An examination of school district data in the state of California shows the statewide suspension rate for Native American children and youth is more than double the statewide suspension average.
A report released this week by the Sacramento Native American Higher Education Collaborative (SNAHEC) and the Community College Equity Assessment Lab (CCEAL) at San Diego State University documents inequities in suspensions and expulsions of Native American students. The California statewide suspension rate for Native Americans in K–12 is 7.2 percent versus the statewide suspension average of 3.5 percent.
An article last year titled “The Capitol of Suspensions,” by Dr. J. Luke Wood, about the suspension and expulsion rates of African-American students in the Sacramento region caught the attention of Dr. Molly Springer, dean of equity and student success at Sacramento City College. The article noted that the second largest expulsion rate in Sacramento was for the Native American male population.
“As our Native students traverse K–12…I’m concerned about their education experience because I want it to be healthy and welcoming so that we get them in college,” said Springer, one of the report’s authors and a member of SNAHEC.
There are 109 federally recognized tribes in California. The more than 30,000 Native American children and youth attending California public schools often encounter issues of bias or lack of understanding in their classrooms. Native American girls were suspended at a rate of 4.6 percent and boys at the rate of 9.6 percent. The data on school suspensions and expulsions comes from the California Department of Education and was reported by school districts.
“We looked at the data side-by-side and ranked the districts in comparison to each other,” said Springer. “This was an opportunity for us to paint a bigger picture. Implicit bias is a factor. A welcoming environment is part of it. The community surrounding. The education and quality of the teachers and their cultural competence. All of that plays into the situation.”
The report “From Boarding Schools to Suspension Boards: Suspensions and Expulsions of Native American Students in California Public Schools” makes reference to the boarding schools, a dark time in American history when Native American youth were sent to schools to assimilate them to Euro-American culture.
