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Nov. 1-15, 2011, News Archive
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
11/13/11 New school stewards: Now, results
"The debate over student assignment has touched on a deeper set of issues at the heart of public education: How can schools maximize the prospects of each and every student? Are sound policies and ample resources the key to success or does success hinge on the motivation and self-responsibility of students and parents? Yes, and yes. As for the new school board, it must fully own up to the system's past shortcomings and be relentless in pushing toward new heights for all."
11/13/11 Party, race shaped board wins
"Party, race and geography shaped the results of Tuesday's school board race, leaving many to wonder how those issues will play out in public education."
11/12/11 Delayed report on safety at Harding High raises ire
"Fears about safety at Harding High continued to roil Thursday, after the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board delayed a report that had been prepared for Wednesday's meeting."
"Our kids are not political pawns. We, the media included, need to get serious about the job of educating our kids and actively promoting their love of learning."
"The Kevin Hill-Heather Losurdo race was not about busing, as so many seemed to believe. Busing is a red herring. When you run one of the largest school systems in the country, busing is a fact of life."
11/11/11 Baseless
"Right now, all of the kids in our neighborhood are guaranteed a seat in our base school unless we opt out - not so anymore. With this new plan, we have lost our neighborhood school!"
11/11/11 Cash Michaels on the impact of Kevin Hill's election victory
"Cash Michaels is speculating on Debra Goldman becoming the new Wake County school board vice chairwoman and lists three actions that he says the new Democratic majority must do."
11/11/11 2 dozen groups seek NC's OK for charter schools
"The state Department of Public Instruction got 27 applications by Thursday's deadline for fast-track approval."
11/11/11 Rare year of no CMS boundary changes
"The coming year promises an oasis of stability for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools families. For the first time in memory, the school board isn't redrawing boundaries, shuffling magnets, building new schools or closing old ones."
11/11/11 Durham schools reach accord in discrimination complaint
"Durham Public Schools and the U.S. Department of Education have reached an agreement to address a complaint alleging discriminatory practices and hostile school environments for Latino students and their families."
11/10/11 Wake's school board results prompt speculation
"In a sign of how much attention there's been on this year's Wake County school board elections, the change in political control from Republicans to Democrats has been met with both wild exuberance and extreme pessimism locally and nationally."
11/10/11 High school students can take free college courses
"Students in North Carolina can get a jump on their future by enrolling in free community college courses while in high school, under a plan to be announced today by Gov. Bev Perdue."
11/10/11 Changes, man, at schools' HQ
"Sometimes, truth is accidental. Take the mailer that some group supporting defeated Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo sent out."
11/10/11 Sticking with choice
"Congratulations to the Democratic members of the Wake County school board and their supporters for their recent political gains."
11/10/11 Hill, hear this
"I'm not entirely convinced that a vote for Heather Losurdo wasn't quite simply a vote against Kevin Hill for many voters. The constituents of District 3 are trying to tell Hill something. I hope he listens."
11/10/11 New board majority to decide whether to keep John Tedesco as vice chairman
"The board will have to pick a new chair because Ron Margiotta was defeated last month. But the board doesn't have to replace John Tedesco as vice chairman because his one-year term runs until June."
11/10/11 Tedesco vs. Glazier for DPI Super? We can sell tickets.
"Glazier versus Tedesco? Articulate supporter of public schools versus voluble tea-party critic of same? Save me a seat for that one."
11/10/11 Session after session ignores the kids
"The vague agenda for the post Thanksgiving session is also noteworthy for what it doesn't include, a judge's order to provide access to pre-kindergarten programs to at-risk kids as part of their constitutionally guaranteed sound, basis education."
11/9/11 Attention shifts to Wake schools student assignment, budget
"The victor of a closely watched runoff for the Wake County Board of Education called Wednesday for board members to put the election behind them and to pull together, so they can make small changes to a new student assignment policy and prepare to deal with a looming budget shortfall."
11/9/11 Democrats again control Wake school board
"I'm very hopeful we're going to have some strong governance on the school board," Kushner said. "We'll have our focus on students and teachers."
11/9/11 Wake County awaits new approach
"While the new Democratic majority that will take office Dec. 6 may want to make changes to the recently adopted student assignment plan, it also will have to wrestle with big issues such as a painful new budget and the timing and details of a new bond issue."
11/9/11 Christensen: Voters revolt against ideological contest
"When people's kids gets involved," said Perry Woods, a strategist who worked with all the Democratic candidates, "ideology goes out the window in a hurry."
11/9/11 Their turn
"Hill was far and away the smart pick on the basis of his background as a former teacher and principal with an abiding commitment to public education. His stance on difficult issues that have roiled the Wake schools in recent months has been sound."
11/9/11 State Democratic Party on the school board election results
"Here's a statement that David Parker, chairman of the state Democratic Party, issued Tuesday on the election results on the Wake County school board and the rest of North Carolina:"
11/9/11 Wake school board tilts back toward sanity
"And in light of this fact, the North Carolina NAACP issued an inspiring and hopeful statement last night."
11/9/11 Democrats retake Wake school board
"In one of the nation's most closely watched local partisan battles, Democrats regained control of the Wake County school board as incumbent Kevin Hill defeated challenger Heather Losurdo in a runoff."
11/9/11 A big loss for Art Pope in NC school resegregation fight
"Voters in Wake County, N.C. have shifted political power on the local school board, ending a Republican majority backed by leading conservative benefactor Art Pope that worked to end the system's nationally recognized desegregation policy."
11/9/11 Wake County, N.C., Board Changes Political Majority
"Hill, a former teacher and principal, said he "would not suggest going back to the drawing board" on the plan, according to an interview in the Raleigh News and Observer. However, he does want a school assignment policy that gives low-achieving students a chance to attend high-acheiving schools, he said."
11/9/11 Rachel Maddow on the "really important consequences" of the Wake County school board election results
"Rachel Maddow cheered the return of a Democratic majority to the Wake County school board election as "a small-sounding election tonight with really, really important consequences."
11/9/11 Signs of a welcome shift, part two
"Wake County voters re-elected progressive incumbent Kevin Hill to the school board. Hill's defeat of Republican tea party challenger Heather Losurdo in their runoff election means the two-year reign of error of the conservative majority determined to resegregate the schools is over."
11/8/11 William Barber on tonight's Wake County school board election results
"The Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, is calling tonight's Wake County school board election results "a major step forward on the Highway of Justice and Love."
11/8/11 Hill beats Losurdo in Wake schools race
"His victory gave control of the board to a moderate majority, ending two tumultuous years of conservative Republican rule."
11/8/11 Hill wins runoff; Democrats control Wake school board
"Incumbent Wake County school board member Kevin Hill defeated challenger Heather Losurdo in a runoff tonight to complete a Democratic election sweep that knocks Republicans out of power after a turbulent two-year reign."
11/8/11 Hill defeats Losurdo in bid to keep Wake school board seat
"Democratic incumbent Kevin Hill has won the Wake County school board District 3 runoff race."
11/8/11 Hill beats Losurdo for Wake school board seat
"Kevin Hill beat Heather Losurdo in a critical run-off in District 3 Tuesday night, giving the Democrats a majority again on the Wake County Board of Education."
11/8/11 Hill takes Wake Co. School Board race
"I hope what the election means for the school system is that we'll have nine board members that will come together and work as a team, take politics back off the table, and try and make decisions that will be best for all kids in all schools," he said."
11/8/11 Schools can revisit funding
"Wake County commissioners on Monday allowed the Wake school board to make changes to how it plans to spend $130 million."
11/8/11 No paid canvassers
"I am proud to say that we have over 600 unpaid volunteers who have invested their time and effort to advance our cause. Having worked with students and parents in Wake County for 35 years, I do not have to "pay workers" to share my record of character and integrity."
11/8/11 District 3 details
"Regarding the Nov. 6 story "Losurdo: A push for stable schools": Stop the rhetoric, please. Stability and proximity are not what District 3 is getting in the new assignment plan. Heather Losurdo touts stability. Has she read the plan? District 3 needs someone who knows the details."
11/8/11 District 3 runoff winner at Milton's Pizza tonight
"When the votes are counted in the Wake County Board of Education District 3 runoff tonight, the winner will be celebrating at Milton's Pizza & Pasta in -"
11/8/11 CMS poverty rate rises at all grade levels
"The districtwide poverty level for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has nudged up 1 percentage point, to 54.4 percent this year, according to a new report on students eligible for lunch subsidies."
11/8/11 Dems Regain Control of School Board
"Democrats regained control of the Wake County school board Tuesday, with Kevin Hill (D) defeating Heather Losurdo (R) 52 percent to 48 percent in a runoff election."
11/8/11 Democratic-aligned candidates finish sweep of 5 open Wake school seats in closely watched race
"In the most closely watched of North Carolina's Local Elections, a Democratic-aligned candidate has kept his seat on the Wake County school board, completing a sweep of the seats up for grabs this year."
11/8/11 Democrats complete sweep of Wake school seats
"A Democratic-aligned candidate retained his seat on the Wake County school board Tuesday, completing a sweep of the seats up for grabs this year."
11/7/11 Early ballots far exceed 2009 polling with runoff
"With a few ballots remaining to be logged in, early voting in Tuesday's elections has nearly doubled the amount seen in the 2009 elections that also included a school board runoff, Wake County election officials said today."
11/7/11 Wake school board runoff will affect decisions
"The Wake County school board faces a new student-assignment plan, a budget that promises tough decisions and debate on when to ask voters for permission to borrow hundreds of millions of dollars."
11/7/11 Board to assess Wake schools
"A review team will return to Wake County this month to see whether school leaders have taken enough steps to ensure the district's high schools can keep their accreditation."
11/7/11 Kevin Hill targeting Republican voters in new campaign mailer
"In this new campaign mailer hitting mailboxes today, Hill touts his experience as an educator and the message "excellent schools + high achievement = economic prosperity."
11/7/11 School board facing big issues after election
"Regardless of who wins Tuesday's runoff election, the Wake County school board will have a lot on its hands after the new members are sworn in Dec. 6."
11/7/11 Democrats hold early voting lead in District 3 runoff election
"The early voting and absentee totals could indicate that Wake County school board member Kevin Hill has got an early edge in Tuesday's runoff election against challenger Heather Losurdo."
11/6/11 NPR's "All Things Considered" covers high cost of Wake school board elections
"The record-setting amount spent on this year's Wake County school board elections was highlighted today by NPR's "All Things Considered" show."
11/6/11 Heather Losurdo on Tony Tata potentially leaving because of "different philsophical beliefs"
"With Hill repeatedly saying he would not support firing Tata, Losurdo implied today that Tata might emulate Del Burns and resign because of philosophical differences with a new majority."
11/6/11 AdvancED returning to Wake this month to monitor compliance
"In somewhat election-related news, AdvancED will be back in town at the end of the month to assess how well the Wake County school system is doing with the issues the accreditation organization announced in March."
11/6/11 Wake school board election runoff profile: Kevin Hill
"After a successful career in Wake County public schools, Kevin Hill thought about what his education and life's work had meant to him."
11/6/11 Wake school board election runoff profile: Heather Losurdo
"Stability is not the word Heather Losurdo would use to describe her childhood."
11/6/11 School winner(s), Wake's future
"As for busing, Hill says 1) he supports Tata's parental-choice approach to student assignment, and 2) he simply wants to ensure that kids who might otherwise end up in schools with lots of academically challenged students have a decent chance to go to a school with a better academic profile."
11/5/11 Tata: Most parents will get their school choices
"Wake County schools Superintendent Tony Tata offered more assurances Friday that parents should be able to get the schools they want their children to attend next school year."
11/5/11 Former bank supervisor backs Losurdo's job claim
"More than a week after first being asked about the assertions, Losurdo on Friday provided contact information for Donald R. Senior, who was her supervisor when he was portfolio manager for small business at First Union."
11/5/11 Nothing for granted
"I hope the voters in the Wake County school board runoff election between Kevin Hill and the right wing's latest designate to carry out its anti-public education agenda will recall that only a handful of votes for Hill would have prevented this election."
11/5/11 The money trail
"I hope that voters will follow the money in the District 3 school board runoff. Heather Losurdo's list of donors includes the usual cast of characters who do not support public education."
11/5/11 Baileywick realities
"I have been a teacher at Baileywick Elementary since the doors opened in1996. It is a wonderful small school with dedicated, caring teachers. I am very devoted to my school so you can imagine the surprise and concern I felt when I opened my mailbox recently and read a campaign flier with false statements made by Heather Losurdo concerning Baileywick."
11/5/11 Choose the educator
"I hope we will elect the candidate who has dedicated his life to our schools, not the candidate whose backers would rather dismantle them. If Wake County's public schools are allowed to decline, our period of economic preeminence will end, and the whole community will suffer."
