A/HRC/15/18 with a need for a larger number of, and more qualified, teachers and more funds for schools where most students are African American. Some NGOs indicated that African American students are often in large classes (more than 40 students), affecting their ability to do well at their exams. It was also pointed out that there is a need for, and lack of, programmes to prevent male students of African descent from dropping out of schools or to bring them back into classes. Furthermore, while the number of students of African descent at universities compared to white students was improving, there is still a significant “class” gap between the two. Charter schools, which are intended to provide parents and communities with the flexibility to try innovative educational models, have had some success in providing higher quality education to students of African descent who could not otherwise afford private education. Such schools operate under a written contract (charter) with a state, district or other governmental entity which details how the school will be organized and managed, what students will be taught and expected to achieve, and how success will be measured. Some NGOs said, however, that they provide an effective alternative for only a small number of poorer students and a more comprehensive solution to inadequate access to quality education is needed. 31. One of the structural reasons for poor access by people of African descent to quality education is that the public schools are funded by the local property taxes and so the poorer neighbourhoods have less revenue to spend on their schools. As people of African descent often live in poorer neighbourhoods, the schools that their children attend often have inferior facilities. The members were informed that there is still insufficient information on the history of African Americans in school textbooks but this appears to be improving. 32. One NGO with which the members met informed them that there is an alarmingly high level of illiteracy among people of African descent. This is partly due to there being insufficient teachers with remedial skills in the schools in poorer neighbourhoods and class sizes that average 35 to 40 children. Many parents of students of African descent do not read to their children or encourage their reading at home, either because they are working at night or have poor reading skills themselves. Drop-out rates among students of African descent, especially boys, are high compared to the rest of the population. 33. In several of the meetings that the members had with NGOs, they were told of the phenomenon of a “pipeline from school to the criminal justice system” existing in the case of boys of African descent. According to one NGO, males of African descent who drop out of school have a 66 per cent chance of ending up in jail or being processed by the criminal justice system. The members were also informed that the presence of the police in schools disproportionately affects children of African descent, the police sometimes being called to schools when children of African descent misbehave in relatively minor ways. The members were told of a case where a five-year-old African American child had been handcuffed by police for a temper tantrum at school, and several other similar cases. In all of the cases investigated by the NGO, the children in question were of African descent. The members were also informed that, according to studies, students of African descent are two times more likely to receive corporal punishment than white students. 3. Access to housing 34. According to information contained in the 2007 periodic report of the United States (CERD/C/USA/6), to which the members were referred by the Department of State, federal and state laws guarantee a right to equal opportunities in housing and prohibit discriminatory practices in the sale and rental of housing as well as in the mortgage lending and insurance markets related to housing. Despite this legislation, systematic discrimination persists in those markets. Recent studies by the Department of Housing and Urban Development suggest that one in five individuals of an ethnic or racial minority experiences discrimination during their preliminary search for housing. While the Government does 10