Over 70 years after the nationwide end of school segregation, data shows that racial disparities persist in Mississippi’s public education system.
Mississippi has historically struggled with racial issues, and school desegregation wasn’t enforced in the state until 1970, 16 years after the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision. As of 2024, 30 school districts in Mississippi remain under desegregation orders. The U.S. Department of Education’s (DOE) Civil Rights Data Collection highlights further discrepancies in academic achievement among the state’s students.
Data from 2020-2021 reveals that African Americans constitute 48.5% of the state’s public school students, while white students account for 43%. However, African Americans represent 58.1% of all students who repeat grades statewide, compared to 34.2% for white students.
Both locally and nationally, African Americans are disproportionately held back in school. Here are the numbers for public school districts in Jackson:
