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Chronologically: North Carolina (Charlotte):
Charlotte-Mecklenburg [From "Education Week"] -- "Something is different about the children gazing out the windows of the yellow school buses lumbering up Selwyn Elementary School's driveway: Most of the black faces are gone. "White children have taken the places of many of the African-American students who were bused to Selwyn, once an integrated school in the heart of one of this city's oldest and wealthiest white neighborhoods. "The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district, free from a federal desegregation order, adopted a colorblind plan for student assignment in 2002 that is producing more racially isolated schools, like Selwyn, and more schools enrolling high concentrations of poor children. "From the mid-1970s through the 1980s, the North Carolina school system made up of Charlotte and surrounding Mecklenburg County earned national acclaim as the "city that made desegregation work." The key was a landmark 1971 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, that cleared the way for Charlotte—and districts nationwide—to use mandatory busing and race-based student assignment as tools to achieve integration. "Now, many observers wonder whether Charlotte-Mecklenburg's school buses are headed in the right direction. " 'Charlotte is stumbling and it's falling,' laments Roslyn Arlin Mickelson, a professor of sociology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. 'In a couple of years, in terms of racial composition of the schools, the district is going to be back where it was prior to Swann.' "The 2-year-old plan gives parents a choice of schools and provides all families with spots in the 'neighborhood schools' closest to their homes. Since parents overwhelmingly choose their local schools, the district's 148 schools are becoming more racially and socioeconomically imbalanced. Suburban classrooms are overcrowded, and seats are left empty in inner-city schools. "This inevitable demographic shift, some observers say, shouldn't rattle the resolve of the 'New Charlotte,' a Southern city that rejected its segregated education practices long ago to emerge as a beacon for integration. But others warn that the enrollment changes are derailing the racial progress that led to the region's economic boom and laid the foundation for its students' academic successes." Last known link: Education Week (subscription
site): North Carolina
(Charlotte): Charlotte-Mecklenburg Editor's Note: President George W. Bush's new Attorney General, John Ashcroft, has an opportunity in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg case to pronounce his support for color-blind justice free of racial quotas and goals. Will Ashcroft do the right thing? From "The Weekly Standard" 02/26/01 by Edward Blum (Edward Blum is director of legal affairs at the American Civil Rights Institute) "IN A TWIST OF FATE and legal protocol, the arguments made in an amicus brief in defense of school busing and racial quotas by Clinton-era civil rights enforcer Bill Lan Lee will soon go before the Fourth Circuit as the position of the Bush Justice Department. The case is Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, and if Lee's brief is not withdrawn, President Bush will have failed his first test in civil rights. "The legal brief defends Charlotte, North Carolina's 30-year school-busing regime from a 1997 lawsuit brought by the parents of then 6-year-old Cristina Capacchione. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district refused Cristina's admission to a gifted program because all of the slots reserved for "non-black" children had been filled. They were under a 30-year-old court order, the school district argued, to implement just these types of quotas. Additional parents joined the lawsuit because of their dissatisfaction with having to bus their children to schools half an hour or more outside of their neighborhoods. "After an eight-week trial, district judge Robert Potter ruled in favor of the children and declared the school district "unitary" -- this is, free from any remaining effects of prior racial discrimination. "Potter's ruling to end court supervision and busing in the district was especially noteworthy because it was in Charlotte in 1969 that court-ordered busing came to life. Within a few years, federal judges across the country imposed similar desegregation orders on scores of cities. "The school district had argued that it couldn't avoid practicing racial discrimination against black children, even though the school board is split nearly evenly between blacks and whites, and blacks hold many important administrative positions. This self-incriminating argument, nicknamed the "Doofus Defense," is perhaps the best illustration of the school system's deep desire to retain quotas. "Nevertheless, Judge Potter found that the school system had complied in good faith with the earlier desegregation orders. He further stated that there was no indication that Charlotte schools "will return to a de jure segregated system in the future" and that any lingering imbalance in the racial makeup of schools was due to "demography and geography," not discrimination. "A little over a year later, a three-judge panel reversed Potter's ruling. In a split decision, it ruled that Charlotte-Mecklenburg hadn't fulfilled its desegregation mandate. The majority on the appeals panel was persuaded