newsobserver.com blogs -- wakeed

Charlotte outperforming Wake among black, low-income students

KeungHui — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Considering how much supporters of the diversity policy made Charlotte-Meckkenburg schools a boogeyman during the school board campaign, the new board members arguably are having the last laugh now.

As noted in today's article, the new 2009 state report cards show that Charlotte's black and low-income students are outperforming their peers in Wake on state EOG and EOC exams.

"We're not saying that Charlotte is the right way, but the fact that they're doing better than us shows how poorly we've been doing," said new school board member John Tedesco in the article.

Tedesco reiterated that he wants to find a new way of educating students that's better than the Charlotte way or the Wake way.

During the campaign, diversity policy supporters frequently warned that the other side would turn Wake into a failing school system like Charlotte.

Remember this television ad? Or this mailer by the Wake Democratic Party? How about this mailer from candidate Rita Rakestraw?

School board member Keith Sutton conceded that Charlotte may be doing a better job of educating its disadvantaged students than Wake.

For instance, Sutton said that some low-income students might be "slipping through the cracks" at non-Title I schools. Wake only uses Title I funding at elementary schools where at least 35 percent of the students receive federally subsidized lunches.

But Sutton said going to neighborhood schools is not the answer to improving the performance of Wake's black and low-income students.

"I don't think the system is broken," Sutton said in the article. "Can it be tweaked? Sure."

The counter response is that Charlotte spends more per student than Wake.

Tedesco said there are creative ways that Wake can do more without necessarily spending additional money. For instance, he said they could retask some high school guidance counselors to work with targeted groups of at-risk students,

Linking school board elections with Maine same-sex marriage referendum

KeungHui — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:11:22 -0500

What do the Wake school board elections, Maine's repeal of the same-sex marriage law and the election of Republican governors in Virginia and New Jersey all have in common?

According to state Rep. Paul Stam, they're a sign "voters are squarely focused on core issues affecting their family and their future more than at any time in recent history." The Apex Republican and House Minority Leader linked all these election happenings in the latest blog post on his web site.

"The clean sweep of four seats for the Wake County Board of Education was a resounding demand for a school system that is responsive to families and fiscally accountable to taxpayers," Stam wrote. "Parents will no longer tolerate school board policies that disrupt children’s lives by arbitrary assignments and mandatory school calendars. They reject policies that fail to ensure students succeed in the name of diversity."

Stam had donated money to newly elected school board members Debra Goldman and John Tedesco.

Old board standing by Forest Ridge site

KeungHui — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

If the Forest Ridge High fight is any indication, it's going to be a tumultuous transition for the new school board majority.

As noted in today's article, it doesn't look like the current board is too impressed by the new majority's request that they stop spending any money on Forest Ridge. Outgoing board member Patti Head said the new board members don't have all the information that the current board has on Forest Ridge.

"They're duly elected, but they're not sworn in yet," Head said in the article. "We're still the elected officials."

Head said she's only seen new board members Debra Goldman and John Tedesco attend one of the many meetings the current board has had about Forest Ridge. She said she hasn't seen the others at those discussions.

Head said the new board members need to look at all the data first before calling for them to stop spending money on Forest Ridge. She said the new members may change their minds after they get information from all the parties and not just the ones they're now hearing from.

Tedesco said he and the other board members signed the joint letter as a show of support for new board member Chris Malone, a harsh critic of the Forest Ridge site.

"What you're going to see is a team that's committed to parental values and committed to fiscal conservatism in Wake County," Tedesco said.

Tedesco said it would be "arrogant" of the current board to continue spending money on Forest Ridge after getting the request from the new majority.

Malone said he felt the need to send the letter now and not wait until taking office on Dec. 1 because money is being spent right now on Forest Ridge.

"We should stop spending more money on it," Malone said. "Personally, I don't want it built there. I think a judicious review is needed."

Keith Sutton holding "listening and learning tour"

KeungHui — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:26:14 -0500

School board member Keith Sutton is holding a "listening and learning tour."

Sutton, who was appointed to the board in August, said he's doing the tour to provide him "with an opportunity to listen to the issues and concerns of parents and community members, and learn more about ways in which he can effectively represent the constituents of District 4."

