COLLEGE PARK, Ga. -- Former teacher Dan Young has studied Fulton County schools for three decades. He said there has always been a noticeable gap in achievement between the schools in the north part of the county and the south.

"They are victims of a system that they have no control over," said Young.

The SAT scores from one high school in the South are well below the county, state and national averages, while average scores from a school in the North beat all three. That trend continues for middle and elementary school scores, and Young said he knows why.

"In the south side schools in Fulton, the instructional level is not of the same quality as in the so-called north schools," said Young.

But south side teacher Lemetra Dismuke disagreed.

"The standards are very high here," said Dismuke. "We push, push, push, because we know they have to turn out to be successful."

In terms of monetary resources, Fulton County's Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Dr. Linda Anderson said more money is spent in the South, because of Title 1. The federally funded program helps schools with a large number of low income students.

"I can not say there is any disparity in what we are providing, because we provide more to our schools that have greater need," said Anderson.