In a brief and conclusory report, the NAACP and IMA place the blame for the failure of African American students to perform squarely on Chapelboro educators, with no mention of any causative or abetting factors coming from outside the school system. Using the Chapelboro state report card, they cite that only 44% of African American students passed both reading and math end-of-grade tests at the elementary level. While this performance is identical to the state average, it’s “far below” the district’s 93% average for “white” students. They also cite that at the high school level, 51% of the African American students on the end-of-course test achieved a passing score compared to 95% passage by white students.

The following areas of educational concerns were presented in a “Public Report Card”: “
1) Eliminating the achievement gap between African American Students and White students;
2) Decreasing suspension and drop-out rate of African American students;
3) Eliminating the use of the courts as venues for disciplining African American students;
4) Diminishing the segregation of Advanced Placement classes;
5) Providing adequate and appropriate professional development for teachers to address the needs of African American children;
6) Recruiting, hiring, supporting, retaining, and promoting teachers and administrators of color, particularly African Americans;
7) Diminishing the early ability grouping of students and tracking them throughout their school careers, especially for African American students;
8) Giving close scrutiny and examination of the curriculum to ensure that the curriculum is aligned with the advancement of the mission of public education-“to serve the public good.”;
9) Publicizing and institutionalizing program that work and make them available for all children;
10) Establishing a strong partnership between the school system and community, especially the African American community; and
11) Diminishing practices and attitudes of staff that use parents’ unavailability or other challenges to avoid equally educating children of color, especially African American children.”

The NAACP and IMA gave failing grades to the city schools in all areas.

City school superintendent Neil Pedersen responded in his “Educator Newsletter” saying, in part, “Our first reaction is to take exception with the report card. While I agree that improvement is not only possible, but necessary, in many of the identified areas, I find the failing grades to be unsupported and insulting to the many dedicated and talented staff members in our district. We have made significant progress in many critical areas, including raising student achievement, reducing suspensions, and increasing our professional understanding of racial issues.”

See Educator Newsletter