The new Wake County school board members are saying their victories on Tuesday represent public frustration over the actions of the last two years by the board majority.
As noted in today's article, Jim Martin said that the five Democratic candidates offered tangible ideas for improving the school system while Republicans were throwing out soundbites and playing politics.
"The voters didn't want anymore partisanship," Martin said. "I've always said you can trust the educated voters."
Martin said the board majority, particularly Margiotta, were hurt by the way they conducted business. He said they used the legitimate issue of promoting stability in student assignment and turned it into a political issue.
"This is a board that complained about the arrogance of prior boards but took arrogance to a whole new level."
Martin said he'd hope the board majority would talk with the new members before adopting the new student assignment plan. He pointed to how the new members, before they took office in 2009, had complained that the prior board was going ahead with the decision to build Forest Ridge High School over their objections.
Susan Evans said the victory over board chairman Ron Margiotta was the culmination of two years of effort by groups worried about the changes being made by the board majority.
"This represents a lot of effort on the part of people who felt the community needed to heal, and they all rallied around me," Evans said.
Christine Kushner said she and her fellow Democrats ran an issues-oriented campaign.
"Our message resonated that we wanted to end the divisiveness and we wanted stronger governance on the board," Kushner said.
Comments
LOL
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 07:32 — starsonoursWhen it was 5-4 (with the other side being the 5) how much middle ground was given?
A Pretty FAir Amount Actually
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 15:38 — chaboardas i recall
I think it will come down in
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 07:24 — jeffrey1I think it will come down in large part to whether your 4 are willing to face up to the fact that public opinion is against them and start reaching for some middle ground.
The way the Dems did beginning in December 2009?
Look this is really just inside the beltline vs the suburbs. It's magnets vs non-magnets. A lot of people in District 8 go to magnet schools, and they came out to support Susan. Don't the three newly elected members all have children in the magnet system at one time or another? Didn't all their kids go to Enloe?
This is going to remain the haves vs the have-nots. Except instead of SES, we're going to be talking about magnets.
Well....
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 07:40 — chaboardThe way the Dems did beginning in December 2009?
Bull....
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 07:49 — KevPerdueThey were not caught napping...that is such a load! They knew what people were trying to do, they just refused to believe how many families were mad. The previous board thought it was just a few rich and white parents that were upset. That was so far from the truth, that is why they failed.
Apparently they were not
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 09:16 — woodstockApparently they were not that upset... or they got over it.
Ok, Have It Your Way....
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 08:20 — chaboardthey just refused to believe how many families were mad.
The lesson learned is to
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 08:49 — loriacThe lesson learned is to campaign with absentee ballots in hand. That's where the dems really got ahead - the absentee ballots were 2-1 for the dems. Heather Losurdo will need to do the same thing going into November.
I still cannot believe anyone would vote for Mr. Martin after his exchange with Mr. Tata, or for Ms. Evans after seeing her views on non-magnet parents and students. Unreal.
no more unreal
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 10:17 — EBDarcyA lot of people asked the same question two years ago after seeing Malone, Tedesco, Goldman and Prickett speak at various events.
Indeed, that was the modus
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 07:54 — jeffrey1Indeed, that was the modus operandi of the previous administrations. We'll pit neighbor vs neighbor, and make them fight it out for who gets to stay in their assigned school, and who gets reassigned. We'll piss off a select few (thousand) each and every year, but they'll forget it about by the following year, and we can piss of a few (thousand) more. It worked for an entire decade, but the numbers eventually caught up with them.
I think Perry and the new board will find it a lot different leading the race, rather than viewing it from the cheap seats. And I would urge them to be careful.
Any person dealing with
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 07:47 — jeffrey1Any person dealing with numbers knows that you deal in percentages, rather than vote counts. Perhaps you're not mathematically inclined? Turnout was up on both sides. And even Margiotta got far more votes in this election than he did in his previous two elections.
So we have two landslides for the SES busing folks this year, and 4 landslides for the neighborhood schools folks in 2009. You can speculate on what might happen in 2013, but that's all it is - speculation.
If this new board isn't careful, the pendulum will swing back the other way.
A lot of confidence...
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 06:57 — bpuli9999from a party that just got thrashed.
As to ending divisiveness, how about the tea party trying to work with the democrats?
First of all, my party did
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 07:00 — jeffrey1First of all, my party did not get thrashed (I'm a democrat), my ideas got thrashed.
And explain to me how you work with someone who vehemently disagrees with you. I want neighborhood schools, you want SES busing to balance schools. You want to sit around and play patty-cake?
And I am a....
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 07:17 — bpuli9999registered republican.
You are not getting
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 07:07 — woodstockYou are not getting neighborhood schools; no one is. It is over. What do you think the elections were about yesterday?
It was about Magnets
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 08:24 — KnightdaleParentI think the election yesterday was about keeping the magnet program intact. You can throw around diversity all you want, but I see yesterday's results as a vote to keep the magnet program and their "private, public" schools for the select few "Haves". The other non-magnet schools will continue to be the "Have-nots".
Hmm..
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 11:06 — Dove314Can't speak for anyone else but that didn't decide my vote. My youngest (only one still in WCPSS) is not in a magnet. I think the magnet programs needs examination and fairness in application. My issue was achievement and who avoided descending into political rhetoric and mudslinging the best.
How do you think magnet
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 10:30 — woodstockHow do you think magnet schools work? Their very existence relies on SES busing.
Exactly my point.
