In Georgia, opinions are split about a case in which black teachers
were transferred so white teachers could be hired to teach in a predominantly
black school.
Under an order issued by the U.S. Department of Education's office for
civil rights, the G.W. Northcutt Elementary School in Clayton County (Ga.)
transferred 19 black teachers and hired 24 white teachers in order to
eliminate vestiges of past discrimination (Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
10/6).
Prior to the transfer, Northcutt, with a student population that is
94% black, had a 68% black faculty. This year, the faculty is 66% white.
School officials were forced to make the transfers or stand to lose more
than $14 million in federal funding, reports the paper. According to the
office of civil rights, a faculty "must not deviate by more than 10 percent
from the systemwide racial breakdown for teachers," writes the paper.
The move caused upheaval in the school. "If you are a teacher, you are
prepared to teach wherever," said Nancy Wilson, a black teacher who was
not transferred last year. "I wish people would stop putting emphasis
on color, because when you're teaching, you're teaching the child, not
the color of the child."
Other parents said they felt the black teachers related better to their
children. Clayton County schools Superintendent Joe Hairston said the
transfer helped shake up a system that needed to make radical changes
anyway, reports the paper. He also remarked that his students needed exposure
to "people from various backgrounds to broaden their perspectives," writes
the paper.
