East Cary Middle School - Diversity Controversy

Diversity Controversy

National controversy arose in 2010 over the 5-4 decision of the Wake County School Board in March to switch from the socioeconomic diversification policy it had followed for a decade to a system that focused on neighborhood schools. The prior plan, under which the public schools of the county were to "have no more than 40 percent of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch" was set aside for concerns over long student bus rides, but immediately raised comments among the public and the NAACP that the outcome of the shift would be to "resegregate" schools. The decision led to protests spearheaded by the state NAACP chapter, with arrests in June and July, and to the resignation of the superintendent of Wake County schools. The NAACP lodged a civil rights complaint with the office of the United States Department of Education, which began an investigation into the matter. The complaint also prompted one national accreditation agency, AdvancED, to evaluate the schools to see if the decision would impact the school's accreditation standing.

In January 2011, the Washington Post featured a story on the controversy, following which it and the Associated Press were provided a letter by United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in which he wrote that it was "troubling to see North Carolina's Wake County school board take steps to reverse a long-standing policy to promote racial diversity in its schools" and "urge school boards across America to fully consider the consequences before taking such action". The situation was also lampooned on The Colbert Report. According to the Washington Post, the decision has been backed by prominent members of the Tea Party movement.

Some strides have been made towards compromise in Wake County between proponents and critics of the old integration plan. Michael Alves, an education consultant with 30 years of experience designing and implementing choice-based student assignment plans in districts across the United States, has developed an integration by achievement plan for Wake County. Integration by achievement will assign students to schools based on their previous achievements on standardized state test scores. Schools will have 70% of its students’ scores at or above the proficient level while the remaining 30% scores below the proficient level. The plan stipulates that once a child is placed in a school, he or she cannot be reassigned during their time in that school. The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce, the area’s largest business membership organization, has suggested this plan to the Wake County school board.