ST. LOUIS 鈥 The president of the NAACP 狐狸视频 says he filed a civil rights complaint against local schools for academic disparities among Black students and may pursue a federal desegregation lawsuit if their reading scores don鈥檛 improve.
鈥淭he 狐狸视频 region is in a literacy crisis,鈥 Adolphus Pruitt said Tuesday at a press conference at his office on Delmar Boulevard. 鈥淔rom our analysis, all the districts including charter schools have issues as it relates to reading.鈥
Pruitt said the complaint against 34 school districts and charter networks in 狐狸视频 city and county was filed recently with the U.S. Department of Education鈥檚 Office of Civil Rights. He said he didn鈥檛 want to produce a copy of the complaint until all the schools were notified.
Last year, Black students in eight of the districts or charters fell below the Missouri average of 21% of Black students with solid proficiency in language arts: Ferguson-Florissant, Jennings, KIPP, Lift for Life Academy, Momentum Academy, Normandy, Riverview Gardens and SLPS.
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Statewide, Black students score lower on standardized tests in language arts than students learning English as a second language.
The NAACP complaint was based on research by Steve Cartwright, a data consultant for the Opportunity Trust, which subsidizes charter schools. The complaint includes several charters that receive funding from the group: City Garden Montessori, Gateway Science Academy, KIPP, Momentum, North Side Community and 狐狸视频 Language Immersion School.
Several other charter schools were left off the complaint including Kairos Academies in 狐狸视频, where 23% of Black students reached English proficiency, and the Soulard School, where the state redacted test scores to protect the privacy of its 17 Black students.
Earlier this year, the Opportunity Trust awarded Kairos a nearly $2 million federal grant for its high school expansion.
The NAACP complaint included 狐狸视频 Public Schools and all districts in 狐狸视频 County except the Special School District for students with learning disabilities.
The top performing district in the complaint is Bayless in south 狐狸视频 County, where Black students scored higher in English proficiency (46%) than the Missouri average for all students (44%).
鈥淚 hope that we reach an agreement with districts to set and achieve goals,鈥 Pruitt said. 鈥淲e cannot let these kids fail.鈥