Southern Public School Students Are Predominantly Poor And Minorities

Southern public schools are the first in the country to have both a poor and minority student majority, The New York Times reported Thursday.

A report by the Southern Education Foundation is concerned that these new numbers will contribute to a cycle of academic under-performance of schools and students in the region. Poor and minority students have generally lower test scores and higher drop out rates than whites, The New York Times described. But educators are still experimenting with how to cater to increased educational needs on such a large scale.

"We've got to figure out how to break the cycle of poverty, and the way we're doing it now isn't working," said Hank M. Bounds, the Mississippi commissioner of higher education and, until recently, the state superintendent of schools. "An affluent 5-year-old has about the same vocabulary as an adult living in poverty."

Read the full story at The New York Times.

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