As Sunday's story noted, the achievement numbers for black students in Pinellas are bad and getting worse. Not only are black students in Pinellas far below the statewide average for black students in FCAT math and reading, but the gap has grown considerably over the last five years.

The story pointed out things aren't peachy for white and Hispanic students in Pinellas, either. They, too, are falling behind the statewide average for white and Hispanic students, though not to the same degree as black students. Click on the link below to see the numbers for all three subgroups.

The free and reduced lunch rate for black students in Pinellas is not far from the average rate for black students in the state's 12 biggest districts, and some districts with higher rates are seeing much bigger gains among black students. So we ask, yet again: Why are black students in Pinellas not doing as well as black students elsewhere in Florida?