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School choice and history of segregation collide as Florida county closes rural schools

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MADISON, Fla. (AP) — Tens of hundreds of students have left Florida public schools in recent times amid an explosion at school choice, and now districts large and small are grappling with the financial strain of empty seats in aging classrooms.

As some districts face school closures, school administrators are facing one other long-overlooked problem: tips on how to integrate students in racially and economically segregated buildings.

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In northwest Florida, one small district plans to merge its last three independent elementary schools into one campus since it doesn’t have enough students to cover the fee of keeping the doors open. But the Madison County School District’s decision to accomplish that has exposed racial tensions in a community where some white families have opposed public school integration for years.

“It’s a taboo subject that no one wants to talk about,” county school board member Katie Knight told The Associated Press.

“At the end of the day, these kids are going to have to interact with all people, regardless of race, ability, personality type,” she said. “Trying to segregate our kids is not an option.”

Segregation, integration, consolidation

Shirley Joseph grew up in segregated schools in Florida and was a black student in a single of the primary integrated classes at a neighborhood highschool.

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Now, as superintendent of Madison County Public Schools, her job is to shut some of them.

In this rural county within the state’s former cotton belt, fewer than 1,700 students remain in traditional public schools. Many families have moved to places with more jobs and housing — or have chosen other types of education. For those that remain, the schools provide greater than just an education: All Madison students qualify at no cost meals because of the county’s poverty rate. One in three children there lives in poverty.

“If we want to survive as a district,” Joseph said, “we have to make tough decisions.”

Earlier this month, Joseph walked through elementary school hallways on a recent first day of school, mentioning empty classroom after empty classroom.

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One of the schools slated to shut is Greenville Elementary, which has fewer than 100 students — a few third of its capability. When Florida schools were officially segregated, Joseph attended classes there at what was then called the Greenville Training School.

Generations of black residents cherish the legacy of the college within the small town of Greenville where legendary musician Ray Charles grew up.

More than 50 years after desegregation, the college continues to be 85 percent black. Class sizes have shrunk as the college struggles to retain certified teachers. The school’s grades have fluctuated across the state, but Greenville has received an “F” grade five times prior to now decade for low student achievement rates.

When an Associated Press reporter visited recently, fourth-grade teacher Mannika Hopkins had just eight students in her class.

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“I hate that it’s closing. It’s my heart. It’s our community. … It’s us,” Hopkins said. “Who wants to move to a community that doesn’t have a school nearby?”

Starting next yr, Greenville will merge with Lee and Pinetta elementary schools, which have mostly white students. All those students shall be sent to Madison County Central School, a mostly black K-8 campus that could be a 15- to 20-minute drive from the realm elementary schools. The district has not yet announced which teachers will transfer to the merged school and which is able to lose their jobs.

School choice causes drop in enrollment

Madison County is an hour east of Tallahassee, in a region once dominated by cotton and tobacco plantations. A Confederate soldier monument still looms over the central park within the county seat of Madison.

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The area has been short of students for years as the birth rate drops, businesses close and families move to places with more jobs outside the lumber industry, trucking and jobs on the nearby state prison.

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Other families remained but simply left public schools.

For a long time, Aucilla Christian Academy in neighboring Jefferson County has attracted some of the realm’s wealthiest families. Founded in 1970, Aucilla opened amid a wave of recent private schools across the South, founded by white people against integration. Academics call them “segregation academies,” and many remain majority white. In the 2021-2022 school yr, greater than 90% of Aucilla’s students were white, in line with federal data.

Madison families have opposed consolidation prior to now: In 1998, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights stepped in when residents opposed plans to send students from mostly white Lee Elementary to Central, a college that may soon accept elementary students from the county. After the department got involved, the district moved forward with the plan.

Today, it could never have been easier to go away Florida’s public schools behind. The chaos of COVID-19 has forced many families to try homeschooling or micro-schooling — small, private learning environments that always serve multiple families. And now, under Gov. Ron DeSantis, all Florida students can qualify for taxpayer-funded vouchers value about $8,000 a yr to cover private school tuition, regardless of household income.

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For families against Madison consolidation, Aucilla is a possible destination, as is Madison Creative Arts Academy, a public charter school.

The parents of 9-year-old Noel Brouillette are hopeful she’s going to get a spot on the academy. It’s not about race, said her mother, Nicole Brouillette, but relatively the popularity of the Black Central school, which has more fights. If Noel doesn’t get into the charter school, the family could leave Madison County altogether.

The fourth-grade student is devastated that she will’t stay at Pinetta Elementary School.

“If I had never come here, I would never have met my best friend,” she said.

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Other parents are considering homeschooling, like Alexis Molden. She said her sons love going to Lee Elementary, but she’s heard rumors about Central — that multiracial kids like hers are bullied there.

“I’ve heard that… it’s basically segregation,” Molden said. “You have white kids, black kids, and then the mixed kids have to decide which side they’re going to be on.”

School board member Katie Knight said if she had a dollar for each rumor she heard about Central, she could retire.

However, the county has its own history.

