Demographic Changes within Cobb & Gwinnett Schools (Atlanta, Sandy Springs: apartment complexes, houses)

[lastminutemom]

I don't think they are all moving intown.

One thing to keep in mind is that Gwinnett has huge schools, elementary schools with 1000+ students are built to keep up with the growth. In many of these schools, there is no longer a racial majority, but by and far most of these schools are populated by home owners. This is very different than the majority minority schools you find in N. Fulton, Sandy Springs, and DeKalb.

[martarider]

Originally Posted by Oregon Transplant

In conclusion there has been a white flight from the schools in these counties and the fact that there is a huge number of black kids coming into the schools that were white before gives me the impression that any where in Atlanta can become Black dominated in a short period of time.

What happened to the White Upper Middle Class White Kids in the greater Atlanta area?

They are enrolled in private schools

[rswlguy]

Originally Posted by GF72

You're kidding right? That Billy Bob analogy may be (somewhat) true out in the farmland or mountains, but certainly not in Atlanta....

Oh yes it is - that is very amusing, are you actually being facetious? .... you simply cannot separate Atlanta from the rest of Georgia. Granted there are some rather unsophisticated people everywhere ... new money doesn't always necessarily equate to sophitication or culture. I can sense a real "hard sell" job going on here once again ...

I personally don't think anyone should give yourself your own report card!

Originally Posted by GF72

Anyway, GA's schools overall may be bad, but the schools in suburban Atlanta are actually very good, even on a country-wide basis.

Your joking, right? Another real hard sell job? Our schools are not horrible however there is a lot of work to be done. I believe that attitude is what it takes to get things done.

Not a single high school made the first 100 out of some of the top ranking public [and private] high schools in the country? Walton HS in Cobb County I believe rated 103 or perhaps. Not sure, couldn't find it.

Gold Medal Schools - US News and World Report

Data was compiled from the following: www.schoolmatters.com

Don't think anyone's buying that, "We don't need [no] help stuff" ... I dislike complacency.

[OhioNative]

Originally Posted by cmtiger

They are all moving intown.

In my experience, many whites in Gwinnett are moving or planning to move to Forsyth. I do not know a single person with kids who has moved in town, at least from Suwanee. Interestingly, we have had a number of African American families move out of the neighborhood since the housing market has declined, including a number of foreclosures. Almost every one has been replaced with a white family (I am not saying that this is a good or bad thing, simply an observation). We have also lost two Hispanic families. It will be interesting to see how the demographics will change or stabilize with the new housing and mortgage realities, especially in an area like Suwanee where there are few apartments or other rental housing.

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by Scraper Enthusiast

Mabry:

2008: 74% white
2004: 89% white
2000: 93% white
1998: 93% white
1994: 94% white
Change: -20 in fourteen years

Originally Posted by Oregon Transplant

What happened to the White Upper Middle Class White Kids in the greater Atlanta area?

Originally Posted by cmtiger

They are all moving intown.

Originally Posted by martarider

They are enrolled in private schools

Oh good grief. In the case of Mabry Middle School, the one school on the list about which I personally know something, as you can see from the list, pretty much all of the demographic change occurred just recently. Gosh, where did all those white students in North-East Cobb suddenly go?

Answer: Nowhere. Mabry became an NCLB "receiver" school, and that brought more African-American enrollment, by bus, from the southwest part of the county. By and large, white middle-class families have not moved in-town, nor have they enrolled their kids in private schools. The demographics of North-East Cobb are still terrifically white. I'm part of that, but I don't see it as anything to celebrate.

[rswlguy]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

Oh good grief. In the case of Mabry Middle School, the one school on the list about which I personally know something, as you can see from the list, pretty much all of the demographic change occurred just recently. Gosh, where did all those white students in North-East Cobb suddenly go?

Answer: Nowhere. Mabry became an NCLB "choice" school, and that brought more African-American enrollment, by bus, from the southwest part of the county. By and large, white middle-class families have not moved in-town, nor have they enrolled their kids in private schools. The demographics of North-East Cobb are still terrifically white. I'm part of that, but I don't see it as anything to celebrate.

