A coalition of civil rights groups are suing a Kern County high school district over disciplinary actions they say unfairly target black and Latino students.
Five years ago, the Kern High School District suspended nearly 12,000 students and expelled more than 2,000. That’s more than any other school district in California. Roughly 75 percent of those kids were black or Latino, around 20 percent were white.
“When the numbers came out it was obvious that Kern County was expelling and suspending Latinos and blacks at disproportionate rates than whites,” said Martha Gomez, staff attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
MALDEF is one of several civil rights organizations suing the Kern High School District over its student discipline practices.