Justin Pearson, 15, Tells Memphis School Board He & Many Students Didn't Have Textbooks for 11 Weeks, Principal to be Reprimanded

Justin Pearson, an African American student at Mitchell High School in Memphis, should be applauded for alerting the school board that he and many other students were without a government textbook for the first 11 weeks of school. According to the Commercial Appeal, Pearson told the school board that he and hundreds of his peers at Mitchell High still had few textbooks. What's equally deplorable is the fact that district officials confirmed that most of the missing books were found in school storage. Where's the oversight? Who dropped the ball? Mitchell principal, Howard Smith, will reportedly receive a letter of reprimand for failing to follow district directives. Sorry, he should be fired for his negligence.

Every principal across the district has been asked to prove that books have been distributed or are on order; they have until the end of the week to provide the documentation.

On Tuesday, a handwritten note on a whiteboard in an English classroom at Mitchell summed up one teacher's sentiments: "Congratulations! Mr. Smith has ordered you to take your Writers Choice book home."

But even that was mysterious, Pearson said, "because until Tuesday, we were using a literature book in class. It was the wrong book."

Pearson, 15, told the school board that he wanted "the opportunity to go to the Air Force Academy. "I am not a failure. I will not allow anyone to say I cannot succeed," he said, asking how he could be expected to do his work without books. "I don't understand it all," he said Wednesday. "But if I had not spoken, we would still not have textbooks. That's the scary part." Source: Commercial Appeal

How can these students be expected to succeed if they aren't given the proper tools to learn? I have to wonder out loud, how many predominantly white schools in Memphis have had this problem? If Justin Pearson didn't speak up, then this would have gone on for a few more weeks. To put it simply, this is a disgrace.