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August 16-31, 2011, News Archive
8/31/11 Wake NCAE announces school board candidate endorsements
"In a press release today, Wake NCAE announced it was endorsing Kevin Hill in District 3, Keith Sutton in District 4, Jim Martin in District 5, Christine Kushner in District 6 and Susan Evans in District 8."
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/wakeed/wake-ncae-announces-school-board-ca...
8/31/11 Wake Democrats announce school board and municipal candidate endorsements
"As expected, the Wake County Democratic Party announced Tuesday that it was endorsing Kevin Hill in District 3, Keith Sutton in District 4, Jim Martin in District 5, Christine Kushner in District 6 and Susan Evans in District 8."
http://blogs.newsobserver.com/wakeed/wake-democrats-announce-school-boar...
8/31/11 Parents learn about Wake schools assignment proposal
"Wake County parents got the chance Wednesday evening to learn more about a student assignment plan that would give them a say in which school their child goes to but leaves some concerns about transportation and capacity."
http://www.wral.com/news/education/wake_county_schools/story/10067971/
8/31/11 APNewsBreak: NC schools report 847 teacher layoffs
"North Carolina public schools laid off 847 teachers among 2,681 jobs cut as they headed into this academic year, the state Department of Public Instruction reported Wednesday."
http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/10069811/
8/31/11 Wake Democrats, educators endorse school board candidates
"The Wake County Democratic Party and the Wake chapter of the North Carolina Association of Educators are speaking out on this fall's school board race."
http://www.wral.com/news/education/wake_county_schools/story/10071901/
8/31/11 Kansas City School District Loses Leader Who Began Turnaround Effort
"Then last week, not long after students returned to the classroom, Dr. Covington abruptly resigned."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/31/us/31missouri.html?_r=1&partner=rss&em...
8/31/11 State's public schools have cut staff 8% since 2008-09
"Among the positions lost, 35 percent were teacher jobs and 33 percent were teacher assistant jobs."
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/08/31/1450640/states-public-schools-hav...
8/31/11 School board may OK quick NC charter schools jump
"North Carolina is setting up a fast-track system to allow new charter schools to open in time for classrooms to open a year from now."
http://www2.nbc17.com/news/2011/aug/31/school-board-may-ok-quick-nc-char...
8/30/11 Graduation success
"It's encouraging news to learn that high school graduation rates have improved in 2011, increasing to 77.7 percent, the highest four-year graduation rate ever reported by the State Board of Education."
http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/08/30/1445746/graduation-success.html#i...
8/30/11 Wake Dems endorse Nancy McFarlane for Raleigh mayor, Christine Kushner in District 6 schools race
"In the District 6 school board race, the only one with multiple Democrats running, the party as expected endorsed Christine Kushner over the late-announcing Mary Ann Weathers and the folksy George Morgan, both of them retired educators. Kushner, a policy analyst by trade (and a former journalist), started her campaign months ago and had an impressive roster of supporters already."
http://www.indyweek.com/citizen/archives/2011/08/30/wake-dems-endorse-na...
8/29/11 Short notice: Tata announces Q&A sessions on student assignment plan this Wednesday and Thursday
"Yes - this just in: Superintendent Tony Tata's been talking about holding some public information sessions on his new student assignment plan sometime in September. All of a sudden, five sessions are scheduled, and the first four are this week ... two of them on Wednesday ... two more on Thursday. The fifth one is next week."
http://www.indyweek.com/citizen/archives/2011/08/29/short-notice-tata-an...
8/26/11 Students, staff prepared for school's start
"More than 220,000 students headed back to traditional-calendar schools across the Triangle on Thursday, and school officials say the first day of class mostly went off without a hitch."
8/26/11 The state's clear Pre-K responsibility
"Thousands of eligible 4-year-olds are being turned away, right now, from state-funded pre-kindergarten classes statewide. Each of these wait-listed children may have lost his or her one chance to receive academic services prior to kindergarten, and will enter school next year already behind. Why? Because this spring, the legislature slashed the budget for pre-kindergarten, and now these children have nowhere to go."
