In the decade since mass protests over the punishment of six black students in Decatur, the state's racial gap in discipline has split wide open. It's such a gaping hole that now more than half of all Illinois children suspended from public schools are black, even though they represent less than one-fifth of the enrollment, according to an Associated Press analysis.

Expulsions have disproportionately hit blacks too, worrying education experts and state lawmakers about the effect of so many minority students missing classroom time.

Read more from the AP via The Columbian Missourian.