School choice is a term for education options that allow students and families to select alternatives to public schools. It is the subject of fierce debate in various state legislatures across the United States.
Meridian is the eighth most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, with a population of 35,052 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Lauderdale County and the principal city of the Meridian, Mississippi Micropolitan Statistical Area. Along major highways, the city is 93 mi (150 km) east of Jackson; 154 mi (248 km) southwest of Birmingham, Alabama; 202 mi (325 km) northeast of New Orleans, Louisiana; and 231 mi (372 km) southeast of Memphis, Tennessee.
Jackson Academy is a private school in Jackson, Mississippi founded by Loyal M. Bearrs in 1959. Bearrs claimed he established the school to teach using an accelerated phonics program he developed, but the school remained completely racially segregated until 1986, even forgoing tax exemption in 1970 to avoid having to accept Black students.
Segregation academies are private schools in the Southern United States that were founded in the mid-20th century by white parents to avoid having their children attend desegregated public schools. They were founded between 1954, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools were unconstitutional, and 1976, when the court ruled similarly about private schools.
Briarcrest Christian School (BCS) is a private, coeducational, Christian school in Eads, an unincorporated area of Shelby County, Tennessee. The school was founded as a segregation academy during the racial integration of public schools in Memphis, Tennessee. Today, it serves students in kindergarten through 12th grade. The school also offers "early school" for ages 2-4.
Parklane Academy is a private K-12 Protestant school located in McComb, Mississippi. It was founded in 1970 as a segregation academy. Parklane Academy is a member of the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools (MAIS). As of 2023, the elementary school principal is Linda Love, the high school principal is Jill Jackson, and the superintendent is Jack Henderson.
Hammond School, originally James H. Hammond Academy, is a pre-K through 12 private school in Columbia, South Carolina. The school, which was founded in 1966 as a segregation academy, is known for its athletic and academic accomplishments. The school's namesake, James Henry Hammond – a brutal slaveholder known for his sexual exploitation of enslaved women – has been a source of enduring controversy.
The Indianola Academy is a K-12 private school in Indianola, Mississippi founded as a segregation academy. Indianola Academy comprises an elementary school, a middle school, and a college preparatory high school. Indianola Academy is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit institution. As of 2012 most white teenagers in Indianola attend Indianola Academy instead of the public high schools.
Bayou Academy is a non-profit school located in unincorporated Bolivar County, Mississippi, near the City of Cleveland on Highway 8. The school serves about 500 students in grades Pre-Kindergarten through 12. The school is accredited by the Midsouth Association of Independent Schools.
North Sunflower Academy is a private school, founded to provide a segregated education for white students in unincorporated Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta area, between Ruleville and Drew. The school has grades Kindergarten through 12. As of 2002, the school draws students from Doddsville, Drew, Merigold, Ruleville, Schlater, Tutwiler, and Webb.
Tunica Academy is a K-12 non-denominational Christian private school located in unincorporated Tunica County, Mississippi, near Tunica. The school was founded in 1964 and has been described as a segregation academy. Tunica Academy is an accredited member of the Mississippi Private School Association.
The Mississippi Delta region has had the most segregated schools—and for the longest time—of any part of the United States. As recently as the 2016–2017 school year, East Side High School in Cleveland, Mississippi, was practically all black: 359 of 360 students were African-American.
This is a timeline of the civil rights movement in the United States, a nonviolent mid-20th century freedom movement to gain legal equality and the enforcement of constitutional rights for people of color. The goals of the movement included securing equal protection under the law, ending legally institutionalized racial discrimination, and gaining equal access to public facilities, education reform, fair housing, and the ability to vote.
Starkville Academy (SA) is a private kindergarten through 12th grade school in Starkville, Mississippi, operated by the Oktibbeha Educational Foundation. It was founded in 1969 on property adjacent to Starkville High School as a segregation academy.
The Mississippi Red Clay region was a center of education segregation. Before the Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954, Mississippi sponsored freedom of choice policies that effectively segregated schools. After Brown, the effort was private with some help from government. Government support has dwindled in every decade since. In the state capital, Jackson, some public schools were converted to white-only Council schools. Today, some all-white and mostly-white private schools remain throughout the region as a legacy of that period.
Central Academy (CA) was a private school in Macon, Mississippi, at 300 Hale Street. It was founded in 1968 as a segregation academy. Central closed in 2017, citing dropping enrollments. The population of Noxubee County had dropped in every decade since 1940.
East Holmes Academy (EHA) was a segregation academy in West, Mississippi. The school was founded in 1965 and closed in 2006. In 1989, EHA received national attention after two incidents involving alleged racial discrimination.
Canton Academy is a private school in Canton, Mississippi, which was established in 1970 to preserve racial segregation in schools.
Saints Academy was a private 1-12 school in Lexington, Mississippi, the county seat of Holmes County. Founded by the Church of God in Christ in 1918 as the Saints Industrial and Literary School, a school for black children in a segregated environment, it gradually expanded. Under principal Arenia Mallory from 1926-1977, the school added grades until it provided classes through high school. It had a national reputation for its strong academics and attracted students from outside the region, including from families who had migrated north.
Coffey v. State Educational Finance Commission (1969) was a federal case that addressed state support of segregation academies in Mississippi. More broadly, it established the standards the Internal Revenue Service would use to determine the tax-exempt status of private schools based on their segregation policies.
