The Associated Press weighs in on the Wake County school controversy with a story noting the historical context between current battle.
In an article being distributed today, AP contrast the relatively quiet integration of Raleigh's schools in 1960 with the recent acrimony. The article recaps the last 50 years, including the escalation over the past few months, for the national audience that will be reading the story.
"We're not going to sit idly by while they turn the clock back on the blood, sweat and tears and wipe their feet on the sacrifices of so many that have enabled us to get to the place we are today," says the Rev. Barber, president of the state NAACP, in the article.
School board member John Tedesco says the NAACP and others are "trying to play with the old '60s playbook for rules for radicals" to preserve a policy that is no longer needed, and wasn't working anyway.
"This isn't 1960," Tedesco says in the article.
Heading into the 2011 school board elections, Barber says they plan to keep up the heat to counter what "the anti-diversity, right-wing, tea party-sympathizing, resegregationist caucus is doing in Wake County."
Patrice Lee, a founder of Wake CARES, says supporters of the board majority's actions are tired of being labeled as racists.
"When you don't have the facts on your side and you don't have the truth on your side, you throw a trump card and fake it," Lee says in the article. "It's become a circus."
Comments
Allen West on Racism and the
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 12:04 — AngelaWAllen West on Racism and the NAACP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XwZK3vDygk
False charges of racism are
Sat, 07/17/2010 - 22:42 — jeffrey1False charges of racism are not just limited to those on the fringe. As I've mentioned before, I was once an officer in the organization Assignment By Choice, Inc. (since disbanded). Back in 2003, Bill McNeal, then superintendent of WCPSS, was quoted in the N&O, saying:
"How and where is there an Assignment By Choice that isn’t a thinly veiled effort toward resegregation?"
We wrote a letter to Mr. McNeal demanding a public apology, but none was ever given.
"Patrice Lee, a founder of
Fri, 07/16/2010 - 15:14 — user12345"Patrice Lee, a founder of Wake CARES, says supporters of the board majority's actions are tired of being labeled as racists"
It must have some truth or it would not resonate so well with the public.
resonate?
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 08:51 — loriac"It must have some truth or it would not resonate so well with the public."
Resonate so well? The ONLY reason this stays in the news is because of the support of the N&O management and editorial staff who keep it there.
Despite all this 'support'. last November the new board was voted into office with a large majority vote (and please, no posts about how few voters, etc.... this has been rehashed ad nauseum - it was a fair election).
Living in la la land
Sat, 07/17/2010 - 23:13 — woodstock"...resonate with the public" LOL! Oh my, you, sir, live in a dream world. Barber and his crew are viewed as foolish race baiters by most fair-minded people. Even the Meekers have distanced themselves from that kook. Supporting common sense family-friendly student assignments and focusing on achievement have nothing to do with race. Even the handful of Wake County citizens who may oppose the board majority on some issues see Barber, Gatewood, Tyson and Petty as radical left-wing extremists intent on playing racial politics and desperately -- but unsuccessfully -- trying to make the NAACP legitimate in 2010.
Actions not words
Fri, 07/16/2010 - 15:19 — Duhhuh666I thought you should be judged by your actions.
Not the defaming remarks made by your adversaries.
Accusations of Racism - Or Just Grandstanding
Fri, 07/16/2010 - 10:30 — RMC10Even the slightest hint of any interaction between black and white people, societies, places, things, groups, neighborhoods is only a valid interaction if racism can be pulled from any slight of the rich white people to any black participants. Accusations of Racism is the ONLY thing that will guarantee media coverage, great MLK kind of speeches by local yahoos, and black people uprising (ala shades of 1960's) with protests. It's that kind of narrow minded thinking, that continues to perpuate the very myth that took America down the racism path all those years ago. You don't hear much here in NC from any other ethnicity (how about Japanese - they were severely abused by American society too), however they are not here screaming racial slurs, calling every white person racists, instilling fearmongering by shouting resegregation (which is a strong word and elicits emotional responses, just as it is meant to do). This current issue (not needing a race movement) is a School District, it's not Big Brother Government trying to impose slavery type mentality back on 2010 America. But that's what the coalitions, and the Black Zionist Churches, and Rev. Barber are trying to make it. It's the Black politicians (and that's what they are), trying to make something racial simply by giving parents a choice of going to public schools closer to home, parents and families (schools which by the way are free, and they are public, and everyone does get the same books, education and amenities here in Wake County on a per student spending basis).
