More letters about Wake County schools and the diversity policy coming Sunday in Sunday Forum. In the meantime, here are 10 more about the school system.
I have recently read several articles and letters on the Wake School System diversity policy and the plans to change it. The proponents all seem to believe that the diversity policy improves the performance of the lower level achievers on test scores and graduation rates. The opponents say this has not worked.
I have not seen one article or letter that addresses what the diversity policy does to the high achievers. Why does no one care about the top performers? This is where our future engineers, lawyers, scientists, etc. will come from. I’m not a professional educator, but it doesn’t take a genius to know that a high achiever in a class that covers all 25 chapters of the text will do better than one in a class that covers 20 chapters because they are slowed down by the slow learners or underachievers.
I think more emphasis should be placed on getting the best education for the students who will make the most of it, i.e. the high performers. The small gain, if any, you will get by bringing up the lowest performers will not make much difference in our battle to stay competitive with China, Japan, South Korea, etc. in the new world economy. Unless our current high achievers come up with new ideas, businesses and solutions to problems; you can be sure that the rest of the students will not be gainfully employed doing the more routine tasks it takes to keep those new businesses going.
With gasoline approaching $3 a gallon and going higher, it is sad that a bus full of half asleep children is being driven across the county so they sit next to a wealthy child. It would make much more sense if they were being driven to a school that would challenge them to achieve at their individual capability level. The price we pay for political correctness!
Bill Mannheim
Cary
----------------------------
Clay Aiken, a former teacher in the Wake County schools, might have led the charge in calling newly elected board members “selfish idiots,” but he will not be the last to weigh in on this troublesome issue of neighborhood schools vs. student diversity. When highly respected Superintendent Del Burns announced his decision to step down for reasons of conscience, he opened the floodgates for other Wake County citizens to question the viability and morality of the initiatives of the board’s current majority. His untimely dismissal by the school board has added fuel to the fire.
There is another ominous cloud on the horizon that board members should take very seriously: a probable lawsuit against the board for not following its own policies and devising a devious strategy that will result in the re-segregation of the schools.
When our family moved to Fayetteville in the ’70s, we discovered the sad reality of de facto segregation. Neighborhood schools had prevailed – some for poor and ethnic minority children and others for affluent and middle class whites. I believe Cumberland County and Fayetteville have made progress in resolving this dilemma.
When we moved to Petersburg, Va., in the ’90s, we witnessed the economic decline of a once great city that had evaded the challenge of ethnic and economic diversity, partially by a white flight to neighboring towns and also by creating private schools for privileged whites.
It may be tempting for parents to turn back the calendar to the cozy neighborhood concept that served them so well in another place and time, but I do not believe this choice is socially or morally responsible. Your children will not benefit from this cloistered and homogeneous environment. They will not be prepared to live in the real world of the 21st century.
Thomas K. Spence Jr.
Sanford
-----------------------
I was privileged recently to visit in an impressive Wake County kindergarten classroom. The lesson I observed reminded me of the basic elements of behavior that assure positive outcomes. What a difference it would make if the Wake school board would adhere to such five simple, yet powerful golden rules as follows:
Eyes Watching
Ears Listening
Hands Still
Brains Thinking
Hearts Caring
Valerie B. Brown-Schild, Ph.D.
Apex
---------------------------------------------------------
As a parent, I am concerned about the proposed policies of the new school board majority. Further, as a taxpayer, I am concerned about a school board that rejects information about how such policies will affect the financial stability of our schools and Wake County.
Our schools are already $21 million over budget; logic dictates focusing on measures that maximize each tax dollar. Every taxpayer should access the Wake Education Partnership, a nonprofit proffering an independent review of the current policy proposals, to view how the neighborhood assignment plan will affect the effective utilization of our current educational resources. How will the proposed policies of the school board not cost us more in taxes long-term with a lower aggregate educational outcome?
Except for Debra Goldman, none of the new school board members has addressed his accountability to offer quality education that most efficiently uses our taxes to educate all Wake County children. We should focus attention on the upcoming Wake County commissioner elections to seek oversight that will inform the remainder of the new school board majority about addressing financial realities and their accountability to all taxpayers and children in Wake County.
Kara Allen-Eckard
Raleigh
----------------
As an American of Italian descent whose grandfathers were legal immigrants to this country, I would be justified in demanding an apology from Rev. William Barber for his public ethnic slur comparing the Wake County school board’s contentious meeting to a “Mafia meeting” (“Schools debate sinks to insults,” March 5). His disparaging comment qualifies as hate speech.
