Magnet school money is safe for a year, as Wake County recently received an extension on a federal grant that had expired. But the school board's Resolution Expressing Board Commitment to Efforts of Voluntary Desegregation, which slipped by last spring with little comment, is a shaky foundation upon which to rest any hope of future federal magnet funding.
The major problem with the board's resolution is that it assumes the work of racial and socioeconomic integration can be accomplished exclusively by the magnet schools. This is impractical, and it sends a disturbing message: that those who care about integration are free to practice it at magnet schools, while the rest of the lucky haves and unlucky have-nots are free to choose their respective neighborhood schools.
