Looking at the longest bus rides

I agree Bob but don't believe that concentrating all the poor kids in a few schools will bring out a ground swell of parent participation either.
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User1234--First of all, we are NOT advocating concentrating all the poor kids in a few schools. Second, we are NOT necessarily sending these kids to a 'better' schools. Lately the reassignment plans have focused on raising F&R rather than lowering it. The low income kids going from Joyner to Leesville or from Underwood to Green Hope were NOT going to a better school. They were actually losing academic opportunities and gaining a longer bus ride in the process. The ESL kids moving from Penny Road (F&R in the 20s) to Davis Drive were done so over the objections of staff who had worked with them at Penny Road and the staff at Davis Drive who worried about the lack of resources for these children at Davis Drive.

Nobody is claiming that low income parents would automatically participate at school if the schools were closer. But for many families we are all but ensuring that they won't be able to even if they wanted to. I absolutely do NOT buy this bull that they won't participate. I met several parents of low income children when my kids were at Joyner. They were there for author's teas, book fairs, family fun nights, etc. I was just discussing this very issue with a friend from Lacy and she talked about the families living in the low income apartments near the school. They come to events and care about their kids' education. What about the Myanmar refugees who fought to stay at the HS they could walk or ride their bikes to?

There are absolutely some parents who are too drugged out to care or who are working so much that they don't have time to be involved. But making it harder for them is not the answer. Especially when we are not moving their kids out of high poverty schools in 2/3 of the cases.

User1234--I urge you to look at the facts. Yes, the diversity policy is based on a good idea and I don't think we should get rid of it entirely. But we have strayed far away from the original intent. You are arguing against change using reasons that don't necessarily exist anymore.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/5243526/

http://wake.mync.com/site/wake/news/story/35582/last-minute-track-changes-at-some-wake-schools
WAKE COUNTY, N.C. -
With just weeks before the start of year-round school in Wake County, some schools are making some big schedule changes.

Because of budget cuts, and a mandate that principals hire no more than 95 percent of the number of teachers they need, schools are looking at collapsing tracks, reducing the number of classes, and other measures.

Principals are looking at each grade levels, trying to balance enrollment with staffing.

At Olive Chapel Elementary School in Apex, some parents received letters asking if they would volunteer to change tracks. The school has decided to eliminate a fifth grade class and a fourth grade class, and add another class to third grade.

Michael Evans, spokesperson for the Wake County Public School System, said similar situations are occurring all over the county.

"It's not a reflection on a principal's lack of planning, it's dealing with the uncertainty," Evans said. "Until we know what state funding is and local funding, that level of uncertainty is really causing us problems."

Schools are also reducing the number of elective courses, and as a result of short staffing, some classes may be larger.

"If we're looking at significant state budget cuts, principals and teachers are going to be forced potentially to make changes once the school year starts," said Evans. "We see that as being very disruptive, however, we're going to make the best of it."

"Then board members tried to downplay the significance of it saying that at most you're talking about the 35 routes serving 1,000 students out of 140,000 students in the district."

I think this is a bizarre attitude to have. We're admittedly doing something we agree is negative to about 1000 kids, but since it's ONLY to 1000 kids, that's OK? Once again, they seem to have lost consciousness of the fact that these aren't numbers or statistics, but individual kids from individual families --- and if you're the one stuck with the hour long bus ride, the statistic you face is 100% certainty.

Seriously --- when news came out that hundreds of children had been sexually abused by priests over the years, would the attitude of "Well, there have been millions of children who have grown up in the church over the years, but only a few hundred have been abused, so therefore it's OK" have flown? If we heard that one teacher at Generic Elementary School was slapping children to keep order in the classroom, would we say "Well, it's only happening in one school in the county, so it's really not a problem."?

No, I'm not trying to equate a long bus ride with sexual abuse; clearly one is far worse than the other. How, though, can anyone justify to themselves that it's OK to do something that they admit if bad to ANY kids by saying "Well, at least we aren't doing it to most of them." ?

What a cold comfort THAT must be to the poor saps who get the short end of the stick. Oh, thank Goodness! At least the other 139,000 kids get to go to a school closer to home! Thank Goodness the other 139,000 have the dignity of knowing that they were assigned to their school because it was nearby, and not because there were already too many people of *your type* in your local school!