I’ve read the comments thread here and don’t want get into local or personal issues, but here is a general comment from someone who grew up in the South during segregation (“separate but equal”) and taught public school briefly at a largely poor, black school in the early white flight (i.e. de facto segregation) aftermath.

The pernicious effects of a 2-tier 1950’s-1960’s separate but unequal system are still being felt today.

If we bring every public school up to where it should be, the effects of discrimination will persist, perhaps for decades.

That is why educational equity should be an immediate issue. There is no time for incremental improvements.

Every parent and every non parent must commit to eliminating every tier except excellence. This is probably the most important issue of our time.

I don’t know what the solutions are (the problems are obvious), but if we don’t start looking and implementing now, we’ll never find them.