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Feb. 1-15, 2011, News Archive
2/15/11 Wake superintendent takes lead in student assignment plan
"The Wake County Board of Education moved Tuesday to disband its Student Assignment Committee and await input from the new superintendent on how students are assigned to schools across the county."
2/15/11 Wake school board weighs bonus plan
"Today, board members will vote on a resolution that outlines what that support will mean and how much it will cost."
2/15/11 Promise here
"By calling in consultant Michael Alves to develop a "controlled choice" plan, the groups have now put a plan on the table that speaks to the desire of the board majority for "neighborhood schools" and, as well, to those who want to avoid the creation of high-poverty schools."
2/14/11 Wake schools probe to begin
"A special review team this week will begin a probe that could decide whether Wake County's high schools will keep their accreditation."
2/14/11 Tax credits for private schools draws strong fire from public school leaders
"The long and once seemingly Quixotic effort by conservatives to obtain public subsidies for private schools has become a pitched battle in the General Assembly that could produce the most favorable environment for private schools in the country."
2/13/11 Mixed Results on Wake County's Busing Policy
"Since that time, the struggle has been how to create a new policy that will maintain stability but also avoid creating schools with that are predominantly poor."
2/13/11 Closing the Achievement Gap Without Widening a Racial One
"There is no more pressing topic in education today than closing the achievement gap, and there is no one in America who knows more about the gap than Ronald Ferguson."
2/13/11 5 big questions on Wake schools
"There's not much debate over whether Wake County has a good school system. But a bitter battle persists about how to keep it strong."
2/13/11 A more equitable school system
"This goal is a practical impossibility in most counties around the United States. Within Union County, N.J., for example, a county of a little over 100 square miles, there are separate school districts with very high and very low rates of poverty right alongside each other, with correlating educational experiences that are worlds apart."
2/13/11 Choosing schools, seeking uplift
"The flipside risk is that kids who miss out on the upscale suburban schools or the magnets will be left in schools where the dynamic, instead of providing a boost, applies the brakes."
2/12/11 Tata met with Perdue, will meet with Barber
"New Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata is continuing to show that he's willing to meet with all comers on his listening tour."
2/12/11 Schools plan wins early nod
"After more than a year of intense debate that has brought harsh words and even arrests, a radically new model for assigning students to Wake County's schools is getting support from different factions on the school board."
2/12/11 Stability and choice in schools
"Because of our phenomenal growth, Wake County has been forced to reassign schoolchildren often to adjust for increased enrollment. As a community, we recognize this process needs a fundamentally different approach to work more effectively."
2/12/11 School beneficiaries
"Martinez knows in his heart that our students get a better education and are better prepared for the real world than students spending 13 years in the all-poor, all-black schools of Richmond, Birmingham or Baltimore, full of crime, drugs and burned-out teachers."
2/12/11 Teacher team overload
"During their planning time, teachers develop lesson plans, grade student work, communicate with parents, complete committee work, attend meetings and more."
2/12/11 Thousands Join NAACP Rally Against Wake Neighborhood Schools Plan
"At a rally on Saturday where the main issue was the end of a busing-for-diversity policy in North Carolina's largest school district, speakers warned the large crowd that marching is not enough."
2/11/11 ‘Don't call them vouchers'
"Now the NC Association of Educators has released its own short video entitled - Stam's "Dream" a Nighmare for Public Education."
2/11/11 Wake school board members open to 'school choice' plan
"At least three Wake County school board members spoke out favorably Friday about a new student assignment plan on the table that authors say will not only meet the school board's goal of community schools but also ensure all students get an opportunity to succeed."
2/11/11 The Alves/WEP/Chamber Plan: Parents choose the schools - mostly
"And diversity? The parent-choice method will "promote diversity," its sponsors say, but indirectly rather than as a goal in and of itself."
2/11/11 Debra Goldman calling for rapid adoption of 2012-13 assignment plan
"Wake County school board vice chairwoman Debra Goldman is proposing speeding up the process for any student assignment plan that's used in the 2012-13 school year."
2/11/11 Business leaders unveil Wake student assignment plan
"Wake County business leaders unveiled a school choice student assignment plan Friday that they hope will please people on both sides of the debate."
2/11/11 Alves student assignment proposal
2/11/11 Wake business leaders offer student assignment proposal
"Wake County business and community leaders unveiled today a new student assignment model that they hope will appeal both to those who want neighborhood schools and those who want diversity to be used in student assignments."
