Governor Hodges expanded a commission started under the previous governor to study how education in the state may be affected by the Supreme Court ruling. The result was the Pearsall Plan. Though never implemented, the Plan functioned as a safety valve if the issue of desegregation were to become a problem. The Plan allowed for public funds to support students in private schools whose parents wanted them to avoid desegregated education. It also licensed local school boards to shut down their own district if desegregated schooling became a problem. With these measures, people across the nation praised North Carolina’s “moderation.”
