New Federal School Data Shows Who Gets Suspended. Here's What Connecticut Families Can Do.
New federal data shows that suspensions in U.S. public schools went up, and that Black students and students with disabilities continue to be pushed out of class at higher rates. If your child has been suspended, or keeps being sent home, you have rights, and it helps to know them early.
Source: "5 things civil rights data says about public schools," by Jonaki Mehta, NPR, published by Connecticut Public on October 7, 2026. Read the article
What the new data shows
The Civil Rights Data Collection is a federal survey of public schools. The government has gathered this information for over 50 years, partly to help the U.S. Education Department hold schools accountable for protecting students' civil rights. The latest release covers the 2023-24 school year and more than 97,000 public schools. It was released on August 31, about six months later than promised, according to the article.
According to the article and the researchers NPR spoke with:
Suspensions went up. 2.5 million students received one or more out-of-school suspensions, and 2.3 million received in-school suspensions. That is up by about 100,000 students in each category compared with 2021-22.
Black students lost far more school time. Dan Losen of the National Center for Youth Law says the data show Black students lost over four times as many days of school to out-of-school suspension as white students.
Students with disabilities were suspended at disproportionately high rates. They now make up 19% of public school students, up from 17% in the previous report. Losen notes that when these students miss school, they may also miss services like counseling or physical therapy.
Many suspensions are for minor issues. Losen says his research shows most districts suspend students for minor offenses rather than unsafe behavior: "It could be truancy, it could be repeated tardiness, dress code violations."
"That lost instruction time matters more than people realize," Losen told NPR. "Even one out-of-school suspension greatly increases the risk of dropping out of a school or winding up in the juvenile justice system."
These are national numbers. The article does not break out figures for Connecticut.
Why it matters legally
Discipline gaps on their own are unlikely to prove that any one school discriminated. But federal and Connecticut law protect students from being disciplined more harshly because of their race or disability. A pattern like the one in this data can be a reason to look closely at how a particular school treats a particular child.
For students with disabilities, there are extra protections. Discipline that is really a response to a student's disability may violate federal disability laws.
Connecticut law also bars discrimination in public schools based on race, color, disability, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, and other protected traits.
What's happening now
The article reports that the Education Department withheld the data it collected on nonbinary students, citing an executive order that called for the federal government to "recognize two sexes, male and female." Questions about nonbinary students, and about harassment or bullying based on gender identity, have been removed from the next survey, which covers the 2025-26 school year. In a statement to NPR, the Education Department did not answer questions about that decision and instead highlighted its priority to collect data about sexual offenses on school campuses.
Losen and University of Oregon researcher Maithreyi Gopalan also say suspensions are often an ineffective way to change behavior, and point to emotional support and better teacher training as alternatives.
What you can do
Keep records. Save every notice, email, and note about discipline. Write down dates, what happened, who was involved, and how many days your child missed.
Ask for it in writing. Ask the school to explain each suspension in writing, including the rule your child is said to have broken.
Request your child's records. Parents generally have the right to see their child's education records, including discipline records.
If your child has a disability, ask about their plan. Ask whether the behavior is related to the disability, whether the IEP or 504 plan needs to change, and what services your child will get while out of school. Keep count of days removed.
Watch the deadlines. Civil rights complaints have time limits. For example, a complaint to the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights generally must be filed within 180 days of the incident. Don't wait.
Talk to us
If you believe your child is being disciplined more harshly because of race, disability, or another protected trait, we can help you understand your options. Contact us for a consultation.
Thanks to Jonaki Mehta and NPR for this reporting, to Connecticut Public for sharing it with Connecticut readers, and to researchers Maithreyi Gopalan (AdvancED Equity) and Dan Losen (National Center for Youth Law) for their analysis of the data.
This post is for general information only and is not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.