2/11/11 Resources drained
"Our objections to this bill are numerous but, at the core, we object to using our tax money to fund private school education."
2/11/11 The voucher hole
"I do note with amusement that the Republican Party, normally on the lookout for new ways to starve government programs, has now adopted a plan to introduce a mammoth new hole down which it can shovel our money."
2/10/11 John Tedesco reflects on the past year on the school board
"Don't be surprised if you see this op-ed piece from Wake County school board member John Tedesco appearing in newspapers soon."
2/10/11 Politics, data and other CMS updates
"James claims that "her mommy" is "a big time Democrat and Eric's campaign manager so instead of taking the heat themselves the School Board wants to punt and throw the heat to the County Commission for the next several weeks."
2/10/11 Shaw students mentor middle-schoolers in dress, manners
"The attention lavished on the young students is meant to inspire them to shape up, study hard and dream big. Some of the students are from low-income families and don't have fathers in their homes. They were recommended for the program by teachers and counselors."
2/10/11 Call to action
"Wake's diversity policy has ensured desegregation of our schools. Zhang's comments should be taken as a call to action to ensure that every school is fully integrated - a difficult goal, but one that Enloe is clearly committed to."
2/10/11 Positive work
"My comments to your reporter regarding Enloe High School were filled with positive, but not Pollyannaish, words about the schools' vibrant environment, the wide-ranging opinions among students and staff, its rigorous education. However, your Feb. 7 article "Alleged retaliation threat probed at Enloe" was all negative."
2/10/11 Coalescing at Enloe
"Dedicated teachers, intense curriculum and focused students influence and inspire each other like no other high school. Enloe students are proud of their school."
2/9/11 "Utter foolishness," or why you can't be squeamish about equal education, the Rev. Barber and HK on J this Saturday
"Inching, Farrell answered, in the sense that Raleigh-as the county seat and the state capital-is the latest battleground in a determined but so far largely unsuccessful right-wing push for the privatization of American school systems that dates back 40 years."
2/9/11 NC House bill would allow school tax credits
"North Carolina House Republicans introduced a bill this week that would help cover private school tuition for some children."
2/9/11 Reassignment turns back the clock
"Ignoring pleas from the public hearings in January the Wake County school board voted on Feb. 1 to reassign 3,500 students."
2/9/11 Hold back
"Inevitably, the public schools would lose some of their better students and with them the kind of parental advocacy that helps make schools stronger."
2/9/11 School déjà vu
"This legislation is strikingly similar to the Pearsall Plan of 1955. That plan, which grew out of the actions of a committee chaired by Thomas J. Pearsall and created by the General Assembly, stipulated that parents who did not want their children to attend integrated schools could get state grants to pay for tuition to private schools."
2/9/11 Enloe's efforts
"Daily, a vast and varied group of students gather to seek coursework help and learn from one another. We do not simply pass different students in the hallway. We sit with them. We talk to them. We learn from them."
2/9/11 Candid on diversity
"We cannot improve a system until we are honest about what it does well and what it does not. Wake County schools have a long way to go to reach true diversity in every classroom and improve graduation rates, but dismantling the magnet system isn't the answer either."
2/9/11 CMS shifts pre-K debate to the county
"The battle to save Bright Beginnings prekindergarten shifted Tuesday to county commissioners and the community, as the school board and Superintendent Peter Gorman retreated from plans for an early vote on $10.4million in cuts."
2/8/11 Alleged retaliation threat probed at Enloe
"Wake County school officials are investigating allegations that an Enloe High School teacher threatened to rescind college recommendation letters for a student who criticized the level of diversity in classes at the magnet school."
2/8/11 Coble doesn't see school funding cut in Wake
"Last week at a commissioners' retreat, talk of trimming the allocation was just part of the kind of free-wheeling discussion and brainstorming that goes on at such events, said Paul Coble, chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners."
2/8/11 Bright Beginnings vote could be delayed again
"Several Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board members say they'll consider again postponing a vote on severe cuts to the Bright Beginnings pre-kindergarten program."
2/8/11 Mecklenburg County residents favor higher taxes to support public school
"The survey conducted by Public Policy Polling asked 1,000 registered voters, "How much of an increase in local property taxes would you be willing to pay to support Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools?"
