Jo Al Khafaji-King

This study provides a descriptive analysis of police intervention as a response to student behavior in New York City public schools. We find that between the 2016/17 and 2021/22 academic years, arrests and juvenile referrals decreased while non-detainment-based and psychiatric police interventions increased. However, Black students, especially those enrolled in schools located in predominantly White police precincts experiencing a shrinking White student population, experienced disproportionate rates of arrests, juvenile referrals, and police-involved psychiatric interventions. Schools serving more Black students experienced higher rates of interventions relative to schools with fewer Black students, but these higher rates of intervention are not explained by differences in observable student behavior and characteristics. Instead, differences in teacher characteristics and resources contribute to the excess use of police interventions in predominantly Black schools.

More →

Across the United States, suspension bans have become a popular policy response to address excessive and inequitable use of suspension in schools. However, there is little research that examines what strategies school staff employ when suspension is no longer permitted. I examine the effect of New York City’s suspension ban on the use of a potential unintended substitute for suspension: special education classification. Using a dosage difference-in-differences strategy, I find that the ban induced an increase in disability classifications at high risk for classroom exclusion. I show that, on average, students with these classifications in schools with high pre-policy reliance on suspension experienced large declines in test scores, whereas general education students experienced slight test score improvements. Notably, I show that these declines are not due to new, ban-induced classifications actively harming student achievement. These results underscore the importance of considering unintended consequences and vulnerable groups when employing a seemingly "costless" and popular policy lever to reduce schools’ reliance on suspension.

More →

We examine the impact of local labor market shocks and state unemployment insurance (UI) policies on student discipline in U.S. public schools. Analyzing school-level discipline data and firm-level layoffs in 23 states, we find that layoffs have little effect on discipline rates on average. However, effects differ across the UI benefit distribution. At the lowest benefit level ($265/week), a mass layoff increases outof- school suspensions by 5.1%, with effects dissipating as UI benefits increase. Effects are consistently largest for Black students —especially in predominantly White schools —resulting in increased racial disproportionality in school discipline following layoffs in low-UI states.

More →