WakeEd

The WakeEd blog is devoted to discussing and answering questions about the major issues facing the Wake County school system. How much will the new Democratic majority on the school board do to undo the changes made by Republicans since 2009? Will the new student assignment plan be a hybrid of the last two models or primarily be a return to the use of busing for diversity? Who will replace Tony Tata as the new superintendent of the state's largest district? How will voters react to a likely request in 2013 to borrow potentially more than $1 billion to build and renovate schools?

WakeEd is maintained by The News & Observer's Wake schools reporter, T. Keung Hui. While Keung posts information and analysis on the issues, keep us posted on your suggestions, questions, tips and what you're doing to cope with the changes in Wake's schools.

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New board majority likely to have four years in control

Submitted by KeungHui on 10/20/2009 - 06:00

Cathy Truitt's decision to concede the election on Monday puts the likely new school board majority in good shape to run the show for four years.

As noted in today's article, the school board's approach of electing members by district instead of countywide will make it hard for the other side to regain control in 2011. It's ironic considering that supporters of current board polices have been the ones who most fought against at-large elections.

As it now stands, three of the board seats in 2011 are held by supporters of the diversity policy. The only one that they could pick up to flip the board is the District 8 seat held by Ron Margiotta.

Margiotta says that it would be hard to get a supporter of the diversity policy elected in his southwest Wake district.

One variable is that new boundary lines will be drawn in 2011 after the next census. But it will be the new board adopting the boundaries.

Margiotta said it's possible that critics of the diversity policy could pick up seats in 2011, including the one in North Raleigh now held by board chairman Kevin Hill.

So by 2013 when these four seats are up again, the question will be how much will the public want to undo the changes that have been made?

That four-year run will make it harder to stall the board from making changes.

Based on the pending changes, will the sides reverse and the new board support keeping district elections while the other side wants countywide elections? It could be the best shot to flip the board in 2011 or potetially lead to the new majority grabbing multiple seats.

1256038084 New board majority likely to have four years in control The News and Observer Copyright 2011 The News and Observer . All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Comments

This Blog

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 18:26 — user12345

I was testing out some new web software for work and ran across this site to analyze blog personalities ....

People who post to this blog .....
The logical and analytical type. They are especially attuned to difficult creative and intellectual challenges and always look for something more complex to dig into. They are great at finding subtle connections between things and imagine far-reaching implications.

They enjoy working with complex things using a lot of concepts and imaginative models of reality. Since they are not very good at seeing and understanding the needs of other people, they might come across as arrogant, impatient and insensitive to people that need some time to understand what they are talking about.

also, it said that 66% of the posters are male ...

http://www.typealyzer.com/

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/crss/term/12

...

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 22:37 — Sideburns

That's funny. I got this:

The responsible and hardworking type. They are especially attuned to
the details of life and are careful about getting the facts right.
Conservative by nature they are often reluctant to take any risks
whatsoever.

The Duty Fulfillers are happy to be let alone and to
be able to work int heir own pace. They know what they have to do and
how to do it.

And it didn't say anything about being male.

"And it didn't say anything

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 23:26 — user12345

"And it didn't say anything about being male"

Didn't think anyone would be that interested ... here is the gender site ..

http://www.genderanalyzer.com/

...

Wed, 10/21/2009 - 06:52 — Sideburns

Does it tell you if we're rich, white and/or elitist?

That is a given :-)

Wed, 10/21/2009 - 07:05 — user12345

That is a given :-)

Did the author of this

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 20:57 — Apexter

Did the author of this "typealyzer" provide any information on how these determinations were made, or are you just blindly trusting this without having a clue about how it was done?

Honestly, this smells like it has the same scientific validity as the "Which 'Star Trek: The Next Generation' crew member are YOU?" quizzes that abound on Facebook.

(Another blog poster who is not a male, by the way.)

You can check out the

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 23:48 — user12345

You can check out the programming at the website ...

We created Genderanalyzer out of curiosity and fun. It uses Artificial Intelligence to determine if a homepage is written by a man or woman. Behind the scene, a text classifier hosted over at uClassify.com has been trained on 11000 blogs written by men and women. In our lab it seems to works pretty well, we want to see how it performs on the web!

It says

TPG is 66% female

Eric is 75% male

SDR 81% male

TPG is 66% female

Wed, 10/21/2009 - 12:43 — TrailerParkGirl

Do you suppose the G standing for girl gave me away :-)

Actually it was your

Wed, 10/21/2009 - 14:21 — user12345

Actually it was your previous screen name Lisa? that clued me in ... but than again, today who knows ...

Not sure how that clued you in

Wed, 10/21/2009 - 20:24 — TrailerParkGirl

It was Falc. You must be one of the Hardy Boys.

hardly, more like Harry or

Wed, 10/21/2009 - 20:36 — AngelaW

hardly, more like Harry or Lloyd

...

Wed, 10/21/2009 - 12:55 — Sideburns

He's a genius, isn't he?

"people that need some time

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 18:59 — AngelaW

"people that need some time to understand what they are talking about."

well, catch up...this system has been shuffling students and hiding ED rates (see EVAAS) since 2000....forcing calendars since 07, mis-projecting growth for 2-3 years....shall I continue?

(NOT MALE, BTW)

Not just 2011

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 12:27 — Bob_Sconce

So, the census is coming up next year. And, after the census, the Board has to rejigger the district lines. I suspect that Anne McLaurin may end up losing her seat because of this. Most of the growth in the last 10 years has been outside the beltline. The logical way to deal with this is to move District 5 out so that it no longer covers any ITB Raleigh but extends to the southern county line. Since Ms. McLaurin is in the ITB portion of District 5, her house would no longer be in the district.

