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October 1-15, 2011, News Archive
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR/ARTICLES
10/15/11 School assignment vote should go on, Tata says
"Wake County schools Superintendent Tony Tata stands behind his decision to ask for a vote on the new student assignment plan next week - even as some newly elected school board members and parents say the vote should be delayed."
10/15/11 Pre-K resolve
"The recognition by Gov. Beverly Perdue that the state should follow a judge's decision on pre-kindergarten programs for all at-risk children in North Carolina is important."
10/15/11 Model-builders
"Shortly before we moved from Chicago to Raleigh in 1965, I asked my new department head at N.C. State University, C. E. (Ed) Bishop, about locating a house in a suburb with a good school system for my four children."
10/15/11 Chairman Tedesco
"The voters in Wake County Board of Education District 3 will actually have the opportunity to cast two votes Nov. 8. The first vote will be for the candidate to fill the seat. Because that winner will become part of a five-member majority, he or she will be a party to naming the board's next chairman."
10/15/11 School traditions
"The new multi-base plan would be better applied to people new to the area who haven't developed expectations or have established connections to the way schools have been assigned traditionally in Wake County. The vote on the new plan should be delayed until there is more clarification."
10/15/11 School dole
"The plan's supporters are trumpeting choice as the perfect antidote for years of forced reassignments. This is deceptive. Families who get their last choice will not feel particularly empowered."
10/15/11 School board bravo
"Kudos to the voters who agreed that the primary goal of the school board must be to provide the best education possible for all the Wake County students."
10/14/11 (UPDATED) School choice and the Hill-Losurdo runoff: Two questions
"UPDATE, 10/14: After the hearing last night, I spoke with Kevin Hill and Keith Sutton briefly. I asked Keith how he plans to vote on Tuesday, assuming there is a vote."
10/14/11 Wait to vote on schools plan, new board members say
"Three newly elected Democratic Wake County school board members think next week is too early for a final vote on a sweeping new student assignment proposal - even if a delayed decision puts off the plan for a school year."
10/14/11 Wheeler: Eastern Wake ignored in school politics
"Cross the Neuse River anywhere east of Raleigh in Wake County, and you've entered the land of the ignored when it comes to school-board politics."
10/14/11 Don't delay the school plan
"Delaying a decision at this point would only prolong the corrosive debate and further distract from pressing classroom issues and needed discussions about how to handle future enrollment growth."
10/14/11 Greater Raleigh Chamber and WEP say don't delay adoption of student assignment plan
"Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata and the school board are getting support from the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the Wake Education Partnership to vote on the student assignment plan on Tuesday."
10/14/11 Speakers raise concerns about new student assignment plan
"Most of the 28 speakers at Thursday's public hearing wanted the Wake County school board to make changes and/or delay a vote on adoption of the new student assignment plan."
10/14/11 Wake Co. superintendent says no delay on student assignment vote
"Wake County Supt. Tony Tata says the student assignment plan needs to be approved to be ready for next school year."
10/13/11 Speakers at today's student assignment public hearing
"A total of 26 people have pre-registered to speak at Broughton High School at today's Wake County school board public hearing on the student assignment plan."
10/13/11 PPP on using Ron Margiotta's defeat as a national model for Democrats
"Public Policy Polling is pitching how the defeat of Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta by linking him to the Tea Party is "a model Democratic candidates across the country should consider following in 2012."
10/13/11 Signs of a welcome shift
"This week's Wake School Board races are the most obvious example, where voters threw out the right-wing incumbent Chairman Ron Margiotta just two years after the Republican re-segregationist Gang of Five took over the board and began to dismantle of the most successful urban school districts in the country."
10/13/11 Vote scheduled for Wake student assignment plan
"North Carolina's largest public school district is voting on a controversial student assignment policy two days after elections decided control of what happens over the next two years."
10/13/11 How Evans unseated the board's chairman
"Democratic challenger Susan Evans, who unseated Wake County school board Chairman Ron Margiotta on Tuesday, was supported by a stream of mailers into homes in District 8, the southwestern part of the county."
10/13/11 School assignment plan's fate uncertain in Wake
"A possible shift in the Wake County school board's balance of power raises a host of questions about the future of the school assignment plan that the panel is scheduled to vote on Tuesday."
10/13/11 Wake's District 3 is school board battleground
"An army of political operatives will descend on a section of northern Wake County over the next month to influence a pivotal school board contest that will decide whether a Republican or Democratic majority will guide the state's largest school system for at least the next two years."
