|
|
 |
CHARLOTTE BUSING
Is busing to integrate school still necessary? July 14, 1998 |
|---|
Questions asked
in this forum:
Shouldn't qualified teachers at all schools end the busing debate? Does busing solve inequities or promote resentment? Can people in racially separated areas still work in a diverse environment? Should schools and students be placed in schools according to merit instead of racial background? Does busing allow kids of different races to learn to work together? 
Aaron Gaudio of Corvallis, OR asks: Does busing, or any active "integration" of schools help solve inequities in public schools or does it help promote resentment and detract from the problems of resource management and distribution? Bill James, Mecklenburg county commissioner, responds:
No. Busing has never been proven to "solve" educational problems. Even today in Charlotte, after 30 years of busing and special programs, Blacks underachieve White students by wide margins. If busing were the "solution" Black children's test scores would be at or near those of White children. They aren't.
Ironically, while Charlotte's school board promotes busing and school quota's to achieve "integration", statistics show that by the time high school is reached, Blacks are in one set of classrooms (mostly remedial) and Whites in others segregated by a school board hell bent on quotas not education.
Charlotte and the nation needs to have an honest discussion about race. We need to face up to the fact that children do poorly because of the environment they live in. Since most Black children come from broken homes at or near poverty -- no amount of busing will solve the learning deficiencies that exist from poor upbringing.
Ultimately, we can bus children to Mars and back but it is parental involvement (both the Mom and Dad), a well fed child, and strong moral and ethical values that are the keys to making a successful adult. Unfortunately, these are not high on Charlotte's school board's list of important issues.
Dennis Rash, NationsBank senior vice president, responds:
Resentment happens no doubt. On the other hand, the court found a matrix of governmental actions (e.g. zoning, deed restrictions, school board decisions) that had in fact segregated schools and removed educational opportunity.
The key point was how Charlotte responded to the court decision. A bi-racial community-wide task force developed a busing plan that overcame the resentment instinct. Ordinary citizens -- concerned over the need for better public education -- came together to present to the federal district court a starting point toward the goal of an integrated school system. Charlotte benefited from that process: the community's civic energies were then able to be focused more productively. Charlotte avoided the racial tension that often characterized other cities having protracted struggles over school desegregation cases.
The PBS NewsHour is Funded in part by: Additional Foundation and Corporate Sponsors
Program
Support
From:
Copyright © 1996- MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. All Rights Reserved. Support the kind of journalism done by the NewsHour...Become a member of your local PBS station.