We need to get and keep this new myth of resegregation and accusation of racism all for political posturing out of local, national and print media - and OUT OF Wake County or else business and families will not come here, because they'll think this is the old black South again, with memories of race protests, race riots, racial destruction, when in actuality that does not exist here in 2010. This whole Black vs. WCPSS is because of a policy change is getting way out of control. Raleigh, NC where the blacks seem to want to keep fostering racism to keep their NAACP/churches/ and pastor groups in the forefront.
Do we really want people to have the old southern 60's version of Raleigh? I think not. We all should want the new version of Raleigh as multicultural, modern, more upscale and more progressive.
"per student spending basis"
Fri, 07/16/2010 - 13:27 — Athey01There lies the rub...
Amen!
Fri, 07/16/2010 - 12:38 — MichYankeeWell stated RMC10!
Why didn't this get quoted here?
Fri, 07/16/2010 - 06:03 — nancyncFrom the AP article:
A columnist for The News & Observer in Raleigh recently called Margiotta and Tedesco "a couple of carpetbagging Northerners." And Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker referred to the board majority as "people who are not from the area, who don't share our values," and announced the formation of a group to ensure that any new student assignment plan doesn't violate the state constitutional guarantee of a sound education.
Yes, for all the AP readers to see, our N&O is as much a problem as Barber, Meeker and many of the non-transplants. Proud moment I'm sure.
The Civil War is still raging and will never die as long as it's misery is handed down one generation at a time.
When will the South advance?
I guess we can all be
Fri, 07/16/2010 - 15:11 — user12345I guess we can all be thankful that Ron and John were not in charge when the schools were integrated in the 1960's .... they would have made a mess of it ...
Yep
Fri, 07/16/2010 - 15:24 — Duhhuh666Full integration took years to complete. If Ron and John were here they would have made it happen sooner. I don't understand how a speedy integration would have been a mess...but then again I don't understand most of your post.
No way ... they would have
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 11:12 — user12345No way ... they would have segregate each of the races into neighborhoods and zones to keep the status quo .....
Thanks for your ability to
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 11:59 — Duhhuh666Thanks for your ability to see into the past how things would have worked. You can see future events before they happen. You have amazing talents!! Quick what color am I going to think of on August 13 2043?
Is it that hard ... Ron and
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 13:36 — user12345Is it that hard ... Ron and John are "neighborhood" folks ... they came from segregated northern schools (typically by township) systems where kids were separated by income and race and they are trying to recreate that environment here in Wake. They are anti-diversity (race, income, you name it) and only want kids to go to school with their neighbors.
Greater Than 99%
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 15:35 — Duhhuh666Greater than 99% of school districts in the US are neighborhood school systems. So an almost all school systems in USA are segregated except Wake County and about 70 others?
Wake is 90% neighborhood
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 17:27 — user12345Wake is 90% neighborhood (within 5 miles of school) ... the concern is over the remaining mostly poor and minority that suburbans want out of their schools and put back in their zone.
Once again
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 18:03 — Duhhuh666Greater than 99% of school districts in the USA use a community school system. A faction of 1% uses a diversity busing model, a model designed to skirt a Supreme Court ruling. Who is wrong 99+% or a small fraction of 1%?
I think Wake is right .....
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 21:03 — user12345I think Wake is right ..... we have the cheapest education possible by distributing the poor kids around to distribute the load thus getting rock bottom costs.
...we have the cheapest
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 01:54 — jeffrey1...we have the cheapest education possible by distributing the poor kids around to distribute the load...
And sharing the load is bad
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 09:08 — user12345And sharing the load is bad because?
