Miseducation
Is There Racial Inequality at Your School?
Based on civil rights data released by the U.S. Department of Education, ProPublica has built an interactive database to examine racial disparities in educational opportunities and school discipline. Look up more than 96,000 individual public and charter schools and 17,000 districts to see how they compare with their counterparts. About Our Data | Related Story | Local Stories
This database was last updated in October 2018, and its latest data is from the 2015-16 school year. Researchers can find more recent data at the U.S. Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection site.
School districts where White students are more likely to be in an Advanced Placement class or gifted and talented program, compared with Black students.
Note: When unified school districts do not exist, we display secondary school districts. In districts where there are too few students of a specific group to calculate a measure, we omitted the result.
Nationally, White students are 1.8 times as likely as Black students to be in an Advanced Placement class.
50.6M Students | 3.22M Teachers | 17.3K Districts | 96.4K Schools | 334 Districts Under Desegregation Order
All States
Compare student access to opportunities and discipline on average, across states. Click on each state for full details.
| State | Nonwhite Students | Students Who Get Free/Reduced-Price Lunch | High School Graduation Rate | Opportunity (White students are this number of times as likely to be in an AP class, compared with Black students) | Discipline (Black students are this number of times as likely to be suspended, compared with White students) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | 51% | 52% | 84% | 1.8x | 3.9x |
| Alabama | 45% | 51% | 87% | 1.8x | 3.7x |
| Alaska | 52% | 43% | 76% | 1.5x | 3.3x |
| Arizona | 60% | 44% | 80% | 1.8x | 3.4x |
| Arkansas | 38% | 63% | 87% | 1.5x | 3.6x |
| California | 76% | 59% | 83% | 1.8x | 3.4x |
| Colorado | 46% | 42% | 79% | 1.4x | 3.3x |
| Connecticut | 44% | 38% | 87% | 2.3x | 6x |
| Delaware | 54% | 38% | 86% | 2.1x | 3.5x |
| District of Columbia | 90% | 77% | 69% | 1.5x | 11.7x |
| Florida | 61% | 59% | 81% | 2.2x | 2.4x |
| Georgia | 59% | 62% | 79% | 1.8x | 3.6x |
| Hawaii | 87% | 50% | 83% | 0Not Available | 0Not Available |
| Idaho | 24% | 47% | 80% | 0Not Available | 0Not Available |
| Illinois | 51% | 50% | 86% | 1.9x | 4.6x |
| Indiana | 31% | 48% | 87% | 1.9x | 4.5x |
| Iowa | 23% | 41% | 91% | 1.2x | 5.4x |
| Kansas | 35% | 49% | 86% | 2.1x | 5x |
| Kentucky | 22% | 59% | 89% | 1.7x | 3.5x |
| Louisiana | 54% | 58% | 79% | 1.8x | 2.5x |
| Maine | 10% | 46% | 87% | 1.6x | 2.4x |
| Maryland | 62% | 45% | 88% | 2.3x | 3x |
| Massachusetts | 38% | 40% | 88% | 1.6x | 4x |
| Michigan | 33% | 46% | 80% | 2.6x | 4.1x |
| Minnesota | 32% | 38% | 82% | 1.9x | 6.2x |
| Mississippi | 56% | 75% | 82% | 2.1x | 3.1x |
| Missouri | 28% | 50% | 89% | 1.5x | 4.4x |
| Montana | 21% | 45% | 86% | 0Not Available | 0Not Available |
| Nebraska | 33% | 44% | 89% | 1.5x | 5.3x |
| Nevada | 66% | 57% | 74% | 2.1x | 3.9x |
| New Hampshire | 14% | 28% | 88% | 0Not Available | 0Not Available |
| New Jersey | 53% | 38% | 90% | 2.5x | 5.4x |
| New Mexico | 76% | 72% | 71% | 0Not Available | 0Not Available |
| New York | 55% | 49% | 80% | 2.1x | 2.6x |
| North Carolina | 51% | 57% | 86% | 2.6x | 3.3x |
| North Dakota | 22% | 31% | 88% |
.5 Less Likely |
3.2x |
| Ohio | 28% | 45% | 84% | 2.3x | 4.8x |
| Oklahoma | 50% | 61% | 82% | 1.2x | 3.6x |
| Oregon | 37% | 50% | 75% | 0Not Available | 0Not Available |
| Pennsylvania | 33% | 47% | 86% | 2.3x | 5.6x |
| Rhode Island | 41% | 47% | 83% | 1.3x | 3x |
| South Carolina | 49% | 60% | 83% | 3.2x | 2.9x |
| South Dakota | 25% | 42% | 84% | 1.3x | 4x |
| Tennessee | 36% | 58% | 89% | 2.1x | 4.9x |
| Texas | 72% | 59% | 89% | 1.6x | 4.6x |
| Utah | 24% | 36% | 85% | 0Not Available | 0Not Available |
| Vermont | 10% | 38% | 88% | 1.6x | 3.1x |
| Virginia | 50% | 41% | 87% | 2.1x | 3.7x |
