M L King Middle

M L King Middle is a public charter middle school serving grades 6-8 in the Beaumont Independent School District in Beaumont, Texas, with a student population of 480 that is predominantly African American and Hispanic.

Despite having relatively high spending per student, M L King Middle has consistently ranked among the lowest-performing middle schools in Texas over the past decade, with a 0-star rating from SchoolDigger indicating very poor performance compared to other Texas middle schools. The school's academic performance, as measured by STAAR test scores, is significantly below state and district averages across all grade levels and subject areas, with only 15.63% of 6th graders, 10.2% of 7th graders, and 14.37% of 8th graders proficient or better in STAAR Reading, compared to state averages of 54.45%, 52.08%, and 54.09%, respectively. The school also has had relatively high dropout rates in recent years, ranging from 0.9% to 5.7%, which are significantly higher than the state average.

Interestingly, the nearby middle schools in the Beaumont ISD, such as Vincent Middle and Smith Middle, also perform poorly on academic measures, with test scores and rankings similar to or slightly better than M L King Middle. However, the nearby middle schools in the Port Neches-Groves ISD and Nederland ISD, such as Port Neches Middle and Wilson Middle, significantly outperform M L King Middle and the other Beaumont ISD middle schools, with much higher test scores and rankings.