A reader who grew up in Clinton, Mississippi, shared this story, which appeared in the Hechinger Report. She was in third grade when the district integrated its schools and made the fateful decision to pursue equity for all students.

In 2016, half of all black students in Mississippi attended school in a district rated D or F; 86 percent of the students in those districts were black. In districts rated F, more than 95 percent of the student population was black.

Only one majority-black district in Mississippi earned an A on the state’s annual A–F rating scale. An apparent anomaly on a list of top school districts that is mostly white and largely affluent, including neighboring Madison County and Rankin County Public School districts, Clinton Public Schools managed to excel against the odds. It’s a sign that the Clinton district, located in a small but bustling suburb of Jackson, is on the right track to closing the black-white achievement gap and raising achievement levels for black students.

That gap is wide: Data from the state Department of Education shows the achievement gap between white and black students in Mississippi is 28 percent, larger than the gaps for other traditionally disadvantaged subgroups in the state, including those between English speakers and English-language learners and between students in special education and general education, according to Mississippi Department of Education data. The achievement gap between students who do and do not live in poverty is second highest, at 27 points.

Clinton’s ability to narrow these gaps is due, in part, to the district’s intentional integration. And though Clinton is far from being a post-racial mecca, students and administrators say that effort pays off. There are no black schools or white schools in Clinton. In a district that is about 53 percent black and 39 percent white, children share the same resources, teachers, and the same well-stocked classrooms and school buildings, regardless of their race or economic status….

Philip Burchfield, the district’s former superintendent, says the district has been purposeful about seeking equity for its students. For decades, it has placed students into schools arranged by grade level instead of by neighborhood to achieve greater diversity, a strategy born in response to a 1970 desegregation order. (The city of Clinton includes a majority-black neighborhood within its borders, and roughly 38 percent of Clinton’s residents are black.)

“Our school system doesn’t have a neighborhood school of the haves and a neighborhood school of the have-nots,” said Burchfield, who retired as superintendent in June. “We always said if we start our kids off in Clinton it makes no difference; we’re going to give them the resources they need to be successful.”

Clinton can also attribute its success to the relatively low number of students living in poverty. Although about 40 percent of students receive free and reduced-price lunch, the poverty level in the city is 15.5 percent. Statewide, the poverty level for children is nearly double that. Superintendent Martin says the district doesn’t receive a “huge amount” of Title I funding to support its low-income students, but funnels money it does get toward helping students in kindergarten through fifth grade, and on acquiring intervention teachers.