A federal judge will hear opening arguments today in a case that pits African-American parents against the Pitt County Schools.
Pitt County, like many school districts in North Carolina, has a long history of segregation in its schools. About a dozen or so districts in the state are still under an active desegregation court-order, first issued in the 1960's, that requires them to be supervised by the federal courts.
When the Pitt County schools enacted its latest student assignment plan in 2011, a parent group in Greenville challenged the legality of the plan. They say it creates several high-poverty, high-minority schools that are segregated and inherently unequal. The Pitt County School Board says it followed the law, and wants to be granted so-called “unitary status” that would end federal supervision.
The case opens today in federal court in Greenville.