Longview Times

Upshur County schools enrolled 5,269 students who identified as economically disadvantaged in the state during the 2021-22 school year, according to the Texas Education Agency.

Of the 7,942 students enrolled in Upshur County schools, 66.3% were considered economically disadvantaged. This is a 5.4% increase over the previous school year.

Upshur County enrolled the 69th highest number of students identified as economically disadvantaged among Texas counties.

Education in Texas is often a hot button issue, especially as test scores lag behind other states.

"The problems commonly cited are flaws in the school financing system, relatively low teacher salary, poor test performance by students...dropouts from traditional schools in favor of charter schools...gun violence, and mental health issues," claimed the Texas Almanac.

School	Number of Economically Disadvantaged Students	Total Number of Students
Gilmer Elementary School	984	1,116
Gilmer High School	622	785
Gladewater High School	343	482
Bruce Junior High School	336	392
Gilmer Intermediate School	333	385
Ore City Elementary School	295	421
Big Sandy Elementary School	246	317
Robert F. Hunt Elementary School	243	584
Harmony Elementary School	213	330
Union Grove Elementary School	164	378
Ore City High School	161	247
Harmony High School	142	291
New Diana High School	142	348
Ore City Middle School	135	193
Big Sandy High School	130	199
Harmony Junior High School	124	242
New Diana Middle School	117	285
Union Hill High School	103	161
Big Sandy Junior High School	102	143
Sharon A. Richardson Elementary School	93	123
Harmony Intermediate School	87	174
Union Grove High School	70	212
Union Grove Junior High School	63	113
Azleway - Big Sandy	21	21