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 11:42 — KnightdaleParentExactly my point. To keep the magnet program intact, you have to support SES as a primary factor in assignment and elect board members who think the same.
I was at a mtg recently
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 12:32 — loriacI was at a mtg recently where we saw a presentation about the proposed assignment plan from a senior director on Mr. Tata's staff. The magnet application process is still separate, and happens before making any school choice. You do not have to opt out of your current seat to apply for a magnet. So - they have left the magnet process totally alone.
A few of us talked to the presenter afterwards and explained how in the past our kids had had very little chance of ever attending a magnet. We then asked why the magnet lottery couldn't be just that - a true lottery for the open seats - because then when you are turned down at least you knew it was a fair process. She seemed to understand the issue and wrote it down. Not getting my hopes up, but it was nice to talk to her.
The new plan didn't provide
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 08:01 — mnordbergThe new plan didn't provide neighborhood schools either, it gave some people schools that happened to be closer and some people got schools that were 20-40% longer distance away. And neighborhoods would have probably 5 schools most of the people would go to so not really neighborhood schools. So I think we can give up the notion that the new plan was some magical neighborhood solution. Now maybe we will end up with a realistic plan that addresses growth and realistically explains how the new plan may be more stable in some ways but forced feeder pattern changes will keep happening.
Essentially the new plan is the old plan with schools that were closer. The choice is a joke and is a lottery just like magnets.
Feeder Pattern Changes...
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 09:37 — JanisTangoI was at a meeting the other night with Mr. Tata and his director of student assignement. They stated that feeder pattern changes would happen gradually. For example, if a new school was opened and they wanted to change the feeder pattern from an ES to this new school, it would not impact the students currently in that school. Existing students would keep their feeder pattern. The kids not enrolled yet, would be slated for that new feeder pattern in the future. Does it sound ideal....who knows. It sure is better than what we have today! There is a lot of future planning to go along with this, but that is what we have been lacking in the past.
No, you are wrong. Proximity
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 08:07 — woodstockNo, you are wrong. Proximity was the #1 factor. If you wanted a neighborhood school you got one. If you did not, you had options, i.e., choices. But, it's all moot at thjis point. They people spoke and they have demanded a return to busing for diversity. So be it.
Actually...
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 16:50 — JanisTangosibling priorty is #1 and proximity is #2.
No, you are wrong, Feeder Pattern
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 12:55 — MiraMilWoodstock, look at the plan. I attended two of the staff presentations. Proximity is only #1 factor when applying for kindergarten. For middle school and high school, feeder pattern trumps proximity. It had my neighborhood in an uproar since our "proximity" elementary schools all fed into middle and high schools substantially further away than our current base middle school and high school (which is within the 1.5 mile walk zone).
Personally, I think they should do away with the feeder pattern priority. I really don't understand why it is so important that your kid attends middle and high school with the same kids with whom they went to elementary school. I also don't think it makes sense with respect to the magnet schools--especially the AG middle schools. There's no way you can know if your kindergartener is going to be AG or whether any particular themed middle or high school magnet is going to be suitable for your kid when you apply for kindergarten.
My guess is that the choice plan will stand more or less, but that the achievement school choice for ED kids will get higher priority than it would have under the current choice plan (which was basically no priority).
I've Attended Several...
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 13:29 — JanisTangothe reason for the feeder pattern is because families wanted some kind of guarantee. I understood this to mean they were taking that piece of the green plan to appease some people. The reason that are having one ES feed one MS and HS is so they can control capacity and make sure that anyone in that feeder pattern is guaranteed a seat at the next level. What was said to us is, if all the ES are at capacity eventually and all the children at those ES follow their feeder pattern with 100% participation, then they will have seats for them. They never stated that feeder patterns trumped proximity. In fact, I heard on two occassions that is not the case. You can apply for a proximty choice outside your feeder pattern and if you get in then that frees up your feeder pattern seat. If you don't get in, you are guaranteed a spot back in your feeder pattern. The only time the assignment factors kick in is when they have more requests than they have seats at a specific school. The assignment prototype will also show you how many seats are available and how many have made that their choice. You can continue to monitor the numbers to see what your chance of getting in are. If you do not get into your first choice, you will be placed on a waiting list and will be contacted when a seat becomes available. If you still want that as a choice, you can decide to make the switch. They are still working on the details regarding how far into the school year will that be an option. The principal don't want to get an influx of kids after the 10 days numbers.
Feeder patterns continued
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 13:50 — MiraMilWhat I meant by feeder pattern trumping proximity is that a student whose feeder pattern feeds into a particular middle or high school (regardless of the distance that student is from the school) signs up for a seat at his feeder pattern school, that student will have priority over a different proximate but non-feeder pattern student. For instance, if my child attended Exploris middle school (charter school) and now goes back into the wcpss system at high school, even if my child lives across the street, from say Broughton High School, if Broughton has no seats available because all the feeder pattern kids have taken all the seats, my child will not get into his or her proximate school, but all the feeder pattern kids will get in, regardless of their proximity.
Thanks for The Clarification
Wed, 10/12/2011 - 14:57 — JanisTangoIt's not a perfect plan, but I do like that they are considering things like growth in this plan. Realistically, based on patterns and previous assignments, they expect 6% of the kids will not stay in their expected feeder pattern. This will be a tough thing to manage as the old plan is phased out with the new, but I see a lot of good things in the plan. I just really hate to think what will happen if they go back to the old node based way of assigning kids. There is no way to keep schools from getting too full or not full enough with that approach!