Study Hits Holder’s ‘School-Prison Pipeline’ Charge

As the attorney general again warns schools that even race-neutral discipline policies discriminate against black students, a study finds serial misbehavior "completely" explains the racial gap in suspensions.

The first-of-its-kind longitudinal study published in the Journal of Criminal Justice tracks black and white students from kindergarten through eighth grade, with the data set spanning the years 1998 to 2007.

It confirms the obvious: Differences in behavior — namely, repeat classroom offenses — explain differences in discipline, not racism by school officials or worse treatment of black offenders compared with similarly situated white offenders, as this race-obsessed administration has so recklessly alleged. . . .

Districts that reduce their suspension rates have a better shot at qualifying for millions of dollars in federal Race to the Top funding. Those that do not could face investigation by both the Education and Justice departments for racial discrimination.

"It is not necessary to show that a black student was treated any differently than a white student for the school system to be deemed guilty in the Education Department's eyes," former Education Department official Hans Bader warned.

Dozens of school districts across the country already have been sued, with many signing settlements or resolutions mandating changes in school disciplinary codes that mimic racial quotas.