Assessing the causes of the election results

Officer uses Taser to break up fight at Wake Forest high school
http://www.wral.com/news/news_briefs/story/6156931/

This was not an election about "whites" vs "blacks, and anyone who spins it that way is, in my opinion, either extremely uninformed, or only trying to fan the fires of racism.

This election was about parents - no matter what their income or skin color - having a say-so in their child's education. It was about facts, warnings, pleas, suggestions, and logical reasoning being ignored for many, many years.

I know I am not the only one out there who has fought for over ten years for parents to have a voice when it comes to the best way to educate their particular child. Last night I came across the rough copy of a letter I had sent - by snail mail :^) - to School Board members almost exactly nine years ago. Members were getting ready to vote back then on whether or not to mandate year-round school attendance. I implored them to please "consider carefully the long-term ramifications" of their decision, which would "affect the unity of our school system for years to come."

Since that time, School Board members and other local and state leaders have been supplied with a steady diet of irrefutable facts about the subject - facts that were presented in an effort to balance out the one-sided information being fed to them by WCPSS staff. Through one-on-one meetings, 3-minute talks during their open sessions, emails, letters, phone calls - you name it - board members through the years were kept well-informed on what had happened, and what would happen, to districts who insisted upon the massive forcing of year-round school attendance.

In spite of a dismal (at best) national track-record, in spite of our administrations own findings that MYR schools were not the best way to go, in spite of legitimate suggestions on other ways to deal with growth, in spite of questionable information and/or select fact-sharing strategies from staff, in spite of thousands of concerned citizens speaking out in volumes over the period of just a few weeks, in spite of red flags going up all over the place about added costs, flight of supportive families and dedicated teachers, dangers to the growing population of latchkey children, hardships related to childcare - oh the list goes on and on - in spite of all this and more, the majority of the School Board finally chose to brush these things aside and go ahead with the plan to convert 22 schools to MYR.

I say mandatory because that's what they were until Judge Manning's ruling in May, 2006. Even after that, the rightful "choice" his ruling granted to parents, was often to a traditional school of unknown location or so absurdly far away that parents hardly considered it a choice at all.

That's when I first heard the word "segregation" being spoken in the same breath as "traditional calendar schools". I was appalled. Yet now, this same ugly monster is raising its head again.

Let me ask you something. Do you really think, REALLY, that these new board members are going to waltz in and talk the citizens of Wake County into suddenly throwing low income and/or minority children "under the bus" so to speak? Please. That is just not going to happen. Sure, there will no doubt be changes to Wake County's diversity policy, just like there were changes in 2007 when massive busing to YR schools began. But parents were told then that change is good - that they were just being ignorant, or selfish, or afraid, not to embrace it with open arms.

How quickly some folks forget that PRIOR TO the CURRENT "diversity policy" in Wake County, our school system was held up as a shining example to the rest of the country. Our superintendent was chosen as the national Superintendent of the Year, and education leaders were bursting with pride at the success of our school system.

Did we have fear-inciting headlines, getting people into a panic wondering what horrible fate awaited our school children when that policy changed? Did certain individuals or groups try to influence the outcome of subsequent elections by scaring people into thinking the end of our successful school system was just around the corner? Did respected community leaders rise up with implications (accusations?) that all of the progress gained since the merger of Wake County's two school systems (city and county) would soon be lost? Of course not - because the change was going their way.

My first year of teaching was the year of the merger, as a matter of fact, and my class definitely reflected the changes that were brought about as a result of that action. I did not teach in Raleigh, but in a school further out in the county. That "diverse" group of students endeared themselves to my heart, and I am still in touch with some of them to this day.

When I looked at those children, I didn't "see" the color of their skin or how ragged their clothes looked. I saw an opportunity to be a positive influence in their lives - to educate each one the very best that I could - to show them that someone cared and loved them for who they were, not for what they were.

Citizens of Wake County, we need to move past our grown-up theories, our tendencies to blow things out of proportion, and our stereotypes. We need to set an example for students (I have one) who are carefully watching our reactions to an election that was controversial, but nevertheless, fair. They are the reason we even have a school board election.

I will continue to be as passionate as ever about parental input into the education of their own children. I will also be ever vigilant in my efforts to see that ALL students are afforded every opportunity possible to reach their full potential. I believe that each one of us shares that same goal.

Congratulations to the winners, and best of luck to those still in the running. To those who lost - I expect to see you still "out there", continuing to stand up for what you believe is best for the children of Wake County. That is, when all is said and done, what unites us all.

"Supporters of the current board blamed voter apathy while critics argued that change was on people's minds."

why does it have to be either/or?

It seems like it was a combination of both. When 89% of voters are too apathetic to vote, then a highly energized niche group who works harder than everyone else is going to win.

It's a both/and scenario.

Also:
just because a person voted for the anti-WCPSS candidate doesn't mean that they necessarily want re-segregation. It just means that they don't care if it happens or not. That's a big difference.

"And, over the last several decades, the school board has created a lot of passionate opponents."

and they have spoken loud and clear!!