by the Clinton Justice Department's brief, authored by former acting assistant attorney general Bill Lan Lee. They found especially compelling Lee's argument that even a unitary, i.e. unracist, school district has a compelling interest in racially integrating schools by the use of quotas and forced busing. "Does this sound familiar? It should. In a handful of university admissions cases from Michigan to Texas, Clinton Justice officials argued basically the same thing. In these cases, they claimed that diversity itself was the "compelling interest" that obliged schools to maintain racial preferences in selecting students. In the Charlotte case, the Justice Department argued and the appeals court agreed that the possibility that the school system's "diversity" would otherwise decline was reason to continue busing and admissions quotas. "Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit granted the parents a full panel review of the case, portending to many observers the reinstatement of Potter's ruling. Oral arguments will be made in Richmond on February 27. "Generations after intentional discrimination and segregation have ended, busing continues for the sake of diversity. This is a terrible moral and legal mistake. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has written that the Constitution does not give courts and school systems the right to mandate and enforce integration for integration's sake. "This misconception has drawn the courts away from the important goal in desegregation," he wrote. "The point of the Equal Protection Clause is not to enforce strict-mixing, but to ensure that blacks and whites are treated equally by the state without regard to their skin color." "But the argument for ending busing was probably best summed up by a Charlotte NAACP board member and business executive, who stated, "My daughter does not need to sit beside a white person to learn." "The stakes in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg case are huge. Today, nearly 400 school districts are operating under federal court decrees that mandate race-conscious policies such as busing, bizarre school attendance zones, racial caps on magnet schools, and the like. A reversal of the three-judge panel's ruling would return control of the school system to the local school board and perhaps hasten the day when racial preferences and classifications like these come to an end. "Attorney General Ashcroft can put Bush's "compassionate conservatism" into action by withdrawing the Justice Department brief. There is no reason to force another generation of children to drive past neighborhood schools in the name of a failed social policy and legal theory." -30- © The Weekly Standard (no link) North Carolina (Charlotte): [This Washington Post story portrays the end of forced school busing in this community as if it were a negative thing. Rather than celebrating the long overdue arrival of non-racial criteria in determining where grade schoolers can attend class, this Post story gives the impression that the release from a court-ordered, race-based busing program is somehow bad for the students of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system. Editor] Washington Post headline: Charlotte Schools Are Scrambling -- Story: "A recent federal court ruling has thrown the old way of doing things here into disarray, challenging school officials and the community to come up with some smart, fast solutions. In September, U.S. District Judge Robert Potter ruled that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg system, which is 40 percent black, had achieved desegregation "quite some time ago" and had eliminated "the vestiges of past discrimination." "In effect, Potter freed the schools from nearly 30 years of court supervision brought by the famed 1969 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education that led to the busing of thousands of local schoolchildren from their neighborhoods. He also decreed that any measure based on race, including the city's pioneering busing program, could no longer be a factor in school assignments. "A divided school board and a group of black leaders have appealed Potter's ruling, but without a stay from the judge, new school assignments for as many as 60,000 of the system's 100,000 students will have to be devised fast--for the next fall term.
"The lawsuit propelling this monumental shift was filed in 1997, when a white parent
sued the school board after his daughter was denied entry into an elementary-school magnet
program because she was classified as "nonblack." After the family moved from
the area, six other white parents continued the suit, reasoning that if school officials
would not ask the court to release the system, they would. (Washington Post 11/08/99, page
A03, by Sue Anne Pressley) North Carolina (Charlotte): "A federal judge today ordered the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system to stop using race as a factor in all of its programs and ended 30 years of race-based classroom assignments. "The school system 'is enjoined from assigning children to schools or allocating educational opportunities and benefits through race-based lotteries, preferences, set-asides, or other means that deny students an equal footing based on race,' U.S. District Judge Robert Potter said in his 115-page decision. "Potter's ruling allows assignments for the 1999-2000 school year to remain in place 'in the interest of stability.'