10/13/11 Bell-ringers
"Yes, there's still a question mark attached to the outcome of the Wake County school board election, which saw four good candidates claim solid victories while a fifth came up just short of an outright win."
10/13/11 Perfecting the plan
"It is a challenge for all of us - parents, community organizations, business, board members and citizens - to not merely look for problems but also help provide solutions. Commit to what it will take to keep this plan and all decisions on the path to success every step of the way."
10/13/11 Ron Margiotta on why he lost his re-election bid
"Wake County school board chairman Ron Margiotta is blaming voter complacency for his election loss while also calling for people to rally around Heather Losurdo in her runoff contest."
10/13/11 Democrats questioning whether a runoff should be held in District 3
"Look for a battle over the next month to influence voters in Wake County's school board District 3 runoff election."
10/13/11 Questioning whether the school board should vote on the assignment plan Tuesday
"School board vice chairman John Tedesco said he, board chairman Ron Margiotta and Superintendent Tony Tata agreed Wednesday to leave the vote on the plan on the Oct. 18 agenda. Tedesco said they need to follow Tata's timetable to have it ready for implementation in the 2012-13 school year."
10/12/11 John Hood on Republicans learning from their "mistakes" in the school board elections
"John Hood is warning North Carolina Republicans they should learn from their mistakes in the Wake County school board elections or risk the consequences during next year's presidential fight."
10/12/11 Huffington Post calls school board elections "a harbinger of a populist surge"
"The Huffington Post is calling the Wake County school board election results "a populist backlash" against Art Pope, the Koch brothers and the Tea Party movement."
10/12/11 Heather Losurdo on "majority" of voters rejecting Kevin Hill's opposition to neighborhood schools
"This district has a choice between continuing with a representative on the School Board who ignores their concerns, or putting someone in office who shares their frustrations and concerns," Losurdo said."
10/12/11 Politics over kids - again
"The latest round in the battle over the state's early childhood programs is making the lines between Governor Beverly Perdue and Republican legislative leaders even clearer."
10/12/11 Elections might not derail Wake student assignment plan
"The election of four Democratic-backed candidates and a run-off for the final seat on the Wake County Board of Education might not necessarily mean big changes to a new student assignment policy that's been two years in the making."
10/12/11 Margiotta ousted; Democrats win 4 school board seats in Wake
"Ron Margiotta, the chairman of the Wake County school board, was ousted by a political newcomer Tuesday - a blow to the Republican board majority, which has reigned for the past two years."
10/12/11 NAACP's Barber praises Wake school board election results
"The Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, is hailing Tuesday's Wake County school board election results that could change the direction of the state's largest school system as "a major step forward."
10/12/11 Christensen: Schools' future fueled Democrats
"The Democrats rode a powerful tide in the polls Tuesday night, winning the Raleigh mayor's race and making a strong bid to recapture control of the Wake County school board."
10/12/11 Growth, good schools
"The school reassignments that the current Wake County school board abhors aren't done solely in the name of diversity, as so many claim. They are the result of rapid growth, too few schools to handle the influx of so many new students, and a budget crippled by a recession and deep funding cuts."
10/12/11 Wake, Raleigh election results a stunning repudiation of Republicans' tea-party politics
"The voters in Raleigh and Wake County soundly rejected "neighborhood schools" and Tea Party Republicanism Tuesday in favor of centrist Democratic candidates. Click here for a rundown of the vote totals:"
10/12/11 Search for CMS chief adds up
"The tab for Charlotte-Mecklenburg's superintendent search hit $76,500 Tuesday, as the school board approved a $20,000 plan to take the community pulse."
10/12/11 New school board members on why they won Tuesday
"The new Wake County school board members are saying their victories on Tuesday represent public frustration over the actions of the last two years by the board majority."
10/12/11 The pendulum effect in politics
"I hold to the pendulum theory of politics. The public mood swings both ways. When it moves as far as it can go in one direction, it swings back. These days, the swings back and forth seem to happen faster."
10/12/11 'Mad Democrats' oust Wake school board chair
"The battle for control of the Wake County, N.C., school board has become one of the hottest partisan flashpoints in the region. It's likely to remain that way, after Democratic challenger Susan Evans ousted Republican board chairman Ron Margiotta in Tuesday's election."
