It's pretty clear from Rita Rakestraw's campaign kickoff event that she really likes the diversity policy and folk music.
Rakestraw told the crowd on Thursday that a main part of her platform for the school board is protecting the diversity policy. She later ended the event by pulling out a guitar and playing a pair of folk tunes.
"I want to make sure all our schools are socioeconomicially diverse," Rakestraw said. "That is really important. In terms of academic achievement, diversity is what we need."
...The lower income kids do better on their test scores and the higher income kids do as well if not better. It's a win-win situation for everybody."
Rakestraw later took aim at her two likely opponents for the District 1 seat, Chris Malone and Debbie Vair.
"My opponents, they want to get rid of the diversity program and that's a real shame because that is our foundation for our academic success for the Wake County Schools for the past 30 years," she said. "And we can not let them get away with that."
Rakestraw did acknowledge the concerns of critics.
"I've heard from a lot of people who have problems with the school system and they're upset about different things and I know we do need change," she said. "...When I'm on the school board I'm going to make it one of my top priorities to try to reduce the busing and reduce the reassignments and try to make it so that kids don't have to go as far. But I will not leave any child behind to get there."
She then talked about supporting changes in the state curriculum to increase the study of world history and to decrease the time spent on N.C. history. That's one of the recommendations from the Wake Education Partnership's "Suspending Disbelief" report.
The last act of the event was Rakestraw's musical performance. The first song she played was one she'd written about her 2-year-old adopted son from Korea. For the second song, she asked the crowd to join her in singing "Old Blue."
"I bet you've never heard a school board candidate play folk music," she said after the applause.
Comments
Love to hear the music
Tue, 07/28/2009 - 03:14 — makemineLove to hear the music lyrics
cool music lyrics
OK, gotta ask the experts here, because I am confused...
Wed, 07/08/2009 - 17:20 — me_mcadamsI seem to remember reading an article several months ago that there's a suspected high percentage of fraud associated with families getting free and reduced lunches at school. I could be off-base, but I thought it was something like an estimated 70% or so may not truly be qualified for this program, but are getting the benefits anyway. And then, of course, with unemployment rates rising in NC, I'm guessing more than usual are eligible for F&R lunches. So - am wondering if you can make the leap that the population of F&R kids is shifting. I'm thinking:
1) If I'm a kid who's parents fall on tough financial times, making me an F&R kid, sending me to another school to balance out ratios doesn't make much sense.
2) Similarly, basing diversity on F&R, where there is potentially a high rate of fraud associated with it also doesn't make sense.
I admit I am completely ignorant and more than a little confused on this topic - would appreciate the perspective of others who know far more about this than me... because it's been bugging the heck out of me...
Not sure if this will help clarify
Wed, 07/08/2009 - 22:28 — Falcor not, but assignment is based on node (geographical area as determined by WCPSS), not individual students. Some nodes are small (couple streets), some large (couple miles), some have >100 kids, some <20 kids. The "balancing" is done by reassigning a whole node. Therefore, if a couple families fall on hard times, it likely would not change the F&R% for the node enough to impact reassignment.
It's not clear to me to what extent the fraud relates to people who are poor, but don't have proper documentation and how much is people who make >$38K, but do not report all their income. Due to the node aspect there would need to be a higher concentration of fraud in a node to change the results.
Another aspect to think about is due to the node aspect, if you are not F&R, but live in a higher F&R node you get reassigned as part of the node.
The other thing to keep in mind is that there is a second aspect to the policy beyond the 40% F&R goal, which is that <25% of students at any school, averaged across two years, will score below grade level on Reading EOGs. My understanding is that in those situations, they look for nodes with a high % of low performing students and reassign those out.
The third and fourth factors they look at are balancing LEP and SWD.
For example, node 412.9 is 60% low-income and 29% LEP, so if they need to decrease the LI and LEP at their current school and/or increase them at another school, every kid in the node (LI and/or LEP or not) gets to say good-bye to the school two miles away and hello to one 19 miles away.
Or take 87.5% low-income node 145.0 (ITB near WakeMed), which was reassigned to Oak Grove ES in 2007-08 to increase OG's F&R (OG's one of those VYR schools that Ms. Gill refers to as 'elitist') and now 145.0 has already been reassigned out in 2009-10. Fortuneately, 145.0 has been assigned to ITB Wiley (magnet) - let's hope they get to stay put a while. Question is why wasn't 145.0 at Wiley all along.
(Then, of course, there's the fact that this whole thing is based on stereotypes, which is my personal pet peeve: economically disadvantaged=higher needs, not economically disadvantaged=not higher needs. I have a hard time resolving that one in my mind knowing the only kid from my HS class that spent time in rehab during HS was the wealthiest kid in my class, which at >40% F&R was not lacking in poor kids, including several in my advanced classes.)
