The Embarrassment of Wake County
If there is anything North Carolianians get credit for nationally, it’s for having some common sense. We don’t have the political schizophrenia of California, the extreme partisanship of Texas, or the corruption of New Jersey. We might not be a rich state, but we have a good head on our shoulders. Which is exactly why we at NCSJP have been fielding calls from friends all over the country this week, all completely confused about what the Wake County School Board has been up to.
Since the New York Times ran an article last Sunday about the trials and tribulations we are all too familiar with, people from outside the State and region are scratching their heads about what we’re up to. And then yesterday, our friends at NC Policy Watch pointed out Mr. Margiotta, our esteemed School Board Char, seems to be unable to control his temper while presiding over Tuesday’s meeting. All of this leads to the question I’ve been hearing all week: what the heck is going on?
We have some theories, and frankly none of them are very palatable. They implicate our complicated ideas on race, class, and who knows best – “us” or “them”. However, what we sincerely hope that we can all agree on, as this messy process moves forward not only in our communities, but in national news outlets and in the blogosphere, is that we are embarrassing ourselves, diminishing our national creditability, and gambling with our childrens’ education. If we all honestly believe that all of this is worth saving a few minutes on the bus in the morning, so be it.
But let’s be honest this – it’s about far more than that.
The North Carolina Social Justice Project (NCSJP) is a non-partisan, non-profit organization that researches the causes of, solutions to, and advocates for the elimination of, the widespread social inequality among traditionally under-represented groups in North Carolina. While these problems manifest in a variety of ways, NCSJP tackles problems in four major areas: Human Rights, Education, Housing, and Finance.
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