10/11/11 Local elections mean shakeup on Wake school board
"In the most closely watched local election in North Carolina, Wake County voters on Tuesday handed a key defeat to the board majority that had made huge changes to the state's largest school system since winning control two years ago."
10/11/11 Progress NC Action says Heather Losurdo should concede to Kevin Hill
"Progress NC Action is calling on Wake County school board candidate Heather Losurdo to concede the District 3 race to Kevin Hill."
10/11/11 David Parker calls election results "a comeback for our schools"
"State Democratic Party Chairman David Parker is cheering tonight's Wake County school board election results."
10/11/11 PPP says Kevin Hill would defeat Heather Losurdo in the runoff election
"Public Policy Polling says one of its polls shows that school board member Kevin Hill would defeat Heather Losurdo in a runoff."
10/11/11 Susan Evans on tonigh's election victory
"Here's new Wake County school board member Susan Evan's statement following her victory over board chairman Ron Margiotta:"
10/11/11 Wake school board majority to be decided in run-off
"Wake County voters on Tuesday elected four Democratic-backed candidates to the Wake County Board of Education, but one race is expected to end in a run-off next month."
10/11/11 CMS: 18% repeat ninth grade
"Almost 1 in 5 Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools freshmen failed to pass enough classes last year to be promoted, according to a report on dropout rates going to the school board Tuesday."
10/11/11 N.C. schools celebrate high graduation rates
"North Carolina public school leaders are celebrating the classrooms that manage to keep kids going to the end of their high school careers."
10/11/11 Holly Springs school hits capacity again
"New students continue to flood Wake County schools as fast as they're built. Just six years after finishing Holly Springs High School, the school district is adding a second set of mobile classrooms to the school."
10/11/11 Enriched by diversity
"Though I was the product of segregated education, I was fortunate to teach in Apex in 1970, the first year of total integration, when the black and white high schools were consolidated. My decision to teach there during that historic year was one of the smartest decisions I have ever made."
10/11/11 School warning signs
"But the warning signs are there. Once current assignments phase out, and people are competing for seats in a system with no commitment to consistent quality, will we feel so smug?"
10/11/11 Filling new schools
"How will we fill the $59 million high school in Apex under a choice plan? The school board has promised stability. Wishful thinking seems like a risky bet. The constituency that seems to come last when discussing the matter of student assignment is parents."
10/11/11 How's Tata's student assignment plan? Today's elections will tell us the answer.
"As Donald Rumsfeld might've said if asked by his former Army general and now Wake Schools Superintendent Tony Tata, you go to war with the army you have, not the one you want. And you work up a Wake student assignment plan with the school board you have, not necessarily the one you want or that'll give you the best outcome."
10/10/11 Voting local
"We urge all those who can vote in the election to do so, no matter their views - because our democracy works well only when people do their part to make their views count."
10/9/11 School board races rage
"The most expensive campaign in Wake County school board history has raised at least $385,000 and funded a flurry of campaign ads that have become progressively more negative heading into Tuesday's election."
10/9/11 School politics and the GOP brand
"The chair of the Wake County Republican Party didn't mince words when she touted the party's endorsed candidates and declared on its website, "Only by WINNING these races in 2011 can we provide the necessary clout and pressure that will compel our elected officials to govern under the principles of our platform."
10/9/11 Keith Sutton urging voters to back Democratic school board candidates
"Wake County school board member Keith Sutton is the spokesman for his fellow Democratic candidates in this 60-second ad being broadcast on several radio stations."
10/9/11 Wake school board race brings record dollars and controversial ads
"The most expensive campaign in Wake County school board history is leading to a flurry of ads and charges."
10/8/11 Election will test Margiotta's vision
"Wake County school board Chairman Ron Margiotta is on a mission that Susan Evans is trying hard to derail."
10/8/11 'Plenty of capacity,' Tata says
"Wake County Superintendent Tony Tata on Friday downplayed concerns that the new student assignment plan could result in the creation of racially segregated and high-poverty schools."
10/8/11 Expensive appeasement
"While the board avoids discussion of costs for its new assignment plan, it hardly takes a genius to figure out that the least efficient way to distribute children is to set up a system where "every family would have at least five elementary school options."
10/8/11 Primed to vote
"In the last school board election, I sat home. What a fool. We now have a school board bent on promoting personal extremist agendas having nothing to do with striving for academic excellence - the only function of a school board. All I read about is "reassignment" and its unfortunate racial overtones. "Keep 'em in their place," it sounds like to me."
