Warning: Today's front page stories about Roanoke's schools may shock you.

Consider these disturbing facts: Roanoke is the seventh worst-performing school division in the state; 12 of the city's 29 schools have failed to achieve state accreditation; the number of poor students in the school system has doubled since 1990; and minority children, many of them at risk, make up more than half the student population.

Roanoke's public schools are in trouble.

As guidance counselor Anita Price said: "The demographics have changed, but it's as if no one wants to acknowledge it. This is not Mayberry anymore."

No, Roanoke is definitely not Mayberry. The city's schools face the challenges of other urban areas, including many poor children who lead difficult lives and don't come to school every day ready to learn.

Explained retired teacher Jane Lambert : "You can't get in their mind unless they've got their stomach full."

Today and tomorrow, The Roanoke Times will examine the state of the city's public schools in the first of an occasional series.

Staff writer Matt Chittum spent the past five months investigating the city's schools and deep-rooted demographic trends. He pored through scads of data and talked to educators caught between the pincers of rising academic expectations and a growing number of students who find it difficult to learn in the classroom.

While it's no surprise that public schools are struggling, the depth and intensity of the problems here are too overwhelming to ignore.

These woes stretch back to the early 1990s, when the city's schools began to undergo a series of subtle yet profound changes, setting in motion trends that now strain the system.

Last year, when new Superintendent Marvin Thompson arrived, he began to pursue a data-driven approach to education in the schools.

During the past year, his emphasis on academic accountability, spurred in part by state and federal guidelines, has collided sharply with the rising number of students in groups that historically have struggled academically.

That's why The Roanoke Times dispatched Chittum to investigate the fault lines and frictions underlying these problems.

Chittum spent time coaxing statistics out of the school system, visiting schools, talking to teachers, listening to school board members and administrators, all in an effort to paint what has turned out to be a somber portrait of a beleaguered school system.

Some may see these stories as a much-deserved indictment of the city's schools. Others may view the findings as a clarion call to action. Still others may feel embarrassment or anger or frustration.

But there can be no dispute that the system faces daunting challenges.

While some might carp that the newspaper is publishing more bad news, our fundamental belief is that the only way to resolve problems is first to possess a clear-eyed view of reality as borne out by the facts, and that's what we trust these initial stories will accomplish.

The good news is that key stakeholders acknowledge the problems and are working to find answers. They realize, too, that this complex set of problems defies simplistic -- let alone immediate -- solutions.

If you believe in the value of public education, you'll want to read these stories closely. And please let me know what you think.