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 School assignment
by Tom Campbell
August 19, 2010
More than one million boys and girls are headed back to school but the debate over which school they attend has reached deep into North Carolina. Perhaps nowhere is it more contentious than in Wake County, the state’s largest school system, but the issue is being discussed in small and large school systems and threatens to disrupt public education.
The two people most closely associated with both sides of the Wake County debate, Reverend William Barber, head of the state NAACP, and John Tedesco, member of the Wake County School board sat face-to-face for the first time in an interview with us and we heard the hopes and concerns of both. It was and is a good first step in resolution to have different factions sit and talk. But equally important and considerably more difficult is active listening, something necessary in this instance.
All parents want their children to go to excellent schools staffed by world-class teachers. Most would like some choice in deciding the schools their children attend, preferring schools to close to their homes. But parents also want stability in school assignments so that children are not frequently moved, causing anxiety in children over making new friends and adjusting to new environments. Lengthy bus rides, especially in younger children, are not acceptable. Studies show most parents believe that diversity within the school is important, helping their child adapt to the world in which they will soon find themselves.
The courts say schools must be racially integrated to reflect the makeup of their community and that racial balance cannot be achieved solely by busing. Some schools, like Wake, developed assignment plans using free and reduced lunches and socioeconomic factors to assure diversity. It is admittedly difficult blending all these desires and dictates into a harmonious and satisfying student achievement plan, especially in urban counties where there has been and continues to be rapid growth. Make no mistake. Most of the frequent reassignments have resulted from growth and the opening of new schools, but we also believe more common sense and fairness could have relieved much of the angst among parents.
It is time, in Wake County, and elsewhere to come together and solve these problems. Let’s begin with what we can agree upon. Parents should be given some choice over the schools their children attend and preference should be given to schools near their homes. Segregated schools are not acceptable. Neither are schools with high concentrations of poor children. Diversity is not only required but desired. Long bus rides are also not acceptable. These are basics. Starting from this foundation a school assignment plan can be constructed.
This issue is far too important to continue in the disruptive manner demonstrated in Wake and other counties. It is distracting us from the primary issue in public education today: delivering the highest level of excellence in education to every student. If necessary, people with divergent opinions should lock themselves in a room and agree they won’t come out until they reach amicable decisions over school assignments. It is time to demonstrate who are the adults and who are the children.
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