11/5/11 GSIW urging people to vote in school board runoff election
"The Great Schools in Wake Coalition is officially stepping into the Wake County school board elections with this campaign mailer that was sent this week urging people to vote in the runoff contest."
11/5/11 Kevin Hill says "it's time to move forward"
"Wake County school board member Kevin Hill says "we need an experienced educator focused on student achievement" in this campaign mailer sent last week."
11/4/11 School board challengers face off on WRAL's 'On the Record'
"The two candidates still vying for a crucial seat on the Wake County Board of Education sat together Friday for the first time since last month's election to discuss Tuesday's runoff race, student assignment and the politics at play in what has traditionally been a quiet, nonpartisan race."
11/4/11 Parents meetings set on schools
"Wake County school officials announced Thursday that they will hold meetings to explain to parents how to select a school through the new student assignment plan.
11/4/11 Losurdo press conference proves only that she did work for at plan."
"Well, that was pretty much a waste of time. Nobody ever said Heather Losurdo didn't work in a bank. What her critics said is that she exaggerated her responsibilities by claiming that she was in charge of a $2 billion loan portfolio."
11/3/11 Insulting description
"School board candidate Heather Losurdo needs to apologize to the Baileywick Road Elementary School families, teachers and staff for the absurd mail piece delivered to select neighborhoods in District 3. To describe our school as declining is an insult to the work and dedication of both our families and staff."
11/3/11 A big difference in qualifications
"Kevin Hill's opponent in the Board of Election runoff might have many qualifications for some elected office, but she is not the most qualified or, based on experience, the most committed candidate for District 3."
11/3/11 Progress NC Action says Heather Losurdo should prove her resume
"In a press release today, the liberal advocacy group says Losurdo should provide references or Human Resources documentation to back up her statements that she oversaw $2 billion in small business loans in the Carolinas for First Union Bank."
11/3/11 NPR's Morning Edition on Wake school board elections
"During the segment, Dave Dewitt of WUNC painted this year's election to the national audience as a d Democratic backlash to Republican businessman Art Pope."
11/3/11 Kevin Hill says Tony Tata "will be with us for years to come"
"Wake County school board member Kevin Hill reiterated today that he isn't out to scrap the new student assignment plan or get rid of Superintendent Tony Tata."
11/3/11 Kevin Hill says he wouldn't throw out the new student assignment plan
"I think there will have to be some changes made, but I totally disagree with what I'm continually bombarded with daily that should I be re-elected that we're going to throw this plan out and go back to the old assignment plan," Hill said. "Nothing could be further from the truth. This will be our plan. We have to work on some of the rough edges."
11/3/11 Tossed fliers, online comments, and other campaign tidbits
"Are Tim Morgan and his campaign manager subverting the voting system? Do Ken Nelson's online comments support white supremacy and violence? Is Elyse Dashew aligned with outside groups? And where in the world is DeShauna McLamb?"
11/2/11 Heather Losurdo says Progress NC Action is "lying" about her
"Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo is making the local conservative radio talk show rounds to defend herself against the charges by Progress NC Action that she puffed up her resume."
11/2/11 Losurdo campaign outpaces Hill, hits school board record
"New campaign finance reports made public Tuesday show that Losurdo, a Republican, had reported raising $82,357 through Oct. 24, with more than half the money coming in the last month. That's the most ever raised in a Wake school board election, records show."
11/2/11 Peace College offers to house Wake academies
"William Peace University is poised to forge an alliance with Wake County schools to bring Wake's new boys and girls leadership academies to its Peace Street campus near downtown, Superintendent Tony Tata said Tuesday."
11/2/11 4th-, 8th-graders' scores improve in math, reading
"North Carolina fourth- and eighth-graders made slight gains in math and reading, scoring close to or above the national average on a test known as "The Nation's Report Card."
11/2/11 Hill is tops
"Losurdo was against the plan before she was for it. Hill says it's a good plan in concept, but he prudently wants to make sure any kinks are worked out before it takes effect. He's far better suited to help oversee the plan's implementation."
11/2/11 Not so funny
"It will be interesting to see how many people in the District 3 runoff election for the Wake County school board will vote for someone who cried foul when called to account for her vile statements on Facebook and tried to slough it off saying it was "humorous."
11/2/11 Free the hostage
"For the past two years, our community has been held hostage to a war over the direction and policies of our school system. At times the conduct of the members has been, being kind, disgraceful! What they have been fighting over is the fiction of neighborhood schools versus the distasteful need of busing."
