Americans for Prosperity wants it known that it should be allowed to make a public presentation before the Wake County school board if the state NAACP gets that opportunity.
In an open letter sent today, Dallas Woodhouse, director of the state chapter of the conservative group, says he hears in the media that it may be possible to request time for a public presentation. If so, he said they'd like 30 minutes to talk about saving money and neighborhood schools.
Woodhouse, in an interview, insists that it's not a tongue-and-cheek letter meant to mock the NAACP's request for 45 minutes for a public board presentation.
The NAACP is circulating a petition to get the school board to offer the public presentation following school board chairman Ron Margiotta's counteroffer of a private meeting.
Margiotta has said it's not been board policy to grant such requests from groups for public presentations.
Here's the open letter:
Mr. Ron Margiotta
Chairman, Wake County Board of Education
CC: Wake County Board of Education members
Superintendent Del Burns
Dear Chairman Margiotta,
Congratulations on your selection as Chairman and good luck with the task ahead of you to improve public education in Wake County. You and the board have made a great start with your actions to date.
It has come to my attention through media reporting that it may be possible to request time to make a public presentation to the Wake County Board of Education. If groups are being allowed to make presentations to the board I would respectfully request that Americans for Prosperity-North Carolina (AFP-NC) be given 30 minutes to make a presentation to the Board on the AFP-NC proposal to save costs in building and operating schools and directing savings toward the classroom.
We would also like to address the importance of building communities through the use of neighborhood schools and assignments.
Americans for Prosperity is among the largest free market groups in the United States with over one million members and nearly one hundred thousand in North Carolina. We have thousands of Wake County members who are dedicated to limited government and free market principles.
We have long supported a more responsible Wake County School Board that assigns children to neighborhood schools and reduces the burden on Wake County taxpayers.
Thank you for considering this request and thank you, and all of the board members, for serving on this important elected body.
Sincerely,
Dallas Woodhouse
North Carolina State Director
Americans for Prosperity-North Carolina
Comments
Shearertw-- You state that
Thu, 01/14/2010 - 13:56 — yoperryShearertw--
You state that “there is no correlation, however, between the performance of a child and the economic status of the child he or she sits next to in school”. I agree with this statement. However, it’s not the child he or she is sitting next to; it’s the classroom climate that can hinder what (and how much) a student learns. The differences that exist in school culture, teacher turnover, access to resources such as computers and internet service between ED and NED students affects learning…surely, you wouldn’t disagree with this.
I happen to live in a “high income” neighborhood and want my children to attend our neighborhood schools. Trust me, I am a proponent of charity beginning at home but I still think that we as a society should attempt to assist the less fortunate students who have a desire to learn.
The bottom line is that not only do all students have the right to learn but the right to learn with the support of equitable resources. For the record, I’m not obsessed with busing…I’m simply stating that SOMETHING needs to be done and perhaps this is something that can remain in place until other solutions can be identified.
So....
Thu, 01/14/2010 - 15:47 — Bob_SconceNot quite sure where you're going with your first paragraph. But, I suggest that you should look at the results -- Poor WCPSS students appear to do equally poorly regardless of what school they attend. If anything, it appears that F&R students (at least in WCPSS elementary schools) do slightly better when they're grouped together.
It's possible to hide that fact if you only look at the overall scores for schools -- since non-F&R students outperform their F&R peers, the overall scores always show that low F&R schools appear to perform better.
The diversity policy has followed a path intended to MASK the performance of poor students instead of improving that performance.
What are "equitable resources"? How will you know when resources are "equitable"? [I'm asking because if you can't measure it, then it's meaningless as a foundation for policy.]
That SOMETHING is
Thu, 01/14/2010 - 14:21 — shearertwThat SOMETHING is NOTHING if its not producing results. Bussing is nothing more than a distraction, a diversion of attention and resources.
"The differences that exist in school culture, teacher turnover, access to resources such as computers and internet service between ED and NED students affects learning…surely, you wouldn’t disagree with this"
I don't disagree.....so lets focus our resources on school culture, teacher turnover, access to resources such as computers and internet service and so on and so on. Lets also focus on why a community is predominantly low income. If we eliminate predominantly low income communities we eliminate predominantly low income schools. Of course that would mean the powers that be in Raleigh would actually have to except responsibility for greating these issues and allowing them to continue.
It's obvious that Mr.
Thu, 01/14/2010 - 11:17 — yoperryIt's obvious that Mr. Woodhouse is attempting to prove a point. I respect the efforts of the NAACP and Dr. Barber but I do think he should accept the private meeting offered by the school board. Since the board has done away with the diversity policy what are their plans to "fix" the problems in the schools in the ED areas? Hopefully most on this blog will agree that something needs to be done. Instead of doing away with the diversity policy all together the board should allow kids who are currently performing well to be integrated with other kids in the higher income areas.
yoperry,There is a
Thu, 01/14/2010 - 11:37 — shearertwyoperry,
There is a correlation between the income of a child's parents and the performance of that child in school. This is a correlation, not a cause and effect relationship. There are many exceptions to this correlation and there are many complex reasons it exist.
There is no correlation, however, between the performance of a child and the economic status of the child he or she sits next to in school. Why then, the obsession with having ED students forcibly integrated into high income areas? This has not worked. We must be more thoughtful and creative with our solutions to have any possible chance for success.
or this supporter is trying
Wed, 01/13/2010 - 22:15 — ncellagatoror this supporter is trying help Mr. Margiotta prove his statement. Interesting no request was made until Mr. Margiotta was all over the airwaves yesterday saying they had to turn people down all the time. The NAACP is the first time I've heard a group turned down. Not that others have been but it's the first time I've heard it.
"The NAACP is the first time
Thu, 01/14/2010 - 22:18 — Apexter"The NAACP is the first time I've heard a group turned down. Not that others have been but it's the first time I've heard it."
Then you missed my post the other day discussing the Mayors' Task Force on School Assignment. The mayors of Cary, Apex, and Garner requested the opportunity to present the recommendations from their task force (which involved 30 community members meeting monthly for nearly a year, and included extensive research by respected educational consultants to help drive the discussions. The Towns spend something like $30K - $40K for the consultants alone.)
The Mayors and task force representatives were told (by then-chair Susan Parry) that they could sign up to make 3 minute presentations during the public comment session if they wanted.
I think that Keung just
Wed, 01/13/2010 - 22:46 — jenmanI think that Keung just mentioned ACORN getting turned down recently. They requested time with the board after that separate black and hispanic assembly issue at Dillard Drive Middle. Rosa Gill offered to do the private meeting with Dr. Burns and another board member. They accepted that offer.
Well played
Wed, 01/13/2010 - 22:07 — pmit's not a tongue-and-cheek letter meant to mock the NAACP's request for 45 minutes for a public board presentation.
It is, but I think thats okay. If the NAACP requests time in front of the board, so too should all other groups. Which is exactly why the board should not allow the NAACP to present.