Report: Racial history fuels some backlash against district
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – A new report says some of the backlash against the state’s Achievement School District is rooted in the historical experience of Memphis and the history of highly charged racial dynamics in the River City.
The independent analysis says the experiences that African-Americans in Memphis faced with discrimination, segregation and desegregation and white flight shape the lens by how some Memphians feel about the state takeover of some schools.
The goal of the ASD is to move the bottom 5 percent of schools in Tennessee to the top 25 percent in five years.
The state-run district is currently composed of 29 schools, 27 in Memphis and two in Nashville, and has about 10,000 students.
The Report by the Tennessee Consortium on Research, Evaluation and Development says the district needs to build support.
