[Durham INC] New from the Rev-elution

[Carl Kenney]

The closing of the W. G. Pearson Magnet Middle School draws attention to Durham's battle with disparities










I keep praying that we will get past the growing pains of
school merger.  After all that fighting,
and Bill Bell putting his political career on the chopping block, the deal was
made in 1992.  It wasn’t easy convincing
the black community to surrender control of the predominantly black city school
system.  White parents feared what would
come of the county school district once little black kids began attending their
schools.



It was a nightmare waiting to unfold.  It’s been 20-years now, and those fears have
become our reality.  The merging of the
former Durham Public School and Durham County School systems continues to
strain Durham’s public education.  The
hope was to create a new district that reaped benefits from the strengths of
the former systems.  It’s a work in
progress.



Many parents are angry with how money fuels decisions.  Zelda Lockhart, 2010
Piedmont Laureate for Literature in her region of North Carolina, is
among the parents refusing to remain silent. “My daughter has the right to be
educated in her community, at a school that has historical significance for all
people of Durham, and in a space where she can walk less than a block and
continue her education at the library that is also part of her historical
neighborhood, where her love for art and science are nurtured.,” she says in
response to the closing of W.G. Pearson Magnet Middle School. 



W. G. Pearson was touted for drawing gifted students
interested in the arts.  It’s located in
an historical black neighborhood where many residents remember the glory days
before decay settled in to rob so many of their dreams.  The school represents more than a place to
teach their children.  The building along
with the youth who walked to school reminds residents of what could be there
again.  



W. G. Pearson became expendable when the Lucas Middle
School was built. The North Highlands neighborhood requested a middle school
closer to their children.  The new school
with state of the art technology will open in August. Treyburn in North Durham,
is a neighborhood where the average home price is over $270,000. 



 “The scenario is
all too familiar to my own as a teenager,” Lockhart says. “I slipped through
cracks of development in the City of St. Louis when many of the inner city
schools were slowly closed in favor of county development, and by the time I
was ready to attend high school the schools that remained open were on the
other side of town and there was no transportation save for my bus pass.”



 Lockhart contends
there is a deeper political issue surrounding the closing of W. G. Pearson’s successful
program.  That is the closing a thriving institution
that serves an underserved population to accommodate for the building of a new
facility that will serve a privileged population. 



“Problem solve for our children the way you problem
solved for the children of upper income parents,” Lockhart says.  She wants the school board to redraw the
district lines. “And make sure that you keep your promise to provide all
students with an outstanding education that motivates them to reach their full
potential and enables them to discover their interests and talents, pursue
their goals and dreams, and succeed in college, in the workforce and as engaged
citizens.”





“What is key in keeping that promise is that the W.G.
Pearson children never again walk out of the school at the end of their day
feeling like second class citizens because one school far north of their neighborhood
will open with new technology, while their facility is left to fall apart and
thus be closed because it has been ignored,” Lockhart says.



Rather than improve the school within walking distance of
students, a new one is built far away. The assumption felt by children is the
best schools are over there.  Why can’t
the best schools be over here?



There’s an interesting twist to all of this merger
talk.  Jeanne H. Lucas was the first
African American female to serve as a state senator.  Prior to that, she worked with the Durham
City School System.  The new school named
in her honor is far away from the students she once taught.  I wonder what she would think about the closing
of W.G. Pearson?



All in the name of merger. 		 	   		  
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