2/7/11 Consultant's assignment plan for Wake schools to be released Friday
"The Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the Wake Education Partnership will release Friday the new student assignment model developed by education consultant Michael Alves."
2/7/11 County eyes budget for Wake schools
"As County Manager David Cooke went over the 2011 goals being considered by the Wake Board of Commissioners at a retreat last week, he was stopped by a question from Commissioner Joe Bryan."
2/7/11 Advocating filling all magnet school seats randomly
"Mansfield argued that the crowding component should be removed to give applicants an equal shot of getting accepted."
2/7/11 Monday numbers
"2,500-amount in dollars of tax credit for families who home school their children or send them to a private school in legislation introduced by House Majority Paul Stam (House Bill 41, North Carolina General Assembly)"
2/7/11 Cancer research and education
"It's far more fascinating than depressing, but it's not good escapist fare. As I read about the long, difficult quest to save lives, I find myself thinking about the quest to save kids from educational failure."
2/7/11 Alves plan for student assignment to be unveiled Friday
"The Alves plan is long-awaited and arrives none too soon: The Wake school board majority is in the process of piecemeal reassignments affecting 3.500 students next year - and not in a good way."
2/7/11 Poll: Residents back higher taxes for schools
"A new poll commissioned by child-advocacy groups shows more than three-fourths of Mecklenburg residents questioned say they'd be willing to pay more taxes to support public schools."
2/6/11 More help needed to bridge CMS shortfall
"Last week started out great for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. A local philanthropic group unveiled a bold and unprecedented plan to pump $55 million into CMS schools on Charlotte's westside to boost graduation rates and student performance."
2/6/11 Stam: Offset private school costs
"Legislators are beginning a push for a law that would help pay for some North Carolina students to attend private or home schools in kindergarten through the 12th grade, an idea that is generating fierce debate about school choice and funding, and could lead to a veto from Gov. Bev Perdue."
2/6/11 Too much
"The lifting of the cap as they see it would be part of changes that could include: taking the charters from under the State Board of Education and creating a new charter school commission; allowing state funds, including lottery money, to be used for school construction; doing away with the requirement that charters try to reflect the racial and ethnic composition of local school districts."
2/6/11 Charter scenario
"Whatever the concerns and feelings about the Wake school board, let's just call a spade a spade, or a neighborhood school a charter school."
2/6/11 Fast march to neighborhood schools?
"Because of capacity issues, some children had to go to schools farther away from home, but all the schools were essentially of "good quality." Shouldn't the concept of quality for all trump proximity for all, quality for some?"
2/6/11 Our neighborhood
"How ironic that neighborhood schools advocates threaten to take their children out of nearby schools and drive them 5 to 10 miles to private, charter or parochial schools if the school board increases the number of students assigned to their neighborhood schools."
2/6/11 Show us the plan
"The board recently reassigned a few handfuls of low-performing students out of several schools where they enjoyed stability and positive relationships. The board's stated rationale is that by being closer to home, students will learn more."
2/5/11 Wake schools tackle achievement gap at community summit
"On Saturday, the school system hosted a summit at Enloe on closing the achievement gap in Wake County."
2/5/11 End of diversity policy leaves a Southern school district divided
"This vibrant Southern capital has enjoyed a reputation for first-rate schools that long ago shed a segregated legacy. Schools in poor urban neighborhoods and prosperous suburbs alike have been praised as racially mixed and academically sound."
2/5/11 A closer look
"This interactive approach to underperforming students gives them a chance to learn from their peers rather than teachers."
2/5/11 Dancing lessons
"That's $35,000 of taxpayer money that doesn't do anything to help students or teachers. That's an additional $35,000 for a third law firm."
2/5/11 Avoiding the poor
"What is the scourge the privileged middle class and the wealthy scramble to snatch their children safely from - is it poverty and the poor? I believe so."
2/5/11 More to education
"However, the writer clearly has a limited understanding of Enloe and our undying commitment to all of our minority students. First, the writer undoubtedly took advanced classes with a mixture of Christians, Muslims, Hindus and atheists. Furthermore, he has had the opportunity to get involved in peer tutoring, athletics and extracurricular activities - all involving African-American students."
2/5/11 A school opportunity
"It's time to take back our public schools, repair our image and restore respect to our community. The board ought to recognize the importance of this opportunity and the weight of responsibility it bears - and conduct a transparent process for redistricting that honors the value of our democracy."