Thanks, Falc, that does help...
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 09:20 — me_mcadamsI wasn't making the leap that it impacts the whole node, and not just the individual. Not sure if that gives me any comfort or not! Like you, I can't stomach the idea that ED=in need of greater opportunities, and vice versa for NED. My single mother was on food stamps and welfare... and SOMEHOW (!!) I managed to get a 4 year degree and an MBA.
We know darn well that "Diversity" to most translates to non-caucasian populations... and isn't it unconstitutional to bus according to race? Why does everyone keep forgetting that?
While I do believe that "at risk" populations may need more help, resources, and mentoring/encouragement, basing "diversity" on economic status (or ethnicity, for that matter) is antiquated, misguided, and just plain old insulting to those who fall into those populations! Rather than using stereotypes, we need a much more sophisticated way to identify those in need.
Maybe there is a correlation
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 02:14 — Falcbetween whether or not one has been ED or lived in a high ED area and feelings about ED=higher need. I grew up in high poverty areas, probably could have qualified for ED at points. I have a Masters degree and am Phi Beta Kappa. John Tedesco seems to have done alright, too. Will wonders never cease. I managed to do this with a community schools public education. How about you - were you bussed to sit next to NED kids to help you learn or did you go to your community school?
I totally agree with you about a more sophisticated way. Where I went, the policy is that in most cases students have to have two factors before being deemed "at risk" (exceptions are only one factor if factor is victim of abuse or something along those lines). Being low income alone or living in a high poverty area doesn't get a student labeled anything.
It is unconstitutional to bus according to race which is why they switched to ED. Wake got accolades for coming up with the concept of using ED as a proxy to get around the Court ruling. In Wake, there happens to be a correlation between race and poverty levels. I'm not sure what the official position is on the accuracy of the accolades, but I thought it was a WCPSS committee member that made my favorite oh-so-diverse statement about diversity being about black, white and hispanic and people needed to stop hiding behind their Asian neighbor.
It's hard for me to stomach the bias either way, especially when we get to the more than 40% create an unhealthy school. If you follow through the whole thought train, it's pretty unpleasant.
I think I need to clarify
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 09:51 — user1234I think I need to clarify something Falc said concerning low income = low expectations.
Really, the purpose of balancing the low income kids among the schools in not for the kids benefit (I know it is all about the kids) but for the teacher’s benefit. Teaching in a low income school is hard and unrewarding financially. Those teachers teach mostly academic classes and rarely have a chance to teach advanced classes – AG, honors, AP which is mind numbing. Also, if you teach in a low income school it is unlikely you will every move the metric to above passing for so many high needs kids. So, you work your butt off to move the kids from 30% to 40% pass a 30% improvement and you get nothing – appreciation / pay. If you are in a high income school, you get to teach advanced courses that challenge you and you probably have more time to work on your masters or board certifications since you are not constantly filling out paper work on kids and attending IDP meetings. And when 95% of your kids pass by default just like they have done in the past five year they hail you as a hero, pat you on the back and give you a bonus. The result is seen at the teacher’s fair where the line to interview for schools like Green Hope (>90% pass, 71% white) wind around the school. Teachers understand how the game is played. Since WCPSS has hundreds of schools that need thousands of teachers, allowing some to be very poor and some to be very rich causes all kinds of personnel and morale problems. This is where some one chimes in about extra funding could be used which seems nonexistent and won’t ever come or how KIPP is the answer. Personally, the answer is to pay on % improvement. So, once a school is above 80% pass there should not be any bonuses given and if teachers really want to make money they would be encouraged to take on the challenge working in a low income school where a 30% improvement would translate into a 30% bonus. That would even the playing field.
Even the playing field
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 01:33 — FalcWhat would it take to get your bonus structure suggestion in place? Is the bonus structure a county, fed or state directed structure?
Just because you are F&R
Wed, 07/08/2009 - 20:01 — user1234Just because you are F&R this year does not give you a free ride to upgrade schools. While some people may cheat on the free lunch form since it is not well audited all they get is a free / reduced breakfast / lunch so I just can not believe there are many of the 132k kids that fall into that category. Also, it seems possible that 20-30% of the kids in the county are in families that make less than $30k. Many teachers and fireman are F&R probably eligible.
