How did we know it would come to this? Because it always does—when liberal groups disagree with policy, they label it racist and threaten to sue. Case in point–no surprise— HB 514–the bill that would allow towns surrounding Charlotte to create their own charter schools—is under attack from former Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board members:
Arthur Griffin, a former school board chair and current chairman of the local Black Political Caucus, called HB 514 “morally reprehensible.” Griffin attended schools segregated by Jim Crow law, saw Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools emerge as a leader in court-ordered desegregation in the 1970s, then led a losing legal battle to preserve race-based assignment in the late 1990s.”Growing up in Charlotte, my parents didn’t have the resources and political standing to fight institutional racism,” he said. “But in 2018, I do. You do. We do. And we need to stand up and fight institutional racism.”
He and others present at Tuesday’s news conference said they planned to sue.
“If they pass it, we’re going to court,” said George Battle Sr., who chaired the CMS board in the early 1990s.
Current CMS leaders also seem to be considering legal action, with a Monday night memo from CMS government relations coordinator Charles Jeter to the school board and top administrators referring to “recourse through the courts.”
Interesting comments from current CMS school board member Ericka Ellis-Stewart, who said “we were told behind the scenes, ‘Don’t talk about race. Don’t make this about race.'” That’s right –it’s not about race— as JLF vice president for research and director of education studies Dr. Terry Stoops has said repeatedly—it’s about CMS’ inadequacy in serving both the kids and the parents.
