The Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) released its 2024–25 Racial Equity Report Cards (RERCs), revealing that racial disparities in North Carolina’s public schools are not only persisting but are worsening in several critical measures. The report cards, which analyze data provided by the state, offer a snapshot of school system performance in three main areas: career and college preparedness, short-term suspensions, and school-related juvenile delinquency complaints. SCSJ identifies these categories as significantly connected to the school-to-prison pipeline.
For the 2024-25 school year, Black students constituted approximately 25% of North Carolina’s traditional K–12 student enrollment. Despite this, they received a disproportionate 51% of all short-term suspensions administered across the state. Furthermore, Black students accounted for 54% of all school-based juvenile delinquency complaints during the same academic year.
The academic achievement gap, a trend consistently tracked by the RERCs, also expanded. Statewide data showed a significant difference in preparedness: white students in grades 9-12 were found to be 2.5 times more likely than Black students to achieve a "Career and College Ready" score. Similarly, white students in grades 3–8 were 2.4 times more likely than Black students to meet this "Career and College Ready" benchmark.
Jake Sussman, Chief Counsel for Justice System Reform at SCSJ, expressed disappointment with the findings, noting that the organization publishes these numbers annually in hopes of observing progress, yet consistently sees racial disparities worsen. Sussman underscored the constitutional guarantee in North Carolina that promises every child an equal opportunity at a sound basic education. He articulated that when a Black student is nearly four times as likely to face suspension and less than half as likely to be deemed college or career ready, this fundamental promise is being broken, and the failure resides with the system, not the students themselves.
Sussman further emphasized that much of these racial disparities fall under local jurisdiction. He highlighted that local school boards are responsible for crafting their own discipline protocols, deciding when to involve law enforcement in school-based disputes, and making choices regarding the recruitment and retention of educators. According to Sussman, North Carolina school districts do not need to wait for action from the General Assembly to close these gaps. Instead, he urged them to examine their own report cards and initiate concrete actions.
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice was founded in 2007 with the mission of providing Black, Brown, and low-income individuals with enhanced resources in their pursuit of justice across the Southern United States. The organization is composed of lawyers, social scientists, and communications professionals who work to dismantle racism and oppression within the criminal legal system, environmental issues, and electoral processes.