8/25/11 NC school year opens with fewer adults around
"A new school year is starting for most North Carolina public schools, but there will be fewer adults in the buildings."
8/25/11 Burns named Edgecombe interim superintendent
"Former Wake County schools Superintendent Del Burns has been named the interim superintendent for Edgecombe County schools, the school system announced Wednesday."
8/25/11 Expect changes as Triangle schools open
"Faculty, students and parents will likely notice some changes, particularly as school systems cope with tight budgets."
8/25/11 Pre-K looks a lot like what was
"Turbulence surrounds the state's pre-kindergarten program, which has been the subject of a court order, a potential legal appeal and barbs thrown between Republican legislative leaders and elected Democrats."
8/25/11 Weighted risks
"So schools with the highest number of at-risk students receive the highest funding, and (mostly) suburban schools with more resources and less needy pupils get lower funding."
8/25/11 The truth, not politics
"House Speaker Thom Tillis made a startling statement Wednesday in his Rocky Mount town hall meeting, responding to a question about a local school superintendent worried about the effect of budget cuts on his system."
8/25/11 Walnut Creek Elementary opens in Raleigh
"Thursday marked the first day of school for most students around the state, including Wake County students on a traditional-calendar schedule."
8/25/11 Wake school enrollment up 2.35 percent
"Attendance in the state's largest school system jumped by 2.35 percent for the 2011-12 school year, according to numbers released by the Wake County Public School System."
8/23/11 Wake school board debates fate of property
"Wake County school board members have determined they no longer want the land they bought at Louisburg and Forestville roads for a high school to relieve crowding in northern Wake."
8/23/11 The effort to dismantle pre-kindergarten
"As part of an ongoing effort to avoid complying with an important court ruling, leaders of the Republican majority in the General Assembly have asked Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning to "clarify" his recent order mandating that at-risk students be allowed to enroll in the North Carolina Pre-Kindergarten (NCPK) program."
8/21/11 Following policy
"I am sick to death of hearing about how teachers are holding back students from enrolling in Algebra in middle school. We are given guidelines from Wake County administration each year as to who should be enrolled. Every math teacher I know followed those guidelines."
8/20/11 Dollar gaps
"That sets up the possibility of a disparity in the resources available to provide students with what they need. The disparity could become more pronounced under any new assignment plan where "neighborhood schools" are emphasized, reflecting a further divide between affluent neighborhoods and poor ones."
8/19/11 7 area schools host literacy program
"This school year, seven south Charlotte elementary schools will be home to some of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' pre-kindergarten Bright Beginnings classes."
8/19/11 Donna Williams on spreading Enloe High's magnet programs around to other schools
"Wake County school board candidate Donna Williams probably isn't going to win over Enloe High School supporters based on her talk of spreading programs around."
8/19/11 Ron Margiotta on making all schools "achievement schools"
"Candidate and school board chairman Ron Margiotta held firm to his opposition to the use of achievement schools as he touched on student assignment and other matters today."
8/19/11 Schools work to get all fit eighth-graders into algebra
"The Wake County school system is on a mission to make sure that every academically qualified eighth-grader is enrolled in Algebra I when the new school year starts next week."
8/19/11 Wake teacher will be paid $131,000 a year
"One of Wake County's most senior and highest-paid school administrators has been demoted to classroom teaching duties, where he will become Wake's highest-paid high school teacher."
8/19/11 Preschool rule
"There are times when a governor must do what is right and what is sensible. Gov. Beverly Perdue came upon one of those times after Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr. ruled that all at-risk children who are eligible for the state's pre-kindergarten program should be helped."
8/19/11 Iffy comparisons
"The Aug. 16 letter "Not so smart" quoted research showing that Smart Start 4-year-olds lose their "head start" advantage by the end of first grade, but says nothing about how the research was done."
8/18/11 Dome: Pre-K dispute seen as step to Leandro appeal
"Appealing a court ruling on pre-kindergarten access could lead to an appeal of the landmark Leandro school-quality case, Senate leader Phil Berger's chief of staff said in a memo to Senate Republicans."
