Wake County, NC

Wake County Public Schools

The Center is using legal and community organizing strategies to ensure all children in Wake County have access to a high quality, Constitutionally-compliant education in the wake of the Board of Education's dismantling of the district's socio-economic student assignment diversity policy. A model for districts across the country seeking to support integrated public schools consistent with the Supreme Court's 2007 decision Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (PICS), the Wake County policy provided that individual schools should reflect a free and reduced lunch ratio no greater than 40% of its student population and an achievement level of less than 25% of students below grade level. This plan was largely successful until a new majority took control of the school board in December 2009, and promptly proceeded to dismantle the diversity policy and reassign students to "neighborhood" schools. The Center partners with national and local education experts, legal advocates, and community organizations to combat the return to segregated schools and to coordinate a legal response to the Board's actions.

Project Objectives

• Participate in legal, research and organizing efforts to ensure a high quality education for all students in Wake County.
• Provide policy advice and research to community members who support the diversity policy, and legal advice and support to several organizations engaged in the struggle in Wake County.
• Develop and implement a comprehensive legal strategy to decelerate and ultimately thwart the Wake County Board of Education's attempts to resegregate public schools.

Project Contact

Taiyyaba Qureshi