I agree the This American Life stories were pretty good. They were based on a pro-publica story which has background statistics that make the picture more interesting:
My concerns with this coverage is that they oversimplify the problems in their desire to find a solution (especially TAL). I'd also recommend the book 'Our Kids':
http://www.propublica.org/article/ferguson-school-segregatio...
There was also recently this long article in the Tampa Bay times that I found at least as insightful, and with more perspective:
http://www.tampabay.com/projects/2015/investigations/pinella...
My concerns with this coverage is that they oversimplify the problems in their desire to find a solution (especially TAL). I'd also recommend the book 'Our Kids':
http://www.amazon.com/Our-Kids-American-Dream-Crisis/dp/1476...
Which is far more comprehensive but spectacularly depressing.