Things got heated today when Diana Bader overstayed her time limit to accuse the Wake County school board majority of stalling projects to help conservative businessman Bob Luddy.
Bader questioned why the board had moved so slowly to approve startup design funds for Scotts Ridge Elementary in Apex and E20 and M8, both in North Raleigh. She asked if it was because they're near Luddy's private schools.
As the timer went off indicating her two minutes were up, Bader continued to speak. She noted how Luddy was the top individual donor in last fall's school board campaign. She also mentioned that Margiotta was on the board of trustees of the Thales Academy in Apex that Luddy helped form.
Margiotta asked Bader, a frequent critic of the board majority, to be respectful of the people who want to speak after her.
"You have an obligation of staying within your time limit," Margiotta said.
When Bader continued to talk, Margiotta told her to either sit down or she'd be removed from the room. Soon after, she sat down.
The approval of the startup funds for design work for the three schools is on today's board agenda. Staff have identified $59 million in savings for two schools. The board hasn't decided which two of those three should get the money.
Comments
Time will tell....
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 23:26 — youthinksoEarly on, NCLB was hailed as legislation that would change public education for the better by closing under performing schools.
As 2014 approaches, educational capitalist will be sitting in a pretty comfortable place to rake up the spoils. Most important, by 2014, WCPSS will be in such a mess, parents all over the county who can afford tuition will be glad to forfeit WCPSS K-12 public education opportunities as well as neighborhood schools.
The majority five was a great way to hedge a bet!!!
Great Call Diana!
Bader is debasing her
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 21:37 — red_balloonBader is debasing her intelligence with these chimerical allegations. Thales in Apex probably has most students from Apex with some from the surrounding towns. Margiotta, with the other members of the majority on the BOE, is acting on measures that would please a good number of parents in these areas. If Bader applied some intellect to her accusations, she would understand that Thales is better served by Margiotta busing every WCPSS student from Apex to the other end of the county and forcing them into unwelcome calendar choices.
This lady, sadly, is an example of the time wasted on public comments.
Talk about rude! I agree
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 20:18 — aquaman4life68Talk about rude! I agree with everyone she's definitely a "doozy"
the same things ran through my mind when these same ladies got up and talked. It is the same message over and over and over!?!?!
I guess that's all they have.
It is amazing we don't see a different group of individuals each time there's a meeting. Makes me think, they are truly the minority in the way that they think. They are not speaking for a lot of people as they say they do.
Let's review...at the time
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 19:02 — tc_apexLet's review...at the time that Thales was built in Apex almost every elementary school in Apex had been converted to MYR. Thales in WF actually is YR. The reason the school was built in Apex and put on a traditional schedule is because there was a huge demand in Apex for a traditional school and also an affordable option to parents who wanted out of the WCPSS mess. So, I can't see how the two things are related at all. The mayor of Apex, along with town council members and Apex residents lobbied to get this school built in Apex when ALL other options of trying to deal with WCPSS at the time had been exhausted.
Bader has ALWAYS only seen one side of this issue and continues to refuse to listen to the other side at all. She is defintely a conspiracy theorist bordering on paranoia if you ask me. I wish she had been arrested so I didn't have to see her at meetings any more. I am so sick of her self-rightous rants.
I witnessed one of her rants
Wed, 08/11/2010 - 14:18 — jenmanI witnessed one of her rants against the citizens and elected officials of Garner and I was embarrassed for her. I agree that it seems as though she can't see any other side of an issue. I think that serving as chair of Dulaney's assignment committee went to her head.
She called Goldman and
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 18:02 — true_freedomShe called Goldman and Malone out for texting and passing notes during public comment, but I still doubt that they even bothered to look up. Seriously, can these public officials at least act like they care?
Hey guys, I've decided to call all of you out yet again for the exact same thing I did last time... do you actually have nothing better to do except sit around and hurl personal attacks at people you don't even know? God, it's like the same thing over and over with you people.
Hmm, another thing: for those of you who say I'm being harsh or inappropriate, I'm terribly sorry that I've hurt your feelings :(
Deep end
Wed, 08/11/2010 - 19:57 — bluedaisyGoldman went into embarrassing detail about how an assistant principal, sitting in on a personal meeting between her, her husband and a principal, checked his Blackberry. She mentioned this during the work session while getting schooled on the cell phone contract. Her comment was towards rudeness and inattentiveness on the part of the AP. However, she does this to the opposition when they speak. Thanks, Mrs. Bader, for explaining to us, the WRAL streaming viewers, what is really going on while speakers are at the podium.
I think Goldman feels she is
Wed, 08/11/2010 - 20:39 — user12345I think Goldman feels she is different because she is part of the ruling class ... I bet she looks up when donors talk ....
How do you come up with
Wed, 08/11/2010 - 21:19 — Duhhuh666How do you come up with thoughts like this? Do you really believe the things you write?
Absolutely ... she pays
Wed, 08/11/2010 - 22:14 — user12345Absolutely ... she pays attention to the people who pay and ignores the ones who don't. Can you prove me wrong? Watch her during the meeting when citizens speak.
I can not pay attention to
Wed, 08/11/2010 - 23:56 — Duhhuh666I can not pay attention to some of the speakers.. here is Mr. Martin..Mr Brown..Ms Sherron...ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ wake me when they are through.....It's like groundhog day the same thing over and over again.
This is just more evidence
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 17:23 — woodstockThis is just more evidence that Bader has a screw loose. Wow.
Does she really think her nasty and mean-spirited rants -- that seem to be getting increasingly whacky topic-wise -- are going to help her cause? Same goes for Susan Evans. someone close to these "ladies" should clue them on they come across to the public.
Oh god.
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 17:55 — true_freedomOh god.
Does Anyone Know About M8?
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 17:13 — JanisTangoDoes anyone know what happened to the plan for M8? I believe it disappeared from the plan last year, but not sure why?
M8
Wed, 08/11/2010 - 20:32 — bluedaisyM8, E20 and Scott's Ridge have been moved forward to the design phase with monies saved in construction. Malone attempted to put E25 in that bunch too, as chair of the Facilities committee, knowing that there was $700K in savings with the Lacy redo not yet reallocated. (E25 is the elementary land on the Franklin/Wake County line) Goldman pitched a major fit - really - its worth going back to the tape to see, and questioned Haydon on the unfolding of the inclusion, and why she didn't know about this. (could this be the real reason behind the disbanding of the standing committees? The 5 can't trust each other?) Including E25 was voted down, and Malone turned to Prickett and stated quite loudly - "I'm p*ss*d."
I may have my "E" number backwards, but Malone indeed attempted to slide in "his school" into design phase. By the way, Haydon mentioned there is only enough savings to build two of these schools. Really, this meeting is worth watching the tape - Goldman then refused to read the note Malone passed her, and even leaned away from him, towards Margiotta, for the rest of the meeting, while Malone visibly pouted. So, don't get excited abut your M8, because with only enough money to build two, and with more growth going on in Apex and between North Raleigh and Wake Forest, and with the capacity at Carroll not being utilized, M8 will be last on the list and built with the next bond money - the bond Margiotta said in the work session will be not for 3 or 4 more years.
Watching these tapes when one cannot sleep is much better than watching Jimmy Kimmel! I was compelled to report the blow by blow...... sorry - this was the best part of the whole meeting!
This was the point of Bader's comments, these schools could have gone to design phase months ago. We need new schools now. We have had the money since the newest schools were completed. They are indeed located near Luddy's new schools. With our board chair on Thales board, it is not only right but with purpose Bader brings this out in the open, for the citizens to draw their own conclusions.
his was the point of Bader's
Wed, 08/11/2010 - 23:47 — jenmanhis was the point of Bader's comments, these schools could have gone to design phase months ago. We need new schools now. We have had the money since the newest schools were completed. They are indeed located near Luddy's new schools. With our board chair on Thales board, it is not only right but with purpose Bader brings this out in the open, for the citizens to draw their own conclusions
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When were the newest schools completed? Could this have been suggested by the 'old' board before the election? If so, why didn't they? (I'm honestly asking)
(Now I'm just being sarcastic. It's late and I'm in that kind of mood.) Were they trying to help Luddy too? Maybe Chuck D and the old BOE was trying to help Luddy by screwing up assignments and forcing MYR on people. Thales and Franklin Academy got many new students because of those policies. In fact, I'd say that those policies are directly responsible for Luddy's success.
Yea its late but I'll give it a try
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 00:27 — bluedaisyJen - the money must have come from Heritage, Mills Park, which are opening in a few weeks. I want to know the complete answer to this too. The forcing year round thing - I have often wanted to ask the folks who were forced - what was the system's alternative? I'm not being snarky here, just wondering where the thousands of people who are at year rounds figured they would go to school if there weren't year rounds during the boom. I think WCPSS's biggest problem was their communication and community relations. I don't think the big picture was communicated as well as it could have been, creating animosity.
I think that WCPSS's biggest
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 11:08 — jenmanI think that WCPSS's biggest mistake in all of that MYR debacle was not letting people who wanted yr get it. At the meeting where they converted Leesville MS, Patti Head even said "We could fill yr with volunteers but it would mess with the numbers". Meaning F&R. That right there is a huge red flag to me. Diversity trumped everything else. I do believe that some of the conversions made sense (Brassfield for isntance), but too many of them were based on diversity concerns.
They should have taken volunteers before they forced anybody to go YR. Again, diversity trumped everything else.
My point in asking about when that money was available is that it is so easy to make everything into some evil plot by the new board if you ignore all the facts. (general you)
A whole lot ot YR schools
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 06:06 — woodstockA whole lot ot YR schools have enrollment below what they were before they were converted from traditional calendar schools. Also, unless a YR is at capacity -- which most aren't as students and parents hate tracks 2 and 3 and opt out -- they are a lot more expensive to run that traditional caldendar schools.
