State Capitol monuments lack diversity

* A black or Native American child visiting the state Capitol on a school field trip can wander among the statues, monuments and plaques without seeing an image of someone of the same skin color.

Eddie Davis, a former teacher and former head of the state's largest teachers union, calls it "segregated history in the 21st century." He is proposing that the state Capitol in downtown Raleigh, built with the help of slave labor, reflect and represent all of its people, including those who aren't white, about a quarter to one-third of the population.

He asked members of the state Historical Commission last week to add a "Hall of Inclusion" on the second floor of the Capitol, with plaques recognizing historical contributions by racial and ethnic minorities. (N&O)

* Jam-packed Wake County classrooms with up to 40 or more students have sparked a blame game between leaders of North Carolina's largest school district and state officials and educators.

Gov. Beverly Perdue, State Board of Education Chairman Bill Harrison and the N.C. Association of Educators say Wake school leaders shouldn't be blaming the state for budget cuts that have increased class sizes and resulted in fewer teachers and assistants.

Instead, they say Wake should have more aggressively used federal stimulus dollars to rehire teachers who could shrink class sizes now. Their message: Worry later about the stimulus dollars running out in two years. (N&O)

* As a result of tough-on-crime sentencing laws approved by legislators 15 years ago, North Carolina's inmate population is booming and will soon outpace the number of prison beds.

Despite this, the state budget signed by Perdue this month orders seven small prisons closed, eliminates 972 corrections jobs and cuts programs aimed at keeping juvenile offenders from becoming hardened criminals.

Administrators say the state Department of Correction can safely absorb the cuts in the short-term by increasing the number of inmates at other facilities. But judges, legislators and others with a stake in the criminal justice system worry that the growth, if unchecked, will soon result in prisons so crowded as to be unsafe for inmates and staff. (N&O)

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