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Remembering Why Education Matters
One of the most glaring ways the racial and class divide can be seen in Winnersville is in terms of who goes to school where
and
who is succeeding educationally.
Before we explore these areas, its important to remember why educational achievement is so important.
As most people know, and as study after study has shown, educational success is a strong predictor of success in all areas of life (i.e. economic, mental and physical health, quality of life, and longevity of life, to name a few). Therefore, when our children are not having successful educational experiences they are essentially being sentenced to a life of limited options and opportunities. The chart below illustrates some of the potential effects of not having a solid educational foundation.
As you can see in the diagram above, educational success impacts all aspects of one's life. The diagram also demonstrates how a variety of factors can influence a child's ability to succeed educationally (i.e. poverty, lack of quality housing, attending challenged schools, etc.).
In addition to just having more life options, study after study has also shown failing to secure a good education
is directly tied to a person's propensity to break the law and be incarcerated. It's no surprise then that
as of 2007 the Georgia Department of Corrections reported that 70% of state
inmates did not complete a high school education. It's also no surprise,
given the many education inequities along racial lines that we will discuss,
that
in 2007 61% of the people entering Georgia State prisons were
Black
(at site press "view by race"). This number is especially disturbing since Black people comprise less
than
30% of Georgia's total population.
A House Divided
Keeping in mind the importance of educational achievement, Winnersville essentially has two racially and economically
segregated school systems. This means that it has a largely Black school system that is low-come, Valdosta City Schools (VCS), and a largely
White school system, Lowndes County Schools (LCS), that is not low-income.
Winnersville also has one private, secular school (created in 1969 because White parents did not want their children going to integrated schools) and a handful of private religious schools. Although data is currently not available on these student populations, private/religious schools appear more racially homogenous than schools in the public systems.
Winnersville's Educational Crisis
(Data source Georgia Department of Education unless otherwise noted.)
Valdosta City Schools (VCS)
Although our data analysis on the Lowndes County System is not
complete, data from the Valdosta System reveals a crisis when it comes to the academic success of many Black students.
In spite of committed educators
and like many school systems across the nation,
current data shows that Black and White students are having fundamentally different educational experiences. Some of these
differences can be seen in the following:
Before we explore these differences, we should first note how VCS became a predominantly Black school system. To do that, one has go back to 1968. It was in February of that year that a group of courageous Black parents in Lowndes County filed a discrimination complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice. That complaint charged that their children "had been deprived of the equal protection of the laws on account of their race in the operation of public schools" (Valdosta Daily Time, p.1, February 6th, 1968). So fourteen years after segregated schools had been found unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court, Lowndes and Valdosta schools faced a dilemma. That dilemma was whether to maintain their segregated schools and possibly lose hundreds of thousands of federal dollars or desegregate their separate "and unequal" school systems. After months of deliberation, and after Lowndes County Schools lost more than $340,000 of federal funds, the school systems complied with federal law. At the same time, Valdosta has yet to fully comply with regard to minority hiring. To download a copy of the current Consent Order VCS is under click here. Please check back with us because we will be posting a desegregation timeline that documents much of this history in the next week or so.
That complaint, and the investigation and court orders that followed, marked the beginning of "white flight" from Valdosta City Schools. That flight continues to this day. As the chart below shows, since 1968-70 the White population in VCS has consistently declined to its present number of 18%.
(Data source for 1970 and 1982 U.S. Department of Justice)
As for segregated schools within the system, Valdosta school district lines have been drawn in such a way that nearly 1/2 of its schools have student populations that are nearly all Black and low-income.
As you can see, although all schools consist of different racial/ethnic groups, some schools (on the right side above) have high concentrations of low-income Black children. This reality has a number of implications for their education (i.e. exposure to others unlike them, access to resources, etc.).
In addition to the existence of all Black low-income schools, the internal segregation within VCS and the disparities among Black students and other groups is most dramatically noticeable in two other ways, who's identified as "Gifted" and who is placed in "Advanced Placement" courses.
Who's Gifted and Who's Not?
(Graph 1 - Data Source Valdosta Board of Education)
Remembering that VCS is a predominantly Black school system (75% as of 2007), Black students make up less than 50% of students in
gifted programs throughout the system. The chart below shows that as of the 2006-07 school year, Black students made up only 40%
of students in gifted programs while White students accounted for 54% of gifted students.
Although its troubling that in a 75% Black school system Black students only make up 40% of gifted students, it should be noted that this is an improvement in comparison to past years. In 1997 the situation was far worse. Then, with over five thousand Black students in VCS, only 63 were identified as "gifted."
In addition to the overall low numbers of Black gifted students in a majority Black school system, we should also note that the numbers of students identified as gifted is especially low in the segregated, predominantly Black and low-income schools.
| School | Grade Range | Total Student Population |
% Black Student Population | Number of Gifted Students |
| Lomax Pinevale | PK-03 | 610 | 92% | 8 |
| Sallas Mahone | PK-03 | 717 | 48% | 56 |
| S.L. Mason | KK-03 | 627 | 68% | 71 |
| W.G. Nunn | KK-03 | 757 | 91% | 58 |
| Southeast | 04-05 | 449 | 95% | 26 |
| West Gordon | 04-05 | 557 | 66% | 92 |
| Newbern | 06-07 | 578 | 93% | 20 |
| Valdosta Middle | 06-07 | 1030 | 67% | 158 |
| Valdosta High | 9-12 | 1903 | 73% | 113 |
As the table above shows, in the 2006-07 school year predominantly Black schools (with the except of W.G. Nunn), have significantly fewer students who either qualified or have been identified as "gifted."
