For those who have kept an eye on how Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools have changed since a 1999 federal court decision altered CMS' race-based school assignment policy, the recent Wake County Board of Education election resonated with the same concerns. Many Wake County parents have been unhappy with school assignment policies and have been seeking more neighborhood schools. Opponents of the Wake County diversity policy, which sought to balance school assignments on socio-economic levels, won a 5-4 majority on the board in the fall election and wasted no time getting on with their change agenda in Tuesday's first meeting.
As N&O reporters Thomas Goldsmith and Keung Hui report here, the new majority replaced the board chairman and put a number of items on the immediate action agenda -- including an end to a controversial Wednesday afternoon early-release policy that many parents and caregivers found disruptive, and targeting the diversity policy for change in 2010. The state NAACP has threatened a lawsuit to limit how much change the new board can bring about. The group Tuesday charged in a complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice that Wayne County had in effect changed its schools back to a racially segregated system.
It's a reminder, if anyone needed one, that elections are important and that local elections are critically important. They can change everything, for better or worse.
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