The uproar over the possible merger of Orange County’s highest-performing and lowest-performing elementary schools has reached a new level of agitation. The Board of Education is bringing in a “public disputes coordinator” (aka referee) to run next Wednesday’s 4-hour meeting on the issue. This idea, which is a way for Orange education officials to paper over the abysmal scores of one school and thereby circumvent the No Child Left Behind law, has ramifications for every North Carolina system. If Orange succeeds, then why wouldn’t other systems follow that lead? And who would lose once the dust settles? The kids who need help, of course.