Education experts across the political spectrum interpret the GOP platform's wording as favoring the type of approach adopted in states like West Virginia and Ohio, which make available taxpayer-funded vouchers, or scholarships, that can follow a child regardless of income to any public or private school.

Educators in Wichita Public Schools discriminated against Black and disabled students when disciplining them, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Across the country there have been conservative pushes to incorporate religion into classrooms, from Florida legislation allowing school districts to have volunteer chaplains to counsel students to Oklahoma's top education official ordering public schools to incorporate the Bible into lessons.

The court stopped what would have been the first publicly funded religious charter school in the U.S., turning back conservatives and the state's GOP governor who have welcomed religious groups into public education.

Improvement has been slow and uneven across geography and economic status, with millions of students—often those from marginalized groups—making up little or no ground.

U.S. schools should teach about issues related to race, most Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders believe. They also oppose efforts to restrict what subjects can be discussed in the classroom, according to a new poll.

The country is more diverse than it ever has been, with students more exposed to classmates from different backgrounds. Still, around 4 out of 10 Black and Hispanic students attend schools where almost every one of their classmates is another student of color.

In places that teach to standards formulated by the National Science Teachers Association, state governments and other organizations, many kids learn about air quality, ecosystems and biodiversity. But students and advocates say that is insufficient.