"Seven white parents had asked Potter to declare the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
integrated. The Charlotte school system is the state's largest, with 100,000
students. (FoxNews 09/10/99, via Associated Press, by Paul Nowell)
North Carolina (Charlotte): "Charlotte became ground zero for a noble but failed social experiment forced upon the country by the Supreme Court. "In 1971, Charlotte became ground zero for a noble but failed social experiment forced upon the country by the U.S. Supreme Court. In its historic Swann vs. Charlotte-Mecklenburg school decision, the court permitted racially segregated school districts to begin busing in order to achieve integration. "What began as an effort to remedy the grave wrongs of state-sanctioned racial segregation has turned American society -- black and white -- on its head. The neighborhood school concept, with the pride and solidarity it engenders in a community, has been badly damaged for the last three decades. "Most observers of the recently concluded trial over busing and admissions to magnet schools believe Charlotte-Mecklenburg stands on the verge of a ruling that will declare its school system ``unitary'' and free it from court ordered desegregation plans. "While some are predicting dire consequences if Federal District Judge Robert Potter abolishes busing, the evidence throughout the country suggests that busing has not accomplished its goals and, in fact, has had many negative consequences. "Years after a Kansas City court implemented busing, black students in integrated magnet schools performed no better than blacks in neighborhood schools. San Francisco spent more than $200 million [on busing] following a 1982 court order to end school segregation, but a 1992 study led by Harvard Professor Gary Orfield, who supports busing, found black and Hispanic students lacked ``even modest overall improvement'' [as a result of intrusive court-ordered busing.] A National Institute of Education report could not even find a single study showing black kids fared appreciably better following a switch to integrated schools. "...In fact, it is patronizing to think that minority students need to sit next to a white student in order to learn. Many black leaders, from Wisconsin State Rep. Annette Polly Williams, a Milwaukee Democrat, to Cleveland Mayor Michael White have come to that conclusion and led efforts to end busing.
"...Busing teaches our children a terrible lesson. Rather than eliminating racial
discrimination, busing promotes it by teaching children that the government should treat
them differently on the basis of their race." (Charlotte Observer 08/12/99 by
Marc Levin and Ed Blum) North Carolina (Charlotte):
"Several Charlotte NC parents brought suit in federal court last year arguing that
the district unlawfully discriminates against students by the practice of race-based
school assignment to achieve racial balance. The district, still under a court
"desegregation" order, maintains the practice is still needed to
"desegregate" and end vestiges of discrimination. Federal District Judge Robert
Potter consolidated the parents' suit with the Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg
desegregation case. Another group of parents wanting racial assignment to continue was
also made part of the case. The parents wanting to end racial assignment were in the
strange position of proving both that the practice was unconstitutional and harmful to
students and also that the district had done a good job at carrying out the court orders
that resulted in the harm and therefore deserving of release from the court
order." (Posted to Members AOL.COM) North Carolina (Charlotte): [Readers are advised to please note this reporter's use of pro-quota phrases such as "race conscious" in this story.] "Parents suing the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system will ask a judge Friday to block school leaders from starting any new race-conscious programs, [emphasis added; race-conscious means the same thing as reverse discrimination] their attorney said Wednesday in a letter to the school system.
"The seven parents are suing the school system to end all practices that take
students' race into account. Testimony in the case ended last week, and U.S.
