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Apr. 16-30, 2011, News Archive
4/30/11 The High Cost of Low Teacher Salaries
"When we don't like the way our students score on international standardized tests, we blame the teachers. When we don't like the way particular schools perform, we blame the teachers and restrict their resources."
4/30/11 School board hears toll of legal challenges
"Wake County schools have devoted more than 800 hours in staff time responding to challenges to the system based on public access concerns and accusations of racial discrimination, school board members heard at a work session this week."
4/30/11 Tata plans to reveal assignment models
"Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata is assuring the public that it will have a chance to see and comment on new student assignment models being developed before he recommends which one should be adopted by the school board."
4/30/11 Wake looking at rejoining N.C. School Boards Association
During Tuesday's budget work session, some of the members who had previously voted last year to pull out said they'd be willing to reconsider the issue. It came after Superintendent Tony Tata identified "three good reasons" for rejoining the
4/30/11 CMS confirms layoff notices have been sent"
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials confirmed Friday that they sent out layoff notices to employees in four departments this week."
4/29/11 Wake to seek public comment on new student assignment models
"Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata said today that he will present soon for public comment all nine student assignment models being reviewed for possible adoption."
4/29/11 Tony Tata on the budget, AdvancED and year-round school changes
"Also during today's press conference, Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata touched on the school budget, complying with AdvancED's findings, the 14 year-round school changes and bus transportation."
4/29/11 Tony Tata says he'll get public comment on student assignment models
"Talk about the new student assignment plan being developed by Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata took up the most time at today's press conference."
4/29/11 Cash Michaels on impact of high-poverty schools on property values
"In a blog post Thursday on the sixth part of his series in The Carolinian on the new Walnut Creek Elementary School, Michaels looks at the Quarry Point subdivision near the school."
4/29/11 Tedesco objects to meeting venue
When federal officials planned a community meeting as part of an investigation into the Wake County school system, they asked a local civil rights group to find a site for it.
4/29/11 Tata on student assignment, budget: Stay "between the ditches"
"Friday mornings at 9, Tony Tata briefs the press about the Wake County school system in a format much like, I imagine, a military press briefing from his olden days in the Army."
4/29/11 Questioning holding the OCR public meeting at Martin Street Baptist
"Is it a sign of bias that federal civil rights investigators looking into Wake County's elimination of the diversity policy are holding Wednesday's community meeting at Martin Street Baptist Church?"
4/29/11 N.C. House passes bill on CMS pay plan
"A controversial bill that would let Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools launch performance pay without teacher approval passed the N.C. House 72-42 Thursday."
4/29/11 Wake school board to discuss controversial track changes
"The controversial issue of converting some year-round schools to a common schedule is expected to be discussed next week by the Wake County Board of Education."
4/28/11 Education rollback
"The Republican leadership in the General Assembly is regressively turning the clock back on education."
4/28/11 Budget increase for CMS debated
"Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman said Wednesday he fully supports the school board's decision to add $45 million to the 2011 budget request, in an effort to stave off layoffs and program cuts."
4/28/11 Board members get preview of Tata's student assignment plan
"Wake County school Superintendent Tony Tata began sharing his vision for student assignment Thursday with members of the Board of Education."
4/27/11 Deeper cuts put Wake schools on edge
"Wake Superintendent Tony Tata based the $1.2 billion operating budget for the 2011-12 school year on a state budget cut of 5 percent. But with state House education leaders looking at an 8.8 percent cut, Wake school officials said Tuesday that they're trying to prepare for the possible loss of an additional $30 million."
4/27/11 Private school aid advances
"On Tuesday, the House Education Committee gave its OK to a bill that would give $6,000 in tax credits annually to families who enroll a disabled child in a private school or home school. The bill passed the committee 26-17 and next goes to the Finance Committee before a full House vote. The Senate has not acted on it."
4/27/11 Over-committed
"The description was unseemly in its choice of imagery. Beyond that, Tedesco's attempt to demonize the NAACP, along with the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, signals an extremism that is out of place on the school board. He made it worse by calling them "cowards" who try to stir up fears to get their way. What, it's not possible to warn of adverse consequences of misguided decisions without being accused of fear-mongering?"
4/27/11 Charter competition
"The Republicans have framed the debate of charter schools vs. public schools based on the premise that competition will allow for improvement in public schools, and all children will "win." However, the playing field is unfair, given that charter schools have far fewer restrictions and that they essentially can pick and choose their student base."
4/27/11 School board security costs and staff time spent on NAACP complaints
"It's been expensive both in terms of monetary cost and staff time responding to the various NAACP-related complaints filed against the Wake County school system for ending the diversity policy."
4/27/11 Reform redistricting now
"The North Carolina General Assembly has recently begun the newest round of legislative redistricting - that is, drawing the new maps under which state lawmakers and members of Congress will run for office during the next decade. It is the sixth time since the United States Supreme Court ordered states to re-balance congressional and legislative districts to ensure that districts come as close as possible to assuring the principle of "one person one vote."?
