RALEIGH -- Members of Wake's school board majority, several prominent fellow mayors and the chairman of the county Republican Party have a terse message for Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker: Butt out.
That was their sharp reaction Tuesday to Meeker's plan to quietly assemble a group of town mayors who would select "high level" residents to scrutinize the student assignment plan being developed by the Wake school board. He wants mayors countywide to recruit citizens with educational or legal experience to meet and determine whether the emerging plan "complies with state statutory and constitutional standards."
"Our goal is to get an objective group, to get good advice and see if it's a good plan or bad plan that needs some changes," said Meeker. "It is an unusual situation. But the kinds of changes in the proposed assignment plan are so serious that mayors really do need to get involved."
However, the five-term Democratic mayor's latest attempt to insert himself in the contentious school board debate has drawn pointed criticism that crosses party lines.
School board member John Tedesco, chairman of the committee drawing up the assignment plan, accused Meeker of wanting to perpetuate a system that saw poor passing and graduation rates for low-income and minority students. Tedesco is part of the school board majority that discarded the diversity policy in student assignments supported by Meeker, who is married to Dr. Anne McLaurin, a member of the board minority.
"He wants a quota-laden affirmative action system," Tedesco said of Meeker. "The mayor just wants to distribute students around instead of focusing on academic achievement. We need to hold every school accountable."
Claude Pope, chairman of the Wake County Republican Party, said the school board has the primary responsibility of dealing with legal issues raised by the move to a new student assignment plan that places a priority on neighborhood schools.
"I would think the school board is looking at any statutory regulations out there because that's part of their job," Pope said. "To assume that they aren't doing that is grossly unfair to an elected body."
Both Meeker and Knightdale Mayor Russell Killen, who work in the same law firm, have called mayors from most Wake municipalities to garner support for a committee the Raleigh mayor says he will participate in as a "facilitator."
On Tuesday, though, Killen distanced himself from Meeker's interest in a legal review, but said he still wants to form a group of citizens selected by participating Wake mayors to study the student assignment plan. Killen also said he doesn't plan to sit in on the committee's discussions.
"I never envisioned this group as one reviewing legalities of the plan," he said. "My overriding concern is that I just feel like there's such a lack of meaningful dialogue ... and we have to help find a way to get back to that."
The plan before the school board's assignment committee divides the county into 16 community school zones and emphasizes placing students in schools close to their homes. In May, the school board discarded the policy that made socioeconomic diversity a priority in student assignments. Meeker and others critical of the new board majority are concerned the new policy will create high-poverty schools that lack racial and socioeconomic diversity.
This is not the first time Meeker has ventured into the Wake schools debate. In June, Meeker said he wanted business, legal and community leaders to join him in reviewing the school board's plan, raising the possibility of legal action if the board's plan seemed to violate a student's right to a sound education, which the state constitution requires.
Meeker drew the ire of the school board majority and county Republicans who support them when he said the board's ruling coalition "are not from the area" and "don't share our values." Meeker is a lawyer who was raised in Washington, D.C., but moved to Raleigh in 1975. Meeker made his comments at a community meeting in East Raleigh.
Now, Meeker says the group of mayors and citizens he is trying to assemble has a similar aim as his first proposal. He said he waited to see whether either the Wake Education Partnership, a nonprofit advocacy group that supports public schools, or the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce would review the plan before he took action.
"Those groups are creating their own assignment proposal, and there really isn't anyone looking at the current plan from a state law perspective," he said.
Meeker and Killen's efforts also have drawn criticism from some of the mayors they're trying to recruit. But the objections among Wake's 12 mayors don't divide neatly along ideological or party lines.
Rolesville Mayor Frank Eagles and Cary Mayor Harold Weinbrecht, both Democrats, say they won't join the committee. But conservative Democrat and Garner Mayor Ronnie Williams, who supports the new school board majority, said he will participate.
Eagles slammed Meeker for trying to be "king" of Wake County, while Weinbrecht, whose town is sharply divided on the schools issue, was more conciliatory in his opposition.
"I'm not sure what having yet another group of individuals giving their opinion is going to do," Weinbrecht said. "As of right now, I don't think it's in the best interest of Cary to be involved with something perceived to be political."
Holly Springs Mayor Dick Sears, a Republican, said he wanted to know more about Meeker's initiative. But Wake Forest Mayor Vivian Jones, a Republican said she wouldn't participate.
"That is a job for the school board," Jones said. "I don't think the mayors looking at it is necessarily an appropriate thing to do. I wouldn't want the school board to come in and look at what I'm doing. We have to let them do their job."
Apex Mayor Keith Weatherly, a Republican who works for state Rep. Paul Stam of Apex and has strongly supported the school board majority, said the move was political on Meeker's part. But Weatherly said he would still appoint representatives to ensure his town has representation in Meeker's group.
"If they're going to constitute some group, then I will certainly pick somebody from our town to represent us and certainly make our views known," he said.
Four support Meeker
Democratic Mayors John Byrne of Fuquay-Varina, Jackie Holcombe of Morrisville, Harold Broadwell of Wendell, and Bob Matheny of Zebulon said they support the group.
"Between the 12 [mayors], we represent a great, great majority of Wake County," Matheny said. "They should listen to us, and I'm not sure, frankly, if this school board wants to listen to anybody except the people who sing their song."
The board majority's push to change the assignment policy has drawn scrutiny from the NAACP, which has filed a civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education. Advancing Excellence in Education Worldwide, or AdvancED, a Georgia-based accreditation firm, has also threatened to pull its certification from all Wake high schools if the district doesn't hand over documents that detail policy decisions made since the new school board took over in December.
Killen, who is unaffiliated, said he doesn't think Meeker's initiative steps on the school board's toes.
"It is easier to get feedback when you know you have representation from across the community, and you're going to put them in a room together and get a back and forth dialogue," he said. "The idea is not to make this a political committee ... so hopefully [the school board] will be open to it and listen to it."
Although Meeker said he will facilitate the committee, he doesn't know how often it will meet, or what role mayors or residents will play. He said the group would be nonpartisan and objective.
An initial meeting could take place in two or three weeks, Meeker said. Retired Raleigh attorney Eric Braun will do staff work for the committee, Meeker said. Braun has discussed land use issues before the Raleigh City Council and told Meeker he was free to help with any issues after he retired earlier this year. All the work is pro bono, and no city staff members are involved.
Weinbrecht said he wouldn't know who to recruit for Meeker's group.
"Cary is very divided over this issue," he said. "I'm afraid we are going to end up with people who are going to have a bias."
Staff writer T. Keung Hui contributed to this report.
