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One Million Days: The Cost Of School Suspensions

WUNC News | By Laura Pellicer,
Frank Stasio
Published May 17, 2017 at 12:54 PM EDT
Terry McCombs
/
Flickr Creative Commons

A new report from the Youth Justice Project shows that public school students in North Carolina lost 1 million days to school suspensions in the 2015-2016 school year. According to the report, the rate of short-term school suspensions is increasing, and disproportionately affects African-American students, boys, and students with disabilities.

Ricky Watson Jr., co-director of the Youth Justice Project of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, talks about the human cost of student suspension.

Host Frank Stasio talks with Ricky Watson Jr., co-director of the Youth Justice Project of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, about the findings. Watson discusses the long-term consequences of missing school, including how missed days feed the school to prison pipeline system.

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio
Laura Pellicer
Laura Pellicer is a producer with The State of Things (hyperlink), a show that explores North Carolina through conversation. Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, a city she considers arrestingly beautiful, if not a little dysfunctional. She worked as a researcher for CBC Montreal and also contributed to their programming as an investigative journalist, social media reporter, and special projects planner. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian RTDNA Awards. Laura loves looking into how cities work, pursuing stories about indigenous rights, and finding fresh voices to share with listeners. Laura is enamored with her new home in North Carolina—notably the lush forests, and the waves where she plans on moonlighting as a mediocre surfer.
See stories by Laura Pellicer
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio