The Economist is offering a sneak peak at its story on this week's Wake County school board vote on the community schools resolution.
In a blog post today, the correspondent writing the story notes the low turnout at last fall's school board election. Critics of the new board majority complain that turnout was low while supporters say far more votes were cast than in prior board elections.
"During the board meeting one citizen (a supporter of ending the busing policy) stood up to remind the crowd (which seemed heavily in favour of retaining the current programme) that elections matter," according to the blog post. "Angry citizens of Wake County seem to be finding that out at their cost, four months too late."
Based in England, the Economist is a weekly newspaper/newsmagazine that covers news and international affairs.
Comments
Given that a shot was fired
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 20:25 — red_balloonGiven that a shot was fired across the bow one month before the Nov runoff, people cannot be sulking over the statistics of the recent BOE elections. If there is such widespread animosity as we are led to believe from the parades, etc., then certainly D2 would not have sent Tedesco to the BOE.
Tedesco basically got
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 15:52 — danofncTedesco basically got elected by the people of Garner by promising to end the busing of SE Raleigh kids to Garner schools.....even though a lot of SE Raleigh residents live closer to Garner schools than those same Garner residents.
Duke Professor Says Diversity, Parental Choice Can Work Together
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 20:14 — AngelaWRALEIGH, N.C. -
A Duke University professor said there is a way to design a better school assignment policy that meets both parent's needs and the district's.
Earlier this week, the Wake County School Board voted 5-4 to end the district's diversity policy by stopping the practice of busing students to achieve socio-economic balance, and instead switch to neighborhood-based assignments.
It was a move that resulted in heated debate and protests on each side. That's not surprising to Atila Abdulkadiroglu, Duke University economics professor.
"One of the hardes problems a parent has is to choose a school for their child," said Abdulkadiroglu.
He's studied and researched the school system's in places like Boston and New York City, both of which give parents a choice.
"Their system gives priority to students at their neighborhood schools and at the same time it also gives students an opportunity to attend schools outside their neighborhood," said Abdulkadiroglu.
He said solely assigning students to schools based on proximity will lead to resegregation.
"That has happend in the past and community based assignment has been tried and aboloshed elsewhere," said Abdulkadiroglu.
But, he said by giving parents an option, it can help maintain diversity if they choose to send their child out of their community school, while also allowing them to stay close to home if they wish.
"Each school gives priority to the neighborhood kids in assignment, but each school also opens up extra seats for students outside the neighborhood," said Abdulkadiroglu.
He said it's a middle ground solution that works well in other districts and could work in Wake County.
"If you design the system carefully, it can really ease parents' pain," said Abdulkadiroglu.
He also said that before school districts decide to go in this route, it's important to collect parental preferences of schoosl so they would have a better idea of if the model would work.
"Critics of the new board
Sat, 03/27/2010 - 18:42 — woodstock"Critics of the new board majority complain that turnout was low while supporters say far more votes were cast than in prior board elections."
This comment makes it seem as if the matter is in question. The fact is, twice as many people did indeed vote in the last BOE election than in the previous one in which Kevin "Sad Sack" Hill and Anne McLaurin were elected.
Of course we also have Sutton and Morrison who received exactly zero votes between them. So maybe the Economist is correct in questioning the democracy of our process.
On which planet is 31,000
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 15:55 — danofncOn which planet is 31,000 two times 24,000 (I rounded off)?
I don't think it's honest to compare ALL the votes (including town council and mayor) to only BoE votes.
Isn't this a repost?
Sat, 03/27/2010 - 19:47 — Dove314I'm pretty sure I've seen you post this either elsewhere in this thread or elsewhere on the blog.
The Last Time
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 00:55 — AgentPierceThe last time "the national media" came in on top of the N&O's crackerjack reporting - it was Duke Lacrosse .... or was it John Edwards ??
In both cases the local newspaper came out looking like totally incompetent nincompoops. Any one want to bet how this one could turn out ???
Beware
Thu, 03/25/2010 - 21:27 — SDR256The national media is going to swoop in, stir the pot, feed on our community and leave us with the bones. If we're not careful it will get much much harder to find ways to work together. Unless we close ranks. Do we really want OURSELVES, our community to become a national political football? That won't help the children and finding a sensitive solution one bit. That's just grown up games.
I hope everyone who speaks with them will treat Wake County as our own family. We can say what we need to, to each other - but they should get a black eye if they misrepresent us.
Even though I oppose what
Thu, 03/25/2010 - 19:06 — WhalerCaneEven though I oppose what new Board is doing, elections do matter, and they were duly elected regardless of turnout. That said, they promptly ignored their own survey that says 94.5% of parents are happy with their current assignment.
The survey
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 09:33 — jellybellyI filled out the survey with a "positive" vote for my school, but it didn't attempt to gauge other concerns I have such as the anxiety felt every year over whether my kids will get re-assigned (I live in an area of Western Wake that hasn't grown quickly for a number of years -- yet neighborhoods near us get re-assigned regularly) or all the rules placed on non-magnet schools to make sure they don't offer anything that might be "magnet" like. Or the fact that my kid was in a year-round school (by choice) with classmates who were initially angry about being there because their parents were angry, thus depressing parent involvement and increasing student turnover (I imagine they finally made it to a middle school they "like" -- but not before it hurt the community spirit of the one they were at). It didn't ask me if it is disappointing that classmates within walking distance to our house will be sent to a high school that is three times the distance of the one we are assigned to -- splitting up kids that have been together since kindergarten.
Sometimes you just say you like something 'cause the devil you know is better than the one you don't.
Very well said
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 12:43 — SDR256It is all these little complexities that families have to deal with, isn't it? Surveys have to be very very carefully constructed to consider just exactly what it is that's desired to get out of it. Are you referring to the survey put out by the school system recently? I heard there was another one going around, so I wasn't sure. But the one created by the school system may have in fact been constructed so that it gathered exactly what the Del Burns era system wanted. I can see a way to construct a survey with very inexact questions which in the end would reflect that 'everything is hunky dory' when in fact, as you state above, the real situation is so much messier.
survey
Sun, 03/28/2010 - 18:51 — stepbystepBut the one created by the school system may have in fact been
constructed so that it gathered exactly what the Del Burns era system
wanted.
It was, in fact, initiated by the new board majority, revised at a COW with timeline, then later Prickett insisted on the hurry-up-who-cares-if-it-is-the-statistically-most-reliable approach so that she could accommodate her Leesville families concerned about YR assignments for the coming school year. Interesting that Leesville Elementary results didn't match what she predicted.
This is exactly right. I
Sun, 03/28/2010 - 22:24 — ksinclairThis is exactly right. I watched Prickett and Goldman, in particular, wordsmith the survey in the COW. The survey was always the Board's idea, and they didn't want to listen to any of the issues staff raised about reliability or timelines. In fact, I recall many here complaining that the staff was being obstructionist by trying to be deliberate about it and comments to the effect of "how hard is it to write a survey?"
You raise a good point.
Sun, 03/28/2010 - 20:30 — carson79You raise a good point. Nobody has given any actual break down of how the survey (initiated and approved by the Board new members) was skewed. Just that we can't read into what it meant by "satisfied." I actually agree with them there so I only state what the facts say. But I do wonder what the long time anti-YR activists thought when there was a great deal of support for YR at MYR schools.
"But I do wonder what the
Sun, 03/28/2010 - 22:01 — Apexter"But I do wonder what the long time anti-YR activists thought when there
was a great deal of support for YR at MYR schools."
I've never met any anti-YR activists; I've known MANY who are anti-MYR activists, however.
Since, due to Wake Cares' lawsuit, WCPSS was required to provide traditional calendar options (albeit not necessarily attractive ones) at the MYR schools until the verdict was overturned last year, the most vehement opponents to MYR would have already left the schools, whether it be for homeschooling, private school, or the traditional calendar option. By definition, the folks who stayed in the MYR schools were people who could tolerate it. Therefore, finding support for YR at these schools was something of a "Duh" conclusion.
A better designed survey would have surveyed by node, and taken into account the opinions of people who were in the nodes actually assigned to the school, and separated out the results from the calendar applicants.
have you looked at the
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 14:16 — carson79have you looked at the numbers that actually transferred to traditional or left WCPSS? I don't know if this is available but I haven't heard of large numbers of people leaving a given school because of YR. Nothing that would cause the survey results to go the other way, that is.
So...
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 14:32 — Bob_SconceAre there numbers on how many leave WCPSS?
I have a feel that a fairly substantial number of families have left my kids' school since the conversion, but I don't have any hard numbers.
It's a bad sign when the school district's policies drive affluent families out of the system -- those families are generally more involved in their schools and, perhaps more importantly, vote. The district cannot really afford to alienate them.
Totally agree with you on
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 14:52 — carson79Totally agree with you on that, I think this is the "bargain" that has historically been struck in Wake County areas that border high poverty concentrations.
Are you familiar with what's happened to Charlotte Mecklenburg's demographics since they abandoned balancing schools?
I think that is our future if the new Board plunges ahead without any thought to some of the reasonable amendments proposed by the minority.
Union County
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 17:37 — Dove314Are the CMS school demographics related to the explosive growth in Union County? Is this a form of flight of the highest SES for Mecklenberg to Union County schools?
So...
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 15:39 — Bob_SconceI don't understand -- what bargain?
I've seen people on this blog say that CMS' demographics have largely turned poor. But, it appears from my cursory review of the data that this isn't due to affluent population leaving -- both populations have increased, but the F&R population has grown faster. I suspect that growth has more to do with factors in Charlotte apart from the schools.
I'll see if I can dig up the
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 16:07 — carson79I'll see if I can dig up the WEP paper that discusses the oft unmentioned "bargain".
Here's what I found on CMS, it is from a blog but thre numbers check out based on my admittedly light knowledge of their stats.
A massive rejection of CMS has occurred over the last decade by
middle-class and white parents. Now just 33 percent of CMS students are
white and half are now poor, as black and white middle-class parents
flee to surrounding counties. That's a staggering 25-percentage point
drop in just 11 years. When you consider that 61 percent of the county
is white and less than a third of the county is poor, this is an
indictment of the school system that goes far beyond racial and class
lines.
If our school system merely reflected the racial and poverty
demographics of the county, our schools would be both strong and
diverse. Instead, our school board so alienated parents and teachers
that it sparked white flight that population demographics alone can't
explain.
These parents didn't leave the school system, but
rather never showed up in the first place. While people of all races
and income levels continue to move to Mecklenburg County, those with
children, an interest in public schools and the means to do so are
choosing to live outside the county -- or they are leaving once their
children approach school age, attracted by schools in surrounding
counties with higher test scores and better teachers. That's why the
number of white/non-poor students in the county school system each year
has remained largely the same over the last seven years while CMS'
overall population has boomed.
Meanwhile, thousands of new
middle class students now show up at schools in surrounding counties
each year, pushing these systems to the limit. This flight has also
sucked CMS' best teachers over the county line and led to massive
traffic congestion problems as parents seeking quality teachers and
high-scoring schools get in their cars each morning and drive back in
to the county to work.
Eh...
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 16:42 — Bob_SconceI don't find that particularly convincing. He does a good job of laying out the narrative, but I find his support of that narrative from the data lacking.
For one thing, if the county actially is 61% white, but the district is only 33%, then he's identified the wrong problem -- students aren't leavng for other counties; they're leaving for other schools in the county.
Secondly, the '99-'00 enrollment at CMS was about 39% F&R; today it's about 43%. That's nowhere near as dire as he seems to think.
In any case, CMS' and WCPSS' demographics are different enough that I don't think CMS really informs us much about what we should do here.
Again -- check out the associated population increase
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 17:39 — Dove314in Union County, outstripping even Wake County in recent growth.
Not difficult.
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 18:45 — Bob_SconceI suspect Franklin and Chatham counties have both outstripped Wake County's growth rate in recent years. It's easy to grow at a huge rate when you have a small population and lots of developable land.
But, I still don't see any connection to Charlotte's dropping its busing policy. Is this a case of Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc?
Actually no.
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 19:17 — Dove314Here is a link to data the census release in the last couple of weeks. Add the http://
communitydispatch.com/Census_Bureau_Announcements_49/Raleigh_and_Austin_are_Fastest-Growing_Metro_Areas10291.shtml
At the national level, Union County is #13, Wake is #22, Brunswick is #28, Johnston is #31, Cabarrus #45, Chatham at #65, etc. Mecklenberg makes the list of top 100, just at about half the rate of Union County.
Interesting
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 19:34 — Bob_SconceAccording to the data here:
http://www.census.gov/popest/counties/CO-EST2009-03.html
Wake was the fastest growing at 3.4%, followed by Harnett County at 3.3% and Johnston at 3.2%. Union's listed as 2.7%.
So, anyway, that's what I get for guessing and not looking at the data.
I would expect that the
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 18:58 — CaryCurmudgeonI would expect that the implosion of the banking industry was a far greater influence on Charlotte growth than anything to do with schools.
Hm the Franklin comparison
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 18:49 — carson79Hm the Franklin comparison does not smell right - can you point us to numbers to back that up?
You're right....
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 19:26 — Bob_SconceI looked up the numbers I was wrong about Franklin County's growth rate is 2.4%; Wake's is about 3.8%. I think those numbers are a bit out of date -- Wake isn't growing anywhere close to that right now, but I suspect Franklin isn't either.
See
https://edis.commerce.state.nc.us/docs/countyProfile/NC/37183.pdf
https://edis.commerce.state.nc.us/docs/countyProfile/NC/37069.pdf
Johnston County's 3.6%, Chatham is 2.6%. Union is 5.7%, Mecklenburg 3%.
hm I never thought of it as
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 16:49 — carson79hm I never thought of it as being different much, and I agree that the leaving for other districts is more new people that never show up in the schools - their parents work in Mecklenburg county but they live outside the county. And yes, I thought he referenced this but absolutely white families are choosing private, home school or other non-public school options within CMS at high rates.
Ok...
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 17:13 — Bob_SconceSo, the question is whether that's any different now than it was in the past. My impression is that North Carolina has always had a lot of people outside the public school system - Wake County, for example, has an absolutely HUGE homeschool community.
The thing I don't understand about the CMS comparison is how that's supposed to work. If I understand the argument of the board opponents correctly, going to community schools will mean that there are a few extremely bad, extremely high poverty schools where all the kids without parental support are warehoused, and a bunch of affluent good quality suburban schools with active PTAs and involved parents. Presuming that's true, shouldn't those good schools attract people into the district?
No
Sun, 03/28/2010 - 19:59 — SDR256No, sorry. I know that the board may want what the board wants, but the staff is in control of the nitty gritty. This was totally within their control to foil.
The surveys teachers
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 20:34 — aquaman4life68The surveys teachers complete are constructed the same way, you can't truly see how they feel. Just like the survey on how teachers feel about PLT/PLC's. The questions asked, as I was informed, were worded so that no matter how you answered, it looks like teachers are cool with it and doing it. Heck they are forced to do it, and put up with all the "to do" and the "not to do" during those meetings. I have also been informed that the same type of questions are asked for teachers from the state on a survey about "teacher working conditions" it doesn't really matter how you choose, you really don't get how teachers truly feel. It all still looks as you put it "Hunky Dory" in the end. If they had more open ended and space to actually type their opinions and views, the light would be much more gloomier than any of those surveys would show.
Keep "fixing the statistics" instead of fixing the problem...
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 00:59 — Its_the_parents...WhalerCane...Come on...stop being your own worst enemy! Does the Scott Brown election ring a bell?
Elections are now swung and decided by "Unaffiliated" or "Independent" voters...people are tired of the old political BS...come on, call off the dogs and lies, the race is now for the middle commonsense ground...everyone is hurting in their wallet, everyone is afraid for their family and their future...
Reasonable candidates and reasonable solutions will win elections...not a hard concept to understand.
Actually It WASN'T Independent Voters
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 06:58 — chaboardthat decided the Scott Brown race. It was exactly the OPPOSITE - the difference in enthusiasm and turnout between the two bases. Pretty much every election of consequence in the last ten years has been a testament to the decreasing power of the undecided middle.
And getting back loosely on topic - that is EXACTLY what we saw in the school board elections. The pathetic overall turnout attests to the the fact that the great mass of voters in the middle stayed home - as they ALWAYS do for what they see as minor local races.
And anyone who was paying the slightest attention knows it was the most thoroughly partisan school board race in a generation and that extra energy in the base - particularly the base of the side that felt aggrieved (just like November 2008 and Scott Brown) - led to the larger than "normal"turnout.
Good luck with that analysis...
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 01:03 — Its_the_parents...Obviously you are a seasoned political operative...I'm just a Wake County citizen who speaks to my neighbors over a beer...let's see whose insight turns out right.
"The pathetic overall turnout attests to the the fact that the great mass of voters in the middle stayed home"
...Right...Highest turnout in recent years, and that's your analysis? Spin it whichever way you want, people have tasted freedom, it's going to be hard to stuff that genie back into the bottle.
Perry, Any idea who is
Thu, 03/25/2010 - 19:17 — CaryCurmudgeonPerry,
Any idea who is running the automated telephone push poll? Lots of loaded questions and misinformation. I particularly loved the one that said the decision to convert five schools to traditional calendar is now costing us $18M/year. I don't think you are doing the poll, just fishing for who is wasting their money on it.
Oh good grief. I've got
Thu, 03/25/2010 - 19:24 — jenmanOh good grief. I've got some guesses on who is doing the poll. Can't wait to hear who it is. :-)
The voter turn out numbers
Thu, 03/25/2010 - 19:03 — willynillyThe voter turn out numbers should be something easily cleared up, right?
Stats
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 07:51 — ego7601I had previously posted this:
According to the Wake County BOE, in the October vote, there were
482,580 registered voters. 55,121 ballots were cast (including for mayor
and town councils) which equates to 11.42% of voter turnout. There were
31,190 votes cast for school board members. Compared to previous
elections for school board members, this was by far the largest turnout.
In 2005 when these same seats were up for election, only 20,415 voted for school board members.
In 2007 when there were 5 districts up for election, still only 24,729
people voted for school board members. Municipal elections tend to have
smaller voter turnout anyway, but seeing such a large increase in voter
numbers for this election of school board members (almost 11,000) speaks
volumes about how many voters cared about this election, no matter
which candidate they supported.
Problem Is....Both Statements Are True
Thu, 03/25/2010 - 19:15 — chaboardThere's nothing to clear up. It WAS better turnout than usual for school board elections. And it WAS a ridiculously small portion of voters who bothered to make the difference. Such is the sad state of our democracy.
...it WAS a ridiculously small portion of voters.
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 09:57 — NWRaleighMomIs information by precincts available? It seemed like all of our neighborhood voted (I was at the polls)
The fly in the ointment...
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 01:01 — Its_the_parents...Quoting "Chaboard"
"And it WAS a ridiculously small portion of voters who bothered to make the difference. Such is the sad state of our democracy."
Actually, what you consider a weakness, was actually our national strength...compared to the rest of the world, the US is (or was, until recently) a HIGH TRUST society...the average citizen implicitly trusted that his/her elected official (even if he /she never voted) would take care of things and act with high responsibility and ethics....
...and this trust, combined with affluence, lulled everyone into a happy zone, where things would always be ok, even if no one paid attention, or never voted, or if no one knew what or who their local school board member was...
Most of the rest of the planet would kill to live in such a highly civilized society, where politicians and government officials, left- or right-leaning, would follow constitutional rules as well as rules of fair play...
But then, there's always a fly in the ointment...and over time laziness, corruption and fraud crept in...and then ideologues flew in under this complacent smokescreen and took control...left-wing, right-wing...it doesn't matter...you snooze, you lose!
And then the citizens woke up and voted!...
This is a good sign, election turnout is up all over the nation, citizens are engaging, voters are showing up on election day, rejecting the Status Quo...ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE RESULTS???
Be careful what you wish for...
Afraid Of The Results? Me?
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 07:06 — chaboardHey - just this past Sunday in Washington we saw the biggest result to date of the citizens waking up, engaging, voting and rejecting the status quo. After nearly a century of failure we succeeded in tremendous reform of our dysfuncional health care system. It's been a great, great week for America and massive citizen engagement is what made it possible. Fear is pretty much the last reaction I can imagine having this week.
And locally it seems to me that it's your side that is afraid. You managed to ride an enthusiasm wave and general mass apathy to four wins in October but now you see you've started to awaken the public and you see quite clearly that one helluva not only don't agee with you but are willing to wake up and fight.
I'm guessing you probably see it differently.... ;)
Good Luck, and Good Night with that analysis...
Mon, 03/29/2010 - 00:45 — Its_the_parents...Responding to "Chaboard"
You know what, I was overjoyed that healthcare reform passed...30 million more Americans now have access to healthcare, it was a day to celebrate. But we barely won that...it was a very close fight, so let's keep that in mind.
But (may I remind you) the topic being discussed is a NONPARTISAN school board election, so keep your thoroughly corrupt (D) or (R) nonsense out of it, whichever party you've sold your brain and soul to. By the tone of your rhetoric, I think you are a (D), and you are hurling slurs at me thinking I am an (R)....far from it
"And locally it seems to me that it's your side that is afraid"
That's exactly the kind of thinking that will fly you into the ground...there are no "sides"...THIS IS NOT A HARD CONCEPT TO UNDERSTAND...People got fed up of the old Board majority and their corruption and stuck a boot up their ass...Toby Keith song reference...
