LAST STOP?

	September 13, 1999
	A federal judge ended 30 years of race-based busing in Charlotte, N.C., saying the school district had attained racial integration in its schools. This update from Betty Ann Bowser looks at the court's decision. A background report was done in June 1998.

UPDATE - BUSING HALT MARGARET WARNER: A halt to school busing in Charlotte, North Carolina: Last Friday, a federal judge ruled that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System had remedied its past segregation problems. His ruling effectively halts busing there. Betty Ann Bowser updates her report from last year. BETTY ANN BOWSER: The lawsuit was filed when seven-year-old Christina Capacchione was denied admission to a popular magnet school through a lottery system based on race. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System used the lottery as part of its effort to achieve racial integration. When Christina didn't get in, her father, Bill Capacchione, sued the school board. BILL CAPPACHIONE: I really believe that my daughter's constitutional rights were violated. And as a concerned parent and a responsible parent, I hope, I believed it was my job to look after her well-being. BETTY ANN BOWSER: Lee Myers is Capacchione's attorney. LEE MYERS: It's unconstitutional to discriminate against a person based upon a suspect criteria such as color of their skin, their sex, their religion, those suspect criteria. They discriminate against anybody who is non-black. Your Asians, your Hispanic, your Indian, American Indian, wherever; they discriminate against all those classes of people. Children, we're talking about, you know, children here, that's who they are discriminating against. BETTY ANN BOWSER: Six other parents joined Capacchione's lawsuit. They broadened the issue and asked the federal court to declare Charlotte-Mecklenburg a unitary school system, and therefore integrated. And they asked that race no longer be used as a basis for any school assignments. School Board President Arthur Griffin said the lawsuit was motivated by racism. ARTHUR GRIFFIN, Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board: It goes beyond the fact that this is more than just academics. It really gets down to a black- white issue; it's down to race. And that's the issue that scares me the most. I mean, I grew up at a time when it was very evident that we were all vulnerable because we couldn't stand as a nation if there are two societies, one black, one white, separate and unequal. And I think what people are doing today are forgetting our history and sort of coming at it again to say that we can be separate and equal. BETTY ANN BOWSER: In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled separate and unequal school systems were unconstitutional. All over the country, including Charlotte, vestiges of segregation in public schools began to fall, slowly and painfully. In 1971, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District became the first to undergo court-ordered busing to desegregate classrooms. Southern History Expert David Goldfield has written extensively on the subject. DAVID GOLDFIELD: It was a very tense time in Charlotte-Mecklenburg. Now, they had to integrate and they had to integrate by using busing. This system of busing to achieve racial desegregation was to involve the entire community, not just a handful of blacks integrating predominately white schools, but blacks integrating white schools and whites integrating black schools, teachers, students and administrators. And this created a great deal of uproar in the community. BETTY ANN BOWSER: There were bombings, protests and fear. Instead of letting the situation fester, as happened in many cities, leaders in Charlotte made a firm, emotional commitment to making busing work. Lifelong native and banking executive Dennis Rash was one of them. DENNIS RASH: This city is a city that has always had a history of economic opportunity. Very pragmatic city, it was wasteful to have a dual school system -- wasteful both in human terms and in financial terms. The school system is always one of the things that people test a city by. If it's not successful, they don't go there. If it is successful, they do go there. DAVID GOLDFIELD: Community came together. We built a consensus and we solved the problem, and we moved on to bigger and better things. Our economic growth took off after 1975, when the last schools were integrated. BETTY ANN BOWSER: Today one federal study cites Charlotte as the most integrated school system in America. And Goldfield is right: Charlotte is no longer a sleepy, little southern city. Its population has jumped 25 percent in the last five years. A strong economy is creating steady job growth and low unemployment. It's the second largest banking center in the United States and another medal of prosperity, new NBA and NFL expansion teams play in Charlotte. More than one member of the school board thinks all this prosperity also signals an end to busing. John Lassiter is board vice president. JOHN LASSITER: I don't think transportation has anything to do with the quality of education. Quality education begins in a particular school. And we have to ensure that every school is the highest caliber. That issue has existed for us long before and long after we had transportation requirements laid upon us by the court system. BETTY ANN BOWSER: Critics of busing like Lassiter point to the district's test scores. Like most public school systems in America, black students still score substantially lower than white students on standardized achievement tests. JOHN LASSITER: There is no question, no question about it, that there is a divergence between white and black test scores. And that has not been coming together in recent years. But there is a concern that with so much diversity in the school system and so many different backgrounds and levels of preparation with which students come to the classroom, that a quality education may not be as possible as from the environment which they moved. BETTY ANN BOWSER: In court, the school board opposed an end to busing, saying it was still needed because the schools are still not fully desegregated. And busing proponents argue many neighborhoods in Charlotte remain segregated today, so that for some students, school is the one place where the races really come together. Many of the students here at Garinger High, a magnet school, have grown up with busing. SOPHORN LAY, Garinger High School: When you go into the real world, it's not always going to be just one race, and big corporates or wherever you work or even in college. And if you're prepared now then it would be easier to make that transition. And so I think it's worth it. JANET AREMU-COLE, Garinger High School: I've never had any Asian friends before, so I think busing to integrate is like a very, very good thing because it just gives a better outlook for the children. It makes them see a different perspective of life. BETTY ANN BOWSER: A year ago, School Board President Griffin said he was concerned that a decision like last week's would result in years of desegregation efforts being thrown away. ARTHUR GRIFFIN: I think it's simply an effort to turn back the clock in America. People have made challenges before. This is sort of a come-in-the-back-door challenge to dealing with race, and race not only in this community but race in America. BILL CAPACCHIONE: I don't think it has the effect of turning back the clock. I think it's taking a step forward. The next step in the evolution is, let's educate the children. Mecklenburg County is the richest county in North Carolina. North Carolina is number 48 in the country in education. Mecklenburg County is, in the five county region around here, is number five out of seven counties. We're the bottom of the bottom here. Something needs to be done to raise that bar, to educate the children. BETTY ANN BOWSER: The parents of two black students who sided with the school board said they intend to appeal the decision.