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The FOI Advocate is a compendium of ideas, edited story excerpts and other materials from a variety of Web sites, as well as original concepts and analysis. When the information comes directly from another source, it will be attributed and a link will be provided whenever possible. The blog relies on the accuracy and integrity of the original sources cited. We will correct errors and inaccuracies when we become aware of them.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

FOI At Work...

Here is a great series looking at school suspension data, thanks to FOI, in three Florida counties. Love the database you can search!

From the Northwest Florida Daily News...

Come into my office.

Roughly every eight minutes, an Emerald Coast principal says that to a student facing suspension.

Schools in Walton, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties have suspended or expelled students nearly 8,000 times this year, out of a total student population of about 60,000.

The Daily News gathered suspension data from all three school districts for the past two school years through February of this year.

An analysis of the information revealed some significant disparities.

Black students are suspended at twice the rate of white students.

Boys of any race are suspended about three times as often as girls.

And some schools suspend students frequently, while others suspend rarely - sometimes never.

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