When we look back at past years we see that the lack of Black students and the over representation of White students is well established.
When we remember that VCS is a largely Black school system the graph above is especially disturbing. Throughout these years White were substantially more likely to be identified as "gifted" in spite of being the numerical minority in VCS.
| School Year | Percentage of
Gifted Students Who Were Black | Percentage
of Gifted Students Who Were White |
| 1996 | 18% | 77% |
| 1997 | 15% | 80% |
| 1998 | 18% | 78% |
| 1999 | 24% | 70% |
| 2000 | 29% | 65% |
| 2001 | 31% | 65% |
| 2002 | 33% | 62% |
| 2003 | 33% | 64% |
As the charts above show, Black students are dramatically underrepresented in all
but one of the seven AP categories.
Isolating the two largest racial groups in VCS (Black and White students) we wind up with the following percentages.
| AP Courses | Black Students | White Students |
| AP World History | 15% | 75% |
| AP European History | 14% | 76% |
| AP Comp/Language | 15% | 72% |
| AP Literature/Comp | 18% | 81% |
| AP U.S. History | 15% | 75% |
| AP Chemistry | 34% | 59% |
| AP Calculus | 48% | 43% |
For students hoping to attend college, S.A.T. scores are crucial because colleges and universities across the nation use these scores to grant or deny admission. If students don't do well it will affect both if and where they can go to college. So doing well is vital because it will help determine whether a student will get into college as well as what schools will admit them.
Turning to the scores of Valdosta High Seniors in 2006-07, and noting that these are the students who have made it to the final stages of their public educational careers, we again see substantial differences between Black and White students.
*Currently no data is available on SAT writing scores for White students so we are not able to chart that data.
Although the Georgia Department of Education does not provide data on how different racial/ethnic groups do on "Total Average S.A.T. Scores," the data above suggests that Total Average S.A.T. Scores of White students will be significantly higher that others in VCS. As we can see in each of the graphs above, White students taking various sections of the SAT do significantly better than their Black peers. They also do better than students in other racial/ethnic groups (keeping in mind the small number of students in those groups).
Again, these differences will be extremely important when students who wish to continue their education start applying to colleges and universities. As one of several factors schools consider (i.e. G.P.A, personal statement, etc.), the higher the score a student makes on their combined S.A.T. the more likely they will be granted admission to a college of their choice.
Who's Graduating with What Credentials?
Before talking about who graduates with what credentials we should first point out as of 2006-07
VCS had a graduation rate
of 57% in comparison to the Lowndes County School's rate of 70%. Like many schools, it is also the case
that senior classes are substantially
small in comparison to the number of students enrolled four years earlier. For instance, the class of 2006-07 had
362 "Total High School Completers." However, four years earlier VCS reported having 598 9th graders enrolled
in the Fall of that year (2003).
This is a difference of 303 students or 51% of that 2003-04 ninth grade class. Currently no detailed information
appears to be available to account for this loss of students.
When you analyze this data along racial lines it becomes more disturbing.
Defined as "a student who leaves high school with a
Regular Diploma (this does not include Certificates of Attendance or Special
Education Diplomas) in the standard time (i.e. 4 years),"
the Georgia Department of Education reported a 49.7% Black student graduation
rate and a 77.9% White student graduation rate for the 2006-07 school year. This means that only 49.7% of Black
9th graders that entered VCS in 2003-04 finished with a regular diploma 4 years later.
This rate is fairly well established when we look at the past five academic years.
| School Year | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
| Black Student Graduation Rate | 41.7%* | 54.4%* | 59.4%* | 47.5%* | 49.7%* |
| White Students Graduation Rate | 75.3%** | 77.7%** | 76.9%** | 74.1% | 77.9%** |
| *Below state average for Black Students in Georgia Schools.
**Above state average for White students in Georgia Schools. | |||||
In all, when looking at this data or the data for past school years, it is clear that in comparison to their white counterparts not only do Black students graduate at drastically lower rates, those that do leave VCS with fewer future options.
Other Academic MeasuresTo view this data for yourself just visit the Valdosta City School's Report Card at the Georgia Department of Education's website. You can do download the complete report by simply clicking here and then clicking the link for the "printable version" to the right of the report card title. Once you have downloaded and opened the report just refer to the page numbers above for the information listed.
When we look at the out of school suspension rates over time, the numbers look similar, large numbers of Black students being sent home.
Who's Retained?
Along with making up a bulk of 12 different disciplinary charges (those include out of school suspensions for longer
than 10 days, juvenile court referrals, alternative school assignments, bus suspensions, etc.). Black students are also disproportionately
retained every year in comparison to other racial groups.
Where Do We Go From Here?
Noting all that has been presented, it is clear that the significant numbers of Black students are "losing
in Winnersville." It is also painfully clearly that this has been happening for some time.
In the upcoming days we will be posting our analysis of this problem. In that analysis we will address the following issues.
We will also be making available a variety of documents (for download) that provide more detailed information about the disparities listed above.
So please take some time to mull over the data presented and check back with us in the future. If you have any questions or comments please send them to us by clicking here.