Groups: OMB Must Maintain Data Collection on Preschool Suspension

Washington, D.C. – Today, 149 national, state and local groups urged the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to maintain the question about preschool/child care suspension and expulsion in the 2017 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH). This data fills a crucial gap in the Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC) by including data from parents whose children are not in public preschools and contributes to public understanding of the scope, frequency, and racially disproportionate use of suspensions and expulsions on young children.

In the April 11, 2017 notice published in the Federal Register, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed removing the question from the survey. The civil rights, education and research groups’ comments to Dominic J. Mancini, the Acting Administrator for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) call for the retention of the preschool suspension and expulsion question in the collection and future collections so that parents, advocates, educators, service providers, researchers, policymakers, and the public have access to data to drive change in the service of high-quality and equitable supports for, and treatment of, all children. 

"As organizations committed to the fair and appropriate treatment of all children in all settings, we have long been alarmed by the high and racially disproportionate rates of exclusionary discipline of children beginning in early childhood and continuing through high school…Given clear data that expulsions and suspensions regularly occur in preschool settings and have a negative impact on child development, health, and education we continue to press for changes to policy and practice – and the critical data that makes systemic change possible," the letter states.

 The full letter to OIRA is available at www.civilrights.org/advocacy/letters.

The Leadership Conference Education Fund builds public will for federal policies that promote and protect the civil and human rights of all persons in the United States. The Education Fund's campaigns empower and mobilize advocates around the country to push for progressive change in the United States. It was founded in 1969 as the education and research arm of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. For more information on The Leadership Conference Education Fund, www.leadershipconferenceedfund.org.

Featured

  • Indiana Wesleyan University Schedules Grand Opening for New Welcome Center

    Indiana Wesleyan University recently announced that it will soon open a new Welcome Center on its campus in Marion, Ind., according to a news release. The facility will serve as the home base for prospective students and their families to learn more about the university and student life there. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for February 19.

  • FGCU Breaks Ground on New Health Sciences Building

    Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) has launched construction on a major new academic facility that leaders say will reshape healthcare education in Southwest Florida for decades to come, according to university news.

  • New Arizona Fine Arts School Reaches Construction Milestone

    Construction of the new Hilltop School for the Arts and Theater in Litchfield Park, Ariz., recently hit a significant milestone, according to a news release. The Agua Fria High School District held a beam-signing ceremony to celebrate the building’s topping out, or the placement of its last structural beam.

  • Academy of Classical Education Breaks Ground in Louisiana

    Charter Schools USA (CSUSA) recently announced the groundbreaking of a new public charter school in Covington, La., according to a news release. The Academy of Classical Education at Covington will enroll students in grades K–8 and is scheduled for completion in August 2026, just in time for the new school year.