NC Superintendent: Advanced classes and magnet schools are racist.

NC Superintendent: Advanced classes and magnet schools are racist.

Catherine Truitt gave an interview to the Friday Center at NC State a week after being elected Superintendent of Public Instruction in 2020. She told the interviewer that Charter schools don't cause segregation in districts, rather advanced classes and magnet schools are the problem. In other words, high scores on admission requirements and earning high grades are racist constructs.

For Truitt, honors classes should be replaced with a one-size-fits-all curriculum so students receive an equal, mediocre education. In 2021, Truitt eliminated the barrier to advanced classes and started recruiting students based on skin color.

This is part of Catherine Truitt's push for DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) in North Carolina's public schools. 

Catherine Truitt opposes school choice options that reward and encourage high academic achievement. Many of these schools are competitive magnet programs and have a minimum admission requirement.

Middle and high schoolers at Magnets can take three different levels of mathematics courses within the same curriculum: Honors (or Accelerated) Algebra I – a higher level of difficulty, Algebra I – regular level of difficulty, or Algebra I with support – supportive level class.

Even though this learning option meets students where they are, NC's current superintendent sees schools that allow students to level up as racist.

Does Catherine Truitt doubt black students' abilities to do high-level coursework?

Magnet schools like Early College at Guilford, William Enloe High School, and Gaston Early College High Schools are among the state's best-performing schools.

Catherine Truitt seems to want all K-12 students to struggle to achieve by removing merit from North Carolina schools.

Here is the full Friday Institute interview posted to YouTube on November 12th, 2020.