4/27/11 Ravitch: When reformers reject data they don't like
"The corporate reformers assume that teachers aren't working hard enough and will work harder if they have the lure of more money and if they compete with one another. Ariely's studies say this is wrong, and it won't work."
4/26/11 Wake leaders face possibility of more school cuts
"The Wake County school board will discuss today redistricting and the possible impact of deeper budget cuts than now planned for by school leaders."
4/26/11 Tedesco offends
"Comments by Wake County school board member John Tedesco at a recent meeting of the Northern Wake Republican Club offended me on several levels."
4/26/11 John Tedesco's 2011 Tax Day Tea Party speech
"Wake County school board member John Tedesco is ticking off liberals (yet again) with his remarks at this month's Tax Day Tea Party rally in Greensboro."
4/26/11 School board discussing budget, redistricting and AdvancED on Tuesday
"The budget and redistricting will take up much of today's Wake County school board work session."
4/26/11 Gorman sends out notices that CMS layoffs are starting
"Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employees will begin getting 2011-12 layoff notices soon, even as officials await approval of the superintendent's budget plan and word on how much money the county and state will provide."
4/26/11 Tata announces new STEM and Global Schools
"Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata announced today the names of eight of the 10 schools that will get special academic programs for the 2011-12 school year to make them more attractive to parents."
4/26/11 Wake schools might cut some teacher assistant, custodial jobs?
"Some Wake County teacher assistants and custodians could be laid off under plans being developed by school leaders to deal with deeper than projected state budget cuts."
4/26/11 School board to hold May 10 public hearing on proposed redistricting map
"The school board will post the proposed map online before a May 10 public hearing. A vote could take place May 17."
4/26/11 Tata announces new STEM and Global Schools
"Superintendent Tony Tata Tuesday announced the names of the five Wake County schools joining the STEM Schools Collaborative Network and the first three schools that will join the Global Schools Collaborative Network."
4/26/11 Feds want to hear from public about Wake schools
"Investigators with the federal civil rights office want to hear from residents of Wake County about the public school system's policies. They have scheduled a forum May 4, at 7 p.m. at Martin Street Baptist Church in Raleigh."
4/25/11 Group opposes schedule changes for 14 Wake year-round schools
"But in a press release today, the Great Schools in Wake Coalition says the school board shouldn't make any decisions on those 14 schools until after a new long-term student assignment plan is developed. The plan wouldn't go into effect until the 2012-13 school year."
4/25/11 A city wrestles with its schools
"Thirty-five years ago Kansas City's district had 54,000 students. Today it has less than 17,000. Between then and now there was a spectacular confirmation of the axiom that education cannot be improved by simply throwing money at it."
4/25/11 Chicago Schools CEO Choice Shows Problem With Mayoral Control
"Black lasted a mere three months before high-tailing it back to the sanctity of the corporate world, where failure is more often than not rewarded with super bonuses and not just a kick in the ass and a golden parachute a la urban school bosses."
4/25/11 John Tedesco on the importance of this year's school board elections
"Wake County school board John Tedesco hit on a wide range of topics during an interview today on the Bill LuMaye Show on WPTF."
4/25/11 CNN citing Wake in report on "the return of school segregation"
"The Wake County school system doesn't come off looking too good in a recent CNN news report by Soledad O'Brien."
4/25/11 School system comments on Open Meetings decision
"The press release kind of acknowledges that the appellate panel found the board had violated the Open Meetings Law at the March 23, 2010 meeting."
4/25/11 John "Tea Party" Tedesco outdoes himself
"Here are some choice nuggets from Tedesco's rant in which he vowed to fight for his beliefs at "every crosshair along the way":
4/25/11 Monday numbers
"8,814 -number of teacher assistant jobs eliminated in latest version of House budget (NC House Republicans work to clear hurdle in budget that cuts deeper than governor's plan, Associated Press, Friday April 22, 2011)"
4/24/11 The trouble with 'School's out!'
"Research clearly shows that children doing poorly in school fall further behind over summer. Educators at year-round schools often point to the opportunity for timely intervention as one of its most important features."
4/23/11 Tedesco warns of 'unholy trinity' of liberals
"Wake County school board member John Tedesco has what he calls his own version of a liberal "unholy trinity."
4/23/11 School's growth has a down side
"After years of staff reductions and funding cuts because of a shrinking student body, parents and staff at York Elementary School are used to making do."
4/23/11 No more fluff
"He can tell you from owning several private businesses and working for the school system for seven years that there isn't any more fluff to cut at the school level. More cuts will hurt students and staff that will take years to repair."
4/22/11 Lawmaker pushes for deal on pay performance plan
"N.C. Rep. Ruth Samuelson said Thursday she's going to "park" the controversial bill giving Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools freedom to revise teacher pay and evaluations in hopes that supporters and opponents can work out differences."
4/21/11 John Tedesco promising "you ain't seen nothing yet"
"During the speech, Tedesco praised the board majority's actions since December 2009 in "revamping public education." He also ripped into liberals, including what he called their "unholy trinity" of the NAACP, the Great Schools in Wake Coalition and Raleigh FIST."
