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Article published Apr 21, 2004
Forum: Schools still face racial gap

Baker Maultsby
Staff Writer

Nearly 50 years after the Supreme Court decision that brought an end to racial segregation in public schools, there remains a gap in achievement between minority and white students.That reality of life after Brown v. Board of Education dominated a panel discussion Tuesday night at Mary H. Wright Elementary School in downtown Spartanburg.Panel members agreed that poverty is almost always an indicator of poor school performance -- and that in South Carolina the majority of black students are underprivileged.The forum was the fourth and final one in a series commemorating the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board.The series, sponsored by the University of South Carolina Spartanburg, had already looked at the history of the case and the implementation of school integration.On Tuesday, the idea was to share perspectives on how Brown v. Board has shaped modern schools and what challenges lie ahead.Lawsuit inspires debateWith Mayor Bill Barnet moderating, Tuesday's discussion ranged from ways individual schools address poverty to the ongoing lawsuit over the funding received by the state's poorest -- and majority black -- districts.That lawsuit, said University of South Carolina professor Lorin Anderson, is important because it addresses whether many poor children in the state receive an adequate education.In Anderson's view, "adequacy" isn't defined by a fixed dollar amount. Rather, it can only be achieved when students' needs are met.And poor students' needs can be great, panelists agreed.Audrey Grant, assistant superintendent for student services in Spartanburg County School District 7, remarked that many poor students begin school academically deficient. She argued that more should be done to focus resources on early childhood health and education.Charles Ragin, who preceded Grant at District 7, argued that public schools are asked to do so much that many students and parents take education for granted."We're giving them everything," he said. "Students can attend school for nine months, fail, go to summer school for free … and get to the next grade."Mary Wright principal Barbara Whitney said schools have no choice but to offer kids all they can. The challenge, she said, is to create a school atmosphere in which students can be comfortable and confident.Her school, in fact, serves a high concentration of poor and minority students. Fifty years after Brown v. Board, Mary Wright remains largely segregated. But the school has seen marked improvement in recent years on test scores and was hailed Tuesday night as a model."My students are doing well in this setting because they are comfortable in this setting," Whitney said.She added that while reducing poverty should be a goal of politicians and community leaders, educators should not use it as an excuse."If I have a student who starts school in a 5-foot hole, my job is to get that child out of that 5-foot hole," she said.Sid Crumpton, who retired as superintendent in Spartanburg County School District 5 last December, said the only way for poor schools to succeed is for entire communities to support them.He argued that in years past state and local leaders strove to keep poor students from getting ahead. In Crumpton's view, their aim was to maintain an uneducated working class that would guarantee a cheap source of labor in agriculture and textiles.Crumpton also recalled that during the 1980s he was encouraged to take a superintendent's job in Clarendon County, one of the state's poorest. According to Crumpton, the powerful interests in the district were not supportive of public education.He made an impassioned argument against the "South Carolina Put Parents in Charge Act," co-sponsored by Rep. Doug Smith (R-Spartanburg) and touted by Gov. Mark Sanford.Crumpton believes the school choice bill, currently under discussion in the state Legislature, would strip away the support of "power brokers" in many communities, and "it would cause many public schools to become a repository for the poorest and most expensive to educate students. There's no doubt in my mind."Baker Maultsby can be reached at 562-7425 or baker.maultsby@shj.com.