Debate over busing in Wake County shows signs of cooling

02-22-2011

By Christina A. Samuels/Education Week

More than a year after dismantling a student-assignment policy based on socioeconomic diversity and setting off a wave of reaction that drew national attention, the Wake County, N.C., school board took a step last week that may turn down the temperature of the intense debate. The board, which has been deeply split on an assignment plan for the 143,000-student district, decided on Feb. 15 to hand the matter over to Superintendent Anthony J. Tata, who joined the district less than a month ago. But Mr. Tata won’t have to start from scratch. Among the plans he and a committee will weigh is one crafted by local business groups that would offer a controlled form of school choice to parents. That plan would grandfather in current assignments and allow a student to stay put for the length of the grade span at his or her school. Assignments would also give a strong preference to keeping siblings together, and to allowing children to attend schools close to where they live. (more...)

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Debate over busing in Wake County shows signs of cooling

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