Here's the media advisory:

For immediate release

Topic: Wake County School Board District 4 Listening and Learning Tour
Time: 7 pm Wednesday, Nov. 4
Place: Hunter Elementary School

Wake County School Board District 4 Representative Keith Sutton has launched a "Listening and Learning Tour" across his district that covers Southeast and parts of Central Raleigh. Stops on the tour will be at various schools, churches, and other community events within District 4.

Appointed to the Wake County School Board in August, the tour will provide Sutton with an opportunity to continue to introduce himself to constituents and interested stakeholders in the district. More importantly, it will provide Sutton with an opportunity to listen to the issues and concerns of parents and community members, and learn more about ways in which he can effectively represent the constituents of District 4.

Sutton will speak tonight at 7pm at Hunter Elementary School for a Parent's Meeting. Sutton's first stop on the "Listening and Learning Tour" was on October 25 at Compassionate Missionary Baptist Church. Sutton plans to visit each of the 17 schools in District 4. Other scheduled stops on the tour include:

Saturday, November 7, 9 am - St. Matthew AME Church, Raleigh Ministerial Alliance (tentative; call to confirm)
Sunday, November 8, 4 pm - Martin St. Baptist Church, Raleigh/Apex NAACP
Wednesday, November 18, 12pm - Longview School

Land for new northwest Raleigh elementary school

KeungHui — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:46:39 -0500

The recession is helping the school system find land for a new elementary school in northwest Raleigh.

The school board voted Tuesday to pay $2.54 million for 30.834 acres at the intersection of Baileywick and Strickland roads. Wake is buying the site from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which is the receiver for the parcel.

According to a 2008 Triangle Business Journal article, a subdivision had been planned there. But the bank foreclosed on the Raleigh real estate investment firm that owned the land.

This new site replaces the one that Wake walked away from in the watershed at Shooting Club and Creedmoor roads.

The new site is also in the Falls Lake watershed. But school board member Patti Head said that it has access to municipal water and sewer service.

Head said another benefit of this new site is that it will allow Wake to build a small middle school on the Leesville Church Road site.

If county commissioners sign off on the deal, funding to build the school would come from a future bond issue.

New board calls for stopping Forest Ridge High

KeungHui — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:54:00 -0500

The new school board majority is flexing its muscles today.

Just one day after Tuesday's election win by John Tedesco, the new board majority sent a letter today urging Wake to immediately stop work on Forest Ridge High. The letter is signed by Tedesco, Chris Malone, Debra Goldman, Deborah Prickett and Ron Margiotta.

The four new board members don't take office until Dec. 1 so it's up to the current board whether to honor the request. The current board and staff have warned that any delays to Forest Ridge High will push back the opening of the school.

Here's the joint letter:

A letter to the Wake County School Board

And County Staff.

11/04/2009

RE: Forest Ridge High School

I hope this finds everyone doing well and in good spirits. Thankfully, time for campaigning is now over. We are now a month away and a new majority will take its seats on December 1. Whereas I completely agree that we need to go forward in a judicious and thoughtful manner on any policy change I think it incumbent upon us, and in this case I do speak for the coming majority, that we suspend any future or currently planned spending on the H6 site whether direct or indirect. When I was on the Wake Forest Board it came to me that sometimes regardless of what one might believe is a good policy or program, that when the people speak loudly enough it is our job.. that being the board and the staff to amend our goals and to listen and act. Call it servant leadership. Call it politics. Sometimes the intrinsic value proposition of public opinion outweighs other concerns. Whatever it is a healthy respect for the will of the people will always keep you in good stead. So without further delay the future majority is requesting a stop to H6. We look forward to an immediate review of the available options. Thank you…

With Regards,

Chris Malone

SB- Elect District 1

John Tedesco

SB- Elect District 2

Deborah Prickett

SB- Elect District 7

Ron Margiotta

School Board Member District 8

Debra Goldman

SB- Elect District 9

Neighborhood school supporters realize their election dream

KeungHui — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Love it or hate it, Tuesday's election win by John Tedesco capped what's arguably the most important school board contest in the 33 years of the merged school system.

As noted in today's article, there's now a majority in place on the school board that backs neighborhood schools. It's something that even a few years ago wasn't something that most people thought would happen.

"We did it," said new school board member Deborah Prickett. "I can hardly believe it myself. The parents just had enough. The public has spoken."