10/8/11 Old-time resentments
"Ron Margiotta has campaigned this fall with the same divisive negativity that has characterized his tenure on the Wake County school board. He would rather divide and conquer than bring Wake County citizens together for a better future."
10/8/11 Plan would resegregate
"We leave these children in the wreckage of our political warfare, the detritus of selfish agendas. We're seeing a blase attitude toward racism and an irresponsible, if not criminal, lack of compassion."
10/7/11 Four vie in Wake's school board District 6
"John Edwards and Jesse Helms both used to live in Wake County school board District 6. So did actress Amy Sedaris and her brother, author David Sedaris. People of wealth and power still gather at the Carolina Country Club, in the heart of District 6."
10/7/11 Time article looks at pre-K funding in N.C.
"The Preschool Wars," about the political, legal and budget fight over pre-kindergarten programs in North Carolina, is in the Oct. 10 edition of Time magazine. The article opens with a scene from Project Enlightenment in Raleigh, in the classroom of Kim Jackson:"
10/7/11 Wheeler: Expect schools fallout
"Eastern Wake County, you might be surprised to learn, boasts the state's fourth-largest charter school. Almost 1,100 students attend East Wake Academy, a K-12 campus in Zebulon, and its waiting list approaches 600 students."
10/7/11 School uncertainty
"But what happens after a few years when schools that are in greatest demand are full? What do I tell couples with toddlers looking for a house? No one knows which school you'll get into, but it will be one of these five. Odds are, you'll get into the one that other families in your part of town have deemed less desirable."
10/7/11 Students muzzled
"I was shocked and dismayed to read about the investigation that is to take place in response to students at Enloe High School sharing a link with other students about volunteering for Wake County school board candidates."
10/7/11 NCAE-funded group charging Tea Party is trying to take over Wake County schools
"A group whose donors include the N.C. Association of Educators and who has ties to other groups that have been critical of the Republican school board candidates in Wake County is sending out mailers warning about a Tea Party takeover."
10/7/11 CMS' shifting enrollment
"Middle-class and affluent families, both white and minority, also tend to avoid neighborhood schools where most students are black, Hispanic and poor."
10/7/11 Tata says school board candidate's claims untrue
"Wake County's school system superintendent says that claims that his staff was not responsive to a school board candidate's concern about campaigning on school property are not true."
10/6/11 Choosing-and loosing?
"The new choice-based student assignment plan now pending before the Wake County school board is bound to appeal to many families weary of frequent school shuffles and siblings' conflicting schedules."
10/6/11 Pope's influence
"Therefore, Wake voters should know that Pope will in this way be a serious influence in the Wake school board's decisions if Ron Margiotta is re-elected."
10/6/11 Assignment Plan: Was it worth it?
"Administrators estimate that 94 percent of students will take advantage of the grandfathering options to stay at their current schools and keep their bus transportation." Does that not speak volumes about the current level of satisfaction of Wake County parents?"
10/6/11 Black, Hispanic enrollment grows in CMS; white students under one-third
"The numbers continue the trends of the last several years, with steady growth in African American and Hispanic enrollment while white enrollment stays virtually flat, inching up some years and down in others."
10/5/11 Wake student assignment plan pleases board
"Wake County school board members seem poised to approve sweeping changes to the county's student-assignment plan - changes designed to let parents choose which schools their children would attend."
10/5/11 ACT to be given to test high school students' post-graduation readiness
"A new era of public school testing begins in March when high school students will take national exams to determine how well their education is preparing them for life after graduation."
10/5/11 Ideas clash in race for open Wake schools seat
"When Dr. Anne McLaurin decided that one term of representing school board District 5 was enough for her, two candidates to succeed her stepped up with strong, opposing views on the operation of Wake County schools."
10/5/11 Margiotta and Civitas
"It is highly inappropriate for such a partisan organization - its stated mission is to "facilitate the implementation of conservative policy solutions" - to provide training for our nonpartisan school board."
10/5/11 Strange business
"Their claimed saving is just wishful thinking. It assumes that they will sell the former locations quickly, and no one is biting in this economy. We're now locked into leasing space in Cary at a price tag of about $52.5 million over 15 years, with a rent price that goes up 2.5 percent every year. To make matters worse, we left a space that was fully paid for."
10/5/11 Unaffordable choice
"If you read the Sept. 25 article on the Wake County public schools, you saw the facts about transportation costs for the school board majority's new student assignment plan. It will cost more."