4/21/11 Ron Margiotta on blocking a return to socioeconomic diversity in student assignment
"Most of Margiotta's speech focused on the actions initiated by the board since December 2009. But Margiotta closed his speech by pointing to the stakes for this fall's school board elections when he will be running for re-election while also hoping to pick up at least one of the Democratic seats."
4/21/11 Chris Malone on the AdvancED "interrogation"
"Wake County school board member Chris Malone focused on the AdvancED accreditation investigation during his speech at last Thursday's Northern Wake Republican Club meeting."
4/21/11 Deborah Prickett on the school board candidates they want
"During her speech, without mentioning her by name, Prickett made it clear that they're not counting on getting board vice chairwoman Debra Goldman's vote. Prickett said they "need some help" to "come up with the winning vote to make things happen here in Wake."
4/21/11 Corrupt correlations
"Martinez makes a correlation for which no evidence exists and ignores the research and data that support a known correlation: a family's socio-economic status is the No. 1 determinant of a student's academic success."
4/21/11 Garbage in, out
"What he is not entitled to do is hide behind bad faith arguments that rely upon shoddy data."
4/20/11 CMS Pay-for-Performance Bill Stirs Criticism
"The recently filed House Bill 546, Alternative Salary Plans for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District, is not performing as well as author Rep. Ruth Samuelson, R-Mecklenburg, originally had planned."
4/20/11 Action sought against Pitt school plan
"A citizens group is asking for an injunction against Pitt County School's zoning plan for the coming year, saying it would create racially identifiable campuses that could cause what the group says would be "irreparable harm" to black students."
4/20/11 NAACP protest of Civitas workshop underscores philosophical differences on education policy
?"Holding signs that read, "Civitas and its policies are wrong for NC," "Public education is an investment for all Americans," and "Civitas Action is not training, it's brainwashing," a group of 45 protestors from the NAACP picketed a budget workshop co-sponsored by the John W. Pope Civitas Institute and the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools in Winston-Salem on April 14."
4/20/11 Dismissal stands against Wake board
"The N.C. Court of Appeals on Tuesday rejected a request to reinstate a lawsuit accusing the Wake County school board of violating the state's open meetings law during its efforts to eliminate the use of diversity in student assignments."
4/20/11 Wake admits error in OCR response and GSIW comments on report
"The Wake County school system is admitting it made an "error" in its response to federal civil rights investigators while the Great Schools in Wake Coalition in charging today the report had "many oversights and misleading information."
4/20/11 Charter's conservative backers raise questions
"But not as widely advertised is the Western North Carolina public school's connection to John Bryan, a retired Oregon business executive and significant funder of the conservative school choice movement."
4/19/11 Heather Losurdo speaks at Tea Party rally
"Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo is reaching out to Tea Partiers in her bid to knock off incumbent Kevin Hill."
4/19/11 Questioning whether to keep school board incumbents out of the same district
"How much of a priority should the Wake County school board place in not putting incumbents in the same district during this year's redistricting process?"
4/19/11 Poll: Students grade high school down, college up
"Young adults say high schools are failing to give students a solid footing for the working world or strong guidance toward college, at a time when many fear graduation means tumbling into an economic black hole. Students who make it to college are happy with the education they get there, an Associated Press-Viacom poll says."
4/19/11 Districting is prickly for Wake school board
"Dividing Wake County's 900,000 residents into nine roughly equivalent school-board districts may sound like a simple math exercise, at first."
4/19/11 A looming setback for some of the state's best students
"And strangely, this isn't about money, it's about accountability. If these key portions of North Carolina's gifted education law were repealed, the state still would be providing funding for gifted programs but without the accountability to ensure the funds are being used properly."
4/19/11 NC Appeals Court raps knuckles of Wake school board majority
"Yes, it did. But a three-judge panel of the N.C. Court of Appeals today ruled unanimously that, while the act was violated, there's no need for the school board to reconsider the actions it took that day."
4/19/11 Tea Party for Two: Losurdo follows in Tedesco's footsteps
"But seriously, last year it was Johnny Tedesco on the TP circuit. This year, school board hopeful Heather Losurdo took the stage to declare that the Wake school system is keeping kids from reaching their full potential by, uh - well, she didn't say how, but I know she didn't mean that it's because they go to school with "those" kids."
4/19/11 Court of Appeals rules against Wake Board of Education
"North Carolina Court of Appeals on Tuesday affirmed a lower court ruling that the Wake County Board of Education violated the state's Open meetings Law when the board restricted access to a full meeting and a committee of the whole meeting on March 23, 2010."
4/18/11 Keep the tax
"Our legislature is proposing to cut thousands of positions out of our public schools and thousands of faculty positions out of our great university system due to the refusal to let an existing and embedded sales tax exist a little longer?"
4/18/11 Wake County Democrats out to "take back" Wake schools
"The Wake County Democratic Party has officially kicked off the campaign season with the goal of reclaiming the majority on the school board."
