On July 2, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan spoke at the National Charter Schools Conference, held in Washington D.C. Duncan noted the disparate rates of suspensions between traditional public schools and charters.
“In many cities, including right here in D.C., charters are substantially more likely to suspend and expel students than other public schools,” Duncan said. “In the 2011-12 school year, a total of 230 students were expelled from schools here in the District.
“Charter schools expelled 227 of those 230 students, or 99 percent,” Duncan said. “And just 11 charters – and the list included some high-performing charters – accounted for 75 percent of those expulsions citywide. That’s simply not acceptable.”