In 12 of them, teacher salaries are below state average, and teachers won't stay. Overwhelmingly, those districts have low educational levels. Twelve are in counties where more than 40 percent of those 25 and older have no high school diploma or equivalent, according to data from Kids Count, a national child advocacy organization. You end up with vestiges of segregation. School districts that are mainly white and, generally, wealthier continue to succeed in this state.
Measurements are faulty when judging school districts in their totality.
For example, one single well-performing school can raise scores for a whole district. All of those 12 well-performing school districts, except for Sumter 17, have predominantly white student enrollment. The state's patchwork of inequity reaches deep into the fabric of the districts themselves. One school good, one bad. One district good, one bad.