The right to an equitable public education is codified in both federal and state law. Despite this, in reality, every student is not able to exercise that right equally in West Virginia. Black students face bias and discrimination that impact their experience, performance, and achievement in K-12 education and beyond.
Every child deserves high-quality educational opportunities in safe and supportive environments. Through policy and systems-level change, West Virginia can create more equitable public schools to better support Black students.
Last year, legislators passed SB 474, a bill to eliminate diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. This bill aims to restrict classroom instruction, particularly related to race. This year legislators are considering another bill, SB 591, which builds on SB 474 by prohibiting the teaching of “divisive concepts” and “critical race theory” in public schools. While “critical race theory” is not taught in K-12 schools, this bill represents another attempt to minimize the relevance of race to education. Each of these bills minimizes the importance of identity and culture, as well as the real world impact of historical and present-day bias and discrimination on students.
One clear present-day impact of bias and discrimination on Black students is reflected in school discipline patterns. Black students are more likely than their peers to be punished in school. Last school year, Black students made up about four percent of the student population but accounted for a disproportionate share of disciplinary actions taken by schools. In several instances, Black students actually accounted for more than double their share of the student population for disciplinary actions like warnings, loss of privileges, parent involvement, referral for services, supportive interventions, detention, exclusion from the classroom, in-school suspension, out-of-school suspension, and expulsion. The difference in how these disciplinary actions are applied to different student groups can’t be explained by “worse” behavior among these students. Rather, these disparities indicate a systemic flaw in how public schools approach student behavior, particularly among Black students. This approach to student behavior also contributes to harmful outcomes for students such as increased law enforcement interaction and worse academic performance while leaving the root causes of behavioral issues unaddressed.
In recent years, school discipline and student behavior has been a focus of state education policy. However, much of this policy, like 2023’s HB 2890, has promoted the use of exclusionary disciplinary actions like detention, suspension, and expulsion. Holistic approaches such as engaging mental health professionals like school social workers and psychologists in behavioral interventions and considering students’ physical, social, emotional, and mental health in disciplinary decisions can better manage and prevent behavioral issues among students.
Racial disparities persist in student academic achievement. We can observe clear disparities in how students perform in statewide assessments across several subjects; in math, reading, and science, Black students had lower rates of proficiency compared to the overall student population. This extends beyond academic achievement to opportunities in K-12 education and further into the future. Statewide, Black students graduate high school at a rate of about 90 percent compared to 93 percent for all students. High school graduation is a common requirement for employment, advanced training, or additional education.
Black students in West Virginia also attend college, university, or career technical/ vocational school after high school graduation at a lower rate. Forty-two out of every 100 Black students attend college immediately after high school graduation compared to 47 out of every 100 students overall. This gap in student achievement and opportunity cannot be explained by differences in student ability or intelligence. It is yet another symptom of the larger issue of inequitable education and opportunity for Black students.
In 2020, 97 percent of public school teachers and almost 94 percent of public school principals in the state were white. Research suggests that having same-race teachers can improve education outcomes for Black students. Having same-race teachers can lower rates of suspension, expulsion, and dropout for Black students. It is also associated with higher test scores for Black students. By employing more Black educators and administrators we can build a more diverse and culturally competent education workforce to better support students, mitigate the harms of inequitably applied school discipline, and contribute to students’ academic achievement.
All students deserve high-quality educational opportunities in school settings that are both safe and supportive. To achieve a more equitable system of public education in the Mountain State overall we need to:
