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Oct. 1-15, 2010, News Archive
10/15/10 Great Schools in Wake forum tomorrow: Coming at a good time
"It's a good opportunity to catch up on the latest twists and turns in the Wake schools saga - and figure out what the next moves should be."
10/15/10 New Survey: Wake teachers favor diversity in the schools
"By an 81 to 19 percent margin, the Wake County teachers surveyed said they disagreed with the Board's decision to end the system's longstanding diversity policy and listed it as the top problem facing the system."
10/15/10 WSCA urges nullification of latest student assignment directive
"The leadership of the Wake Schools Community Alliance is calling on the Wake County school board to nullify the recent student assignment directive that halted work on the zone assignment plan."
10/15/10 NEA survey: Wake teachers oppose community-based schools
"Eighty-one percent of survey respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with ending the diversity policy while agreeing that the policy has had a positive impact on students' academic achievement."
10/15/10 Study of Montgomery County schools shows benefits of economic integration
"The debate over reforming public education has focused mostly on improving individual schools through better teaching and expanded accountability efforts. But the study, to be released Friday, addresses the potential impact of policies that mix income levels across several schools or an entire district. And it suggests that such policies could be more effective than directing extra resources at higher-poverty schools."
10/15/10 Weighing the Wake NCAE teacher survey
"The way that the board has conducted itself has been very public," Hill said. "Teachers are concerned. Administrators are concerned. But they are very hesitant to speak out."
10/15/10 Wake teachers give school board low marks
"Wake County teachers have serious concerns about the Wake County School Board," Scott McBride, president of the Baltimore-based HCM Marketing Research, says in a memo summarizing the results of the poll he conducted for Wake NCAE."
10/15/10 Superintendent candidates line up
"George Conway, the team leader from the search firm of Heidrick & Struggles, told school board members Thursday that they've been pleased with the people they've looked at so far for superintendent. Conway said the team continues to reach out to more people, including controversial former D.C. Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee."
10/15/10 NC: Facing South report details Art Pope's control of conservative groups
"An array of conservative groups that attempt to shape public policy and influence elections in North Carolina are overwhelmingly controlled by their prime benefactor, Art Pope, says a new report in Facing South, the online magazine of the Institute For Southern Studies."
10/14/10 Wake superintendent search committee delays recommendations
"The Superintendent Search Committee of the Wake County Board of Education decided on Thursday to hold off on reviewing recommendations for the position."
10/14/10 Ann Majestic says new directive doesn't change student assignment policy
?"School board attorney Ann Majestic is standing by her initial opinion that last week's directive scrapping the community zones doesn't require a second vote by the Wake County school board."
10/14/10 Saturday forum
"On Saturday, Great Schools in Wake is hosting a free public forum, "Costs and Consequences: What's at Stake for Wake?" We will hear from university and business experts, including Irma McClaurin, Shaw University's new president; former Raleigh Mayor Tom Bradshaw; Dr. Helen Ladd of Duke University; and Jim Goodmon, president and CEO of Capitol Broadcasting Co."
10/14/10 Wake County 2010 Endorsements Board of Commissioners
"Major issues in Wake County include the future of transit and funding for mental health facilities to replace the state-run Dorothea Dix Hospital when it closes. But the paramount issue is the public schools-specifically, how to deal with a Republican majority on the Wake County school board that is hell-bent on abandoning diversity as a factor in student assignments, thus creating high-poverty schools in low-income neighborhoods."
10/13/10 Turning Back the Clock on Progress-Education
Vouchers are back and not just in secret backroom budget plots. Many conservative candidates for the General Assembly this year talk openly about their support for education tax credits or vouchers for private schools, bringing it up in debates and featuring various forms of the idea on their websites. It is part of the platform of the North Carolina Republican Party."
10/13/10 Charlotte school closures protested
"Kojo Nantambu, president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was handcuffed and charged with disorderly conduct when he led a chant of "We want more time!" as the public forum ended at 8 p.m. Teacher Hans Plotseneder was then charged with trespassing when he refused CMS police orders to clear the room."
10/13/10 Hundreds object to CMS plan; 2 arrested
"The proposed 2011-12 school shakeup includes the latest step in CMS's quest to improve results in neighborhood schools where most students are poor, black and performing below grade level. It calls for closing three such middle schools - Wilson, Spaugh and Williams, in west and central Charlotte - that serve about 1,500 students. Eight nearby elementary schools would convert to prekindergarten through eighth grade."
10/13/10 Pawtuckett's principal suspended, Butler's loses pay
"Lisa Pratt, principal of Pawtuckett Elementary, has been suspended with pay effective today, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools spokeswoman LaTarzja Henry said."
10/13/10 Grant loss not linked to diversity
"Concern about gender equity appears to have cost the Wake County schools $10.3 million in federal grant money, part of which would have gone to Smith Elementary School in Garner."
10/13/10 Wake school board drops zone-based plan
"Wake County school board member Debra Goldman was expected to move forward with a new zone-based assignment plan that doesn't factor in socioeconomic diversity, but instead she broke away from the majority and voted against the plan. Goldman is one of four board members elected last year on a campaign promise for neighborhood schools."
10/13/10 NC: Most at Cary forum support Goldman's break from Wake schools majority
"A week after she broke ranks with the Wake County School Board majority and at least temporarily derailed the board's new community-based schools plan, board member Debra Goldman faced the reaction from voters in Cary Tuesday night."
10/13/10 Schools panel is grumpy, grappling
"A Wake County school board committee charged with implementing neighborhood schools has been left rudderless with board members complaining Tuesday that they're back at square one now that their zone-based student assignment plan has been killed."
10/13/10 Goldman hears praise, concern in open forum
"About 150 people came to the high-security meeting with Goldman at Cary Town Hall. Police officers, fire officials and building supervisors in attendance likely outnumbered the 27 speakers who gave Goldman feedback."
10/13/10 How to keep Wake school's edge
"The tipping point explains why the school board's actions have shaken the local business community to its core. If middle-class families abandon the WCPSS, the region will be less desirable to the highly mobile knowledge workers, dealing a blow to our economic engine."
10/13/10 Debra Goldman hears mostly praise at town hall forum
"Wake County school board vice chairwoman Debra Goldman got a mostly favorable response at Tuesday's night highly choreographed town hall forum in Cary."
4/12/10 Tough choices in school funding
"Wake uses a different method, tallying months of employment rather than full-time positions. Most teachers work 10 months a year, while top administrators and some other staff work 11 or 12. Wake's teachers account for 58 percent of the total."
10/12/10 Wake schools assignment committee back to basics
"With political fire over student assignment tamped down at least temporarily by a surprise school board vote last week, the committee charged with implementing a new policy shifted Tuesday from proposed maps to the meaty details of operations in the 143,000-student Wake County Public School System."
10/12/10 Next step for the student assignment committee
"Wake County school board member John Tedesco isn't making drastic changes to the agenda for today's student assignment committee meeting."
10/12/10 What ‘Superman' got wrong, point by point
"While the education film Waiting For Superman has moving profiles of students struggling to succeed under difficult circumstances, it puts forward a sometimes misleading and other times dishonest account of the roots of the problem and possible solutions."
10/12/10 Strife muddles Wake student assignment plans
"Democratic board members countered that the district can now take a slow reasoned approach to implementing a new student assignment plan."
10/12/10 County captains
"In Wake County, it is the future of the public schools that has been the hot topic. As voters fill four of the seven commissioner seats in the Nov. 2 election, the school board's debates over a new student assignment plan will be ringing in their ears. The commissioners don't have a direct say on that issue, but with their oversight of school budgets and responsibility for financing school construction, their influence over the school system is profound."
10/12/10 School board members talking student assignment and politics tonight
"Wake County school board members will be out and about at different community events this evening."
10/12/10 John Tedesco on the "800 pound gorilla in the room"
"The impact of last week's resolution scrapping work on the zone plan is uppermost on the minds of people at today's Wake County student assignment committee meeting."
10/12/10 Goldman holds forum on Wake schools
"The meeting was orderly and quick, absent the heated emotions that have become staples at recent full board meetings on the topic."
10/11/10 Notes on Proposed School Reassignment Plans in Wake County
"I never posted the reassignment "directive" adopted at the last Board meeting. Since it should govern the Student Assignment Committee proceedings Tuesday, I am posting it now."
10/11/10 Newcomer goes after Gurley
"Tony Gurley, chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners, has much more political experience than opponent Steve Rao, but Rao thinks his newcomer status might work to his advantage in the contest to represent District 3."
RADIO BROADCAST - 10/11/10 WPTF
"Is North Carolina Still a Can-Do State? and Q&A with Wake County School Board Member John Tedesco."
10/10/10 Pitts: Wake school board mess shows importance of voting
"But the members behave like adults, and, far as I can tell, do not bring partisan politics into the boardroom, where children should be first, not political parties. Nor does the Cumberland board have a history of such behavior, to my knowledge. I commend board members past and present for that."
10/10/10 Leeway on promotions
"But it bows to the reality that end-of-grade tests have not been helpful in setting the standard for who advances and who is held back."
10/10/10 So middle school
"After reading the report of the recent Wake County Board of Education meeting, I got an eerie feeling that I could have been reading the minutes of a Daniels Middle School weekend dance committee hearing."
10/10/10 Debra Goldman to hold Town Hall meeting Tuesday
"Goldman said it's important to collect community feedback from the start - and that's part of the reason she wanted to halt the process."
10/9/10 School budget plans
"During the student assignment community engagement meetings, the school system should unveil cuts planned for next year and long-range plans for dealing with the needed school construction and life-cycle replacements so stakeholders will have a complete understanding of how their children and taxes are going to be affected."
10/9/10 Goldman to attend town forum
"Goldman, a Republican who supports community-based schools, said she will not vote for any plan unless every student has a base school assignment, the option to attend a magnet program and a choice of year-round or traditional schools."
10/8/10 NC: Hispanic teen gives Wake school board a message - diversity is the best teacher
"Monserrat Alvarez stood before the board's nine board members - five who ended the diversity policy, four still committed to fighting for it - and told them that the abstractions of assignment formulas and socioeconomic diversity were not abstractions to her. They made her who she is. They brought her to where she was that evening."
10/8/10 Pride or prejudice
"Inevitably, one school is seen as better than another. And let's face it: The less-desirable school is generally the one with lower-income families and more students of color."
10/8/10 Burns speaks up for candidate critical of Wake school board
"Jack Nichols is a consensus builder, and understands that when it comes to our children and our tax dollars, we must make decisions based on data and research, not ideologically driven agendas," Burns said in a statement issued by Nichols' campaign."
10/8/10 Prickett's focus
"So the secret to gaining Prickett's attention is to be located in Lochmere? Mystery solved! To all my fellow District 7 neighbors, if your concerns (like mine) have been systematically ignored by our representative, Prickett, let's pool our resources and charter a bus or two to Lochmere. Maybe then Prickett will finally listen to us."
10/8/10 School helpers must register in Wake
"Citing the financial cost of running criminal background checks, the Wake school system will close its volunteer registration system at 5 p.m. today. People who want to volunteer won't have another opportunity until December when registration will again be open for one week."
10/8/10 Test scores will pull less weight
"Changes that the State Board of Education approved Thursday will have particular significance for high schools, giving less emphasis to standardized test scores."
10/8/10 Wake grows by 3,690 students this year
"School officials released figures today showing that Wake's official enrollment this school year is 143,289 students, a gain of 3,690 students from last year. The enrollment figures are based on the 20th day of classes for schools, which occurred last month."
10/8/10 Schools, resources and balance
"Public education in America is predicated on the belief that a good education for all is the best hope for our collective future. To the extent that all are given the same opportunity to learn, we live up to our ideal of equal treatment regardless of social and economic advantage. A kid from a poor neighborhood is entitled to the same public school educational opportunity as a kid from a rich neighborhood."
10/8/10 Hands-on mayor
"Seems as though Eagles is willing to "meddle" in the school board's business when there's something in it for Rolesville."
10/8/10 Demagnetization
"The new school board has brought my family tremendous anxiety about our future school assignment. It is well on its way to eviscerating Wake County's nationally acclaimed magnet program and will reduce everyone's educational choices. For a group who promised us stability, excellence in education and choice, as my sixth-grader would say, this board has been an epic failure."
10/7/10 Assignment plan hits a roadblock
"Only two weeks after deciding to speed up the timetable for a new student assignment plan, the Wake County school board voted 5-3 to halt the current effort. As a result, there will be no major transition plan for the coming 2011-2012 school year."
10/7/10 Close schools, save teachers
"It's always been a bit tough to nail down the driving force behind this months-long student-assignment review."
10/7/10 Square one
"But let's hope some of her motivation comes from experience. It's not uncommon for people to modify their positions once they're in an office compared to when they were campaigning."
10/7/10 Wake school board's move will delay big changes
"With the Wake County school board now operating with no majority bloc, massive changes in the way students are assigned to schools are unlikely to occur for nearly two more years."
10/7/10 Goldman takes pressure, flak in stride
"Debra Goldman said her game-changing actions this week were meant to put out a fire, not start a new one."
10/7/10 Unpleasant taste
"I think Goldman now knows how it feels to discuss any issue as board members named Kevin Hill, Anne McLaurin, Carolyn Morrison or Keith Sutton. Perhaps she doesn't like the taste of her own medicine."
