JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The U.S. Department of Education is looking into a civil rights complaint with Duval County Public Schools.
The school district is one of the largest in the country. It also has a large number of minority students.
DCPS Superintendent Dr. Nikolai Vitti is calling the federal investigation political, while Congresswoman Corine Brown says minority students are at a disadvantage and things need to change.
"It's absurd, and it is not based on what is actually happening in our schools and it appears like a political agenda," said Dr. Vitti.
The U.S. Department of Education is looking into a complaint alleging that Duval County Public Schools prevent black and Hispanic students from getting quality educations.
"You look at most indicators in reading and math, and performance for African American and Hispanic student performance is much higher. This is what is more troubling about this review," said Vitti.
Since Dr. Vitti became Superintendent, the minority graduation rate has increased.
When it comes to reading and math scores, the available data only shows school grades as a whole, instead of being broken down by race.
Vitti says this investigation comes after Congresswoman Brown publicly disagreed with many of the recent proposals he has made.
"He is the lead educator in this community and it should be one team working together. What is this thing about politics? When education fails, we all fail," said Brown.
Brown says she does not know who made the complaint, but she thinks the investigation is warranted.
"It is a disparity and it should not exist. No matter where a kid lives, we should expect a certain caliber of quality," the congresswoman said.
The school district has until Nov. 29 to respond to the allegations.
