The Escambia County Public School District has closed three schools in African-American neighborhoods. The Superintendent would like to add Lincoln Park and A.A. Dixon to his hit list.
The Superintendent isn’t as harsh with schools in white neighborhoods. We’re hearing that A.K. Suter Elementary will be replaced with a new $20-million facility—-even though the school’s attendance zone doesn’t support it. What has kept the little neighborhood school viable is the influx of children from other parts of the District.
Instead of showing leadership and improving the schools, the District’s strategy is to close the ones struggling with FCAT and attendance and send the African-American kids out of their neighborhoods. The predominately-white schools in attendance zones with a shrinking numbers get the new students to shore up their student populations.