Sometimes, the best way for a person to learn and to mature is to put them in a real life situation. Once I got my job, one of the motivating factors in my life was knowing that I could get into trouble and only be responsible for myself - I don't have to worry about trouble with my parents.

Your comment "I think his white teachers were not all that concerned about spending so much time and attention on one of the few black kids in that school" sounds as though you think the issue is a racial issue. Race probably has little- to nothing- to do with the issue. The teachers probably just did not want to put up with his attitude and laziness, which you said he has. White students have behaved in the same way and have been treated the same way. I know from personal experience.