The Wake County school board majority's abandonment of the socioeconomic diversity policy has now received the national scorn of Marian Wright Edelman, president of the liberal Children's Defense Fund.
In a blog post Friday, Edelman cites the actions in Wake and in New Hanover County schools as signs of the nation's "dangerous drift back toward segregated schools." She said the actions of both school districts are part of a "very disturbing trend across the country."
"The sad truth is that the dream Dr. King rightly considered one of the greatest victories of the Civil Rights Movement - the desegregation of our nation's schools-is unraveling before our eyes," Edelman writes.
Edelman notes how Wake's diversity model was "lauded as another method of achieving diversity without concentrating children in racially isolated, high-poverty schools." But she said "the recent school board decision there shows, even those successful measures are now under attack."
Comments
WCPSS seems disingenuous about desegregation
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 13:58 — MissyTinRaleighThe Wake County Public Schools System is not squeaky clean when it came to racial issues despite supporters' selective memories/feelings!
The reality is that right now, in most of my child's WCPSS middle school classes (Daniels), nearly all black children are assigned to the BACK of the class (not by self-selection).
And the SAS report shows that while many black children test ready for Algebra, they are not put into Algebra classes by staff. I have several children and can confidently say that WCPSS shortchanges students of all races/ethnicities and this is BEFORE the proposed new changes!
The Wake system needs a serious overhaul and I am not confident this will happen with the "old" board nor the "new board"!
People on both sides of the status quo/community schools argument are settling for academic mediocrity for children at all levels and I do not see anyone really focusing on pushing for high academic performance for children from low-income families. Simply placing them next to children whose families belong to the country club isn't going to get the job done. Real action needs to be taken for these children and all of the county's children. I have been blessed with high performers but they are also shortchanged -- few challenges in the classroom, subject to poor behavior by staff and leaders, etc.
Children from low-income families would do well with tutoring, more challenging and exciting coursework, social services connections with families in need, etc. The district's efforts and the arguments that are currently surrounding its board are very short-sighted. We need to get to the heart of the matter which is focusing on all students and raising their performance significantly each year!
What
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 23:01 — TrailerParkGirlWhat you are seeing relates to the "at risk" model and related lower expectations that have been in place, which while not unique to here I have found are rather common here. Every day I wake up wondering if this will be a day I don't hear lowered expectations of low-income and most days I go to bed disappointed.
This is something that new board members are trying to change. This is tied to why people want to stop talking about and labeling based on SES. The combination of the "at risk" labeling, lack of access to objective data and the use of subjective placement criteria have contributed to what you have observed.
The community resolution includes a section on use of objective data driven decisions to begin to address these issues, however, it was overshadowed by the reaction to having community schools. People are advocating for moving away from the "at risk" model to an individual achievement model. One does not need to label or lower expectations of an entire group in order to meet the specific needs of some students within the group. John Tedesco's campaign included community model schools, which address things like tutoring and other services and are grounded in high expectations. You can find information at communityschools.org.
Keep advocating for getting to the heart of the matter and raising expectations and achievement.
I find it disgusting when
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 13:35 — woodstockI find it disgusting when supposedly educated people like Edelman bastardize the message of Martin Luther King Jr. to make political points.
The new board majority is actually carrying out the principles of King's ideal. They are saying EVERY child -- regardless of any categories/definitions some may want to assign to them -- is capable of achieving and deserves a quality education and that EVERY school must provide the resources need to ensure that happens.
MLK
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 21:00 — turnerk1Since Edelman knew Martin Luther King and worked in the civil rights struggle, I think she knows very well what King wanted for our poor children.
I did not say she didn't
Wed, 04/07/2010 - 09:44 — woodstockI did not say she didn't know. I am sure she does. However that makes or bastardizing of the vision of MLK even more offensive. Her political and social engineering motives apparently take precedence over her integrity and Dr. King's intents.
When you try to keep the
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 13:49 — danofncWhen you try to keep the populations more balanced, wouldn't the resources also be more balanced?
When the populations have drastically different needs, wouldn't it make sense that they need drastically different resources?
I am not sure what is meant
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 18:15 — woodstockI am not sure what is meant by "balanced."
I agree Bob
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 10:14 — musicianI agree with Bob. What are they better prepared for?
Martin Luther King
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 09:15 — CaryCurmudgeonMLK dreamed of a world where people were judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin. I believe Dr. King would be appalled to see the way poor and minority students have come to be treated as trading cards by school administrators, and he would be outraged to learn that D.Holzcom's Effectiveness Index lowers expectations based on the color of a student's skin or how much money they have in their wallet. Sad how people continue to channel the memory of Dr. King when what our school system has done has gone against what he fought for.
The Wake County Schools have
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 09:50 — askmisterbrownThe Wake County Schools have been dedicated heart and soul to giving quality educational opportunities to all children. As a result, our students from low-income families are better prepared to succeed in our diverse world.
As you know, Joe, the Effectiveness Index is used as a tool to evaluate teaching and curriculum, and its results are not published until long after the pertinent school year, so it cannot affect teachers' expectations of students. And as you know, race is not part of the Effectiveness Index.
The very sad fact is, over
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 13:10 — woodstockThe very sad fact is, over the years, the F&R students in Wake County have become less prepared. By very narrowly defining students by F&R status and assigning low expecation based on that, we have made the path to success for these students even more difficult.
Fortunately we now have a new board majority that will build a system focused on education and where students are treated as individuals with no preconceived limitations.
Woodstock ... these guys are
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 13:30 — user12345Woodstock ... these guys are running out of money and time ... $20M deficit this year and $80M next ... problaby loses our diversity grant ... they need to focus on the finances and not on donors.
Donors? What ate you talking
Wed, 04/07/2010 - 09:48 — woodstockDonors? What ate you talking about? They are focused on the concerns and challenges faced by students and parents.
What do you mean by the "diversity grant?" Do you mean the Federal magnet money? That will be worked out. Wake's ridiculous and fictitious F&R formula is not the only way to meet the diversity requirement.
FYI; Doom and gloom is not selling.
Matt, I don't question the
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 10:02 — CaryCurmudgeonMatt,
I don't question the good intentions of most people in the school administration. But I do not think we have honored the memory of MLK. Our students from low-income families are NOT better prepared to succeed in our diverse world. There is a huge achievement gap in EOG's and graduation rates. We need to acknowledge that we are failing these kids.
I know how the EI is used. But I don't think it is OK to set lower expectations for low-income students by setting lower expectations for their teachers. And we both know that there is a strong correlation to race. I think MLK would be sickened to learn that we give teachers a free pass because their students are poor.
Uh...
Tue, 04/06/2010 - 09:56 — Bob_SconceBetter prepared than what?