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May 25 - 31, 2023
VOL. 72, No. 21
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MSCS: Class of 2032 makes gains English Language Arts TCAP scores improve from 2nd to 3rd Grades
TSD Newsroom
Turner during her 50th Anniversary Tour in 2009. (Wikipedia)
Tina Turner dead at 83!
The Memphis-Shelby County Schools (MSCS) class of 2032 is making gains, according to Spring 2023 TCAP data, MSCS officials said on Wednesday. On the English Language Arts section of the TCAP, the cohort of students now in third grade, had a seven percent growth in proficiency, defined as “meets expectations” and “exceeds expectations,” and a seven percent reduction in nonproficiency, defined as “below expectations” and “approaching expectations.” The class of 2032 started kindergarten in 2019. Their first year of school was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020, meaning the students spent most of their firstgrade year in virtual learning. Last year, in second grade, was their first full year of in-person instruction. “Because of their resilience and our interventions, the class of 2032 is making gains, and we’re optimistic that these gains will continue,”
60 percent of Tennessee third-graders face the risk of retention. See Perspective, Page 4 said Superintendent Toni Williams. “Being one of our youngest groups of students at the start of the pandemic, they will continue to need extra support to move further faster, and the District will continue to provide it.” MSCS provided what was termed key data points: *Last year, the class of 2032 had 48 percent of students score in the below category. This year, the class of 2032 had 42 percent of students score in the below category. *Last year, the class of 2032 had 36 percent of students score in the approaching category. This year, the class of 2032 had 34 percent of
SEE TCAP ON PAGE 2
Unstoppable superstar’s hits included “What’s Love Got to Do With It” NEW YORK (AP) — Tina Turner, the unstoppable singer and stage performer who teamed with husband Ike Turner for a dynamic run of hit records and live shows in the 1960s and ’70s and survived her horrifying marriage to triumph in middle age with the chart-topping “What’s Love Got to Do With It,” has died at 83. Turner died Tuesday, after a long illness in her home in Küsnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, according to her manager. She became a Swiss citizen a decade ago. Few stars traveled so far — she was born Anna Mae Bullock in a segregat-
ed Tennessee hospital and spent her latter years on a 260,000 square foot estate on Lake Zurich — and overcame so much. Physically battered, emotionally devastated and financially ruined by her 20-year relationship with Ike Turner, she became a superstar on her own in her 40s, at a time when most of her peers were on their way down, and remained a top concert draw for years after. With admirers ranging from Beyoncé to Mick Jagger, Turner was one of the world’s most successful entertain-
SEE TURNER ON PAGE 2
From Birth to Death – Chapter One: Birth
Why do so many Black women die in pregnancy? One reason: Doctors don’t take them seriously BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Angelica Lyons knew it was dangerous for Black women to give birth in America. As a public health instructor, she taught college students about racial health disparities, including the fact that Black women in the U.S. are nearly three times more likely to die during pregnancy or delivery than any other race. Her home state of Alabama has the third-highest maternal mortality rate in the nation. Then, in 2019, it nearly happened to her. What should have been a joyous first pregnancy quickly turned into a nightmare when she began to suffer debilitating stomach pain. Her pleas for help were shrugged off, she
said, and she was repeatedly sent home from the hospital. Doctors and nurses told her she was suffering from normal contractions, she said, even as her abdominal pain worsened and she began to vomit bile. Angelica said she wasn’t taken seriously until a searing pain rocketed throughout her body and her baby’s heart rate plummeted. Rushed into the operating room for an emergency cesarean section, months before her due date, she nearly died of an undiagnosed case of sepsis. Even more disheartening: Angelica worked at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the university affiliated with the hospital that
Part one of an AP series examining health disparities experienced by Black Americans across a lifetime. treated her. Her experience is a reflection of the medical racism, bias and inattentive care that Black Americans endure. Black women have the highest maternal mortality rate in the United States — 69.9 per 100,000 live births for 2021, almost three times the rate for white women, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Black babies are more likely to die, and also
Angelica Lyons tears up while recalling her birthing experience during an interview in Birmingham, Ala., on Feb. 5, 2022. (Photo: WONG MAYE-E) far more likely to be born prematurely, setting the stage for health issues that could follow them through their lives. “Race plays a huge part, especially in the South, in terms of how you’re treated,” Angel-
SEE BIRTH ON PAGE 8
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