District Judge Robert Potter has said it would take him two to three months to review
evidence before ruling. In the meantime, attorney Lee Parks, who is
representing the parents, asked school officials in his letter to voluntarily drop plans
to begin new [discriminatory, race-based] initiatives. The school system's
plans include offering higher salaries to teachers in schools with high numbers of poor
children, and providing more resources to predominantly black schools to make them equal
to mostly white schools." (Based on the Charlotte Observer 07/01/99 by Celeste
Smith) North Carolina (Charlotte): "A months-long court battle seeking to close the books on 30 years of court supervision of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools has left the North Carolina community torn over whether traces of racial segregation linger. "The trial, which is winding down this month in the U.S. District Court in Charlotte, stems from a lawsuit filed by a white parent, William Capacchione, whose 6-year-old daughter was denied admission to a magnet school in 1996 because of her race. "He sued the district in 1997, claiming racial discrimination and civil rights violations. Since then, six white families who are also seeking to end Charlotte-Mecklenburg's race-based student-assignment policies, have joined the case as plaintiffs. "The trial reopens the historic case Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, which led to the 1971 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that gave districts nationwide the green light to employ an aggressive mix of methods, including mandatory busing and the limited use of racial quotas, to integrate schools.
"... [T]he white plaintiffs argue that 30 years is more than enough time to integrate
schools. The 1969 federal district court mandate to integrate the system's schools, which
led to the 1971 high court ruling, has been achieved, they say. The gap in achievement
that the system has been decrying is proof, they argue, that desegregation has little
bearing on academic performance." Both sides in the dispute now have to wait
while U.S. District Judge Robert Potter will rule. School board officials have not
publicly stated if they plan to appeal a decision from Judge Potter ending race-based
admissions. (Education Week, 06/23/99, by Kerry A. White) North Carolina (Charlotte): Seven parents have sued this school district to end race-based quotas in student admissions and practices such as forced busing. The trial is in its second week and "could potentially determine how 100,000 students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg are assigned to school. Some observers expect Charlotte's desegregation case to make its way to the U.S. Supreme Court, as it did in 1971, when the court backed an order calling for desegregation in Charlotte through busing. The case [helped to clear] the way for busing nationwide." Attorney Lee Parks is representing the parents seeking to end the systems use of racial quotas. "Tension mounted in federal court Tuesday during the daylong testimony of school system planning director Jonathan Wells, who frustrated attorneys by hedging on such things as the location of Huntersville and the definition of the word ``area.'' Under intense questioning by the plaintiff's attorney, Wells was unable to answer questions pertaining to the racial makeup of specific schools and neighborhoods, nor was Wells able to define the geographic boundaries school districts which practice racial quotas in admissions in order to "achieve balance". The core issue of the suit is precisely that information. "Wells was subpoenaed to testify by the seven parents suing to end racial-balance practices such as busing. He has worked for the school system since 1994 and has helped plan and oversee student assignment, boundary changes, student enrollment projections and the selection of sites for new schools. "Parks questioned Wells about practices such as holding seats open in magnet schools to ensure racial balance. He also asked Wells about demographic changes that Parks charges made it difficult for the school system to desegregate many schools.
"Parks also contended that the system's schools are much more desegregated than the
school board claims. (Charlotte Observer 04/28/99 by Debbie Cenziper)
North Carolina (Charlotte): "CHARLOTTE, N.C.--A lawsuit filed for a white first-grader threatens school desegregation policies in Charlotte, N.C., where a landmark ruling 30 years ago cleared the way for busing to integrate public schools nationwide. The federal trial, set to open here today, is the latest attack on racial quotas and busing plans drawn up since the late 1960s by local school boards to end segregation.
"Ultimately, it comes down to whether race can be used to decide which schools
students can attend," Charlotte schools spokesman John Deem said. In 1969,
Charlotte was at ground zero in the explosive desegregation debate after a federal judge
ruled in a landmark case--Swann vs. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education--that schools
could bus students far from home to eliminate segregated neighborhood schools."