10/5/11 Beware the costs
"Note to homeowners: Your property value goes down if your neighborhood school has low student achievement."
10/5/11 School board candidates weigh in on Wake assignment plan
"Initial response to a plan for how the Wake County Public School System will assign students under a new assignment policy is mostly positive, so far, among the 14 candidates vying for five seats on the school board that will oversee and carry it out."
10/5/11 The pink elephant in the education debate
"That's why the best way in the long run to avoid the problem of high poverty schools and to improve student achievement is to reduce poverty."
10/4/11 Blog: Wake school board discusses the assignment plan
"Wake County school board members are getting their first look Tuesday at a new student assignment plan aimed at giving parents more choices about where their students go to school."
10/4/11 School board district 4 race is key to school policies
"East of downtown, stretching north and south and all the way to Knightdale, Wake County school board District 4 is home to a wealth of sought-after magnet schools, but also to high numbers of low-income students."
10/4/11 Balanced quality
"I was disturbed by one of Margiotta's answers to a voter's question. The questioner wanted to know the candidates' views on the importance of "balanced schools."
10/4/11 Forward, ho
"Where is the leadership, moving us forward, building consensus, addressing the fiscal challenges and resuming our schools role as the economic driver for our county?"
10/4/11 Achievement factor
"Too bad Margiotta failed to recall what is written in bold letters on the Wake County Public Schools' assignment website: "The three primary drivers of the proposals are proximity, stability and student achievement."
10/4/11 Wake School Board reviews reassignment plan
"The Wake County Public School System board is reviewing the student assignment plan now at its headquarters in Cary as the system's leaders leaders unveil the proposal."
10/4/11 Long-awaited assignment plan called 'Wake County's plan'
"Wake County school board members have gotten their first look at a long-awaited student assignment plan aimed at giving parents more choices when it comes to where their children go to school."
10/3/11 Incentives for Advanced Work Let Pupils and Teachers Cash In
"But two years ago, spurred by a national program that offered cash incentives and other support for students and teachers, Mr. Nystrom's school, South High Community School, adopted a come one, come all policy for Advanced Placement courses."
10/3/11 A State Grooms Its Best Students to Be Good Teachers
"A few months ago, as part of hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts, the North Carolina General Assembly voted to phase out the fellows program - which has a $13 million annual budget - over the next few years."
10/3/11 Raleigh voters could shape Wake schools
"On Oct. 11, Raleigh voters will have a bigger say in shaping the future of Wake County schools."
10/3/11 N. Raleigh school board seat pivotal
"I'm dismayed at how it has become so politicized," said Hill, 57, a retired Wake school educator endorsed by the Wake County Democratic Party. "I'm not naive enough to think that I can stop it."
VIDEOS
10/7/11 Wake superintendent holds media briefing about student assignment plan
"Wake County Schools Superintendent Tony Tata held his first media briefing Friday morning since releasing the final student assignment plan."
10/6/11 Evans, Margiotta clearly divided in Wake County BOE District 8
"There's a clear divide between the two candidates running for Wake County Board of Education in District 8. Challenger Susan Evans supports the county's long-standing diversity policy, while Board Chair Ron Margiotta is steadfast in his belief in neighborhood schools."
10/5/11 Wake School Board chairman faces election challenge
"Neighborhood schools and student assignment are hot-button election topics in the District 8 Wake County School Board race, which pits Chairman Ron Margiotta against candidate Susan Evans."
10/5/11 Parents react to Wake Co. student assignment plan
"I think it's a little confusing. I don't think they realize the ripple effect it will end up having," said parent Robin Stewart."
10/5/11 Wake County Board of Education District 5 race heats up
"Current Wake County Board of Education member Dr. Anne McLaurin is not running for re-election. Now, the race for her District 5 seat is heating up. Jim Martin and Cynthia Matson both hope to step onto the nine member board and represent South Central Raleigh."
10/4/11 Wake superintendent to unveil final student assignment plan
"Wake County parents will have a better idea of how the new student assignment plan will affect their children. Superintendent Tony Tata will unveil his final student assignment plan to the Wake County School Board Tuesday."
10/4/11 Challenger Peyton takes on Sutton in Wake School Board race
"In District 4, Republican Venita Peyton is taking on incumbent Democrat Keith Sutton, who was appointed in 2009 to fill the seat vacated by Rosa Gill. The district includes east and southeast Raleigh."
