RALEIGH -- N.C. State University benefits greatly from the health of the Wake County public schools. In addition to contributing to a vibrant community and strong economy, a good public school system is a tool for faculty recruitment and a key asset for faculty retention at N.C. State.
Thankfully, the fortunes of N.C State and the Wake County Public School System have been very good. Last August, US News ranked N.C State as the third-best value among all U.S. public universities. Within our state, the Wake County schools have similarly been an outstanding value: Wake County's 2009 SAT scores were fourth-highest among the 115 school systems in North Carolina (and higher than the national average), even while its spending per-pupil ranked 85th among the 115 school systems.
Part of what makes both N.C State and the Wake County public schools great is their commitment to diversity. Excellence requires cooperation among diverse talents and experiences. Competing successfully in a global economy depends upon familiarity with people different from oneself, whether those differences lie in race, ethnicity, religion, country of origin or socieconomic status.
Since the late 1970s, Wake County's diversity policy has sought to avoid a segregated and inequitable public school system. Although imperfect, this policy has largely succeeded. As Gerald Grant argues in his timely book, "Hope and Despair in the American City: Why There are No Bad Schools in Raleigh," Wake County's diversity policy has ensured that all of our schools are good schools, and this in turn has been a boon to our prosperity. Companies and families have wanted to relocate here because they know we have a well-educated work force, and because they know they can live anywhere in the county and attend good public schools.
Abandoning the diversity policy would significantly undermine these achievements, it would be a step backward from the global competitiveness that is necessary in the 21st century and it would be costly. Since Mecklenburg County dismantled its diversity policy earlier this decade, for example, it has had to increase spending on high-poverty schools to make up for their disadvantages. Last year Mecklenburg spent overall $8,595 per student, while Wake spent $8,117 per student. That's a difference of $478 per student. With 140,000 students in the Wake school system, that adds up to over $68 million.
We write as N.C State faculty members and concerned citizens. Many of us have children or grandchildren in the Wake County Public School System. We urge the new Wake County Board of Education to recognize the foundational importance of the diversity policy to the success of Wake County schools.
Removing the school system's longstanding commitment to socioeconomically diverse schools would predictably lead to segregated and unequal schools, which harms everyone in our community. The impact would be felt immediately at N.C State, where it would deter new faculty prospects and their families. It would be felt for decades to come by the children in the school system as they grow up and move into a diverse world for which they have been ill-prepared to succeed.
Karey Harwood is an assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at N.C. State University. Wendell McKenzie is alumni distinguished professor emeritus in the Department of Genetics. This article was endorsed by 18 other N.C. State faculty members across several departments of the university.
