Dan Coleman, president of the Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association, is speaking out against the old Wake County socioeconomic diversity policy.

As noted in today's article, Coleman's public criticism of the diversity policy is putting him at odds with the rest of the leadership of the local African American community. But Coleman said the test data shows that the diversity policy hasn't helped Southeast Raleigh students.

The passing rate on state reading exams for Southeast Raleigh students was 46.7 percent in elementary schools and 48.6 percent in middle schools. None of the other zones in the plan being considered by the board had passing rates below 60 percent.

Why were a majority of qualified black and Hispanic students not placed in advanced math classes in Wake County middle schools for years?

As noted in today's article, the new EVAAS-based selection criteria is expected to sharply increase placement in middle schools this school year. As the SAS EVAAS report showed, Algebra-ready black and Hispanic students were the least likely to have gotten placed before.

Questions abut institutionalized racism and low expectations have been tossed out as possible reasons for the low placement rates.

CORRECTED POST TO SAY BARBARA WALTERS