(LA Times 04/19/99 from Reuters) North Carolina (Charlotte): Subhead: Charlotte system faces a federal trial. "Almost 30 years ago, the Supreme Court turned Charlotte, N.C., into ground zero in the debate over school busing. By affirming an effort to fix the city's history of racial segregation in its public schools, the high court's decision set off a series of racially charged battles in other school systems as they followed Charlotte's lead. "Now, at a trial starting on April 19 in Charlotte, a federal judge will begin hearing arguments from three sides about whether three decades of integration through busing, quotas and magnet schools have created a desegregated, or unitary, school system, or whether the 99,000-student system still has a ways to go. "It is not the first such challenge, either in Charlotte or elsewhere. But the trial, expected to last at least a month, is fraught with symbolism that is not lost on the lawyers involved. "It will be over for those school systems still clinging to busing as a means of desegregation," predicted Atlanta attorney A. Lee Parks, lead lawyer for a group of white parents challenging integration policies that kept their children out of certain magnet schools. White plaintiffs: "The suit began in 1997 when Charlotte resident William Capacchione filed a civil rights suit alleging that his Daughter, Cristina, had been denied admission to a magnet school because she is white. In response, Charlotte lawyer James E. Ferguson II, who represents the black students who were the original plaintiffs in the 1971 case, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, 402 U.S. 1, sought reactivation of the landmark case. Capacchione, he argued, was a direct attack on its precedent.
"It was in Swann that a unanimous Supreme Court affirmed a U.S. district court's
power to fashion a remedy that would create a "unitary school system" in
Charlotte as a way of combatting de facto school segregation. Six other parents
joined Capacchione in April 1998. They allege that the Charlotte system achieved unitary
status 10 years ago but that the school board has avoided ending busing, magnet schools
and other race-based programs. The parents seek an injunction, damages and a race-neutral
system." (National Law Journal 04/19/99 - 04/26/99 by David E. Rovella) North Carolina (Durham): A series of letters to the editor at Duke University's student newspaper has ignited a controversy resulting in hate mail, physical confrontations, and death threats directed at two students. Their crime? Freshmen Berin Szoka and Jay Strader expressed a preference for Western Civilization over Indian Civilization in an argument over whether Duke should institute a major in the study of the Hindi language. Responses to Szoka and Strader ranged from the obscene to the insulting to threats of physical violence. Duke University Police are now involved, because the threats have gotten so out of hand. "If we ever see you out of your room around East [Campus], WE WILL BEAT YOU WITHIN ONE INCH OF YOUR LIFE and step on you like the little s--- that you are," said one anonymous e-mail threat. "Don't be surprised if between now and the end of the year, bad things start happening to you and your room...we will find you, and when we do, you could only wish that you had never learned to write you little p----." Szoka contacted the Duke University Police Department, and Detective Thessie Mitchell has been assigned to the case. An investigation is underway. The controversy began April 15, when Strader wrote a letter to the Chronicle, Duke's student-run daily paper, in response to an article a few days earlier calling for the creation of a Hindi major. Strader observed that there is little actual demand for Hindi classes, as evidenced by the low enrollment in the few classes already offered (17 out of 60 class seats). Strader immediately began receiving hate mail via the Internet accusing him of racism and "ethnocentrism." Early that afternoon while he was in class, vandals broke into his room and left the message, "We're going to kick your ass-Mother India," on his computer screen. That evening, Diya, Duke's Southeast-Asian student group, convened an emergency meeting to plot a response to the "crisis." The group organized a letter-writing campaign to the Chronicle and posted a message on four Internet newsgroups asking readers to deluge Strader with hate mail. On April 23, Berin Szoka's letter appeared in the Chronicle in Strader's defense. Szoka echoed Strader's point that there was insufficient demand for a Hindi major. He also addressed the question of whether cultures embody specific values and whether those values can be judged. Szoka declared the values of Western civilization-- "the power of reason, the sanctity of individual rights and the unfettered pursuit of happiness"--to be morally superior to values of Indian culture. That started a barrage of hate mail. That evening, three Indian students confronted Szoka in his room, called him a "racist," threatened him with violence and refused to leave until Szoka threatened to call the police. On April 25, Szoka received an anonymous death threat. The Chronicle was ambivalent when asked to print a follow-up letter or story on the subject. "We don't print that kind of thing," said University Life Assistant Editor Jaime Levy. "Your letter wasn't exactly mainstream. What sort of response did you expect when you wrote that kind of letter?" When asked by Strader how she would respond to a death threat like those received by Szoka, University President Nan Keohane replied, "My hunch is, it was just a scary way of blowing off steam." Szoka is steadfast about the issue and somewhat puzzled at the strident response. I would have enjoyed having a rational discussion about the issue and merits of cultural relativism with my critics," Szoka said. "Instead, I've been subjected to the type of threats one might find in an uncivilized, Third World backwater. I understand their anger-- they've lost the argument, so they lash out. My critics, in fact, are proving my point about the superiority of Western Civilization and its tradition of rational discourse. What disturbs me most about this is that, in the same week as a tragedy like the massacre of 15 students in Littleton, Colorado, anyone could actually claim that a death threat is just an upset student's way of 'blowing off steam'." Strader and Szoka both lamented what they called the "sorry state" of the intellectual environment at Duke, whose mission is "To promote a sincere spirit of tolerance. and a commitment to learning, freedom and truth." Szoka said "This irrational and strident response promotes an environment of hostility and hate. This is unacceptable, and we plan to prosecute these thugs to the fullest extent of the law."