I think a good resource is on the WCPSS site...
http://www.wcpss.net/demographics/reports/book08a.pdf#pagemode=bookmarks&page1
... Is rather big but look at page 67-68 which has the F&R population history and distribution which might surprise you if you were thinking F&R is a downtown phenomenon. I think as the area has gotten more positive press, more and more desperate people have moved here looking for work which has shifted thet demographic to include more poor people.
for your reading (dis) pleasure
Wed, 07/08/2009 - 17:27 — AngelaWhttp://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/series.html?id=35
Special Request: Please play "The times they are A-Changin"
Wed, 07/08/2009 - 00:59 — Its_the_parents...Enough said!
How many miles must
Wed, 07/08/2009 - 09:07 — CaryCurmudgeonHow many miles must our kids ride a bus....
Before we can say we're diverse....
Yes, and how many times must our kids change schools.....
And how can it get any worse.....
The answer, my friend, is in the mind of chuck.....
The answer is in the mind of chuck.....
Diversity in Academic Achievement???
Tue, 07/07/2009 - 16:43 — Bob_Sconce"That is really important. In terms of academic achievement, diversity is what we need."
It all makes sense now. She wants to make sure that we have diversity in *achievement.* Well, in that regard, the district's diversity policy is a roaring success -- we have lots of students who are passing their classes AND lots of students who are failing. The diversity policy has done wonders to ensure that we're not stuck in that old rut of having just about all of our kids do well in school. Now I know why they're called "Schools of Progress."
What a wonderful thing it is to have both failing and successful students sit side-by-side in classrooms all across Wake County.
I don't trust her.
Tue, 07/07/2009 - 15:46 — wakemotherI have met Ms. Rakestraw and I know about some of the things she has done in Knightdale.
She's very much a partisan liberal democratic party activist.
I don't trust her.
Tedesco has a different approach to diversity for D-1 to learn
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 18:04 — jjgabe30My husband and I put this post under Dist.2 items, but we wanted to share here also. We think Mr. Tedesco has an interesting platform regarding diversity. You can be pro-diversity and ANTI-Busing! People steal a phrase like diversity to shove policies down our throats when they are not talented enough to come up with better solutions that work for all of us.
Mr. Tedesco's D-2 web site really made us think. Diversity IS a rich and rewarding goal for our community. Our school system can do much to help us cross cultural and racial divides, but economic redistribution of children is not the proper tool to get there. And using our kids for guinea pigs to test social economic theories, hurts them, disrupts the continuity they need to grow, the peer relations they need to build assist in their overall development. Can anyone say why we now have the highest drop out rate in decades and the highest number of suspensions??? Parents and Communities need to be an active part in the process.
Mr. Tedesco's web site, www.4wakekids.com , further notes that children do not grow up in a vacuum, and that we must work with our families and communities for the Academic and Social Development of our Kids.
---Posted for D-2 blogs---------------------------------------------
Mr. Hui,
It appears we may finally have a real champion for kids & families in this race; and a man who has the expertise, senior level leadership, and track record to make real change. My family and I were at the Garner Independence Day Celebration and we met John Tedesco candidate for School Board District 2. Are you familiar with him?
This Garner family man and apparent political outsider gave us his card. He was direct which was refreshing from candidates. He and his card told us that, "it is possible to be pro-diversity & anti-busing..., (and) that FORCED mandates from busing to year round assignments only hurt the continuity needed for a child's overall development, strips our families of their empowerment in the educational process, and further has the inadvertent effect of deteriorating our community."
It sounded on the mark so we checked him out. His card also said "Fighting for a Children and Family 1st School System" and (laid out like a math problem) "Our Kids + Our Taxes = Our Schools. It listed his website - www.4wakekids.com. We looked it over this weekend with some friends. It was refreshing - it wasn't Dem/Rep spin with flags and eagles and notes of national issues; it was about us, our kids, our families and our communities.
When we looked at his extensive and impressive experience, we noticed a project my neighbor worked with, so we decided to ask her (who will remain nameless as she works for the state) about him. We asked if he was too good to be true, she laughed and said, "oh, he's the real deal alright". She noted (now mind you this is hear say), he had been whoooed by the partisans on both sides for so-called "bigger" roles, such as commissioner or legislature, and that his response to them was that, "it's time we recognized our school board was worthy of BIG leadership, and that our families could no longer do with-out it."
Do you know any more about Mr. Tedesco for District 2 School Board or any of the various efforts he is involved in, as noted on the experience page of his web site?? Is anyone else familiar with him or is he really an outsider and the Board Member we have been looking for?
Please help as I am hopeful we might have found what our family has been looking for.
Just found your original blog comment
Tue, 07/07/2009 - 06:38 — KeungHui (author)Sorry, I didn't see your comment until yesterday. Tedesco has made the round with various groups, including Wake Schools Community Alliance, but hasn't been endorsed by that group. I left a message with him yesterday but haven't heard back from him yet.