And you know what, when the message gets out that the "New Board" gives power back to individual citizens rather than have HeadMillburgClarkBurnsDulaney et al (kinda like the Soviet politburo) decide on our children's fates, PEOPLE WILL GRAB THAT FREEDOM and escape...
Good Luck with your dreams...people will choose freedom over "politburo rule" any day. To balance out my Toby Keith reference, I must now quote Bob Dylan...The times they are a 'changin...Get used to citizen power...
One step further
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 08:45 — Dove314I don't think the board majority and supporters are afraid but I do think they are doing more to defeat themselves since the election than any opposition group.
The more I read about Arne Duncan and some of his ideas, I find many positives. But Arne Duncan built consensus on this same topic and avoided dividing Chicago as a community. From the point of winning the election, the board and the way some supporters (by no means all) have conducted themselves, instead of making any effort to build the consensus of the other ~440,000 individuals who did not vote in the elections including the families of the ~140,000 who did not vote in the election, they've done their own cause a serious disservice.
When asked to even share more and work to build a consensus, oither than the WSCA which has made efforts within the bounds of this blog, I've not seen any other effort to build any sort of additional community consensus. Instead, many repeat a mantra of "We won, support us or get out of the way". The Wake GOP has claimed credit adding to the divisiveness with Margiotta, instead of being out there leading the education of the public on just what is being proposed, being cozied up at the GOP meetings talking about further dividing the county and calling people animals. Goldman, instead of being out there educating the public on talking about how community schools could benefit all, is busy worrying about getting little girls to dance after school and pouting out of order about procedural votes. If the community schools literature I'm reading is where we're going, the school day for everyone is likely to get longer and those dance lessens will be in the school via the school as community center model. I see a board talking about the importance of stability in assignment while the discussion mostly seems more about implementing desired assignments their supporters want because they felt like they were "done unto" by some previous board with no regard for what they are "doing unto" a whole new group of families. What they should be doing is talking about how, once the community model is established, it should bring stability to much more of the county and showing how that works. Tedesco is the ONLY board majority member out there making an effort to cross community lines and even he has made some missteps but at least his heart seems in the right place. The remainder of the board majority needs to get out of their power politics mentality and do more to promote their ideas as long as it takes and long after any election.
If the goal is truly a world class, high achieving school system which serves all regardless of economic status, ethnicity, and gender under a community schools model, this board has done more to destroy it's own crediblity on the topic than any other group. And without community consensus and support, the community schools model will not work.
The Wake GOP has claimed
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 11:30 — jenmanThe Wake GOP has claimed credit adding to the divisiveness with
Margiotta, instead of being out there leading the education of the
public on just what is being proposed, being cozied up at the GOP
meetings talking about further dividing the county and calling people
animals.
Your own spin
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 12:10 — supportwcpssWho cares if he talked about his supposed courteous treatment of rude people? That is irrelevant. And as for magnet schools, while he said they might not go away he has hinted at drastically changing them to not serve the high poverty students.
You report on not only the hot buttons but the topics that are interesting to the public. And for almost everyone else but you, comments about splitting up the school district are higher priority then his treatment of speakers at a meeting.
Splitting the district is a
Fri, 03/26/2010 - 17:12 — jenmanSplitting the district is a non-issue and Ron knows that. He's mentioned it for years but not in a seirous, let's do this kind of way. Plus, he knows that his fellow board members (both the new and old) aren't supportive of the idea.
Also, I follow the magnet school issue fairly closely and I have not seen where he said they "might not go away he has hinted at drastically changing them to not serve the high poverty students".
On a side note--I've been wondering where you've been lately. I was reading a thread from a week or two ago and I saw where I responded rudely to one of your posts and I apologize. Honestly I thought I was responding to User, which still doesn't excuse being rude
but my response seemed like a sucker punch to you.
Then why
Sat, 03/27/2010 - 22:29 — supportwcpssDoes he bring it up. If you think it was nonchalent and didn't have motives, I think you are putitng blinders on with regards to Ron.
Can't say I remember the post so no problem. Real life sometimes gets in the way of blogging ;-).