Tedesco took special pride in how Tuesday's runoff total of 8,765 votes cast was more than double the 3,753 votes that were cast in 2005 when Horace Tart won the District 2 seat. Tedesco said the higher turnout showed that he and the new board have a "clear mandate" from the community to make the changes they promised.

Fellow new board members Debra Goldman and Chris Malone stressed that Tedesco's victory ensures they can do what they promised during the campaign.

"This is going to be a fantastic opportunity for the children of Wake County," Goldman said.

While the new board and its supporters are thrilled, keep in mind there's still a lot of people who like the existing policies. They'll fight hard to slow the new board down.

Wake GOP celebrates Tedesco win

KeungHui — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:31:57 -0500

The Wake GOP is reveling in tonight's election results.

In a press release, the Wake County Republican Party points to wins by school board candidate John Tedesco and other GOP endorsed candidates. The GOP had made it their mission this year to elect a new board majority that would back neighborhood schools.

"The voters responded to our call for fiscal conservatism, personal responsibility, government accountability and support for families and neighborhoods,” Wake County GOP Chairman Claude E. Pope, Jr, said in the press release.

Here's the press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wake Republicans Win Big Again in November Voting

Following up on its dramatic victories in the October 6 voting, the Wake County Republican Party claimed more victories throughout the county in today’s races.

The victories included two Republican winners in runoffs from the October round: John Tedesco in the high-profile District 2 School Board race, and Jennifer Robinson, Cary Town Council.

In all, the party endorsed 14 candidates in today’s races, and claimed 10 winners.

In addition to Tedesco and Robinson, the Republican winners were:

Mike Jones, Gene Schulze and Lance Olive, Apex Town Council
Cindy Shelton, Fuquay-Varina Board of Commissioners
Kathy Behringer, Garner Town Council
Dick Sears, Mayor of Holly Springs
Linda Williams, Holly Springs Town Council
Tom Murray, Morrisville Town Council

“We had a great slate of candidates,” Wake County GOP Chairman Claude E. Pope, Jr, said,” and it’s clear the Republican message resonated with the voters in 2009. The voters responded to our call for fiscal conservatism, personal responsibility, government accountability and support for families and neighborhoods,” Pope said.

“As we continue to build the resources and effectiveness of the party operations, I believe we will win more and more, and before long become the majority party in the county,” Pope added.

“Our next target will be to continue the momentum of 2009 in the vital contests of 2010, when our outstanding Republican Senator Richard Burr will be running, and the Republican Party will be fielding a slate of top-notch candidates for Congress and the State Legislature.”

The Wake County Republican Party in North Carolina seeks to recruit, train, support, and elect local candidates to all municipal, school board, county, and legislative seats. The Wake County GOP focuses its mission around the key values of fiscal conservatism, personal responsibility, family and neighborhoods, and government accountability. For further information, visit www.wakegop.org.

Truitt congratulates Tedesco on election win

KeungHui — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:09:05 -0500

Don't be surprised if you see pictures of school board candidate Cathy Truitt shaking hands with new board member John Tedesco.

Truitt unexpectedly crashed Tedesco's post-election gathering at the Heather Hills clubhouse. Tedesco was looking at the results outside the polling place when he unexpectedly got a start from Truitt, who tapped him from behind.

Truitt came by to offer her congratulations before she heads out of town Wednesday on her next educational consulting gig helping the troubled Detroit school system.

Tedesco was also joined at Heather Hills by fellow new board members Debra Goldman and Deborah Prickett. New board member Chris Malone was at home watching his kids but he did give a congratulatory phone call.

Tedesco comfortably leading in runoff

KeungHui — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:43:05 -0500

It appears that any anti-Tedesco effort in District 2 has failed to derail his election.

With nine of the 21 precincts reporting, John Tedesco has 79 percent of the vote. Cathy Truitt has 20 percent. Write-in votes account for 1 percent.

UPDATE

Wth 18 of 21 precincts reporting, Tedesco has 75 percent. Truitt has 24 percent.

With all 21 precincts reporting, Tedesco has 76 percent. Truitt has 23 percent. Tedesco more than doubled his vote total from last month. He got more votes today than were cast for all five candidates last month.

More school construction layoffs

KeungHui — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:19:01 -0500

It's going to be an unhappy holiday season for some school district employees.

The school board voted today to lay off eight people whose jobs are at least partially funded by the construction program. Two other vacant positions are being eliminated.

