Occam's Razor would say that the reason certain groups get expelled at a higher/disproportionate rate is that those groups are the ones doing the things that tend to lead to expulsion.

To demonstrate institutional prejudice, you'd have to show that when black and white students commit the exact same act, the black student is more likely to be expelled. THAT would demonstrate bias. But just saying that black students get expelled more than white students proves nothing. Men get convicted of rape more than women, even though there are more women in this country than men. Does that mean that the justice system is biased against men?

We can thank liberals for this BS. All one has to do is look at Atlanta, Detroit, Chicago, Washington DC, Birmingham etc and check out the crime stats. How many White and Asian kids do you see assaulting folks and stealing in mobs. It is the fault of the Black culture, not genetics but as long as Blacks are beholding to the government and not personally responsible for their actions, there will be no change. If White, Asian, and Gays see a group of Black kids walking toward them in their gang attire, they better prepare for the worst. Check out the recent criminal conduct on the Miracle Mile.

If it's really about equity and fairness should we expect to see a few more white, asian, and hispanic players competing in the final four next year?

There is a difference between correlation and causation -- a difference that escapes many people.

The problem is we have the souless salesmen who so easily convince well meaning folks it is the right thing to do. After all, being on the other side of anything that sounds fair and equitable just feels wrong, and those with the agenda know it.

"Harrison Bergeron" is looking less and less satirical all the time.

So it goes.

Having worked in PPS for a number of years I can tell you that no one is targeting minorities for discipline. The students who are being punished or expelled are those who SCREW UP and won't follow the rules! There is a percentage of kids who refuse to learn. They have no parental support. When you call the parents to try and tell them their kid is failing, the parents don't care...or if they do actually care, they blame the teacher and the school because it can't possibly be their fault.

Equity is a sad concept as adopted by institutions such as PPS. It means in practice capping successful school models so as to continue trapping resources and monies inside failing school models (the latter of which go through continual experiment, making consultants and others richer in the process). So, you've got a gem like Benson High School where students are turned away from one of the few opportunities for young people to gain marketable job skills quickly.

Instead, it should be about spreading the successful school model to other parts of the PPS district.

The latter harkens back to the concept of engines of economic growth; where a successful, productive sector is let free to grow and spread through out the market place. This is the story of the railroad, the automobile, airplanes, computers, internet, etc. Instead when looking at PPS and Oregon more broadly, you get a soviet style fixed pie type governance.

Let Benson and other gems loose rather than trying to bottle it up and perhaps kill it.

As someone said as recently as today, causation is not the same as correlation, but the two are correlated.

As a PPS refugee, I can confirm that suspension rates are disparate. Most Title I schools suspend for EVERYTHING, while higher income schools tend to do more "talk it out stuff" For instance, when we were at daVinci Middle School, one of my daughter's classmates attacked another girl and the girl required medical treatment. The aggressor was not disciplined. I called the principal to complain, he dismissed it as "just girl stuff", trust had the same incident happened at Ockley or Tubman (which was still open) the students would have been suspended. Per the principal of Ockley at that time. At daVinci all manner of misbehavior was tolerated at that time. And the school was perceived as a middle-class and above school. The principal at the time actually complained in the parent newsletter about free/reduced and minority students lowering the schools state report card score from exceptional to strong. So while I know there are issues with PPS and discipline, I refuse to believe that this crew is going to fix it. What they will do is hire some consultants, make white people think that the 'coloreds' have free reign to get away with murder thusly creating more of a divide and conquer mentality among folks who should be joining together to throw these bums out.

The deck of cards gets larger...first the race card, and now the equity card. But common sense prevails...reality trumps all. Know when to fold 'em, you sorry jokers.

I know many of you hate the ACLU but here is the report they did on this disparity.

http://aclu-or.org/content/aclu-report-oregon%E2%80%99s-school-prison-pipeline-0

the concept of equity, in this city, sends a chill up my leg. Thanks Chris Mathews.

If it is about equity and fairness, we'd better see a lot more females expelled I think.

Soon a case will be made that rich kids don't get expelled

Those kids are just getting expelled over the racist imagery inherent in the metaphor of a peanut butter sandwich.

Equity is a race to the bottom. It is not the way dear Mother Earth works. One of the many ironies of so-called liberals who want to live as "naturally" and respectful to the environment as possible.