Can We Just Make It Illegal to Discipline Black Students?

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Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) is set to introduce legislation on Thursday to tackle the problem of students of color, particularly Black girls, facing disproportionately punitive discipline in school.

The Ending Pushout Act aims to stop discriminatory punishment practices that “criminalize Black and brown students, push them out of school and exacerbate the school to prison pipeline,” per a release from Pressley’s team. This is the first bill to come out of the congresswoman’s sweeping criminal justice reform proposals announced last month.

Black students in the U.S. are significantly more likely than white students to be suspended, expelled, arrested at school or referred to outside law enforcement agencies. While Black children make up about 16% of all U.S. public school students, they account for about 40% of school suspensions, according to a 2018 Government Accountability Office report.