Thread by @ProPublica

1/ Charlottesville greeted the Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education desegregation decision with a firm no.

Time has passed, but the legacy lives on when you look at achievement and discipline data for public schools. propub.li/2OyBSGX

2/ Here’s a look at Charlottesville’s other Jim Crow legacy: separate and unequal education. The district spends $16,000 per pupil but has one of the widest education achievement gaps in the U.S. propub.li/2OyBSGX

3/ Black students in Charlottesville lag on average about three and a half grades behind their white peers in reading and math, compared to a national gap of about two grades.

4/As white enrollment in the Charlottesville’s schools contracted over the years, the gifted program tripled in size, largely benefitting the white families who remained.
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5/ Former school board member Dede Smith recalls a 2003 effort by black parents to get their kids into predominantly-white school @VenableAllStars - blocks away from their homes.

The white parents “freaked,” Smith recalls. propub.li/2OyBSGX

6/ In 2004, a scathing audit found stark racial disparities in the schools, and pushed for increasing black student access to high-level academic programs like gifted and advanced placement courses. The audit was dismissed by the community. propub.li/2OyBSGX

7/ Lisa Woolfork, an associate professor at @UVA and parent, thinks that gifted programs are used to keep white people from removing their kids from public schools:

“This is a way that white supremacy undergirds the public school system.”

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8/ Last year, even the city’s immigrant students who are learning English out-performed black students on state exams in every subject. propub.li/2OyBSGX

9/ Based on school zoning, Zyahna attended a majority white elementary school, while Trinity went to a predominantly black elementary school — both in Charlottesville. The accident of geography shaped their futures.

Read more here: propub.li/2OyBSGX

10/ School leaders, however, say socioeconomic differences account for the achievement gap -- the vast majority of Charlottesville’s black students qualify for free or reduced-price meals at school. propub.li/2OyBSGX

11/ In the US, some of the most extreme achievement disparities between white and black students take root in college towns. Charlottesville, VA, home to @UVA and with a separate and unequal legacy still intact, is no exception.

12/ What about your school? ProPublica built an interactive database to examine racial disparities at public and charter schools.

Look up your own school or school district here: propub.li/2RUs4Fm