THEN AND NOW: THE STATE OF EDUCATION IN THE TRIANGLE & PUBLIC EDUCATION IN RALEIGH: A CASE STUDY OF NEIGHBORS
Education is a declared right in the North Carolina constitution, ratified in 1789: “The people have a right to the privilege of education, and it is the duty of the State to guard and maintain that right.” Since that time, the state has gone through many changes – the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement – that have altered the political landscape and the scope and goals of public education.
This series of maps reveals the complex and sometimes controversial history of education in the Triangle region of North Carolina. At the Old City scale of the capital city of Raleigh, the profusion of schools shows a focus on public education for students at many levels and from different backgrounds, and at the same time it reveals the early segregation of the city. The New Raleigh scale shows the incredible growth and expansion of the city, overlaid with an understanding that many of the racial differences and prejudices affecting education in the Old City still impact children living in Raleigh today. At the scale of the county, we can see the immediate impact of the Wake County School Board’s 2009 decision to return to neighborhood schools, rather than busing students based on racial or socioeconomic factors. At the largest scale of the Triangle, we see that political boundaries and School Board policies continue to impact the funding and academic success of public schools.