The Boy on the Bus

Um, let me get back to you on that, kid.

The era of forced busing now seems a period piece.

"It was a transition that had to be done, to get kids involved with each other, parents involved."

That's my old teacher Frank Terrell talking. I reached him on his cellphone in a pasture in Florida where he keeps a few cattle. I told him he'd made a big difference in my life. He said he remembered me and proved it with specific stories. He revealed a shocking fact: In 1970 he was only 23 years old.

When the schools were preparing to desegregate, he said, Mr. Jackson called him in to the principal's office.

"There will be no issues here at Duval," Mr. Jackson told Mr. Terrell.

And he got that right. Other schools had issues. We had touch football.

Mr. Terrell had a successful teaching career and wound up back at Duval before he retired, just in time to help the school go through a renaissance. Duval has a magnet program in the arts. Rated as a failing school in 2002, it has since been acclaimed for its turnaround.

"Black kids at Duval have some of the highest scores in the state of Florida," Mr. Terrell said. He said it had "nothing to do with black and white. If you've got committed parents, and you've got teachers who are on the ball -- that's how you do it."

Agreed. We need more good parents, more good teachers. More Mr. Clietts and Mr. Terrells.

achenbachj@washpost.com

Joel Achenbach is a Washington Post staff writer and blogs

at washingtonpost.com/achenblog.