It's not offensive because they used the phrase "students of color" instead of "colored students" even though both are the exact same thing! You switch the words around and put "of" between them, though, and it magically becomes not offensive.
Well yes; but it also helps when the Mainstream Media is ideologically wedded to your political party. Nothing eases the way like professional propagandists.
Does it get any more condescending to say to someone, "You know, you're not going to pass this test. I'm not even going to bother giving it to you. Go play outside, you little dipsh*t!"