A school board controversy in Wake County is shedding light on the stubborn achievement gap between kids from affluent households and kids from low-income households, and between white students and minorities. Terry Stoops, the John Locke Foundation’s director of education studies, discusses the Wake board’s decision to end the busing of kids to achieve economically mixed schools and whether the policy is helping spur kids to greater achievement levels. He also compares Wake’s achievement levels with those of other North Carolina school districts and explains why the Charlotte/Mecklenburg and Wayne County public systems are often referenced during this debate. Then we turn to the subject of leadership and what makes a person a good leader. A key component of leadership is courage, according to former N.C. Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, who shared his view during a recent presentation to the E.A. Morris Fellowship for Emerging Leaders. Orr, now executive director of the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, outlined different types of courage and explained how they play a role in developing leadership skills. Next is a look at one lawmaker’s call for scrutiny of college level achievement. UNC-Chapel Hill has a great reputation, but what is the university is doing to quantify how well its students are performing in school and after graduation? Sen. Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood, quizzed Chancellor Holden Thorp on the topic during a recent legislative meeting. You’ll hear highlights from their exchange. That’s followed by a look at how best to help the struggling continent of Africa. If you’ve ever thought about “helping Africa,” chances are pretty good that you considered making a donation to a charitable group. June Arunga, a native Kenyan who works now as a media company owner and entrepreneur in Ghana, says you’ll do much more good for Africans by developing a product or service they want to buy. Arunga discussed the importance of the entrepreneurial spirit during a series of presentations on North Carolina college campuses sponsored by the John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy. And finally, while North Carolina’s leaders discuss ways to create jobs and spur economic development, we take a look at our state’s history of business development with North Carolina History Project Director Troy Kickler. Kickler talks about the incredible achievements of Durham’s John Merrick in the late 1800s and early 1900s, and Robeson County’s Malcolm McLean from the 1930s through the 1960s.