RRD what is an "NCLB" school? Davis/Mabry/Lassiter is my district also, but no kids enrolled of my own.

They "bused" other people's children into the school? Good grief is right.

Lord grant me the strength ... just a few more years. Just a few more years...

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by rswlguy

RRD what is an "NCLB" school? Davis/Mabry/Lassiter is my district also, but no kids enrolled of my own.

They "bused" other people's children into the school? Good grief is right.

NCLB is the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Try googling if you want info on the act, generally. I presume you have at least encountered the name before.

One of the provisions of NCLB is that when a school fails to meet specified criteria, students at the failing school (termed a "choice" school) must be offered a choice of non-failing "receiver" schools which they may elect to attend. The act also mandates that bus transportation be provided to the receiver school, at least when the choice school is a Title I school. (I believe Title I means the school has a large proportion of low-income students).

So yes, students are bused to Mabry and other receiver schools from other parts of the county. Isn't this part of the American Way?

[rswlguy]

Originally Posted by RainyRainyDay

NCLB is the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Try googling if you want info on the act, generally. I presume you have at least encountered the name before.

One of the provisions of NCLB is that when a school fails to meet specified criteria, students at the failing school (termed a "choice" school) must be offered a choice of non-failing "receiver" schools which they may elect to attend. The act also mandates that bus transportation be provided to the receiver school, at least when the choice school is a Title I school. (I believe Title I means the school has a large proportion of low-income students).

So yes, students are bused to Mabry and other receiver schools from other parts of the county. Isn't this part of the American Way?

Thanks for the info ... yes, now I remember. I'm all for the best education for all ... if possible. I've sponsored enough young people (including Nieces & Nephews) and some of the underprivileged youngsters of whom I work with their parents.

I truly didn't realize that was going on.

I'm in downtown Philadelphia right now. City of brotherly love. Certainly a well-rounded, cultured, multi-national 1st capital of America. Lots of history. Lots of all kinds of people ... all getting along from my perspective.

Thanks RRD for your info. Best 2 u ... RG

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by mrdkb

Poor - Exactly!!! What was Gwinnett 10-13 years ago, outside of Brookwood, Parkview and Duluth in terms of income. Rural. Middle Income. And Mostly Poor. Dacula 10-13 years ago. Poor. Grayson = Rural poor.

Not so poor now. Not rich either. Mostly middle class and struggling middle class with areas of wealth, usually based on school disctrict but not always (i.e. Greater Atlanta Christain and Wesleyn are in Norcross)

Gwinnett wasn't poor back in 1995-1998. It wasn't rural in most of the county. Anywhere from Duluth southwestward was nearly as suburban as it is today, only there has been a bit more density in the area.

Dacula was semi-rural during this time span, but it was definitely not poor in most areas. It was either middle middle class, or upper middle in the newly emerging Hamilton Mill area.

Grayson wasn't exactly rural either. It was on the edge of Snellville, and was seeing lots of new development. It might have been called exurban at the time, and overall, it wasn't poor. More like middle middle class.

[Scraper Enthusiast]

Originally Posted by rackensack

Ethnic makeup of the populations have changed. That doesn't indicate that it's the cause of any changes (positive or negative) in school quality. What killed the schools in the part of Gwinnett we bailed from a couple of years ago (Nesbit/Lilburn/Meadowcreek) wasn't anyone's skin color, language, or religion, but the ratio of the population that was from single-family, owner-occupied housing vs. multi-family rental housing. As that mix shifted, you had an increasingly transient population with no long-term investment in the community and no motivation to be involved in and supportive of the schools. If we'd completely closed the borders and reinstituted Jim Crow laws but had the same growth-at-any-cost, any-development-is-good-development mentality in the Gwinnett County Commission, we'd have had the same type of results, even if the appearance of the kids would have been somewhat different. I can't speak for other areas, but I saw the transition in Gwinnett first-hand, from the front lines. The middle-class black, Indian, Hispanic, and Somali families in our old neighborhood were just as upset by, and just as affected by, those changes as we were.

There are studies out there that adjust for socioeconomic status, and even middle class blacks (African-Americans to the PC crowd) generally perform lower on tests than poor whites. This is a fact, and it has been documented thoroughly. Look it up.