Again, one sided
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 09:54 — bluedaisyMore old arguing and Woodyisms. The old board, moving forward due to rampant growth, converted these schools so that there would not have to be massive reassignment. Imagine - forward thinking! Also CIP2006 was sold to the voters with all schools opening on a year round calendar to what? maximize seating capacity. This is old arguing, Woody. So - the growth stagnated due to the economy.(Hey we have seats available!) But - The alternative was to what? build more schools, which takes what? a bigger bond! You can't have it both ways. You either need to 1 - build seats (money) or 2 - create seats (year round) or 3- move kids (you hate that) or 4 - shut the door. Or hey - since the charter limit has been topped, you can enable the private sector to build schools. Dgraff understands that - I believe that's the income stream for her, right dgraff?
So reassigning 26,000
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 10:12 — woodstockSo reassigning 26,000 students is not "massive." Hmmm, okay. LMAO!! Good one.
The old board could not sell the public on building more schools because the public lacked confidence in them and Dell "Let's lay off teachers before central office staff" Burns. The new board has already saved enough in a very tough economic times to begin designing three new schools and these and more will be built soon. That would never have happened under the status quo leadership. Plus, the next bond issue passes ...the new board has the support to make that happen.
Also, I say more power to the private schools. Let the market forces help raise the quality of educational options available to citizens. Luddy and Goodnight have the right idea.
Thales Apex
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 05:48 — dgraffRidiculous.
If Ms. Bader & company had done their research, they'd know that Thales Apex has capacity for 400 students (don't look for trailers anytime soon :>) They couldn't possibly cover the seats needed for all of the students.
Further, without this "mythical" assistance of Margiotta and the supposed "Luddy puppets", the schools population has grown from 60 the first year to 275 so far this year.
Regarding Luddy being a contributor, again....let's see how much Goodman, Goodnight, etc. contributed to the Wake Ed Partnership and previous school board campaigns. Don't look for this info to come out by Great Schools of Wake, Bader, or anyone else.
Jamming MYR down our throats
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 09:39 — CaryCurmudgeonJamming MYR down our throats was undoubtedly a big boost to Thales enrollment. The current board's decisions to convert schools to traditional and offer better options for those who don't want YR can only reduce the pool of people interested in Thales. If this was about money for Luddy he would have asked the board to convert every school in Wake County to MYR.
Goodmon, Goodnight and Harvey Schmidt all make money based on continued development, which is best preserved by maintaining an illusion of "world-class schools."
So what would Goodman and
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 08:17 — zandeSo what would Goodman and Goodnight have to gain with the increase of high poverty schools in Wake County? I would think that Goodman and Goodnight would stand to gain by having an excellent school system because this helps attract more qualified employees to the area. One the other hand, it is easier to see how Luddy gains by not having such a good set of public schools since he has founded several private and charter schools.
Luddy, Pope et al are not supporters of public education are they? Lets get real here. Pope has been an outspoken advocate of the privatization of the school system. Someone please correct me if I am wrong about this.
I didn't realize SAS was
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 15:11 — DrActualFactualI didn't realize SAS was having trouble attracting employees to the area and so with their entire plush/posh campus has to resort to using WCPSS schools to sweeten the deal--wow! (sarcasm) I'm pretty sure Dr. Goodnight is on record many years back regarding his need to BUILD Cary Academy to serve his employees (he wasn't impressed with local schools). Dr. Goodnight supports the local school system as a generous neighbor and community member. Even he identified early on the lack of ability for a system our size to respond to a company the size of his making.
Luddy is a businessman in
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 11:22 — jenmanLuddy is a businessman in the area so he would also stand to gain by having an excellent school system just like Goodman and Goodnight. Cary Academy would gain just as much as Thales.
Pope had very little to do with this election. He's got this mythical status based on the paranoia of people like Stan Norwalk. Getting everybody all riled up against He Who Shall Not Be Named is the easiest way for the local Dems to drum up support. It never fails and it's both tragic and comical. We all need to stop listening to drivel like this from both sides. These extremists have nobody's best interest in mind except their own.
you do know that Goodnight
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 08:41 — AngelaWyou do know that Goodnight has his own private school, right?
Yes. Cary Academy.
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 09:02 — zandeYes. Cary Academy.
Is Cary Academy a non profit?
Thu, 08/12/2010 - 09:30 — Duhhuh666Is Cary Academy a non profit? The tution at Cary Academy is over 3 times as much as Thales.
So...
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 17:22 — Bob_SconceIIRC, it was shelved due to questions about money. Now that other construction projects are coming in under budget (a silver lining to the economy), there's extra money to do these things.
Absurd
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 17:00 — Bob_SconceMy goodness that woman is shrill.
Luddy placed his schools in the two fastest-growing parts of the county; no surprise that new schools are in the same area.
...
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 17:31 — SideburnsYet she had no problem with her "friends" of Wake County making hand over fist money on shady land deals. Doozy is putting it mildly.
Right. What most see as a
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 17:28 — woodstockRight. What most see as a no-brainer, Bader sees as a conspiracy. Very weird.
I will say, however, I like that she has this overwhelming desire to be the face -- and voice -- of the opposition. It kind of puts into perspective what we are dealing with from this extreme left-wing crowd.
She's a doozy.
Tue, 08/10/2010 - 17:17 — jenmanShe's a doozy.