11/2/11 Principled stand
"Under the new choice plan, families do not literally choose their schools. They simply rank order their preferences from an already determined list of schools. Families will not weigh in on how the list is generated, nor will they necessarily get their first or second preference. As has always been the case, the school system will make the ultimate assignment. It may feel more empowering to call it a choice, but it's misleading."
11/2/11 Delivering distortions
"But reassigned students are not ripped out of neighborhood schools. The truth is that most reassignments are the result of new schools being built, and so students are being assigned to a new school that is opening closer to their home, not farther."
11/2/11 Group claims Wake school board candidate Losurdo lied on resume
"It all comes down to the race between Kevin Hill and Heather Losurdo. The Liberal Advocacy Group "Progress NC" is claiming Losurdo embellished her resume."
11/2/11 Gorman was wrong, CMS says
"Former Superintendent Peter Gorman erred in telling a national education conference that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools data showed its own after-school program was the worst in Charlotte, his successor said Tuesday."
11/2/11 Wake student assignment discussion Thursday at UNC-Chapel Hill
"Tim Simmons of the Wake Education Partnership, Terry Stoops of the John Locke Foundation and "parent activist" Neil Riemann will be the panelists. Brenda Berg, a member of the Great Schools in Wake Coalition, will be the moderator."
11/2/11 Kevin Hill says a vote for Heather Losurdo means John Tedesco will become board chair
"Hill had avoided mentioning Losurdo in previous mailers. But he's now found himself facing a steady stream of attack ads from Losurdo, Civitas Action, the Northern Wake Republican Club and the state Republican Party."
11/2/11 Heather Losurdo says Superintendent Tony Tata's job at risk if Kevin Hill wins
"Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo is responding to the attacks by liberal groups on her and charging that a win by incumbent Kevin Hill could mean the firing of Superintendent Tony Tata."
11/1/11 Perdue: NC cannot sustain more education cuts
"As state lawmakers prepare to return to Raleigh next week, leaders are already starting work on the 2012-13 budget."
11/1/11 Wake schools talking Peace partnership for leadership academies
"Two leadership academies opening next school year as alternatives to traditional schooling for middle- and high-school students could be put on the campus of William Peace University in Raleigh, the Wake County Public School System said Tuesday."
11/1/11 Blog: Wake school board convenes
"Tuesday's school board meeting is the last one officially scheduled for November and before the terms of Chairman Ron Margiotta, Dr. Carolyn Morrison, and Dr. Anne McLaurin expire."
11/1/11 NC has slow reading, math gains on US average
"North Carolina students are about average and the state's schools are making slow progress improving performance compared to other states, according to results released Tuesday from the exam dubbed "The Nation's Report Card"
11/1/11 Electing competence
"Electing a representative on the school board should be about electing someone who is competent, responsible and principled."
11/1/11 Hill's fine record
"Parents understandably advocate for their own children, but the school board must advocate for all children and develop long-term goals."
11/1/11 Schools candidate defends her résumé
"Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo is defending herself against claims that she has been overstating her work experience."
11/1/11 Questions about Heather Losurdo's work experience
"If the resume is correct and she has no formal education beyond what is listed, it would be hard to fathom that any bank would hire someone with a personal bankruptcy and without a much higher level of formal education to handle that kind of function," Woodard said."
11/1/11 Gorman's comments baffle board members
"Does Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have the worst after-school program in town?"
10/31/11 Wake Democrats accuse GOP of playing "tricks" on voters
"On this Halloween, the Wake County Democratic Party is talking about the "crazy tricks that the Republicans are breaking out in the final days" before the Nov. 8 school board runoff election."
10/31/11 Mack Paul accuses Heather Losurdo of flip flopping on student assignment plan
"Wake County Democratic Party Chairman Mack Paul charges that school board candidate Heather Losurdo "flipped flopped her position" on the new student assignment plan."
10/31/11 Couple fuels school races in Wake
"But one line from the original draft of her editorial that didn't make the published version may offer the best explanation of why she and her husband took a sudden financial interest in the school board races: "Waiting for reason to prevail is not working; rational people can no longer remain silent before this threat."
10/31/11 The Feminist Case Against Single-Sex Schools
"No, the studies don't show that girls' schools are better for girls. But they're sure great at perpetuating sexist attitudes."
