Though it has faded a bit as Republicans consolidated power, education has long been the central political battleground in North Carolina. In the latest year, North Carolina students’ test scores rose by a modest 3-4%. Third grade reading scores were a notable trouble spot, with only 46% of those children demonstrating adequate reading skills. I could scarcely believe that 45% of North Carolina children were testing below grade level and that a solid majority of our third graders were below grade level. This is the latest chapter in a long and ugly story of apartheid in North Carolina public education.