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When Shirley Joseph, the present principal of Madison County High School, a long time ago, said her students would sort themselves as they entered her classroom — white kids on one side, black kids on the opposite — until she told them to change seats.

“We have to figure out, somehow, ‘How do we connect communities?’” Joseph said.

There’s all the time talk of leaving public schools, Joseph said, but she believes most families will stay. In the meantime, she’s focused on providing the very best education possible to the scholars she has — those that can’t leave.

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This article was originally published on : thegrio.com

Lifestyle

Can Cadillac recover black consumers with an electric vehicle?

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Cadillac


Written by Kimatni D. Rawlins

When the mobility sector continues the multi -faceted transition to electric vehicles (EV), we will look back on the history of the Black Car Consumer romance with Cadillac. It began in the course of the great crisis within the Thirties with an unwritten guideline for Cadillac dealers to refrain from selling black consumers who were in love with the brand. At that point, Cadillac’s sale was gloomy.

However, the German immigrant and mechanic Cadillas Nicholas Drestadt noticed that the extensive variety of wealthy black owners, including lawyers, athletes, singers and doctors, waited within the areas of services he visited throughout the country. Dreystadt learned that that they had paid white men for the acquisition of vehicles. In this manner, Cadillac set a plan to reject discrimination policy and sell directly to those wealthy black individuals who the corporate obliged. The goal was to directly satisfy the minority to extend sales. Yes, his 18-month plan operated in accordance with other tactics, similar to reducing production costs and increasing the scale.

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As you possibly can imagine, Dreystadt’s profession went to the pinnacle of the Cadillac division, while Black Reverence for Cadillac remained. Outstanding vehicles were recorded in a well-liked culture by black musicians and honored by celebrities similar to Redd Foxx, Jackie “Moms” Mabley and the famous Sugar Ray Ray Ray Ray Boxer, who was happy with his pink Cadillac convertible; And let’s not ignore Areth Franklin, who also favored the vehicle: “Driving a highway of love in pink Cadillac.”

Then there was “Cadillac Boogie” by Jimmy Liggins, “Maybellene” Chuck Berry and “Diamond in the Back” Curtis Mayfield, who was again imagined by the song Ludacris from 2003. From the exquisite Coupe Deville to the changing Escalade game, which took over 2000, Cadillac has all the time attracted the eye of black culture. The GM Luxury Department will try the identical with the prolonged EV line, including Escalade IQ and Optiq.

With two clear OPTIQ finishes to pick from, luxury and sport, MSRP starts from $ 54,000. The owners of Cadillac New Crossovery EV can expect 20 standard security systems, a 33-inch 9K resolution display, built-in Google entertainment and standard Dolby Atmos software for a non-standard 19-year AKG audio system. Unfortunately, Cadillac not works with Apple Carplay, so there will probably be a turns of learning, due to which the atmosphere consists between the artist and the mixture, and the mixture that retains the mixture. 3D listening. You need Amazon Music, Apple Music or Tidal to stream Dolby Atmos because unfortunately they haven’t got a Spotify partnership.

Apparently illuminating the “Cadillac Crest Grill” Optiq is lower and younger. Vertical LED headlights and 4-Taillampa strategy emphasize the design flow, and the roof with a solid glass with an influence shade introduces natural energy into the cabin. Specific design elements, including 20-inch aerodynamic alloy wheels, low-resistance tires on all-year-round, and ventilated rear spoiler are also functional by way of increased resistance to wind.

Behind the wheel of Optiq moves with energy in a straight line, similar to most EVs, no matter whether it’s EQE SUV Mercedes or Audi Q6 E-TRON, but it surely goes into bends similar to sprinters, burning across the arch of the 200-meter race, due to the consistent suspension and vectorizing AWD Torque. You also can compare OPTIQ manners with the very respected IX BMW.

The 85 kWh battery sends electricity to 2 engines that produce 300 horsepower. Cadillac states that 79 miles rangc and will probably be restored in about 10 minutes Using a public fast DC charger. However, most EV owners will install a charger at level 2 of their homes, identical to me, for convenience and performance.

The internal finish of the Optiq door accompanies fabric from recycled materials, similar to polyester yawning with improved Paperwood veneer, consisting of equal parts of the recycling of newspapers and Tulipwood. No starter button is required, because EV lights up when it synchronizes with the important thing after entering the cabin. The floating center console allows for more storage, and 126-colored ambient lighting sets the driving temperament, which ought to be energizing and involved when pushing EV.

Monarch Orange, Black Raven and Red Tintcoat radiant These are several color options to precise your separate EV personality. When you approach a brand new electrical driving, the choreographed lighting and grille sequence begins from the headlights and grille and lasts across the elegant Optiq construction.

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Today, 90% of all memories of Escalade in music come from rap songs. Therefore, Cadillac’s rush in hip-hop culture continues to be confirmed by several media, including Escalade IQ ft. Big Boi Campaign, Lucky Daye and Rising R&B Star Kirby. What’s more, engaging conversations with cultural icons similar to world traveler Jessica Napongo in driving experience Black cultural festivals Let Cadillac introduce electrical education and awareness of assorted markets.

