Schools split makes sense

I was encouraged to read Rick Martinez’s commentary on splitting up the Wake County Public School System (“Time to split up Wake schools” Feb. 20).

I think he hit the nail on the head saying the system is “too big to succeed” and could better serve our students if it were divided. That has been my opinion for some time, but the conundrum of a multiple district county has always been how to equitably finance the high- growth areas and low-growth areas to ensure that quality schools are built quickly enough. The revenue for school construction must come from the older neighborhoods to subsidize growth in non-established areas.

I think that answer has already appeared with the county commissioners’ proposal to take over school ownership and construction from the Wake County school board. The commission could ensure that county taxes are divided appropriately to keep up with growth and construction while “freeing up” the school board to achieve its primary goal of giving children the best possible educational outcome. The elephant in the room could be downsized and maybe for a time “politics” would become secondary to education.

When will our leaders put down the gloves and use some common sense here?

Richard Hall, Raleigh