Good numbers on equity committee

There are now plenty of applicants for the Champaign school district's new equity committee.

There's nothing like a little publicity to spur public participation.

At least, that's how it appears since The News-Gazette published a story last week reporting that only three people had applied to serve on a new equity committee in the Champaign school district. The lack of interest was a major disappointment, and it foreshadowed problems as the Nov. 3 deadline for applications approached.

But the superintendent's office reported Tuesday that additional applications have come flooding in and that the school board will have more than 20 from which to choose.

The equity committee, created as a result of a negotiated settlement to the end of the consent decree that governed the school district since the late 1990s, is intended to advise the school board on issues relating to minority students in the district. Its focus will be on academic performance, special education and attendance. But its expected role will be to bring issues of importance to the board for discussion and possible action.

Given the history of the consent decree, creating the equity committee is a sensible way to assure members of the minority community that their voices will continue to be heard.

However, the future of the equity committee remains somewhat in doubt because U.S. Judge Joe Billy McDade has yet to render a final opinion bringing the consent decree issue to a close. He held a hearing on the issue on Sept. 15 and said he anticipated issuing a decision in several weeks.

Well, it's closing in on six weeks now, and the community hasn't heard a thing from McDade.

The school district and the lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the consent decree engaged in good-faith negotiations that were encouraged by McDade and reached a settlement that brings the long-running, incredibly expensive consent decree to an end. As a show of good faith, the district agreed to some conditions sought by the plaintiffs' lawyers, including the establishment of the equity committee.

Given that agreement, the bottom line should be that it's over or about to be over officially. Nonetheless, McDade has shown signs that he doesn't want to let go, regardless of the efforts the district made to address minority student performance and of the legal precedent that must govern his decision. The courts have held that there is only so much school districts can be required to do to address social problems they didn't cause and can't solve.

Maybe McDade is just being a careful judge and writing a thoughtful decision. Maybe he's wrestling with his inner school superintendent and trying to figure out a way to keep oversight of the schools. People should hope for the former and fear the latter. The elected school board needs to get on with its business unencumbered by legal shackles.

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