As I drove home through torrential rains, I pondered the economic significance of the schools. In the Delta, where poverty is so extreme and job opportunities are so scarce, people look at schools as a source of employment, first and foremost. School board members and superintendents run for election, and once in power, they tend to distribute jobs as patronage within local kinship networks, shoring up their support for the next election. Educating children becomes a secondary concern.
