segregation
Charter schools should join fight against state’s voucher program, say public education advocates
Charter school leaders should join traditional public schools advocates to oppose the Republican-led General Assembly’s move to expand the state’s school voucher program, says Christine Kushner, a former Wake County school board member. Kushner made her remarks during a recent panel discussion about the impact of charters on local school districts. The hour-long webinar was […]
Some 68 years after Brown v. Board, similar foes continue stubbornly fighting progress
During a 2014 symposium marking the 60th anniversary of the Brown v. Topeka Board of Education decision, a statement from one of the plaintiffs offered what today feels like prescient insight. Many of the Virginia plaintiffs in the class-action lawsuit, feared integration and would have preferred separate and actually equal.
Veteran NC educator, school integration pioneer recognized with state’s highest civilian honor
North Carolina Award recipient Dudley Flood reflects on a lifetime of combating segregation and improving public schools At age 90, Dr. Dudley Flood, an education trailblazer who helped North Carolina’s public schools to integrate, can easily recall attending an all-Black high school. It was more than 75 years ago in tiny Winton, a town of fewer than 800 residents in Hertford County.
Why Kamala Harris’ thrashing of Joe Biden matters to North Carolina’s racially segregated schools
When presidential hopeful Kamala Harris tore into Joe Biden last week, the California senator exposed the fundamental schisms, even among liberals, on school desegregation. “[It] was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on segregation of race in this country,” Harris told Biden […]
Op-Ed: Choose civil rights over civility
Much has been made over a Virginia restaurant owner’s decision to boot Trump Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders last month. The controversy spurred countless think pieces and ruminations on the balance between civility and disagreement. Expect similar hand-wringing over a New York woman’s Fourth of July protest at the Statue of Liberty, in which Therese […]
Amid resegregation fears, North Carolina House approves controversial municipal charter bill
On Wednesday, members of the N.C. House of Representatives were prepared to cast a vote on town-run charter schools with major ramifications for the future of public education, but Rep. Kelly Alexander’s mind was on the past. In the late 1950s, as Alexander explained, some North Carolinians were urging state lawmakers to pursue predominantly white […]
Report points to financial, legal complications of Matthews charter school battle
A new report authored by a longtime N.C. General Assembly attorney points to multiple financial and legal complications associated with a controversial proposal to clear a town-run charter school in the Charlotte suburb of Matthews. Among those complications, the report—written by Gerry Cohen, a former General Assembly lawyer and chief of bill drafting—notes state law […]
Report: Matthews leaders say municipal charter bill gives them leverage
Leaders in the Charlotte suburb of Matthews say a pending municipal charter bill in the N.C. General Assembly gives them leverage in their ongoing bickering with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS), according to a Charlotte Observer report Wednesday. Policy Watch reported last month on the brewing battle over schools near North Carolina’s largest city, with leaders in […]
Former segregated school in Durham reopens for pre-K, senior living
In case you missed it, perhaps one of the most fascinating public school reports this weekend came from The Herald-Sun in Durham. According to the paper’s Greg Childress, Durham seniors are now relocating into the renovated Whitted School, a historic facility that once served as a segregated school for black children. The project is also […]
63 years ago today, a Republican-led Supreme Court struck down school segregation as unconstitutional
For the millions of Americans who’ve come of age in recent decades, it may seem hard to believe, but there was a time in U.S. history in which the Republican Party (i.e. the party of Lincoln) often led the fight to combat racism in America, while many Democrats — especially in the South — dragged […]
Flurry of House charter school bills would facilitate segregation of North Carolina’s schools
The field of education policy can be quite divided on a number of topics. But in recent years, researchers are increasingly reaching consensus on the harmful impacts of segregated schools. For example, Stanford’s Sean Reardon has found that within-district segregation is the biggest predictor of racial achievement gaps, with one-fifth of the average metropolitan area’s […]
Feds file court motion in attempt to make NC comply with mental health services agreement
Attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion last week in federal court to enforce a 2012 settlement agreement with the state of North Carolina, alleging it failed to comply with requirements by not providing enough community-based housing to adults with serious mental illnesses. The agreement required the state to provide 1,166 community-based supportive housing slots […]