10/7/10 No friend indeed
"Clearly, he really intended to say that he had enjoyed their "alliance."
10/7/10 Apologies, please
"It's unfortunate that the students of Wake County have Tedesco as a member of the school board. His childish behavior has no place in the board room."
10/7/10 Cliquish comments
"I am shocked at the immaturity of some of John Tedesco's alleged comments to Debra Goldman. It sounds like grade-school clique behavior, not school board behavior."
10/7/10 Poor playmate
"Learning to play well with others is a lesson that starts the first day a kid walks into a classroom full of strangers."
10/7/10 Uncertainty about what's next in the student assignment process
"There are more uncertainties than certainties right now in what direction student assignment will take in Wake County."
10/6/10 No plans to immediately replace Ron Margiotta as school board chairman
"Democrat Kevin Hill, who was ousted as chairman by Margiotta and the then-new Republican majority in December, said he doesn't favor changing the top position on the board every time the balance of power shifts."
10/6/10 Ann Majestic says second vote not needed on student assignment resolution
"Those who were hoping they could delay implementation of the new resolution scrapping work on community assignment zones in Wake County appear to be out of luck."
10/6/10 Wake schools reassignment fight gets personal
"Then tonight, Benedict Goldman voted with the four minority members to do away with our efforts for community-based assignments and declared things should stay as is with the forced busing diversity model in place," Tedesco wrote."
10/6/10 Reassignment reboot
"There's finally some encouraging news from the Wake County Board of Education. The Gang of Five majority's single-minded effort to replace the current student assignment plan with a confusing rich-zone poor zone scheme is now over, thanks to a member of the majority with strong reservations about the plan and the process being used to develop it."
10/6/10 Wake Co. School Board Halts Neighbohood-Based Assignments
"Now the 16-zone based map is out and it's back to the drawing board for the school assignment committee."
10/6/10 NAACP and GSIW praising Tuesday's community zone vote
"Rather, we hope that this vote signals a reinvigorated dialogue between the School Board and the community."
RADIO BROADCASTS: 10/6/10 Debra Goldman votes against school board reassignment
RADIO BROADCASRS: 10/6/10 John Tedesco reacts to school board's decision
10/3/10 Register for Wake school meetings online
"The sign-up period for Tuesday's meeting will begin that afternoon at 3 p.m. on the school district's home page, www.wcpss.net."
10/3/10 A better course for Wake schools
"And not only will student achievement suffer, but also home prices and business recruitment. Why else would the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce agree to help foot the bill on a consultant to draw up a student assignment plan that provides stability and student diversity? The chamber is acting to safeguard the quality of our local work force and attractiveness of the county."
10/3/10 School board radicals
"Our school system, long a magnet for business relocation and expansion, is rapidly becoming a metropolitan public relations nightmare."
10/3/10 Worth mayors' time
"The entire community has suffered because of the loss of accreditation."
10/3/10 Captain Tedesco
"Indeed, the first round of revisions to the student assignment map moved predominantly white nodes into their zones of choice."
10/2/10 Wake schools give no data to accrediting agency
"If you have a $1.2 billion organization, you would not go with a completely different plan without a business case," Sutton said. "You wouldn't go into this blindly."
10/2/10 An about-face
"Did he believe this two years ago when he endorsed the position of WakeCARES against the previous board, which was also duly elected?"
10/1/10 Feds reviewing NAACP complaint against Wake County schools
"We could be a month away from knowing whether the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice will investigate the federal civil rights complaint that the NAACP filed last Friday against the Wake County school system."
10/1/10 Raleigh schools among the least segregated: Northeastern U. study
"In addition to being a quality bargain, the Wake school system's diversity policy - unless the new school board majority is allowed to get rid of it - also helps Raleigh's schools be among the least racially segregated of all city school systems in the USA."
10/1/10 The Big-Money Boys Behind Soucek and Whatisname
"The largest super-organism on the planet is a fungus found in the Malheur National Forest in Oregon. It underlies some 2,200 acres. Art Pope is something like that fungus."
10/1/10 Schools panel dwindles, but Meeker holds a core
"Naturally, it would be better to have more mayors," Meeker said. "People from each town would obviously look at their own area first, but we'd still be looking at the whole plan."
10/1/10 One mayor's mouth
"The purpose of Meeker's group is not to make our views known. It is to have intelligent, educated people work collaboratively with facts and science to come to a common understanding.