8/18/11 GOP disputes video concerning Wake school board elections
"Local Republicans are disputing a viral Internet video that claims a pair of conservative billionaire brothers poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into Wake County's 2009 school board elections with the goal of eliminating the county's diversity-based assignment plan."
8/18/11 Wins in Wake
"Wake County's public school system and the people it serves have been down a twisty, rocky road for the past year and a half, and they have the soreness to prove it."
8/18/11 Head start scorn
"Not surprising, the gains of Head Start are not reinforced, and they fade."
8/18/11 The confusion and rhetoric about More at Four
"It's hard not to be confused about what's going on with the early childhood program More at Four these days with court rulings, appeals, executive orders and political sniping all in the news."
8/18/11 UNC PROFESSOR CONFIRMS KOCH BROTHERS MONEY FUELED 2009 WAKE SCHOOL BOARD RACE
"In addition, here are three stories from Facing South, published by the Institute for Southern Studies."
8/17/11 Tata is backing diverse schools in Wake
"Wake County's school board was presented Tuesday with a choice concerning a new student-assignment plan: Accept some level of diversity in the plan, or risk turning the acclaimed magnet school program upside down."
8/17/11 School board questioning sample feeder patterns
"Could the development of feeder patterns be more of a hold-up on the new Wake County student assignment plan than coming to an agreement on achievement-choice schools?"
8/17/11 NC to appeal pre-K ruling that could cost $360M
"North Carolina lawmakers want to appeal a court ruling that the state must provide pre-kindergarten education to all at-risk 4-year-olds, an expansion that nonpartisan fiscal analysts say could cost up to $360 million."
8/17/11 Despite teacher shortage, CMS ready for K-8 switch
"Short about 300 teachers, 82 mobile classrooms and one kitchen, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials said Wednesday they are prepared for the switch to grade K-8 schools and don't expect problems with the format."
8/17/11 Pre-K classrooms feeling brunt of funding debate
"Stephanie Benner, a teacher at Lord of Life Preschool and Kindergarten Academy of Garner, has a big job - getting 18 4-year-olds from at-risk and low-income families ready for kindergarten."
8/17/11 Wake County students with disabilities get short shrift-again
"For the second consecutive year, the Wake County Public School System has violated state and federal law by failing to provide an adequate education for 164 middle and high school students with disabilities, according to the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction."
8/16/11 Setting magnet school and achievement choice set asides in new plan
"Staff is proposing splitting the magnet schools into three groups with varying level of magnet and application seats. Group one schools, largely those around Southeast Raleigh, would have 55 to 60 percent magnet application seats."
8/16/11 Americans for Prosperity demanding retractions from Brave New Films and The Huffington Post
"Dallas Woodhouse, president of the North Carolina chapter of Americans for Prosperity, is calling the new video linking the conservative group with the 2009 Wake County school board elections "a series of outright lies" and libelous."
8/16/11 Blog: School board looks at student assignment, construction
"The board also voted 6-2 to sell off more than 80 acres of land owned by the board of education that was once purchased to build a new high school."
8/16/11 Wake GOP endorses five school board candidates
"The GOP in Wake County on Tuesday announced that it is endorsing five of the six registered Republican candidates who are running this fall for five seats on the Board of Education."
8/16/11 Wake schools assignment data shows parents want proximity
"Wake County parents overwhelmingly want their children assigned to schools close to home, Superintendent Tony Tata told the Board of Education during its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday evening."
8/16/11 GOP leaders ask judge: Pre-K for all 4-year-olds?
"Republican legislative leaders on Monday asked a Superior Court judge to clarify his order on the state's pre-kindergarten program to make sure he didn't mean all eligible 4-year-olds should be enrolled whether or not the state can afford it."
8/16/11 Wake delays grading discussion
"Wake County school officials today will not be discussing a proposal to change how grades are issued to students. School board Chairman Ron Margiotta said the discussion on the grading policy changes will be put off until later in the year."
