Dear Pitt County Community:
The purpose of this letter is to request your support and participation in a matter that warrants your immediate scrutiny and attention. In December, 2012, the Pitt County Board of Education will submit a report to federal District Court Judge, Malcolm Howard, outlining its progress toward “Unitary Status.” The Judge will subsequently consider whether to lift a more than forty year old federal school desegregation Order.
As the class Plaintiff representative, the Pitt County Coalition for Educating Black Children, has to decide whether we should continue to fight to keep the Court Orders in place and compell Pitt County Schools to stop practicing discrimination against Black children and their families.
The achievement of “Unitary Status” would means that Pitt County Schools has done everything that it possibly could, and has eliminated all vestiges of de jureracial segregation that is possible. In the 2010-2011 school year, Black students in Pitt County experienced a 205 point achievement gap on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) for college entrance, a 40 point achievement gap on grades 3-8 State mandated End-Of-Grade (EOG) test, and increase in the black high school dropout rate of 62% of all Pitt County dropouts in 2008 to 65% of all dropouts in 2011. Black students are 79% of all out of school suspensions. The Black student population has increased to about 50% of all students while the district systematic exclusion of Black teachers results in a teacher workforce of about 15%. The district has made zero progress in increasing the percentage of Black teachers over the past 10 years.
On Saturday, May 5, 2012 at 9:30 a.m. in Room 143 of the Leslie Building, Pitt Community College main campus we will be holding a Community Forum Discussion on the Future of Black Children in Pitt County Schools. We expect to be joined by representatives from the University of North Carolina (UNC) Center for Civil Rights, the National Lawyers Committee on Civil Rights, the State NAACP, and other local leaders. We need you to support and protect Black children in Pitt County.
The future of Black Children in our schools is such a crucial issue that we are personally appealing to Clergy, local business leaders, parents, and the community to come out and hear what’s going on and share your own experiences.
Very sincerely,
Rev. Ozie Lee Hall, Jr., President
Pitt County Coalition for Educating Black Children
P.O. Box 1699
Winterville, NC 28590
See related:
Pitt County Coalition for Educating Black Children