Thanks for posting
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 23:25 — FalcI checked out his website and I really like what I saw.
Two quotes from her above
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 18:02 — CaryCurmudgeonTwo quotes from her above statement:
"I want to make sure all our schools are socioeconomicially diverse,"
"I'm going to make it one of my top priorities to try to reduce the busing"
These statements seem contradictory to me. WCPSS's current policy defines "Socio-economically diverse" as < 40% F&R. About fifty schools today are above 40% F&R. How do you 'fix' those fifty schools while reducing busing?
"How do you 'fix' those
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 19:20 — user1234"How do you 'fix' those fifty schools while reducing busing?"
Offer a special subject (Chinese?) or make them a magnet so people will drive their kids from all over the county to be part of the program? Many kids travel 26 miles one way each day to go to Enloe. Another example, I noticed that Stough is > 40% and twice! the F&R% of Lacy yet the the schools are only a few miles apart so a simple adjustment could be made without a lot of bussing.
Well, maybe that is the
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 20:22 — CaryCurmudgeonWell, maybe that is the solution she would propose, which would be an extreme magnetization of our school system. As is, schools across the county are cutting back on course offerings. Redirecting resources to create all those magnets would basically gut the curriculum of schools which already have the "right" population, and is an unacceptable solution.
The statements on the web site are contradictory, and I think it would be a good idea to update the web site with clarification. Without that, we can only speculate on how both objectives could be achieved.
...
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 16:18 — SideburnsIn other words, she will ignore the needs of families and communities for the good of diversity. She will support the continued long distance bus rides to protect diversity. She will disregard the need for stability in assignment to pursue diversity.
Ms. Rakestraw's children are not school-aged yet. She obviously does not understand the wrath of a parent/family scorned by the school system. Playing folk music doesn't make it any better.
It's only diversity as defined by WCPSS's policy
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 17:45 — Falcand not diversity in the broad sense. Her statements also show that she chooses to ignore or is not aware of the fact that there are diverse communities in Wake County that don't need a bus trip to get diversity.
Do the ED kids in diverse areas avoid the bus rides? No. ED kids in diverse area A get a >10 mile bus trip anyway so they can "diversify" a school in less diverse area B, then ED kids in area C are sent to area A to backfill the openings left by the kids living in area A, but sent to area B.
I don't see how Ms. Rakestraw proposes to meet the WCPSS 40% goal when approximately 1/2 the schools in her disrict are >40% ED (including several >55%) without signficantly increasing, not decreasing, reassignments and bus rides. I found it interesting that Perry Woods, her consultant, has claimed that there are only a few schools requiring "adjusting" as he put it.
I do have a suggestion for how they could accomplish the "adjusting" of schools. I suggest any child personally known by and cared about by the current policy supporters (kids, grandkids, relative's kids, neighbor's and friend's kids, etc.) be entered into an "adjustment pool." Whenever, a school needs "adjusting" those students will be reassigned to do the "adjusting." As status quo supporters claim there are few schools requiring adjusting and many supporters of the current policies and implementation strategies, the number of students in the "adjustment pool" should be plentiful to meet any adjustment needs.
Those who do not see the harm to individual students in the bussing and reassignment will then have the individual students they know doing the bus riding and being reassigned and those that have seen that there are negative human impacts from the current policy will not be further subjected to them. It's a win/win and far fewer reasons for complaints.
Let's have the current policy supporters really put their money where their mouth is so to speak. Let's have the kids they care about bussed 45 minutes as calculated by how fast Mr. Dulaney can drive it in his car without bus stops to a non-magnet school. Let's have the kids they care about bussed 10 or 12 miles as the crow flies to a 35% ED non-magnet school. Let's have that Syracuse author's grandkids (instead of close by ED/LEP kids) reassigned out of magnets to open up more magnet seats. Let's have the kids they care about assigned to MYR, especially if they have a HS sibling.
I wonder how many once they walk in those shoes, still will pretend there are no downsides.
"Playing folk music doesn't
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 16:35 — CaryCurmudgeon"Playing folk music doesn't make it any better."
Nope, its just the same old song.
Sideburn ... protecting the
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 16:35 — user1234Sideburn ... protecting the diversity policy does not imply any of the things you say. It has been mentioned many times that the policy has been poorly implemented sometimes and may need modification which could address all of the concerns and problems you listed.
pathetic, in that case we need music on buses too...
Mon, 07/06/2009 - 15:54 — mike_caryRita says, "I want to make sure all our schools are socioeconomicially diverse," Rakestraw said. "That is really important....."
So she should provide musical folk entertainment on all buses as our kids are bused 3 or 4 or 5 (or more) schools away from the closest school just because she thinks its important.....
What a waste of a brain.....