Due to a 1999 court case that ended mandated busing, some of North Carolina's schools are segregating themselves again, according to an article in Newsweek.

Previously a model of desegregation, the state's classrooms have begun to divide again along racial lines. In Charlotte, federally mandated busing ensured balance until 1999, when a court ruled that integration had been accomplished. Since then the number of 90 percent–minority schools has jumped almost fivefold. In Wayne County, one high school is now 99 percent African-American, which prompted the NAACP to file a federal complaint alleging "apartheid education." And last month in Wake County, a newly elected school board voted to end an income-based diversity program that has been copied across the country. "I think it's intentional race discrimination," says Mark Dorosin, a senior attorney at the University of North Carolina's Center for Civil Rights. (A spokesperson for Gov. Bev Perdue says the state is committed to "a sound, basic education for every child.")

This is such a complicated issue. We have busing here in Berkeley so parents do not automatically get their neighborhood schools. They are assigned schools by lottery. On the one hand, our schools are very diverse. On the other hand, some kids do have longish commutes, which must make it tough on the parents when it comes to extracurricular activities.

What do you all think? Does your school district have busing? How would you ensure that schools are integrated?