Black students

Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson supported Michelle Obama's critique of isolating students of color in elite colleges, citing Harvard's Black community as a positive example. Jackson described her experience at Harvard, where a sizable Black student population fostered a sense of belonging. The article also notes declining Black enrollment at Harvard following a 2023 Supreme Court ruling against race-conscious admissions.

The Education Department has rescinded a rule that allowed considering school policies with disproportionate impacts on students as discriminatory unless intentional, affecting civil rights enforcement under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. The change, effective immediately without public comment, removes a key tool for addressing racial disparities in school discipline, particularly impacting Black students, and faces criticism from civil rights groups.

The U.S. Department of Education has rescinded a rule that allowed consideration of school policies disproportionately harming students based on race or national origin unless the discrimination was intentional. This change affects Title VI of the Civil Rights Act enforcement, particularly school discipline practices where Black students are more likely to face punitive measures. Civil rights groups criticized the move, arguing it weakens protections against systemic discrimination.

The UCSD medical school is accused by the DOJ of using a diversity tactic to prioritize Black and Hispanic students, which is deemed illegal. The DOJ states these efforts are 'blatant' and vows to end them.

Just one Black student received an offer to Staten Island Technical High School out of nearly 300, while Stuyvesant and the High School for Mathematics, Science and Engineering also saw historically low numbers for Black students. Mayor Zohran Mamdani plans to review the admissions process, which relies on the SHSAT test, as racial disparities persist despite slight increases in Black and Latino student offers compared to previous years.

Preliminary TCAP data for 2025-2026 shows improved test scores for Nashville students overall, but significant disparities persist for Black, Hispanic, and students with disabilities. The Tennessee Department of Education and advocacy group SCORE analyzed the data, revealing uneven academic growth across subgroups.

The article highlights a divide in Democratic Party support for school choice based on income and race, with higher-income and more educated Democrats opposing it while Black, Hispanic, and lower-income Democrats are more supportive. Charter schools, the most common form of publicly funded school choice, disproportionately serve marginalized communities, reflecting demand for alternatives to underperforming schools in urban areas. Critics of school choice, often affluent families who already access private or district-specific options, are accused of holding 'luxury beliefs' that ignore the constraints faced by lower-income families.

Washington is considering revising its exam for clinical social workers after national data revealed significantly higher pass rates for white students compared to Black students. The disparity raises questions about the exam's role in limiting diversity within the social work profession.

LAUSD is cutting thousands of jobs but has preserved the Black student achievement program in its budget plan. The district restored the program to support Black students.

School closures across the country have a disproportionate effect on Black students and those from low-income communities, according to research. The impact highlights existing educational disparities.

The Trump administration's Justice Department is accused of misusing civil rights laws to target UCLA and Yale for admitting high-achieving Black and Hispanic students, claiming the schools discriminated against white and Asian applicants. The article argues the department's findings ignore comprehensive applicant data and rely on statistically insignificant score differences.

Medical schools have increased enrollment of Black and Latino students through pipeline programs, scholarships, and recruitment strategies over the past decade. However, the physician workforce remains disproportionately underrepresented by these groups despite these efforts.

Newark Public Schools' enrollment decreased by 764 students in the 2025-26 school year, the first decline since 2019, driven by drops in multilingual learners, white, and Black student populations. The district's Hispanic student enrollment grew slightly, while early and transition grade levels saw the sharpest declines.