North Carolina (Wilmington) [Wilmington, North Carolina] "A fourth-grade teacher at Williams Elementary School has received a formal reprimand for teaching her students the word "niggardly," the teacher's son said Tuesday. "Last week, teacher Stephanie Bell said she used the word "niggardly," which means stingy or miserly, during a discussion about literary characters. But parent Akwana Walker, who is black, protested the use of the word, saying it offended her because it sounds similar to a racial slur. "Ms. Bell said the N.C. Association of Educators has told her not to talk to anyone about the situation. "I really wish I could," she said. However, teacher Stephanie Bell's son, Tar Bell, 17, who is not restricted from discussing the incident, according to the Wilmington Star "... said a letter from Principal Susan Hahn stated that his mother used poor judgment. The letter, he said, also instructed his mother to send an apology to her students' parents, a step she took last week. The letter, which Mr. Bell said he has read, also admonished Ms. Bell, who is white, for lacking sensitivity to the school's diverse population of students and not being aware of cultural differences, he said." The teacher's son, Tar Bell, reported to the Wilmington Star that the letter also required his mother to attend sensitivity training and threatened that if she did not she could face further action. "In addition to the letter, Ms. Walker's [black] daughter was moved to another class, and Ms. Bell agreed not to use the word again with her students. "Deputy Superintendent Norm Shearin reiterated that Ms. Bell made a bad decision when she taught her students the word "niggardly." It was an inappropriate word to teach children at that grade level, he said. "... [T]he Wilmington Star-News has received more than 100 e-mails from readers across the country. In addition, more than 120 people commented in an online forum and more than 1,200 have voted in an online poll. The response, although in no way a scientific sampling, has been overwhelmingly supportive of Ms. Bell. "... Tannis Nelson, president of the N.C. Parent-Teacher Association and a New Hanover County resident, ... added that this incident shows the need for effective diversity and sensitivity training throughout the school system. "Incidents such as this can polarize the community," Mrs. Nelson said. "We can't allow that to happen. This can be captured as a teachable moment, and we can learn from it." From the Wilmington Star story
written by reporter Sherry Jones. You may email reporter Sherry Jones at: Last Known Original Link (printer friendly): Last Known Original Link (normal format): Last Known Alternate Link: Also Recommended: North Carolina: Charlotte Observer headline "Black community told to monitor schools trial" -- "The pending case challenges the system's desegregation strategies. The policies began almost 30 years ago with court-ordered busing. [Courts are increasingly finding such race-based solutions to be not only unnecessary, but downright discriminatory against Caucasians and European Americans.] "In 1997, parent Bill Capacchione sued, challenging the consideration of race in magnet school admissions. U.S. District Court Judge Robert Potter later broadened the case to include a larger review of race-based policies. Six other parents also filed their own suit, charging that the school system's desegregation policies are unconstitutional and no longer needed. "The [proposed race-neutral] plan seeks to improve schools across the county so all are equal in such areas as resources and educational programs. Parents would select schools for their children. The plan phases out taking race into account when assigning children to schools, but does not guarantee that every child will attend the school closest to home.
