Champaign school system is on its own

At long last, the consent decree governing the operation of the Champaign schools has come to an end.

U.S. District Court Judge Joe Billy McDade finally drove a stake through the heart of the civil rights consent decree, accepting a settlement negotiated by lawyers for the school district and the plaintiffs.

In terminating the consent decree, McDade said the settlement "places the future of Champaign schoolchildren in the hands of the persons best equipped to educate" them – school administrators and teachers as well as members of the community. Further, he noted that since it's the public who elects the school board, it also must be the public that holds board members to their duty to do the best they can for all students.

Both of McDade's points are well taken. Achieving excellence in the Champaign public schools requires a commitment by the entire community.

There is no doubt that the consent decree has been a significant burden on the district in terms of resources expended, including time, money and effort. But court management of the schools also has provided a convenient excuse for board decisions that were not to the public's liking.

Now the district is on its own once again. Superintendent Arthur Culver and members of the school board are back running the district. They will fail or succeed based on the collective decisions they make, and it's been a long time coming.

While many people have problems with the manner in which the consent decree was implemented, no one can reasonably object to its major goal – improving the performance, both academic and personal, of minority students.

To succeed in life, everyone needs firm educational footing. But teaching and learning is far more than just the responsibility of the schools.

Students need to show up on time, behave in a civil fashion and try their best. Teachers and administrators must be demanding of all students while offering help to those who struggle. Parents must instill in their children appreciation for the value of an education and not accept excuses for anything less than serious effort.

Shortcomings by any of the parties in this social compact can have a devastating effect on the overall quality of education.

That was, essentially, the point McDade was making.

McDade's decision to accept the settlement was no real surprise.

The school district over a 10-year period did its best to address the issues raised in the consent decree, and it's hard to imagine what more could reasonably be asked. That is why the plaintiffs' lawyers agreed to settle rather than go to court in what would have been a doomed effort to win an extension of the consent decree.

The settlement requires the district to provide additional elementary school seats in north Champaign, something to which it was committed if it could raise the money. The recent sales tax vote resolved that issue. The board agreed to establish an equity committee to advise the school board, and that is in the implementation stage. The board also promised to continue to oversee student assignments to special education or remedial programs to ensure referrals are made in a nondiscriminatory fashion.

Plaintiffs' lawyer Carol Ashley's repeated accusation that teachers in the school district assigned students to remedial or special education programs out of racial animus was, is and always will be a baseless insult, one that undermined her credibility. It's telling that when challenged, Ashley failed to identify a single student improperly placed.

Fortunately, those kinds of highly lucrative but gratuitous insults are in the past. The educators are in charge, and the public can trust them to do their best. Nonetheless, the public should be encouraged to demand the board's best effort.

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