New data reveals the real problem in education - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post: ...The new Education Department data details the unequal resources available to the poorest and neediest students. Statistics released from what is known as the Civil Rights Data Collection, covering approximately 7,000 school districts and more than 72,000 schools, also showed:
*Schools serving mostly African American students are twice as likely to have teachers with one or two years of experience than are schools within the same district that serve mostly white students.
*Only 2 percent of students with disabilities are taking at least one Advanced Placement class.
*Students with limited English proficiency make up 6 percent of the high school population (in grades 9-12), but comprise 15 percent of the students for whom algebra is the highest-level math course taken by their final year of high school.
*Only 22 percent of local education agencies reported that they operated pre-kindergarten programs targeting children from low-income families.
