On
July 20, community members packed a school board meeting and the streets of
Raleigh, N.C., to voice their opposition to proposals made by the recently elected
school board to eliminate the district’s diversity program. “Segregate equals
hate!” and “Hey hey ho ho, re-segregation has got to go!” were a few of the
chants by those in opposition to the new proposal. In total, around 2,000
people took part in the protests.
The
debate centers on Policy 6200, which determines attendance at Wake County
Public Schools. Previously, the policy stated that all schools should have a
diverse socioeconomic and ethnic population. Only 25 percent of the
population at each school could have low academic performance. Only 40 percent
of the school population could receive free or reduced lunch. On March 23, a 5-4 vote by the newly elected school
board overturned this policy.
The results of the policy have
been clear. In May 2005, a Wake County Public Schools study found that when
comparing reassigned students’ academic achievement with their colleagues, the
former made “greater gains in reading” during only the second year of the
program.
A
November 2009 article by
Sue Stargis of the Institute for Southern Studies suggested that the success of
public schools in Raleigh is due in no small part to the diversity policy.
The
current school board claims the diversity policy does little to boost
achievement of students from low-income households. However, elimination of the
diversity policy in neighboring Charlotte-Mecklenberg in 2002, resulted “in
rapid re-segregation as well as significantly lower test scores overall than
Wake County’s.”
The
conclusion is simple: The new school board is attempting to erase any and all
nominal gains made by the poor and nationally oppressed communities of Wake
County.
The
recent protest is evidence that these gains will not be overturned without a
fight. Nineteen people were arrested for refusal to disperse, while a crowd of
protesters disrupted the board meeting to express community opposition.
Community
leader and North Carolina NAACP President Rev. William Barber states, “Knowing
our past, what we ought to be saying, especially in regards to our children
whether by race or class, we demand in our public schools diversity and
integration. Diversity today. Diversity tomorrow. Diversity forever.
