Stats: Discriminaton against black students

NPR -  Nearly every public school in the country reports to the Education Department's Office of Civil Rights on issues ranging from bullying, to discipline, to access to advanced courses. The latest data show that in the 2015-2016 school year, African-Americans, students with disabilities, Native American, and Pacific Islander students were all referred to law enforcement and arrested at rates much higher than their peers. Black students make up 15 percent of those enrolled in public schools, but 31 percent of those referred to law enforcement or arrested.

Black students, particularly boys, were also much more likely to be suspended or expelled and to be physically restrained (which happens most often to students with disabilities). Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is considering scrapping Obama-era guidance meant to counter these kinds of racial disparities in school discipline. Separately, last month the Office of Civil Rights began dismissing complaints en masse that it says place "an unreasonable burden" on the resources of that office.

And, a ProPublica /Mother Jones investigation found the Department has closed at least 65 school discipline investigations opened under Obama without asking districts to make any changes, according to federal records reporters obtained.