#1?

Last Thursday, Dr. Boyd came to talk to us about education, poverty and race in Mississippi. One of the most interesting things that Dr. Boyd showed was the list of statistics comparing median household income, % poverty and NAEP reading scores by state. Not surprisingly, Mississippi ranked last or second to last for every category, but I was also interested in where my own homestate (Massachusetts) ranked on the list. I was surprised to find that Massachusetts was #1 for both the NAEP Scale Score and for NAEP Proficient and Advanced Scores. These results weren't completely shocking, but they were deceptive in that they failed to show the educational disparities which do exist in Massachusetts. As someone who actually lives in the city of Boston, I can safely say that Boston Public standards are not always up to par (they only made a hit TV show cleverly named Boston Public which details the grittiness of Boston public education). The stats may accurately depict the statewide scoring, but the difference between what kids learn in Boston Public Schools and Belmont or Wellesley Public is as clear as night and day. From what I've learned here in MS, I have now doubt that Boston public is still miles ahead of public schools in Mississippi and other parts of the nation where education is a serious problem; nonetheless, the disparities that exist in MS in terms of education are the same ones that exist in Boston. Although Massachusetts is predominately white, many parts of Boston are predominately black and minority communities, not surprisingly many of these areas are also low-income areas. The intersection of poverty, race and education which is paramount throughout Mississippi is also apparent in these ares of Boston where black students experience the lowest quality of education in the state.

Overall Dr. Boyd's statistics and presentation on race, education, and poverty in Mississippi taught me something which many of our speakers have conveyed this summer, which is that the problems in Mississippi are problems people face everywhere. Even though Massachusetts ranks #7 for median household income and #10 for %poverty compared to Mississippi's #50 ranking for both categories, it's clear that race, poverty, and education interact similarly throughout the nation.