2/4/11 N.C. school diversity plan: a policy, not a panacea
"Ms. Brennan said that the diversity policy in Wake County, N.C., was responsible for the reassignment of 60,000 students over 10 years. This is scapegoating. Ms. Brennan has to know that historic population growth in Wake County prompted the construction of 48 schools in that 10-year period. These new schools needed to be filled with students, which triggered the reassignment of 46,000 children."
2/4/11 Why I Am Not A Defender Of The ‘Status Quo' In Education
"In fact, I decry the state of public education in this country right now because a beleaguered, underfunded system has been disparaged and ravaged even further this last decade by damaging policies based on failed concepts pushed by those who want to privatize our public schools."
2/4/11 Benjamin Todd Jealous coming to Raleigh for Feb. 12 march against Wake schools
"National NAACP President Benjamin Todd Jealous will be back in Raleigh later this month to continue to add national attention to Wake County's school diversity fight."
2/4/11 A.M.E. Zion Church to announce initiative to help Wake's black male students
"The leadership of the Eastern N.C. Episcopal Diocese of the A.M.E. Zion Church says it will announce tonight "the launching of a special Wake County School Initiative for Economically -Disadvantaged Students with a targeted focus on reaching the Black Male."
2/4/11 Going from African American male achievement to the diversity policy
"A discussion Thursday about how to help improve the performance of African American male students turned into yet another fight over school diversity in Wake County."
2/4/11 County commissioners looking at school district's fund balance
"It's not looking good that Wake County commissioners will increase school funding as they're casting their eyes on the district's undesignated fund balance."
2/4/11 Wake commissioners want control of school construction
"Paul Coble, chairman of the Board of Commissioners, said Friday that the county could save money by handling school construction."
2/4/11 Wake schools superintendent to meet with NAACP
"New Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata says he will accept an offer to meet with the state NAACP, a group whose complaints have led to a federal civil rights probe of the school system."
2/4/11 Wake school board can't always get together
"Wake County school board members just can't come to a consensus - not even when it comes to meetings about how to build consensus."
2/4/11 State board approves charter school growth
"Thirteen charter schools in North Carolina received the go-ahead to expand from the State Board of Education on Thursday."
2/3/11 Impact of new student assignment plan on school poverty rates
"The newly adopted Wake County student reassignment plan could help produce some sharp changes this fall in the percentages of students receiving subsidized lunches at some schools."
2/3/11 National NAACP prez joins Feb. 12 HK on J march in Raleigh to fight "separate and unequal" schools
"National NAACP President Ben Jealous will be back in Raleigh a week from Saturday. His presence is meant to focus the 5th annual HK on J march on the issue of school resegregation, with the Wake County battle over student assignments continuing to be an enormously important test case."
2/3/11 The Root: The Scary Segregated School Trend
"One can only hope that the Dems' focus on North Carolina will also draw attention to a disturbing trend in some of the state's public schools. In 2002, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district responded to budget cuts by eliminating a longstanding busing program designed to ensure diversity. The move effectively re-segregated schools by race and income - and now another district is following suit."
2/3/11 Senators debate changes to charters
"A state Senate proposal debated Wednesday would make sweeping changes to the way charter schools are funded and governed."
2/3/11 Superintendent, on board
"Despite weaknesses that must be addressed, this is a system that has done many things right. It's now Tata's job to lead Wake's schools in a way that keeps their hard-won reputation intact."
2/3/11 The lucky ones
"Lucky few? It makes me wonder how familiar Tedesco is with how "fair" things are around Wake County."
2/3/11 Path of progress
"As a "granny" who will have grandchildren entering the system next fall, I am determined to be more educated, get involved and certainly vote."
2/3/11 State NAACP requests meeting with Tony Tata
"There's no word yet whether new Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata will accept the state NAACP's request to meet with him."
2/3/11 Discussing the achievement of African American male students
"The majority of the agenda for today's meeting of the Wake County school board's economically disadvantaged student performance task force is slated to be on two subjects."
2/3/11 Gorman: No new solution to pre-K cuts
"Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman said Wednesday he "hasn't heard any new ideas" from those trying to save the Bright Beginnings Pre-K program from big budget cuts and expects the school board to vote next week on the issue."
