No Surprise

When it comes to public perceptions of the local school system, race matters:

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.

But race isn't the only thing that matters. It's a good article — read the whole thing.