National Council for Black Studies Documents School Discipline Disparities

Federal OCR data through the 1990s showed Black students were suspended at two to three times the rate of white students even after controlling for poverty. Zero tolerance disciplinary policies expanded following the 1994 Gun-Free Schools Act, disproportionately affecting Black students. The school-to-prison pipeline concept gained academic traction during this period as researchers documented connections between school suspension and later incarceration.