Key Insights from 2021-22 Civil Rights Data: Uncovering Ongoing Education Inequities and Special Education Challenges

New data reveals significant educational inequalities across the United States.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) shared findings from its 2021-22 Civil Rights Data Collection (CRDC). This survey included information from over 17,000 school districts and more than 98,000 schools nationwide.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona emphasized the importance of addressing these issues, stating, “Inequities in access to educational opportunities based on race, sex, and disability continue to exist.” He noted these disparities affect everything from accessing STEM courses to experiences regarding school suspensions.

Key Insights

Here are some important highlights from the reports released by OCR:

• Enrollment rates for public high school students with disabilities in math, science, and computer science courses were lower than those of their peers in almost all other classes, with the exception of Algebra I.
• While students with disabilities made up just 17% of total K-12 enrollment, they comprised 24% of those in justice facilities.
• Students with disabilities represented 14% of K-12 enrollment, yet they accounted for 28% of those mechanically restrained, 68% of those secluded, and 76% of those physically restrained.
• Among preschool children with disabilities, they made up 23% of enrollment but 41% of suspensions and 74% of expulsions.
• In K-12 settings, students with disabilities made up 17% of enrollment, but they represented 27% of those receiving in-school suspensions and 29% of those facing expulsions.
• Students with disabilities were disproportionately referred to law enforcement and faced school-related arrests.
• Regarding corporal punishment, students with disabilities served under IDEA were less likely to receive it compared to their enrollment percentage.
• White students were more often reported as being bullied or harassed based on disability, making up 56% of such reports despite representing only 45% of the total student body.
• Over 143,000 reports of harassment or bullying were made to school staff, with 11% focused on disability-related issues.
• Students with disabilities served under IDEA represented only 5% of those in dual enrollment or dual credit programs, despite making up 14% of overall enrollment.

New Data Categories

The 2021-22 data collection introduced new categories for the first time, including:

• Nonbinary student enrollment
• Religious harassment, with detailed breakdowns by perceived religion
• Reported incidents of rape or attempted rape by school staff and how districts responded