Tyler Reporter

Cherokee County schools enrolled 7,359 students who identified as economically disadvantaged in the state during the 2022-23 school year, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Of the 11,160 students enrolled in Cherokee County schools, 65.9% were considered economically disadvantaged. This is less than 0.1 increase over the previous school year.

Cherokee County enrolled the 58th highest number of students identified as economically disadvantaged among Texas counties.

Education in Texas is often a hot button issue, especially as test scores lag behind other states.

"The problems commonly cited are flaws in the school financing system, relatively low teacher salary, poor test performance by students...dropouts from traditional schools in favor of charter schools...gun violence, and mental health issues," claimed the Texas Almanac.

School	Number of Economically Disadvantaged Students	Total Number of Students
Jacksonville High School	1,034	1,331
Jacksonville Middle School	562	711
Nichols Intermediate School	544	666
Fred Douglass	544	623
Joe Wright Elementary School	489	542
East Side Elementary School	473	615
New Summerfield School	419	515
Rusk High School	390	610
West Side Elementary School	387	404
Rusk Junior High School	309	478
G.W. Bradford Primary School	293	376
Rusk Elementary School	213	288
Bullard High School	211	848
Rusk Intermediate School	205	303
Wells School	172	259
Bullard Primary School	159	401
Alto Elementary School	154	208
Bullard Elementary School	154	434
Bullard Middle School	150	459
Alto Middle School	139	167
Alto High School	125	161
Bullard Intermediate School	111	435
Bullard Early Childhood	105	309
Compass Center	17	17