Since funding is shrinking, resources being lost, and class size increasing they only hope we have is distributing the load and using the entire system to educate all kids and not a select few.
Heh...
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 10:36 — Bob_SconceYou and I have been here before. The previous assignment policy didn't educate all kids. I think student assignment was being asked to carry too much water.
I probably agree with you
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 11:47 — user12345I probably agree with you ... white, affluent parents have gotten tired of helping the poor minorities ... an economy like this one encourages people to pull in to their cocoon. I think the suburban families just want stability from growth and new schools and the extra load taken away. Also, as the poor and minority kids become a majority, I am sure some feel threatened and hope to close the gates of their neighborhood and better educate just their kids ... they would probably say, " I can not save the world" .....so, people who are protesting see where this is going ... an assignment system that depended on everyone chipping in to live within the lowest taxes possible and not people want to leave the cooperative but also not increase the resources to compensate ... so, we end up like "99% of other schools" with some very wealthy, white, suburban schools with all the resources and the poor, minority, under-resourced schools zoned on the other side of the tracks ......
Eh...
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 12:09 — Bob_SconceFrankly, I see very little of the "what are those kids doing in our school" attitude. Instead, I hear comments like "Well, they bus them here, but then don't give them any support. What's the point of that? Now they're just failing away from home."
That's been especially true of ESL students, who just sit in class, not understanding a lick of what's going on. Of course, only 20% of ESL students at my kids' school pass their EOGs -- that drops to 11% for the science EOG.
ESL and LEP are not the same
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 12:19 — danofncESL and LEP are not the same thing.
Since the 20% and 11% match up with the NC Report Card data for LEP students at WES, I'll assume you got them mixed up.
I did mix them up....
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:03 — Bob_SconceAnd I recognize the difference.
So, now those people won't
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 12:18 — user12345So, now those people won't have to "see" the problem anymore, right?
The response could have been, "that is not acceptable, we are going to get more resources in our schools" or " that is not acceptable, we are going to send them home but with more resources" .... but what we have it "get them out of my school and I am not really interested in help either with time or money" .... Bob, given that we are sending the most needy kids back to the worst schools with less resources ... does that sound like a plan for success?
?
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:08 — Bob_SconceDon't think that's really the case -- I'm willing to have my taxes go up to improve the schools, even schools outside of my neighborhood.
Bob that is because you are
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 13:23 — user12345Bob that is because you are more progressive and open minded than many conservatives plus you have school age children ...Wake has never been a place to put more into education than needed ....
Sharing the load?
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 10:32 — Duhhuh666Lets not help children get an education, lets share the load and spread them out. That way statistically no school looks like it needs help. Forget about the individual student, lets share the load, spread them around! That is why the old system didn't work.
The only way we can "help
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 11:53 — user12345The only way we can "help <these> children get an education" given no resources before and shrinking resources ahead is to spread the high needs kids out so that every school can chip in and help. We would love to care about individual students but we can not afford to ... caring about the "individual" is an affluent concept where people of wealth get a customized plan ... this is public school .... personally, I think the old system worked well for ALL kids but not so well for affluent parents who wanted a private school education from a public system ..... the plan now is to consolidate the resources to a few affluent schools to reach that end ....the poor and minorities always lose these battles ......
I thought we were nationally
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 23:35 — red_balloonI thought we were nationally recognized for the distribution component. I wasn't aware we were also the Dollar Tree of the education world.
Distribute?
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 22:27 — Duhhuh666Thank you that is all we have done is distribute the kids around...didn't educate them but we did distribute them!!! You are an expert on the failed diversity assignment plan.
Dirty deeds
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 22:26 — TrailerParkGirlDirty deeds done dirt cheap
Nice philosophy you have. Maybe you can help Tyson come up with a rhyme to the beat of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.
Having the "cheapest education possible" implies the students are actually obtaining the education they need, which too many of our low-income and minority students are not. But as long as Wake is cheap about it - it's c'est la vie.
