Leaders decry schools' efforts to integrate black children

Early edition: A coalition is pressing Pinellas school officials to set a timetable for closing the achievement gap between black and white students.
By THOMAS C. TOBIN, Times Staff Writer

ST. PETERSBURG - A coalition is pressing Pinellas school officials to set a timetable for closing the achievement gap between black and white students.

But the group also sounded a conciliatory note Monday, calling for a grassroots effort to fix some of the breakdowns in family life that often cause black students to perform poorly in school.

"When it comes to this community, we will sound the call for mentors, volunteers, men and women who can help us wrap arms around our children, our single mothers, our grandparents raising grandchildren (and), yes, our ex-felons fathers," said Louis Murphy, a prominent St. Petersburg pastor and a member of the coalition.
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