In today?s Charlotte Observer Fannie Flono cites the ?community helped create schools,? which is true since communities make up customers attending schools. However, her accusation of the community, and the federal school desegregation order being removed, as the culprit for ?negative results? is simply misleading.
The removal of the court order and allowing families to choose schools accelerated trends already happening long before the 4th U. S. Circuit ruled the system unitary. But now the lack of achievement is revealed.
The ?negative results? she mentions were caused by specific issues not addressed by elected leadership; the  ?community? is innocent!
First, for years school boards refused to build schools where needed. EVERYONE knew the areas of high population growth, but the school board refused to build schools in those locations.  The board was more concerned about social engineering, than adequately providing seats, and holding all schools to a high level of achievement.
Another ?negative result? is the increase of schools having a high concentration of poorer children. Which is definitely a cause of concern IF the government educational system continues to blame others and ignore their total failure.  But this too is not a ?community? problem. It is a systemic crisis government education intuitions have covered up for years, and one that must be resolved by strong leadership! 
When first elected to the Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education in 1995, I asked for reading scores by location of where children lived rather than by schools. Seventy percent of urban children were NOT reading on grade level, and they were being bused throughout the county. These poorer families were USED by the system to gain racial balance in the schools. There was NO outcry from the public regarding the lack of achievement.  Everyone was “OK” if racial balancing occurred in schools. Each child?s academic performance was secondary.
Now schools not performing should have the attention needed from the leadership to do whatever is necessary to produce performance.  Since the removal of the court order, academic performance has continually risen. All problems have NOT been resolved, but low performance can no longer be hidden!
Flono participated in a yearlong fellowship at Harvard studying the impact of race and class on public schools; I recommend she spend a year with Ms. Abigail Thernstrom and reading the book ?No Excuses.? The only responsibility of the community is to make sure they VOTE for strong leadership. Government education reform lies with elected officials.