Resegregation will not happen on our watch.' Wake school board sets diversity goal.
Resegregation will not happen on our watch.’ Wake school board sets diversity goal.
BY T. KEUNG HUI
JUNE 01, 2019 05:12 PM
In the face of growing school resegregation, leaders of North Carolina’s largest school system made a commitment Saturday to try to make school enrollments more diverse.
The Wake County school board agreed to set a goal of trying to reduce the vast socioeconomic diversity gaps that exist where 40% of the district’s elementary schools are either extremely affluent or extremely high poverty. It’s a decision that will test the school system’s political will at a time when families who don’t like their school assignments can opt for alternatives such as charter schools, private schools or homeschooling.
“It’s becoming much more difficult to maintain integrated schools, and in fact our schools are resegregating and we see that in the data,” Superintendent Cathy Moore told board members. “Yet the tools that have been used in the past and the policies that were enacted are not as feasible nowadays.”
Wake County has historically been known as a leader in school integration. In 1976, the Wake County and Raleigh City school systems merged despite opposition from many in the community. Wake now has 160,000 students and is one of the largest districts in the country.
More:
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/article231004263.html
