I live 10 minutes from there :(
The school system in that era is garbage. It is virulently racist, stuck in the "glorious 1950s America," and more concerned with nepotistic perpetuating of "good-ole-boys" in the system than progress.
Both the blacks and whites in Mississippi still despise each other, for the most part, and there isn't enough influx of industry or young educated talent to help. Those who can help the era end up leaving Mississippi.
"Oh, you think lag is your ally. You merely adopted lag. I was born in it, molded by it. I didnt have cable until I was already a man."