NC branch of NAACP in battle over busing
VIDEO - Wake County School District says the busing for diversity program is no longer working and wants to send students to schools closer to their community...
For several weeks, North Carolina’s NAACP has led hundreds of protest over the issue of diversity in schools.
Currently, many low-income students are bused to schools outside their neighborhood. The bus routes are used to promote diversity. Now, the Wake County School District says the system is no longer working and wants to send students to schools closer to their community.
WATCH THE VIDEO OF NORTH CAROLINA’S ISSUE OF BUSING FOR DIVERSITY PROGRAM
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Leading many of the protest is Rev. William Barber, President of the North Carolina NAACP. He says that the issue is not about busing routes, but rather promoting diversity in the county.
“The system is working. Ninety-nine percent of the kids in the district go to school within 10 miles of their home. It’s about fairness and justice. It’s about maintaining the principles of Brown,” Barber said.
However, the Wake County School Board Chairman, Ron Marigotta, says the system is not working.
“A graduation rate for low income students is 54 percent. That’s enough to show it has not worked,” Marigotta said.
Marigotta explains that because of the busing system, achievement gaps of students have increased.
“In other parts of the country, in other school districts that did not have forced busing, the achievement gaps were closer. So we can show that it doesn’t work,” Marigotta said.
As of now, there are new developments to revise the busing system to offer parents a choice as to where the children attend school.