"[Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP President Dwayne Collins] and NAACP member Terry Belk
also joined the case on the side of attorneys seeking to keep [racial quotas and forced
busing] policies intact. But many see that as an unlikely outcome because federal courts
around the country are ending desegregation plans." (The Charlotte Observer
04/13/99 by Celeste Smith) North Carolina: Charlotte Observer Sub-Head: "Race would be dropped as factor in assignments" -- "Facing a trial this month over its school desegregation policies, a divided Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board approved a plan Wednesday that would bring massive changes to the way students are assigned to schools. "The 6-3 vote signals the end of 30 years of race-based assignment policies, such as busing for integration. Supporters said the board needs the plan as it prepares for the April 19 trial. Opponents argued that the plan is too sketchy. The plan, developed by Superintendent Eric Smith, seeks to improve schools across the county so that all are equal in such areas as resources and educational programs. Parents would select schools for their children. But the plan does not guarantee that every child will attend the school closest to home.
"U.S. District Court Judge Robert Potter, who will hear the case, could alter or even
do away with Smith's choice plan. The school system and various sides in the case haven't
been able to reach a settlement." (Charlotte Observer, 04/01/99, by Celeste
Smith and Jim Morrill) North Carolina: "Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have spent more than $1.6 million so far answering a lawsuit challenging the district's desegregation practices, and have diverted thousands of dollars from other sources to cover the bill. The school board could also be forced to pay the legal fees for the parents suing to end race-based practices in Charlotte-Mecklenburg." Superintendent Eric Smith "is proposing a legal budget for next school year of $2.9 million, the highest budget for legal work in at least a dozen years. The school board has been sued by seven parents who want to end race-based practices, such as busing and admissions to magnets schools. A trial is set to begin April 19, though the case could be settled before then.
Wouldn't it be more cost-effective to simply honor the Constitution's promise of equal
treatment under the law without regard to race? (Charlotte Observer, 03/26/99, by
Debbie Cenziper) North Carolina: "All parents would choose their child's school -- and race-based assignments would end -- under a plan pitched Friday that could bring historic change to Charlotte-Mecklenburg's public schools. In response to a lawsuit challenging school desegregation, Superintendent Eric Smith is recommending that in five years the school board drop practices long used to achieve racial balance in schools. Thirty years of forced busing for desegregation would end, and so would race-influenced admissions for Charlotte's popular magnet schools.
"Smith wants instead to launch a program of parental choice and voluntary
desegregation, modeled in part after school systems in Florida and elsewhere. The school
board would divide the county into racially diverse zones, or clusters, possibly up to
five. Parents of all 99,000 public school students would choose from schools within their
cluster." (The Charlotte Observer, 02/13/99, by Debbie Cenziper) North Carolina:
"Despite hopes that North Carolina's charter schools would become more racially
diverse, the proportion of schools serving mainly one race remained entrenched in the
program's second year. According to new enrollment figures, about half of the state's
charter schools -- 27 of 57 -- are now made up primarily of students of a particular race.
In 18 schools, black students make up more than 85 percent of the student body.
In nine schools, enrollment is more than 85 percent white." (News-Observer,
01-03-99, by Tim Simmons) North Carolina:
"When state legislators in North Carolina were debating charter schools two years
ago, some feared a re-emergence of the white-flight academies that had sprouted in the
South a generation earlier in response to school desegregation. So lawmakers threw in a
clause requiring the schools to "reasonably reflect" the demographics of the
school districts they serve." But the reality turns out to be that 21 of the
state's 60 charter schools are over 85% black, and thus violate the state law requiring
schools to reflect the ethnic makeup of the districts which they serve. Black
parents of children in these charter schools are reluctant to give up their children's
preferred positions in these schools which, in many cases, are superior to the local
public schools. (New York Times 12/23/98, by David J. Dent) North Carolina:
According to research by the Center for Equal Opportunity, a Washington, D.C. - based
think tank, North Carlina's "racial quota admission system" discriminates
against white students. (Triangle Business Journal 7/13/98) END of North Carolina - Racial Quotas in Education |
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