Poverty, segregation persist in US schools, report says

WASHINGTON (AP) - The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights says inequality and segregation persist in American schools.

A study by the commission finds that low-income, black and Latino students too often end up in schools with crumbling walls, old textbooks and unqualified teachers.

The commission is calling for a boost in federal education spending, changing school funding models and investing in housing.

The report says the current way schools get funded, mostly through local property taxes, makes access to quality education "profoundly unequal."

The report also finds inequities in curriculum.

Only 33 percent of high schools with high black and Latino enrollment offer calculus, compared to 56 percent of high schools with low black and Latino populations. Nationwide, 48 percent of schools offer the rigorous math course.