If that happens, then the seat is vacant, and the board can name a new director from the new District 5: "All vacancies occurring in the membership of the Wake County Board of Education by reason of death, resignation, ***removal of residence from the district from which elected***, or for any cause whatsoever, shall be filled by the remaining members of said board "

I would like to see them

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 13:43 — user12345

I would like to see them avoid dividing people into ITB and OTB ... it is just a road that seems to cause conflict and divides us mentally ....

Well....

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 14:18 — Bob_Sconce

I agree that an ITB/OTB debate is not helpful and potentially destructive.

But, there is a very real problem in that the sections of the county with the highest population density in 2000 (i.e. older Raleigh, primarily inside the beltline) have seen significantly less growth than those sections with the lowest density in 2000 (i.e. areas closer to the county borders.) So, the central districts currently have much less population than the outside districts. (Patti Head's district has about 50% more voters than Carolyn Morisson's, for example).

No matter how you slice it, if you live in Morisson's district, your vote will have to be diluted and people who live on the outskirts will have their votes concentrated, just to get things into some sort of rough balance.

Creative line-drawing may mean moving District 5 to South Wake, connected to Ms. McLaurin's house by a 10-foot wide strip that happens to exactly follow the roads. (I don't know if that works; I suspect districts are drawn along precinct lines.)

Bob, I am wondering if they

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 14:38 — user12345

Bob, I am wondering if they can start with a map with no roads, just people and build the districts from that ... so, one member might have some are ITB and OTB just like any other road in the county and not use the beltline as a demarcation limit ..

Well...

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 16:07 — Bob_Sconce

So, based on my brief research into how directors are elected, I think district lines have to conform to precinct boundaries. If you look at the precinct map -- http://www.wall-maps.com/custom/board-of-elections-map-over.htm -- you see a few precincts that cross road boundaries, but not many.

I was going to blog about

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 13:20 — KeungHui (author)

I was going to blog about this more down the road but the board in 2001 avoided drawing lines that would cost board members their seats. That led to some creative boundary drafting. Whether the board in 2011 has that same mindset remains to be seen.

How did Kevin Hill get

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 10:00 — NWRaleighMom

How did Kevin Hill get elected two years ago to begin with? North Raleigh hasb suffered long enough.

Chair only votes in the case

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 11:48 — changewcpss

Chair only votes in the case of a tie. Keep somewhere in that position who is uninformed and unwilling to listen.

So the clock is ticking ...

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 07:32 — user12345

So the clock is ticking ... Woodstoock's concern for the poor's graduation rate and Goldman's "we don't need any tax increases" will be tested ....

The clock is always ticking.

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 07:44 — woodstock

The clock is always ticking. Only this time, you will see real progress rather than the BoE and school admisitrators buffing a thin shiny facade.

Truit did not "concede."

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 07:12 — woodstock

Please get it right Keung, Truit did not "concede." There is still an election that Tedesco must win. If he does not win, the sitting board will appoint the person to fill the remaining seat.

Has Truitt filed the appropriate paper work yet?

Where is the a newspaper article on the expense this useless run-off is costing taxpayers?

Truitt's concession does not

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 07:34 — CaryCurmudgeon

Truitt's concession does not make Tedesco's appointment a fait accomplit. You are right, we still must make sure he gets a majority of the vote.

So when she drops off the

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 07:31 — KeungHui (author)

So when she drops off the letter, supposedly today, that she's conceding, does that still in your mind mean she's not conceding? The article did mention the $30,000 cost of the runoff.

Hair splitting

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 17:21 — SDR256

I guess the exact way the hair should be split is this. Yes, WHEN TRUITT SUBMITS THE LETTER, she will have formally conceded. This means that she cannot win outright from the run-off. But it DOES NOT mean an automatic win for John. It still means he can lose. That's the part people are not getting. He is, in essence, still running - not against Cathy (post-letter-receipt) but against the potential of a vacant seat to be filled by the existing board. A vacant seat could happen if enough people read the N&O articles and see the news casts about her conceding and assume that this means John wins. John has not won, and he still could lose.

Now, I'm interested to know, theoretically, what could happen if she had the press conference but does not submit the letter? Would a bluff or an 'oversight' or a 'mistake' like that be allowed?. If then she gets more votes because John voters assume he has won, will she be allowed that seat?.

Gotta get that letter. The check's in the mail, right?

Did she submit the letter

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 13:51 — woodstock

Did she submit the letter yet?

The article mentioned

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 07:41 — woodstock

The article mentioned conceding to Tedesco. Truitt does not possess that authority. A vote still needs to occur and Tedesco's status is uncertain until the votes are counted.

As for the letter to the Board of Elections, considering Truitt's history, I will believe it when I see it.

The article also mentioned

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 07:45 — KeungHui (author)

The article also mentioned what would happen if Truitt got the most votes and how Tedesco is still mobilizing voters next month to make the win official.

FYI

Tue, 10/20/2009 - 21:35 — concerned2

As of 4:15pm this afternoon (Tue., 10/20), Truitt's letter of concession had not been received by the Board of Elections even though it was reported that Truitt was going to "deliver" it.

Any reporting on this?

Now then, Tedesco is still not officially a board member.

No Tedesco, no peace!

New board majority likely to have four years in control

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