Chapter 2: The Racialized Experiences of Latinx Youth in Continuation High Schools

This chapter focuses on Latinx youth who have been pushed out of traditional schools in the United States as a consequence of school suspension and expulsion policies (Gregory et al., 2010). Alternative public schools are one of the fastest growing educational sectors in the United States. While they only account for 6% of all high schools, they represent 30% of low-graduation-rate high schools (DePaoli et al., 2016). In 2015, alternative public high schools served nearly 300,000 students; this included an overrepresentation of low-income, Black and Latinx youth (DePaoli et al., 2016). Although, there is a range in the different types of alternative schools, for this chapter, we focus on continuation high schools, which are considered the largest and oldest alternative public education program in California that enrolls a high number of racially minoritized youth (Malagon, 2010).