Some in the Escambia County School District administration offices will privately say that problems with Escambia schools are tied to race – too many minority students.
It’s time we bust that myth.
Inweekly analyzed Florida districts that had over 10,000 students and a minority of white students. Only two of 16 districts performed worse than Escambia County.
Escambia County School District’s student population was 46.8% white for the 2018-19 school year. Collier (32.9% white), Miami-Dade (6.7%), Palm Beach (30.3%), Alachua (42.6%) and Orange (25.3%) had smaller percentages of white students and earned A’s.
| District | Points | % | Grade | # Students | White | W % | |
| 1 | COLLIER | 716 | 65 | A | 47,436 | 15,630 | 32.9% |
| 2 | MIAMI-DADE | 698 | 63 | A | 350,456 | 23,360 | 6.7% |
| 3 | PALM BEACH | 697 | 63 | A | 194,186 | 58,779 | 30.3% |
| 4 | ALACHUA | 677 | 62 | A | 29,845 | 12,718 | 42.6% |
| 4 | ORANGE | 677 | 62 | A | 209,114 | 52,829 | 25.3% |
| 6 | ST. LUCIE | 669 | 61 | B | 41,418 | 13,305 | 32.1% |
| 7 | LEON | 672 | 61 | B | 33,978 | 14,054 | 41.4% |
| 8 | DUVAL | 673 | 61 | B | 130,245 | 43,768 | 33.6% |
| 9 | MANATEE | 671 | 61 | B | 49,310 | 22,532 | 45.7% |
| 9 | BROWARD | 671 | 61 | B | 270,978 | 53,185 | 19.6% |
| 11 | HILLSBOROUGH | 656 | 60 | B | 220,257 | 72,399 | 32.9% |
| 12 | LEE | 646 | 59 | B | 94,417 | 36,335 | 38.5% |
| 13 | OSCEOLA | 639 | 58 | B | 68,561 | 15,524 | 22.6% |
| 14 | ESCAMBIA | 606 | 55 | B | 39,974 | 18,724 | 46.8% |
| 15 | POLK | 598 | 54 | B | 105,673 | 40,950 | 38.8% |
| 16 | HIGHLANDS | 569 | 52 | C | 12,333 | 5,197 | 42.1% |
For these 16 districts, only Highlands, Leon and Escambia have elected superintendents.
“But wait, Rick”–some of at the Hall Center and the District Palace on Pace might say–“it’s the black students.”
For the 2018-19 school year, Florida had six school districts with over 10,000 students, of which more than 30 percent were African American.
Alachua County had 34.2% black student population and is a A district.
Duval (43.4%), Leon (43.7%), Broward (38.8%) and St. Lucie (31.1%) missed being A districts by one percentage point.
Escambia County (35.1%) had the lowest score of the six districts.
The issue isn’t race. It’s racism at the district level.
The district administration and Superintendent Malcolm Thomas don’t know how to set up schools that teach minority students well.
| Rank | District | Points | % | Grade | # Students | Black | B % |
| 1 | ALACHUA | 677 | 62 | A | 29,845 | 10,204 | 34.2% |
| 2 | DUVAL | 673 | 61 | B | 130,245 | 56,513 | 43.4% |
| 3 | LEON | 672 | 61 | B | 33,978 | 14,851 | 43.7% |
| 4 | BROWARD | 671 | 61 | B | 270,978 | 105,259 | 38.8% |
| 5 | ST. LUCIE | 669 | 61 | B | 41,418 | 12,891 | 31.1% |
| 6 | ESCAMBIA | 606 | 55 | B | 39,974 | 14,023 | 35.1% |
Of these six districts, only Leon and Escambia have elected superintendents.