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Wake County School Board Passes Final
Resolution for Neighborhood Schools
Caitlin Griffin, StaffWriter
On Tuesday March 2, the
Wake County Board of Education
faced the uproar of many angry
protests when it passed the first
resolution to move towards com
munity-based school assignments.
Supporters of the resolution cited
practical issues with the current
socio-economic “diversity” policy,
such as the fact that many re-dis-
tricted students had to take hour-
long bus rides across the city just to
go to the school they were assigned
when there was a perfectly good
school in their own neighborhood.
The supporters of the resolution
stated that this bussing policy was
inconvenient and uneconomical.
In opposition were the parents and
students who stated the importance
of the socio-economic diversity
in the public school systems that
could only be achieved by bussing.
Members of the NAACP openly ac
cused the Board of trying to re-seg-
regate Wake County public schools
by student race.
Despite the controversy,
on Tuesday March 23, the Board
of Education passed the second
and final resolution to change the
decade-old “diversity” school as
signment policy and return to the
policy of community-based school
assignment. Tensions ran high
outside the district administration
building where hoards of students
wore black shirts to protest the
resolution and chanted “Hey hey,
ho ho. Resegregation has got to
go!” According to WRAL news,
about 80 people spoke at the heat
ed public hearing before the board
voted 5-to-4 in favor of an assign
ment model in which students go
to schools within a certain com
munity zone. With the resolution
passed, the Board of Education
claims that the student assignment
committee’s creating a concrete
plan for commimity assignment
zones could take up to 15 months.
Newly-elected board mem
ber John Tedesco states that “the
majority’s vision for a new model
of neighborhood schools is to give
parents choices.” Mr. Tedesco also
claims that bussing students to
force diversity in the public schools
“has only ended up promoting low
expectations, [a] model of educa
tion [that] has not served [Wake
County] very well.” Many affected
parents and students within Wake
County remain disappointed with
the final vote, but since the com-
STAFF
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munity-based assignment plan was
a key point in last year’s election, in
which voters elected four candi
dates who said they supported
moving away from the diversity
policy, it appears that Wake County
voters got what they wanted.
Going Local
Aleigha Page, StaffWriter
It is almost that time of
year when farmers and other veg
gie vendors sell their fresh produce
at stands along roads and high
ways. Raleigh is fortunate enough
to also have a large farmer’s market
facility to allow residents to buy
fruits and vegetables nearby. The
beauty in buying produce locally
is that we know exactly where the
tasty produce came from - and
that it did not endure a trip of
thousands of miles in a cramped
truck or in a boat from South
America or Mexico. This also
means that shopping locally for
produce is environmentally sound
because it prevents the use of
semi-trucks and other modes of gas
guzzling transportation. Another
benefit to buying produce that was
planted and cultivated hy some
one in a local community is that
the fruits of their labor (no pun
intended) will come back to them.
Liz Osterman, a Meredith
student from Maryland, lives on a
farm and works in a plant nursery
during the summer. She believes
that it is important to buy locally
because it supports the farmers
who work diligently to grow their
crops. She notes that food is much
fresher when purchased locally,
which adds to its tastiness.
The Raleigh Farmer’s
Market is located off Lake Wheeler
Road; signs along the road point
shoppers in the direction of the
market. The farmer’s market is
open year-round and provides an
assortment of in-season, locally
grown crops. All of the food is
native to North Carolina, and most
of it comes from Raleigh and sur
rounding areas. Just a short drive
away from Raleigh is the Carrhorro
Farmer’s Market, which is known
for its tight-knit community of
vendors and frequent shoppers.
The market offers a fresh array
of veggies, fruit, cheese, honey,
meats, baked goods, and crafts.
Those over 21 years old can enjoy
a bottle of one of many kinds of
locally-made wine available, rang
ing from muscadine to blackberry
to traditional red. Kerri McFalls, a
frequenter of the market, especial
ly during the spring, enjoys going
to market for the afternoon and
simply observing all there is to see.