Race, school discipline, and administrative representation

Abstract

We examine whether administrators behave differently when they are embedded in environments that vary in the racial makeup of their coworkers and clientele. Using individual-level data from Georgia public schools, we investigate whether the racial gap in school discipline between Black and White students is influenced by the race of administrators who assign disciplinary actions to students and the racial makeup of the environment in which administrators work. We estimate two groups of models that control for school and administrator fixed effects. Our results suggest that, across all types of schools, Black administrators and White administrators tend to punish Black students more harshly than White students. Both Black and White administrators, however, act less harshly against Black students when they work in schools with a majority of Black students and Administrators.