Black students arrested three times more than White peers

The United States Department of Education (DOE) has released its latest data on school police and the arrest rates of students of different races in the nation’s K-12 schools.
Students’ race and ethnicity, gender, and disability status mattered when it came to rates of arrest and referrals to police. Specifically, the most recent available data (2017-18) showed that Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander, Black, and American Indian/Alaska Native students were arrested at rates 2 to 3 times higher than those of White students. For boys in these groups who had a disability, arrest rates were even higher.
The General Accounting Office (GAO) analysis of the Department of Education’s data collected from nearly every U.S. school district found that students’ race and ethnicity, gender, and disability status were all prominent with respect to rates of arrest and referrals to police, especially when the characteristics intersected.
The DOE’s guidance explains that when race, gender, and disability status intersect, students might experience discrimination due to the combination of protected characteristics. Yet, Education does not collect arrest and referral data by race for students receiving services only under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. Section 504 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by recipients of federal funding. Education officials said to date, they believe the burden on districts outweighs the benefit; however, they also said they always reevaluate what data they collect and will reconsider collecting such data for the 2025-2026 data collection.
Arrest rates more than doubled in schools with police present compared to similar schools without police, according to GAO’s analysis. Among the 51 percent of schools with police present at least once a week, GAO found that arrests were more common when the police were involved in student discipline.
The DOE and the Department of Justice are responsible for enforcing certain federal civil rights laws that prohibit discrimination in K-12 schools based on characteristics such as race, sex, and disability, including regarding police interactions with students.
GAO analyzed two federal education datasets for the two most recent school years before the pandemic (2015–2016 and 2017–2018) and 2019–2020. GAO also visited three school districts, selected for factors such as high rates of arrests; reviewed federal laws and regulations; and interviewed federal officials and representatives of national education and civil rights groups.
The GAO is making three recommendations that educational institutions: (1) collect arrest and referral data, by race, for students with disabilities who receive services under Section 504; (2) disclose the limitations of its 2021–2022 arrest data; and (3) clearly inform school districts about future changes to arrest and referral data in its civil rights data collection. Educators participating in the study generally agreed with these recommendations.