The quest to split Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools into smaller districts has more supporters than opponents in Mecklenburg County, especially among whites, a poll of 661 residents shows.

The telephone survey found that 54 percent of white residents support breaking CMS into two or more districts, while 64 percent of black residents oppose such a move.

[…]

The overwhelming majority of both races agree on top priorities for the district — safe schools, consistent discipline and a strong basic education. Blacks, though, are more likely than whites to say "very important" priorities include improving the quality of principals (81 percent vs. 62 percent), ensuring that low-income students aren't concentrated in a few schools (76 percent vs. 52 percent), ensuring that schools are racially diverse (77 percent vs. 48 percent) and renovating existing schools (69 percent vs. 49 percent).

Blacks are twice as likely as whites to say it's very important to move top teachers to schools with many at-risk students (51 percent vs. 24 percent).

Whites, on the other hand, are more likely than blacks to say assigning children to schools near home (69 percent vs. 41 percent) is very important.

Because we count on judges' impartiality in making their rulings, Democrats are standing up for democracy in fighting to keep the filibuster. In the war over the courts, they recognize that it's a tool for ensuring that the president's nominees are worthy of life tenure — especially when Republicans insist on their right to pick judges because of ideology. The function of the selection process prescribed in the Constitution is to hold nominees accountable regarding their fitness for the bench. As [US Court of Appeals Judge] Stanley Birch reminded us in the Schiavo case, the payoff of responsible advice and consent is a well-chosen judge who, rather than weaken our system of checks and balances, will exercise his independence to reaffirm the strength of American democracy.