Also for what it’s worth: The single most powerful influence on a child’s academic performance is his or her home life. Period.

Blame the teacher.
Blame the principal.
Blame the school superintendent.
Blame poverty.

?

If I do poorly, it is somebody else’s fault?

A child who doesn’t come to school should not blame anyone else for not learning what he didn’t hear.
A child who won’t listen to the teacher should not blame the teacher for what he didn’t hear.
A child who is busy picking on some other child should not blame the principal for what he didn’t hear.
A child who refuses to do the assigned work should not blame the school superintendent.

Yes, some teachers do a poor job, that doesn’t mean the students can’t learn.
Sometimes children come from poor families, that doesn’t mean they can’t learn.
Even children of parents who teach that the way through life is to cheat, steal, use drugs to get by, bully other students, even those children can open their eyes and learn.

It’s just harder for them to learn as long as we tell them somebody else is to blame.

David for better students

You answered your own question, It is economics …
“look at the financial/home life of the children coming from the D/F schools”
The Poverty level in Escambia Co. much higher than SR CO.

Also…if you look at the financial/home life of the children coming from the D/F schools, you will see that they are mostly below the poverty line. I have two children in one of these D schools, and I can tell you, it’s not the staff or the curriculum. These kids are only going to do as well as they can when they have much bigger worries at home.

Observe the schools with consistently high grades, their location, enrollment process and a blind man can see the cause of low performing schools and the subsequent grades. Now add the stigma of being classified as low performing and the case for high performance is diminished even more.