The Keith Sutton era officially starts today.
Sutton, legislative affairs program manager for the N.C. Department of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, will be sworn in at 3 p.m. as the new school board member for District 4. Sutton was chosen two weeks ago by the other board members to fill Rosa Gill's vacant seat.
BTW, in the final 5-2 vote, Sutton was backed by Beverley Clark, Patti Head, Anne McLaurin, Lori Millberg and Horace Tart. Retired educator Lillian Lee was backed by Eleanor Goettee and Ron Margiota.
School board chairman Kevin Hill did not vote because it was not a tie vote.
After the swearing in, the board will take a break and hold a reception for Sutton. The meeting will resume at 3:30 p.m. This usually occurs when a new board member takes office.
Comments
OT-alert---Bus ride could be longer for Wake students
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 12:15 — AngelaWhttp://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5816932/
The article states: "School
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 12:34 — woodstockThe article states: "School system officials ask parents to be patient while they work out routes and any potential issues that might arise"
I don't know about others, but I am completely out of patience with the idiots in charge. Neighborhood schools NOW!!!
If the busing policies did any good at all, maybe -- MAYBE -- I could understand what they are doing. But, as it is the Wake County reassignment/busing/diversity policy is NOT working and is hurting students and families...and now the plan is to add to the burden. Brilliant!
then please make sure to
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 12:35 — AngelaWthen please make sure to VOTE on Oct 6th and bring 10 of your friends/neighbors/relatives, heck even strangers with you!!!!
http://www.wakesca.org/
I certainly do not want to
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 12:38 — woodstockI certainly do not want to wish my life away, but October 6 cannot come soon enough to suit me.
Gill leaves and her equally
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 09:30 — woodstockGill leaves and her equally clueless and politically-driven clone takes her place. That's just wonderful.
Does anyone understand the travesty that is the reassignment/diversity policy in Wake County? Economically disadvantaged children are being left in the dust and the status quo school board members pat each other on the back and welcome a new member into the fold. Why parents are not marching in the street demanding change is something I will never understand. STATUS QUO IS NOT WORKING! It is clear as day to anyone who would take a few minutes to consider the reality of what is happening.
Typically, I have tremendous faith in people to make good choices, but the citizens of Wake County who continue to support and status quo thinking in regard to our schools have me reconsidering that view. Where are the thoughtful and independent thinkers who do not just blindly accept the bellowing voice of Wake's politically motivated social engineering ... I mean..."eduction" lobby? Where are the voices of people who understand that Wake County is getting "schooled" by many other school systems -- including Halifax County of all places -- in serving economically disadvantaged (ED) students? Our BOE is, for all intents and purposes, very systematically hiding the these students (graduation rate: 54%) in the nooks and crannies of our system and claiming we have "healthy schools." Our BOE is, in fact, denying 46% of poor children an education and leaving them destined for a life full of the hardship that awaits those that do not succeed academically.
So, today when the BOE takes a break and enjoys the reception with their new like-minded comrade, citizens of Wake County should also take a few minutes to consider their role in continuing to allow our school system to ignore the needs of ED students and their families. Also consider the baseless and unnecessary harm that is being perpetrated on thousands of other students and families -- in the form of the reassignment policy -- as students are bused around the county and assigned to various and inconvenient tracks in an effort to disguise the problem.
What is the status quo's motivation? It is to serve the desires of a higher master: business. It is why the chambers commerce supports the status quo BOE and political organizations like WakeED Partnership. What, you thought WakeEd was about education? Think again. They are a business lobbying group with education as the feel-good pillar they stand behind. Business is the reason ED students are bused around and are not served. Wake wants "healthy schools." Sounds good, I know, and it is attractive...on the surface; but the the ugly truth is to have healthy schools Wake County has to manipulate which students go where and to creatively orchestrate the statistics -- that is where the conductor, Chuck Dulaney, enters the picture. He is the mad scientist directed by the BOE to carry out the dastardly deed that amounts to academic genocide for nearly half of the ED students in Wake County.
Don't get me wrong, I love business and free enterprize and I understand why the business community wants the school system to look good. But education has to be the focus on the BOE and ALL students must be served. When we address the needs of ED students head on in the communities where they live, we will legitimately have a system that does not need the filter of manipulated statistics to look good.
It is way past time for a change. Let Gill's clone be the last of his kind to warm a seat on the Wake BOE.
"Let Gill's clone be the last"
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 11:44 — g88ky07then tell your neighbors to tell their neighbors, because if all they have is excuses on the morning of October 7th as to why they were too lazy to vote, didn't know how, just couldn't make it, or their 5 kids were too much trouble to take to the poles that is exactly what will happen. More Rosa Gills, Lori Millbergs, Patti Heads and Horace Tarts!
I doubt most of the school
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 07:52 — shearertwI doubt most of the school board members will see this article, they're too busy reading the LA Times instead.
It's sad when the folks in California figure out how screwed up something like YR/multi track calender schools is before we do.
LAUSD steadily reducing year-round schools
Tue, 08/18/2009 - 06:30 — AngelaWhttp://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_13047286
The steady elimination of year-round schools became a key priority years ago for many educators, who trace LAUSD's persistent academic performance problems to decades of year-round schooling.
"I don't think there is any single thing that had a stronger negative impact on children in this district than having multi-track schools," said Julie Korenstein, a retired LAUSD board member of 22 years who fought to start building more schools.
"We were so grossly overcrowded for so long that it had an impact on how well our children could be educated."
Educators say the calendar deprives kids of 17 days of instruction, which is difficult if not impossible to make up.
One of Pimentel-Baxter's biggest nightmares was enrollment. Finding slots for children, while trying to match students to teachers who fit their needs as well as accommodating siblings so parents can have kids on the same schedules became nearly a fulltime job.
Testing was also a struggle for Camellia where one track - usually B-track - always starts school just one week before state testing begins.
"How can you prepare children for a test in a week?" Pimentel-Baxter said.
LAUSD's declining enrollment has also led many to question the need for so many new schools.
Last fall the district's enrollment was just under 650,000 - 100,000 fewer students than six years ago - with more students fleeing to charter schools and private schools every year.
And while many hope the return of the traditional calendar will be a huge boon for test scores and graduation rates at the district, many are tempering their optimism due to the drastic budget cuts to public education since the onset of the economic crisis