Dittos user! lol
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 21:26 — zandeDittos user! lol
If you want rock bottom prices
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 23:53 — TrailerParkGirlHow about we cut the funding to magnets and make them non-magnets? (magnet grants only cover the initial "start up," not ongoing, costs)
Magnet parents will send their kids to the same now non-magnet schools because they are all there for the "diversity" of course. In any case the district can just assign them there as base if the old "diversity" policy is put back. Wake can then just distribute everyone by mandatory assignment to which ever school needs their SES type that year and as often as needed to keep "balance." Bus as far and as many students as needed to have every school be exactly comparable in SES demographics to every other school.
Assign everything by SES. I say count the kids off - if you are ED you're "1" and NEDs are "2". Principals should assign X% of 1s and Y% of 2s to each classroom without regard to any other factor. Who cares if Suzy would most benefit from Miss J's teaching style, stick her in Mr. K's class because his class needs one more kid of her SES, same for honors courses and remedial courses because all classes should have the same mix of ED and NED for there to be proper "distribution" and "distribution" is king. That way ED will have middle class role models in every class to help them function and show them how to be "better." If we are going to bring back and do a forced bussing "diversity, healthy, comparable schools" policy like some are working so hard to have, then let's really do it. No more half a$$ing it. Same "you're just a SES-labled widget" treatment for all. Pick one calendar and convert all schools to it. No more this kid gets to go to his closest school which is his preferred calendar, this kid has to go across town for his calendar preference, this kid gets to go to his #1 magnet choice and won't be reassigned, this kid can't get into magnets, and this kid has to go to a non-magnet school 10 miles away when he lives two blocks from a magnet and would like to go there. The SES-widgets should just go to the basic school where they are "needed." That way Wake can "educate" ALL kids plain vanilla at really rock bottom prices.
Oh, and then lets have the GA legislative committee roll it out to the entire state. While they are at it, how about the GA finally force Chapel Hill schools to merge with Orange County as people at UNC-CH are so supportive of forced bussing policies - it's high time they get theirs. Why we won't even need the "education" lottery anymore once every district is on Wake's rock bottom price plan.
What kind of people think about children as something to be "distributed"?
Ditto to
Mon, 07/19/2010 - 22:28 — Duhhuh666Ditto to you to Mikey....Thank you that is all we have done is distribute the kids around...didn't educate them but we did distribute them!!! You are an expert on the failed diversity assignment plan.
Sending poor minority kids
Tue, 07/20/2010 - 16:50 — user12345Sending poor minority kids back to their sub-standard, neighborhood schools which now have fewer teachers and bigger classes won't improve education. Remember the conservative plan is to provide the least money possible to the school system. The school system has to educate everyone. Conservatives would say only educate the wealthy whites since they have the most potential and return on the dollar. So, the best possible answer would be to provide more resources to those low income minorities and less to the affluent whites. Unfortunately, that is a non-starter with the powerful who think they pay the most taxes so deserve the most services. So, Wake came up with a policy of distributing the kids with the most needs to affluent schools who would provide charity and compensate for the lack of funding in their neighborhood school. The new directions is to send the most needy back to their sub-standard school while cutting resources and increasing class size and someone thinks that the whole will be better? Ultimately, Wake found a cheap way of compensating for sub-standard funding to give poor minorities a chance .... unfortunately, the load got to much for affluent whites who wanted to opt out and consolidate resources for their kids. That is the nature of selfishness. When it gets tough the rich leave.
The Chamber of Commerce
Thu, 07/15/2010 - 19:14 — Bob_SconceMust be shaking its head.... a national story with TWO xenophobic comments, one from the Mayor. That's hardly the reputation that the city's been trying to build for the last couple of decades.
You've got that right.
Thu, 07/15/2010 - 19:43 — CaryCurmudgeonYou've got that right. Cary even gets a special mention! NCAR is probably not very pleased right now either, along with the Homebuilders Association. Overall, not a bad story -- certainly better than reading one of Steve Ford's editorials. Maybe this will inspire Mr. Ford to crank one out for the Sunday edition.