all school exclusions.1 Nationally, African American children represent 17% of public school enrollment and 32% of school exclusions; Latino children represent 13% of public school enrollment and 15% of school exclusions.2 Minority youth are also being excluded from
school at younger ages and for longer periods of time due to the increased use of "zero tolerance" policies. Being suspended or expelled from school is one of the top three school-related reasons for dropping out.3 Allowing one student to drop out of school imposes total external crime cost estimated at $1.7 to $2.3 million to the victims, the criminal justice system and the economy for lost productivity.

The U.S. Department of Education reports that 8.5% of public school students are identified as having disabilities that qualify them for special education services; some studies of incarcerated youth reveal that as many as 70% suffer from disabling conditions. Youth with learning disabilities and emotional disturbances are arrested at higher rates than their non-disabled peers. Approximately 40% of adults in prison are illiterate.

When Citizens for Juvenile Justice protested changes that would result in a reduction of special education opportunities for students in the Commonwealth, they predicted a 9.5% increase in court-involved youth.