In his Sept 1 letter to the editor Kent Henderson made the claim that our Wake County schools are not good. We have good schools in Wake County, although some are better than others. There is evidence that shows that the diversity policy and magnet schools together have built some of the finest academic successes in the state. In fact, Wake outperforms Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Guilford and the Winston Salem/Forsyth public schools in many areas. According to the Broad 2009 District Report:

WCPSS has higher average SAT 2008 scores

WCPSS outperforms the other three districts in the percent of Advanced Placement (AP) tests with scores of 3 or greater on core subjects (3 is passing. Students can earn college credit for passing AP exams.)

Specifically the Wake County Public School System outperforms Charlotte/Mecklenburg Schools, which dumped their diversity policy in 2002 and has since moved to more socioeconomically segregated schools. Research shows that high poverty schools have lower student achievement and less qualified, experienced teachers.

WCPSS has higher 2008-09 four-year graduation rates than CMS: 78.4 percent vs. 66.1 percent (CMS)

WCPSS has higher ABC recognition: For 2008-09, CMS had four low-performing schools;

WPCSS had none. WCPSS had about 1.5 times more Schools of Distinction than CMS (50 vs. 34).

Of course, there is always room for improvement. But ditching the diversity policy, as one criteria to assign kids to school, is not the answer. It is a bad idea and will hurt the Wake County school system's reputation tremendously.

Rita Rakestraw

Knightdale