Dr. Michael Cormack’s office at Jackson Public School (JPS) System is filled with a wide range of books and educational materials. His impeccably neat space and the resources with which he surrounds himself each day are a testament to the intentionality and focus of this Deputy Superintendent of Jackson Schools—and his unrelenting pursuit of excellence in the school district.
His intentionality is apparent even in his choice of language: Dr. Cormack refers to the young persons served by the school district as “scholars,” immediately addressing what he sees as the greatest challenge facing the school district: Helping not only the learners and their families—but also the entire community—see possibility beyond the challenges.
Indeed, there are obvious challenges for a district that serves a population that knows poverty. Jackson’s WJTV reports that, as of the 2022 Census, Jackson was one of the nation’s most impoverished cities. 2022 Census data shows that 19.1% of Mississippi—and 25.9% of Jacksonians—live in poverty, compared to 11.5% of the U.S. population. WJTV also reported that Jackson’s median household income in 2022 ($42,193) was more than $10,000 lower than the median household income for the state of Mississippi, and that Jackson residents were 25% more likely to lack health insurance than the rest of Mississippi. Dr. Cormack describes JPS as 94% black, with a growing Hispanic/Latinx population. 1.5% of the school system is white, he notes, with many of those students in a high-performing Montessori school and a magnet performing arts academy.
With such daunting statistics and challenges faced by so many of the school district’s scholars, Dr. Cormack acknowledges that “showing up is the first victory.” From there, the school district does its best to connect families to resources to help them begin to believe that their scholars can achieve. Graduation rates have improved dramatically over the course of the past several years – from about 69%, to about 84.3% today.
During Dr. Cormack’s tenure, the goal of the school district’s most recent strategic plan—seats for all four-year-olds in PreKindergarten—has been realized. With the next strategic plan about to kick off, the school system is focused on encouraging post-secondary success and eliminating barriers to continued post-secondary study. To that end, there are multiple dual-enrollment programs, including an Early College High School Program based at Tougaloo College. The Middle College Program based at Jackson State University is geared for students with high math aptitude; those scholars would make a three-year commitment to serve as math teachers in JPS. There is also a dual enrollment program with Hinds Community College, where a Pathways program can help prepare students for continued education at a four-year college/university or career and technical programs geared to help prepare learners for high-skilled, high-demand jobs. Dr. Cormack cites his own daughter as an example of a scholar having completed one of the dual track programs, and earning her Associates degree as she completed high school. With that study already under her belt, she will continue work at University of Mississippi in the fall.
JPS not only faces the challenge of poverty, but also a declining state population. Declining population in the state, combined with a population shift from the city of Jackson to the suburbs, mean that JPS currently serves about 18,000 scholars in 52 schools—a decrease from serving about 24,000 students in 2018.
Dr. Cormack’s message is that, for the health of the school district, JPS must address the realities of a shrinking pool of scholars, and as difficult as the conversation may be, families may face the loss of some familiar schools as JPS manages costs and programming. Consolidation of schools can lead to decreased overhead, and improved programming, throughout the district. He cites as an example the consolidation of two middle schools, one of which had no band program. The consolidated schools now have a solid band program, and all of the students have the opportunity for their education to be enriched by music.
Despite the challenges, Dr. Cormack is encouraged that JPS will continue to exceed expectations and create greater possibilities for young scholars. Over the coming months, we’ll explore the ways that the Diocese of Mississippi is already supporting the state’s public schools and ways in which our partnership can be strengthened. Dr. Cormack is quick to acknowledge that in Jackson, the adopt-a-school program has schools waiting to be paired with adopters, and Arise2Read continues to need reading coaches to help young learners improve their reading skills (The inability of third graders to read at grade level becomes an indicator of inability to graduate from high school; and statistics suggest that individuals having low literacy skills are overrepresented among incarcerated persons.)
We’re interested in sharing how our faith communities throughout the diocese are supporting public schools throughout the state—so please share your stories and photos with Bishop-elect Wells at dwells@dioms.org.