The U.S. Commission on the Social Status of Black Men and Boys (CSSBMB) has released its 2025 Annual Report on the school-to-prison pipeline and its impact on Black boys in the United States.
According to the federal report, racial disparities in school discipline are driven primarily by differential treatment and differential sorting, rather than student behaviors. These disparities are seen in children as young as pre-schoolers, with Black boys in this age group facing disproportionately high rates of suspensions and expulsions. In addition to suspensions and expulsions, Black boys of all ages are significantly overrepresented in school-based arrests relative to their share of the pre-K-12 student population and compared to their peers.
The majority of expulsions and suspensions among Black boys are for minor, subjective offenses, such as “disrespect” or “defiance.” School discipline practices for Black boys also tend to mirror adult criminal justice “tough on crime” policies, often lacking adequate due process protections and raising constitutional concerns. Among different geographic regions, the American South has notably higher rates of exclusionary discipline even after controlling for race.
“Education was meant to be a gateway to opportunity, not a sorting mechanism that determines who is punished and who is protected,” said CSSBMB Director Mark Spencer. “Our findings show that too many Black boys are still denied fairness at the very start of their educational journey.”
The ADVOCATES FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS IN THE PITTSBURGH PUBLIC SCHOOLS, organized the late scholar warrior , DR. BARBARA A. SIZEMORE. The ‘ ADVOCATES ‘ later filed a complaint with the PENNSYLVANIA HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION over 30 years ago identifying the over representing in suspension of African American students, average grade was an E ,among other complaints. THE PHRC found ‘standing’ on 94 STIPULATIONS that the District must address. Thus an EQUITY ADVISORY PANEL was formed to advise and monitor the District. The EAP has been in conciliation agreements,with little success. The Struggle Continues.
Very troubling and unjust. The racism must stop! Our Black children deserve anti-racist culturally competent educators.
It’s 2026, and the so-called native born Black American community still expect the public school system to treat “our children” fairly. How idiotic is that? What the so-called Black American community need to do is spend more time and energy preparing “their children” in how to conduct themselves in an “educational warzone”. That simply means being taught “self-control, self-discipline, and personal restraint during their formative years “AT HOME”.
Further, until these lazy, undisciplined, and non-engagement Black parents change their internal home environment from dysfunctional or deviant behavior along with emphasizing academic excellence over sports/entertainment and high material consumption, the “school to prison pipeline” will continue (unfortunately).
In close, the majority of the ongoing issue would stop if so-called Black America would approach and embrace academic excellence with the same intensity as “we do” with the millions of Black youths who participate in sports aspiring to be the next 21st century slave Lebron James, KD, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, or Megan the Horse (I mean “Stallion”).