Racial Disparities in School Discipline: Racism or Rational Choice?

Using a cross-section of disciplinary data from North Carolina, I show that differential suspension rates between white and black students can be attributed to rational behavior on the part of school administrators. Racial bias is typically cited as the primary factor in explaining the punishment gap; however, within school analysis suggests racial bias is responsible for little of the overall gap in punishment. Rather, the aggregate disparities in school punishment result from varying school disciplinary levels. We present a theoretical model of the punishment decision which suggests schools with high levels of misbehaving children will use stricter punishment. To test our theoretical results, we examine the deterrent effects of school discipline for both offending and non-offending students. Both groups respond to the threat of discipline. However, non-offenders with observable characteristics associated with misbehavior respond significantly stronger to the threat of discipline. This behavioral response to punishment results in high risk schools utilizing severe discipline. Because black students are more likely to attend a high risk school a racial gap in punishment persists.