Activists from across the country gathered at the Education Department in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to demand federal action on a wave of school closures. Parents, students and organizers told Education Secretary Arne Duncan and top aides that school closings are hurting entire communities, disproportionately those made up of low-income residents and people of color. The Education Department is currently probing complaints that school closings in six cities — D.C., Newark, Philadelphia, Detroit, New York City and Chicago — violate the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Karran Harper Royal, a parent and activist from New Orleans, said the administration’s policies are hurting students and their neighborhoods.

Karran Harper Royal: “Our communities are more than just data. Our children are not data points. So I think it is time for President Obama to reevaluate what his Department of Education is doing and its effect on our communities.”