The Applied Research Center, based in Oakland, Calif., says minority students are placed at a serious disadvantage on every key indicator studied at a dozen U.S. school districts last year. Expulsion and suspensions of Hispanics in Salem, Ore., and Durham, N.C., were two to four times as high as their proportion of the pupil population. Minority students have less access to advanced and gifted programs. The racial makeup of a teaching corps rarely matches that of the student body. He points to the stellar academic achievements of Asian students who attend the same schools as other minorities.
Some conservatives say that evidence of inequalities is irrelevant without proof of intent.