Latest News and Comment from Education

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Racial tensions roil NC school board; 19 arrests

Racial tensions roil NC school board; 19 arrests

Associated Press

Racial tensions roil NC school board; 19 arrests

Tuesday, July 20, 2010
In a February 2010 photo, Wake County School Board member Debra Goldman, left, and Chairman Ron Margiotta are shown just after Superintendent Del Burns announced his intention to resign over the Wake County Board of Education's decision to scrap a much-praised busing-for-diversity program. The Wake County Board of Education's decision to scrap a much-praised busing-for-diversity program has sparked a public backlash not seen for decades in these parts.
(07-20) 15:47 PDT Raleigh, N.C. (AP) --
Protesters and police scuffled Tuesday at a school board meeting in North Carolina over claims that a new busing system would resegregate schools, roiling racial tensions reminiscent of the 1960s.
Nearly 20 people were arrested, including the head of state NAACP chapter who was banned from the meeting after a trespassing arrest at a June school board gathering.
"We know that our cause is right," Barber said shortly before police put plastic handcuffs on his wrists before the meeting started.
Inside, more than a dozen demonstrators disrupted the meeting by gathering around a podium, chanting


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/07/18/national/a091549D97.DTL&type=education#ixzz0uGXwBUFp