| Washington | 44% | 45% | 80% | 1.2x | 3x |
| West Virginia | 10% | 49% | 90% | 1.1x | 2.5x |
| Wisconsin | 29% | 39% | 88% | 2.3x | 7.5x |
| Wyoming | 22% | 37% | 80% | 0Not Available | 0Not Available |
| State | Nonwhite Students | Students Who Get Free/Reduced-Price Lunch | High School Graduation Rate | Opportunity (White students are this number of times as likely to be in an AP class, compared with Hispanic students) | Discipline (Hispanic students are this number of times as likely to be suspended, compared with White students) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National | 51% | 52% | 84% | 1.3x | 1.3x |
| Alabama | 45% | 51% | 87% | 2.5x |
.5 Less Likely |
| Alaska | 52% | 43% | 76% | 1.2x | 1.6x |
| Arizona | 60% | 44% | 80% | 1.7x | 1.4x |
| Arkansas | 38% | 63% | 87% | 1.2x |
.5 Less Likely |
| California | 76% | 59% | 83% | 1.6x | 1.1x |
| Colorado | 46% | 42% | 79% | 2x | 1.7x |
| Connecticut | 44% | 38% | 87% | 2.8x | 3.6x |
| Delaware | 54% | 38% | 86% | 2.5x | 1.5x |
| District of Columbia | 90% | 77% | 69% | 1.1x | 3.7x |
| Florida | 61% | 59% | 81% | 1.3x |
.5 Less Likely |
| Georgia | 59% | 62% | 79% | 1.7x | 1.3x |
| Hawaii | 87% | 50% | 83% | 2.8x | 1.1x |
| Idaho | 24% | 47% | 80% | 1.5x | 1.4x |
| Illinois | 51% | 50% | 86% | 1.3x | 1.3x |
| Indiana | 31% | 48% | 87% | 1.7x | 1.5x |
| Iowa | 23% | 41% | 91% | 1.2x | 1.7x |
| Kansas | 35% | 49% | 86% | 1.8x | 1.5x |
| Kentucky | 22% | 59% | 89% | 1.6x | 1.1x |
| Louisiana | 54% | 58% | 79% | 1.5x | 1.1x |
| Maine | 10% | 46% | 87% | 0Not Available | 0Not Available |
| Maryland | 62% | 45% | 88% | 2.3x | 1.1x |
| Massachusetts | 38% | 40% | 88% | 2.3x | 3.1x |
| Michigan | 33% | 46% | 80% | 2.1x | 1.6x |
| Minnesota | 32% | 38% | 82% | 2.1x | 2.4x |
| Mississippi | 56% | 75% | 82% | 1.9x | 1.1x |
| Missouri | 28% | 50% | 89% | 1.4x | 1.4x |
| Montana | 21% | 45% | 86% | 1.8x | 1.8x |
| Nebraska | 33% | 44% | 89% | 1.7x | 1.6x |
| Nevada | 66% | 57% | 74% | 1.5x | 1.4x |
| New Hampshire | 14% | 28% | 88% | 2x | 2.6x |
| New Jersey | 53% | 38% | 90% | 2.3x | 2.4x |
| New Mexico | 76% | 72% | 71% | 1.4x | 1.3x |
| New York | 55% | 49% | 80% | 2.2x |
.5 Less Likely |
| North Carolina | 51% | 57% | 86% | 2.6x | 1.3x |
| North Dakota | 22% | 31% | 88% | 1.8x | 1.8x |
| Ohio | 28% | 45% | 84% | 2.1x | 2x |
| Oklahoma | 50% | 61% | 82% | 1.3x | 1.2x |
| Oregon | 37% | 50% | 75% | 1.5x | 1.2x |
| Pennsylvania | 33% | 47% | 86% | 2.7x | 3x |
| Rhode Island | 41% | 47% | 83% | 1.5x | 2.1x |
| South Carolina | 49% | 60% | 83% | 2.2x | 1.1x |
| South Dakota | 25% | 42% | 84% | 1.9x | 2.4x |
| Tennessee | 36% | 58% | 89% | 1.7x | 1.3x |
| Texas | 72% | 59% | 89% | 1.4x | 1.7x |
| Utah | 24% | 36% | 85% | 1.6x | 2.3x |
| Vermont | 10% | 38% | 88% | 0Not Available | 0Not Available |
| Virginia | 50% | 41% | 87% | 1.9x | 1.2x |
| Washington | 44% | 45% | 80% | 1.9x | 1.4x |
| West Virginia | 10% | 49% | 90% | 0Not Available | 0Not Available |
| Wisconsin | 29% | 39% | 88% | 1.9x | 2.1x |
| Wyoming | 22% | 37% | 80% | 1.4x | 1.6x |
Sources & Notes
Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, Stanford University's Center for Education Policy Analysis, EDFacts, U.S. Department of Education’s Common Core of Data. Maps courtesy of Mapbox Community. Read our methodology →
Notes: The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights occasionally updates the underlying dataset. ProPublica may update the interactive’s data in response.
Disparity scores are not available if there are too few students in a specific racial group to make a statistically significant calculation. They are also not available if data about a particular racial group was not reported. Some schools or districts reported an overcount of students in a disparity category (such as suspensions or AP courses) when compared with the total enrollment of that particular student group. In such cases, we also omit the disparity score.
Additional development by Mike Tigas and Sisi Wei. Additional data analysis by Jeff Ernsthausen and Ryann Grochowski Jones.