On February 16, just a few hours before I hosted screening of a documentary about the history of African American involvement in North Carolina politics, word came that Dr. Del Burns, superintendent of Wake County Public Schools, had offered his resignation, effective in June. In statements, he says his resignation comes about because he cannot in good conscience be the administrator who ends socioeconomic diversity in the school system and implements other changes that the newly conservative Wake County School Board plans to bring about.
And with that announcement, we in Wake County felt a blow to the foundation of decades of hard work to achieve and maintain racial and socioeconomic desegregation in our schools.
Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) was born in 1976, when Raleigh City Schools merged with Wake County Schools. The merger was motivated by a U.S. Federal court order to desegregate the schools because of grave disparities among schools with high populations of minority students (in Raleigh City Schools, with its large inner-city minority populations) and schools with high populations of nonminority students (in greater Wake County).
A magnet program was established in 1977 to draw more diverse student populations to inner-city schools with high poverty rates but cutting-edge core and elective academic programs. This made WCPSS the first system in the nation to adopt magnet programs to help achieve racial and socioeconomic balance.
Racial and socioeconomic diversity is a factor in creating schools in which students can achieve at high levels. The U.S. Supreme Court recognized, in its 2003 Grutter v. Bollinger ruling, that "student body diversity is a compelling state interest" in part because "diversity promotes learning outcomes and better prepares students for an increasingly diverse workforce and society." Research demonstrates that schools have higher levels of student achievement if their student populations have a diversity of socioeconomic levels and academic challenges (such as disabilities and/or limited English proficiency).
Today, WCPSS is the largest school district in North Carolina and the 18th largest school district in the United States, with more than 140,000 students (based on 20th-day enrollment figures) and nearly 160 schools. Its magnet program is consistently ranked among the top in U.S., and many of its schools are likewise rated high among their peers in the nation.
The system and its schools are diverse and vibrant. Students have a variety of options for their education needs, and all students are guaranteed equitable access to resources. Likewise, with a desegregated and diversified student population, supplemental resources (such as PTAs, volunteer tutors, in-kind gifts, and other community organizations and opportunities) are equitably distributed around the school district, rather than being heaped upon particular schools in high-income neighborhoods.
The system's growth and planning department has top-notch analysts on staff to make determinations on how to achieve and maintain equity amongst the many schools so that all students have equitable access to resources and learning. Intricate planning is undertaken to assure that new programs, new schools, and newly designated magnet schools will not draw resources and students disproportionately from surrounding schools or negatively impact the socioeconomic balance of those schools. This has been a difficult task indeed as the county's population boomed over the past 15 years. WCPSS generally experiences a growth of between 4,000 and 8,000 new students every year -- students from families drawn to Wake County for its jobs, other opportunities, climate, social atmosphere, housing ... as well as its excellent schools.
Such fast growth for a school system is a double-edged sword. One the one hand, a larger population brings wonderful opportunities to expand the diversity of staff and student communities, and expanded tax rolls allow growing school districts to plan and build along with the growth. On the other hand, fast growth means that it's virtually impossible to keep up with the number of new students entering the school district each year. An increase of 6,000 students within a few months, for instance, means stretching facility capacities to the max, as it would be impossible to build enough new schools to accommodate that many students in a short period of time.
Economic realities made the growth more of a challenge. As the local economy was hit by job losses in the technology field in the early Aughts, county tax levels decreased and WCPSS was socked with not only budget reductions but budget rescissions -- times when money that had already been given to the school system had to be returned.
District personnel have experienced several consecutive years without any cost-of-living increased, yet with decreases in benefits. WCPSS employees have lost vision benefits and no longer have choices for health-care insurance, as only the state's insurance provider continues to offer insurance to the district's employees.
After much consideration and review of national data and research on how to cope with growing student populations amidst shrinking budgets, WCPSS chose to implement year-round school calendars in an increasing number of its schools. With four tracks of calendars, year-round schools could accommodate more students with only a minimum increase in the numbers of teachers, administrators, and other staff. This decision was validated when the N.C. Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that parental consent is not needed to send students to year-round schools and that school systems in North Carolina were permitted to make such student assignment decisions to keep pace with enrollment growth and strictures on funding.
But in 2009, "schools of choice" advocates began to draw support from people who were opposed to mandatory year-round designation of the schools near their homes (students could still opt to attend traditional-calendar schools if they chose not to attend the school that was designated year-round). Well-funded groups opposed the district's "what's best for all students" approach in favor of support for neighborhood schools. They spoke out against diversity as a criterion for student assignment decisions and argued in favor of personal choice.
In the November 2009 school-board elections, these groups were able to elect enough "schools of choice" board members to dramatically change the makeup of the Wake County School Board.
Today's school board opposes professional development time to train school staff on alternate Wednesdays in "professional learning teams" that focus on addressing student achievement gaps and meeting the district's Goal 2014: "WCPSS students will demonstrate high academic growth; by 2014, all students will graduate on time and prepared to compete globally."
The board also opposes student assignment decisions based on socioeconomic diversity. In January, the new school board voted 5-4 to eliminate mandatory assignment to year-round schools and stated that WCPSS will no longer use diversity as a factor in determining which applicants are accepted into year-round schools.
Within days of that announcement, WCPSS's top growth and planning administrator announced his retirement. Other administrators soon followed suit, saying that their conscience will not allow them to be the ones charged with dismantling diversity and racial and socioeconomic balance in Wake County Public Schools.
And on Tuesday, the district's superintendent, Dr. Del Burns -- who has been with the school district since he was hired in 1976 as teacher at Root Elementary School -- tendered his resignation to the board. Later, elaborating on his resignation, Burns said:
"I am an educator, I'm not a politican. What I have observed recently is not something I've observed before partisan politics at the board table that concerns me greatly," said Superintendent Dr. Del Burns. "I can not allow myself to be a pawn in partisan political gamesmanship."
Thirty-five years ago, the grave disparities of "neighborhood schools" culminated in a community education firestorm that swept away a city school district and brought the stern attention from state government and the U.S. Office of Civil Rights to ensure that all students had equal access to good education. Out of the ashes of that firestorm grew Wake County Public Schools, welcoming an increasingly diverse student and staff population. WCPSS over the years has grown exponentially, yet continually garnered accolades and drawn new families from all across the U.S. who researched what's best for their families and chose to bring their children here to be educated. These families could count on the fact that their children would receive equitable resources and high-quality teachers and other staff no matter what their address was, no matter the average income of their neighborhood.
The clock turns back only if we permit that to happen. Get involved. Make your calls. Contact your local government officials to let them know how important equitable education is to you as a taxpayer. Tell your school board representative that a diverse school system improves achievement, prepares students for life after graduation, and builds better citizens and taxpayers for tomorrow's workforce and leadership. Find school board candidates you believe in and ask how you can help them get elected or stay elected. Contact your county Democratic Party office and check into how you can run for school board yourself.