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communication to the parents of the testing that needed to be done. They now have meetings early in the year to inform parents. With reference to implementation, the Orange County School Board will receive this report on Wednesday evening and he will take direction from the School Board. Commissioner Carey asked what percentage of the decision made to close the gap has been funded by County dollars compared to State dollars. Dr. Bridges said that the majority of the money was local money. Delores Simpson said that they started closing the gap before it became a mandate to do so and that is why they are so passionate about continuing the programs and she hopes they can continue. Commissioner Gordon commended the Orange County School Board for their efforts and results. She asked if the graph could be read longitudinally. Dr. Bridges said that this is not tracking the same group of kids. They do have that tracking using the cohort analysis and he will share it if needed. The analysis is very similar for both methods. Chair Jacobs asked if he was able to track socioeconomic backgrounds. Dr. Bridges said that they could do that. Valarie Foushee, Chair of the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board, said that while they have many students who are successful, they have a number of students who are not successful, which is why they have renewed their efforts. Superintendent Neil Pedersen said that there are two reports going to their Board this Thursday evening. One is a final report from the Blue Ribbon Task force and the other is the latest minority achievement report which outlines their new strategy for closing the gap. They are totally committed to eliminating the achievement gap. Some of the programs implemented have been reading recovery, advancement by individual determination, volunteers and partners office, mentoring program, expansion of preschool education, portfolio assessments, Communities in Schools, and after school transportation. He said that in reading and math they have closed the gap by about 50%. They believe that part of the issue is that the students are not being taught the material they are being tested on. They are taking a hard look at all of their policies, particularly equity issues and access to the same opportunities and curriculum. They believe that technology is one of the keys and divides the population in terms of "haves" and "have Hats". They are looking for strategies of access to technology at school, after school hours, in the community, and putting computers in students' homes. They are working hard on staff development and issues of staff diversity and equity. They believe that they have not made the progress they want because of staff attitudes. Commissioner Carey commended the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools for what they have done and also for the charts which showed the differences in ranking for different cultures. He asked for more information on changing attitudes. He would also like to see from the Orange County Schaal Board a similar chart of rankings compared to other systems in the State and where we rank on funding this. Neil Pedersen made reference to the rankings and said that who ranks where is interesting. There is a lack of correlation in where different counties rank and the amount of money spent in this area. He said that the work they are doing with the staff is with a consultant. His work is called Beyond Diversity. What they found in the school system, particularly among the staff is that race is not a day to day conversation. When race was a systematic conversation, not much was said. A major part of the work is helping all of us look at the world differently through racial lenses.