Tulsa, OK - We may be living in the 21st Century, but some of our schools are still very black and white and segregated.

The federal government has given Tulsa millions of dollars for magnet schools.  One main requirement was to voluntarily integrate 4 high schools.  That effort is now in its third year, but as NewsChannel 8 found out, the integration part isn't working.

Once upon a time, McLain High School was all white.  The old yearbook tells a story that is hard to believe when you look at today's student body.

Two years ago, there was a plan to draw students of every color into programs normally offered in college.

Freshman Troyst Loving is working on his future ambition - to become an aerospace engineer.

"This is school for technology.  I wanted to come here for technology. So, when I grow up I can go and get my career.  So I can actually accomplish my goal in life," he says.

His goal in life meant learning how to weld and enrolling at McLain High School.  He is one of 27 white students out of 523 students in all.

McLain has a history of troubles and low achievement.  So his mother came to the school to see for herself.

"Then he started explaining that kids don't really pick on him unless he starts it.  I was like "OK, that got rid of the safety issue," says Troyst's mother, Rosalind Loving.

In 2007, McLain was one of 4 high schools to become magnet programs.  Hale High School has a culinary arts program, Central has the fine arts program and Webster has a broadcast and media program.  The courses designed to draw in white students thereby integrating the most segregated schools.

"It was the focus of the government and that's in all the grants that we received.  That has to be one of the focuses," explains Janice Bayouth of Tulsa Public Schools.

So, for 2 year, Bayouth spent thousands of dollars on billboards and mail-outs.  And so far, the local efforts to build melting pots in classrooms has failed.

Edison is the only high school where white students make up the majority of the student population.

Looking at the numbers, there aren't enough white students in Tulsa to balance every high school.

"To meet the actual goal of each school being 50-50, I think that's going to be pretty tough.  And this is our third year.  So will it happen this year?  Probably not," Bayouth says.

Federal guidelines are focused less on integration and more on high quality courses and student achievement.

McLain has made progress not only with integration, but also with test scores - coming off the 'needs improvement' list.  The other magnet high schools, Hale, Webster and Central, are all making adequate yearly progress.

At Central, India Point says she went from D's and F's to A's and B's.

"I feel like I'm learning a lot.  Geometry.. lord help me.  Geometry.. oh lord," she says.

She uses geometry in stain glass projects and fashion design.  The concept is also a chance to think about careers.

That's what Troyst thinks about - his job of the future.  And the training is worth being a minority in the classroom.

"Life really isn't fair sometimes, so here you just have to make the best of what you got even if it's what other  students at other schools call a real bad school.  So far, this really isn't that bad of a school," he explains.

A school once plagued with school violence is now building engineers of tomorrow.  McLain's success hasn't happened overnight and it may take a while to successfully mix color in the classroom.

Funding for the magnet programs ends this school year.  But the program isn't over.  The feds will keep an eye on it for the next two years.

Edison and Washington are traditional magnet programs with strict admission policies.  The $12 million grant and its guidelines don't apply to them.

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