Thanks to the deep list and historical Foundation, Mark Cadillac is meant for every type of automotive consumers. Therefore, this will not be your father or mother’s cadillac. “Although you can’t lead the great Cadillac, Diamond at the back, sunroof, kick scenes with slim gangsta!”

While luxurious automotive manufacturers are still introducing latest EVs with impressive patterns, advanced innovations and increased battery range, Cadillac directs EV traffic with an extensive list of sports performers. The latest recruit, called Optiq, goes to the sphere with 302 miles of range, double engines, all -wheel drive, Super Cruise technology and the Dolby Atmos audio system.

Cadillac offers seven EV for a wide range of clientele: Optiq, Lyriq, Lyriq-V, Vistiq, Escalade IQ, Escalade IQL and Celestiq. The IQ label represents the strategic movement of the American manufacturer to products based on surnames for the EV range. This turn point is in line with nature, people and machines. For example, Optiq was revealed by the optical relationship between color, form and lightweight. However, Cadillac doesn’t quit gas engines; Leadership is ready just for the longer term, because global warming, renewable energy and climate change remain essential topics of dialogue.

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(Tagstranslatate) electric vehicles

This article was originally published on : www.blackenterprise.com
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Gayle King says that the next element on her wish list is marriage

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The next great adventure of Gayle King? Walking after passing … I hope. After a fast detours into space at the starting of this month with a controversial but historical flight of blue origin, King returns on earth, but her dreams of the future are still orbiting.

During the performance at the “Time 100” gala, the journalist jokingly shared a few of her wishes from her position.

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“Wedding” – said King People magazineAsked what would occur next on her wish list. “No, piercing my ears.”

Now the king is not foreign to marriage. The 70-year-old co-host of “CBS Mornings” married her ex-husband, William Bumpus, in 1982–1993, with whom she shares two children, Kirby Bumpus, 38 years old, and William Bumpus Jr., 37 years old. And although King maintained the level of privacy about who he was arranging, she was refreshed, she was open to the headlight.

“The fight is real! If I could go to the dating application, and people did not know that it was me, but I think it is difficult when you are a public figure,” she said about Tamron Hall ShowExplaining how often it is to satisfy a friend of a friend, in search of potential suitors.

And in terms of its type, King says that she is interested by dating the younger ones, but not too young.

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“I don’t want to make an appointment with someone I could give birth,” she emphasized. “I don’t want to be a nurse or a purse. I would like to (if) all teeth. It would be nice … You want someone who is celebrating you, who is excited to you, who is very convenient in your own skin.”

And although he wants to search out his person, King explained that he is not desperate or hurried.

“I believe that this happens when you have it,” said King Interview with Sherri Shepherd. “However, God lasts a little longer than I thought.”

“But you know that my life is good. I don’t sit here with my fingers crossed and feel sorry for myself, I don’t have it, but I believe that life is always better when it is divided,” she concluded.

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Gayle King becomes

(Tagstranslat) love and relationship

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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Patrick Mahomes explains why he cut his “diapers” and the internet has several thoughts

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Patrick Mahomes has a brand new one: a shorter, more elegant cut on top with a slight atrophy on the sides and back.

The 29-year-old quarterback of the NFL opened on what inspired him to cut off the curls, which he historically refused until now, during the last virtual interview Todd Labo of Sports Radio 810 WHB.

According to the player Kansas City Chiefs, one among the reasons why he wouldn’t cut his hair before, was the superstition about the winning series of Super Bowl. However, the band lost to Philadelphia Eagles during the Super Bowl Lix.

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“Yes, I mean, I wanted to do it for some time, but it was a kind of one of these superstitions,” said Mahomes. “I was still winning a super bowl, which is a good thing, but I don’t want to cut my hair when I did it. I told everyone in the season, win or lose. I get a hairstyle. That’s enough. I’m enough. I’m very excited.”

He added that looking back at his days with longer hair, “I can’t believe that let me keep these diapers for so long.”

Mahomes said that he looks “much better” with shorter hair and intends to maintain it in this manner “in the future”.

Believe or not, reactions to his latest hair and his reasoning behind them were mixed. While many fans of skilled players have a good time a fresh spring cut, some appear to prefer longer hair. There are also others who publicly query the use of the word “diapers”.

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AND User on x He said, “Calling your natural hair as” diapers? “Really?

A debate on whether Mahomes, who identifies as a biograph and has a black father and a white mother, may even consider his hair texture as a “diaper”. For a transparent date, in relation to hair is Dreagtors, which used to explain hair with extremely tight curls or breakdowns.

“Oh no. Mahomes here thinking that his hair was diapers? Who (he was) nearby. He (of course) does not know the nap,” he said One user for x.

Finally, there are those that perceive this as more ammunition to advertise their team, Philadelphia Eagles and his playmaker Super Bowl.

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“Jalen Hurts never” – wrote the user in the post Threads.

Patrick Mahomes collects leaders for the second title Super Bowl, 25-22 over 49ers in extra time

(Tagstotransate) lifestyle

This article was originally published on : thegrio.com
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