Siding with Wake schools

HERE ARE EXCERPTS FROM LEGAL BRIEFS FILED BY GROUPS BACKING WAKE'S EFFORTS TO REVERSE A COURT RULING BANNING IT FROM USING MANDATORY YEAR-ROUND SCHOOLS.

"As a result, the School Board's ability to take affirmative measures to reduce socioeconomic integration among Wake County public school students was diminished. At stake is the School Board's prerogative to carry out the measures it has determined are necessary for it to meet its constitutional mandate to provide all students with 'an equal opportunity for a sound basic education' as mandated by the North Carolina Constitution." --Wake County Voters Education Coalition

"The General Assembly has not mandated that attendance at year-round schools be 'voluntary.' Therefore, the plaintiff-appellees' legal position that a summertime break must be maintained for all public schools in Wake County derives its support not from law, but from a desire to maintain a static 'tradition' regardless of the economic realities and dynamic trends in public education." -- N.C. Council of School Attorneys

"Such a broad contention would negate virtually all ability by school boards and administrators to fashion specific school requirements for a broad range of students except on a voluntary basis. For example, under this reasoning a mandatory summer school session for at-risk students or failing students would not be possible -- only voluntary participation would be allowed." -- N.C. Association of School Administrators

HERE'S AN EXCERPT FROM THE SCHOOL DISTRICT'S BRIEF TO THE COURT OF APPEALS

"The court's decision would grant the parents of those students veto power over their children's school assignment. This parental veto would jeopardize the preparation of future school assignment plans by rendering them subject to the individual wishes of thousands of parents. A school system cannot successful operate under such uncertainty." -- Wake school board attorney Ann Majestic