2/2/11 Speakers rip into school board at Tata's first meeting
"New Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata got a first-hand look Tuesday at what school board meetings will be like, from emotional public speakers to bickering by board members."
2/2/11 NC Senate panel hears sweeping charters proposal
"Senate Republicans proposed sweeping changes Wednesday to North Carolina's charter school law, including creating a commission to license them and new potential funding avenues in addition to eliminating a 100-school cap that has been the bane of charter advocates."
2/2/11 NAACP wants meeting with Wake schools superintendent
"The state NAACP wants to meet with Wake County's new school superintendent to talk about diversity and the controversial move away from the district's longstanding practice of busing students."
2/2/11 NC Senate Panel To Debate Charter School Cap Bill
"A bill seeking elimination of North Carolina's 100-school limit on charter schools is getting its first debate in the General Assembly."
2/2/11 Tata takes the helm amid good will and warnings
"Tata, 51, becomes the system's eighth superintendent since the merger of city and county schools in the 1970s. He received a warm welcome at the swearing-in, as even board members who had opposed his selection expressed willingness to work with him."
2/2/11 Voices of experience
"Although he does offer a fresh start, among Tata's first phone calls should be to his predecessors, Del Burns and Bill McNeal."
2/2/11 School board slowly vote through reassignment plan
"It took a lot longer than Wake County school board members expected Tuesday night to work their way through the 2011-12 student reassignment plan."
2/1/11 School board hires Kieran Shanahan to help with redistricting
"Attorney Kieran Shanahan will help the Wake County school board with redistricting election boundaries."
2/1/11 Tony Tata pledges to make Wake a "world-class system"
"New Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata acknowledged the controversy over his hiring while pledging to try to make the district a "world-class system."
2/1/11 Carolyn Morrison praises Tony Tata as superintendent
"For now, Wake County school board member Carolyn Morrison is following through on her pledge to support new Superintendent Anthony Tata now that he's on the job."
2/1/11 'Power of One' aims to enlist help for schools
"With Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools slashing teachers and programs to close a $100 million budget gap, can one volunteer make a difference at a struggling school?"
2/1/11 Tata says he'll work to make Wake a 'world-class' school system
"Wake County schools' chief executive officer promises to listen carefully as he works to bring North Carolina's largest school district into a world-class system marked by high student achievement and academic excellence."
2/1/11 Wake school board approves part of reassignment plan
"After nearly two hours of discussion and individual votes on each change, the Wake County school board on Tuesday approved part of a student assignment plan that will affect nearly 4,000 students in the upcoming academic year."
2/1/11 Wake school board approves student reassignment plan
"In a painstaking series of individual votes Tuesday night toward implementing neighborhood schools, the Wake County school board approved a plan to send around 3,500 students to different schools this fall."
2/1/11 New Wake superintendent to be sworn in
"Former District of Columbia Public Schools official Tony Tata officially becomes Wake County's new school superintendent Tuesday afternoon, when he's expected to be sworn into office."
2/1/11 States take aim at teacher tenure
"Now several Republican governors have concluded that removing ineffective teachers requires undoing the century-old protections of tenure."
2/1/11 Wake superintendent explores his new school system
"He roamed the halls and talked tech with teachers. He chuckled with a gaggle of students during a kissing scene of "Romeo & Juliet." And he boldly ate half a cafeteria-made spicy chicken sandwich, before just skipping the applesauce all together."
2/1/11 Tony Tata and "left of center" students at Enloe High
"Keister then noted how the students had taken a "political ideology test" earlier this school year in which the class wound up identifying itself as "left of center." Tata says he'll be apolitical but his Facebook page and political writings indicate he'd be right of center."
2/1/11 School board to discuss redistricting today
"In a last-minute addition to the agenda, school board member Kevin Hill says he's asking the board to discuss a resolution on providing a "transparent" process for drawing up the new boundaries to be used for the nine school board districts."
2/1/11 Tony Tata talks about maintaining diversity in the school system
"As noted in today's article, Tata on several occasions talked about the importance of diversity during his tour Monday at Enloe High School and Carnage Middle School. But Tata was vague on what that would actually would entail, saying he needs more time to study the issue."
2/1/11 The fight for the survival of public schools
"The battle is for the survival of public schools as we know them. The anti-public school zealots who have long wanted to privatize public education with voucher schemes and tax credits are emboldened by the election of more pro-voucher lawmakers and are planning their dismantling of public education this year."