But I will not seek an apology for two reasons. First, because Rev. Barber has the right to say whatever he thinks regardless of how ignorant and biased he sounds – as long as he is willing to accept the consequences. And secondly, because I doubt he would have the class to recognize the offensiveness of his statement and apologize to Italian-Americans for it.
Rev. Barber can always prove me wrong by issuing a public apology.
Bob Miglarese
Raleigh
---------------------------------------------------
As a product of Wake County Public Schools and as an employee of a large public school district in a neighboring state, I can say with heartfelt certainty that some of my core beliefs were shaped by the education provided to me in the public school system of my beloved hometown.
To say that attending a neighborhood school somehow assures that a child receives a quality education illustrates a limited viewpoint as to the true value and purpose of education. Riding on a bus did not damage me. Going to school with students from other parts of Raleigh did not place me in harm’s way. In fact, it made me realize that the world I live in is complex and that the people across town are valuable to the fabric of this wonderful city.
As Thomas Friedman has told us, the world is flat. As the clock ticks, Haitians suffer and soldiers in the Middle East die or are injured. Simply put, how can we teach children to be citizens of the world, if they never even learn to work with and respect the citizens of their own city?
Art Raymond
Richmond
---------------------------------------------------------
On behalf of our magnet school members across the country, and especially in Wake County, we were extremely disappointed to learn of Superintendent Del Burns’ resignation. We were more deeply concerned to learn that Burns’ resignation was in response to the school board’s sweeping proposed policy changes that include embracing a neighborhood schools model as opposed to the diversified magnet schools that have flourished in your district over the past several years and doing away with the district’s long-standing socioeconomic diversity policy.
Given magnet programs’ proven and prominent history in our nation’s schools as well as in your district, MSA is concerned about the board’s new direction and urges the board to reconsider its proposed plans that favor neighborhood schools over the established magnet schools, which have a proven and successful track record.
Instead of eliminating the district’s socioeconomic diversity plan and the magnet schools and programs supported by that plan, we urge the board to embrace them, and we offer our assistance to develop a plan that is in the best interest of the students and parents.
Dr. Robert Brooks
Magnet Schools of America
Washington
---------------
Attending Carnage Magnet Middle School as a student, I enjoy meeting people of different races and backgrounds. We are lucky enough to have wonderful principals, teachers and students. Teachers at Carnage are always helpful and know what they are talking about.
If the majority of the school board continues with its plans, I am afraid Wake County will become a less than desirable place. I understand that many people think we need change in our schools, but neighborhood schools are not the answer. I do not agree with neighborhood schools because they will keep our economy low by causing:
Property values to decrease.
Teachers and other staff (like bus drivers) to lose their jobs
Teachers and other staff not to want to teach in high poverty schools that would be formed
Wake County to lose grants that we currently get for the magnets
Segregation that would cause parents to change their minds about moving to Wake County because there would be poor and rich schools.
Overall, it would be a tragedy if our schools went down the drain. The school board needs to listen to all the public, no matter what side they are on.
Joseph Womble
Cary
------------
One of the primary catalysts for our economic mess was the unrestrained promotion of complex mortgages within a price-inflated housing market. Driven by short-term bonuses, mortgage sellers encouraged too many people to purchase houses they couldn’t really afford – by offering low-entry-cost mortgages with high fine-print factors. Both sides operated from a basis of limited factual analysis in order to affirm desires for short-term gains.
I see a parallel here with what’s happening in the Wake County school system under its new board leadership. The fine print on the intended conversion to neighborhood schools suggests that there may be significant unanticipated cost-per-pupil escalation if we dismantle the existing system. Despite the overwhelming support of parents for the current system, as evidenced by a 94 percent positive response rate on the recent survey, the board majority seems determined to ignore facts (such as that Wake County enjoys one of the lowest cost-per-student ratios in the state) in order to affirm its own desire for the short-term satisfaction of fulfilling an ideology-driven agenda.
The “Ignore the Facts and Trust Me” approach hasn’t worked out too well for holders of sub-prime mortgages or for our overall economy. Do we need a repeat in the local educational system?
Christina Stableford
Raleigh
---------------
After having lunch with five other retired Wake County teachers (each had 25+ years experience,) we used terms like "tragedy" and travesty" to describe the actions of the Wake County school board. We had all raised our own children in this system and several teachers had taught in segregated or inner city schools in the past. Our tones fluctuated between fury and sadness to see this misguided and uninformed turn of events. Did anyone poll the educators of Wake County? The very people who work 7+ hours daily with our children?
Wake County stands to lose billions in federal funds and the respect of numerous urban systems around the US that have so admired our current structure. How can we let this happen?
Karen Brown James
Cary
