A Georgia Family Wrestles With School Choice 60 Years After Desegregation

In 1964, Samaria “Cookie” Mitcham Bailey was among the first Black students to desegregate public schools in Macon, Georgia. Sixty years later, her 13-year old great-granddaughter, Zo’e Johnson, attends First Presbyterian Day, a predominantly white private school that opened as white families fled desegregation.

Researchers call schools like these “segregation academies” and say they have diverted funds from public education, perpetuating poverty and inequality.

Cookie hoped that her work desegregating schools would lead to more equal educational opportunities for future generations. Yet, when Zo’e began to have problems at her local public middle school, her family searched for options. Almost all were schools that remain largely segregated.

With the help of a state voucher-like tuition grant, Cookie has paid for Zo’e’s seventh grade year at the school. But she’s not sure she can continue to afford it.

This short documentary explores the challenge the family now faces.

Read their full story here: https://propub.li/4cA9p9Q

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