NewsOne focuses in March 2017 on the steep uphill climb of Black girls in the K-12 public school system.

Several education news stories in 2016 impacted the African-American community. Black educators reached new heights and the community debated school choice.

The Department of Justice announced that it will phase out its use of private prisons. There's no need for them with the declining population of federal prisoners.

St. Louis school officials announced a ban against automatic out-of-school suspensions of students in preschool through second grade. This move follows a report that said Missouri leads the nation in suspending Black elementary school students.

News One Exclusives

According to author Monique Morris, Black girls make up 16 percent of American school students, but account for over 33 percent of school arrests.

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton proposed spending $2 billion on alternatives to traditional school punishment. Her plan, and other alternatives like restorative justice, seek to end the school-to-prison pipeline.

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is donating $4.7 million to eight organizations in New Orleans and two coalitions in Mississippi devoted to uplifting young men and…