It's the second round of what's expected to be three waves of cuts to construction program management.

Due to the slowdown in the construction program, the school board had voted in June to lay off eight people and eliminate 14 vacant positions.

The new wave of cuts today means that 32 of the 90 positions that had been in place before June will be gone.

The next round of cuts is expected in early 2010.

Click here for details on today's cuts.

NAACP to keep eye on new school board

KeungHui — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:54:36 -0500

As voters continue to cast their ballots in the District 2 runoff, the state NAACP is sending a message it won't be going away after Election Day.

In a statement sent this afternoon, the Rev. William Barber, the head of the state NAACP, said they don't see the runoff as an "end all." Barber said they'll reviewing the policies of the new school board to see if they lead to resegregation.

"After today’s election, the constitution, the promise of equal protection, will be the tools of interpretation by which we critique the policy of not only the Wake County School Board but every school board in the state," Barber said in the statement. "When and if the policies run counter of the fundamental promises of the constitution, we will be prepared to agitate, legislate, and if needed litigate on behalf of our children."

Barber says that the neighborhood school message promoted by the new board members is "not economically feasible." He said it will lead to a situation where the best schools are only in certain neighborhoods with other areas not benefitting from housing, jobs and business development.

Click here to read the full statement.

Take Wake Schools Back's runoff campaign report

KeungHui — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:12:12 -0500

Compared to the Wake Schools Community Alliance, campaign finance reports show that Take Wake Schools Back wasn't nearly as big a monetary player.

In its runoff election report, Take Wake Schools Back said it had raised $2,083.25 as of Oct. 19. In contrast, the WSCA had raised $36,919.44.

County Commissioner Tony Gurley was Take Wake Schools Back's main donor in the latest report. He gave $1,000.

The PAC gave $375 apiece to candidates Chris Malone, John Tedesco, Deborah Prickett and Debra Goldman.

While Take Wake Schools Back didn't have as much cash as the WSCA, the group regularly sent out press releases. Take Wake Schools Back has strong ties to the Wake County Republican Party.

Potential grounds for a NAACP lawsuit

KeungHui — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

Can the Leandro case be used to block any attempt to abandon Wake's diversity policy?

As noted in today's article, the state NAACP is citing Leandro and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 as possible grounds to stall any changes that would be made by the new school board majority.

"We'll look at the policies that are implemented, then monitor new policies to make sure any changes don't violate the federal or state constitutions," said the Rev. William Barber, head of the state NAACP, in the article.

Leandro is the long-running lawsuit first filed in 1994 by five low-wealth school districts over school funding. It's grown now into a lawsuit over low-performing schools.

In 2004, the state Supreme Court largely upheld Wake Superior Court Judge Howard Manning's ruling that the state is required to provide a "sound basic education" to all public school students.

Whether Leandro could be invoked to argue that neighborhood schools would harm some students is uncertain.

Title VI prohibits discrimination by agencies that receive federal funding. Wake gets about 7 percent of its funding from the federal government.

Chris Hayes, senior legislative analyst for the conservative Civitas Institute, said the NAACP should give the new board a chance before threatening legal action.

"It seems like they are presupposing the worst without even giving it a try," Hayes said in the article.

School board candidate John Tedesco said they'd try to work with groups such as the NAACP to ease their concerns. But if that doesn't work, he said they'd implement policies that would be lawsuit proof.

Truitt explains why she'll serve if elected

KeungHui — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 06:00:00 -0500

School board candidate Cathy Truitt is trying to position herself as being a hero in the minds of opponents of the diversity policy.

As noted in today's article, Truitt said her announcement over the weekend that she'll served if elected was meant to forestall the possibility of the current school board filling the seat if she got the most votes today.

"I'm ensuring they can't appoint a supporter of forced busing," Truitt said.

Truitt said the fact that she's not campaigning is helping John Tedesco's chances of winning the runoff election.

"It is highly probable that he's going to take the election so he can legitimately take the seat," Truitt said.

Tedesco isn't taking any chances. He said his campaign is continuing to run as if Truitt was an active candidate.

"I'm not taking anything for granted," Tedesco said.

Whether Truitt's announcement that she will serve if elected dampens turnout by supporters of the diversity policy is uncertain. The NAACP held a rally Sunday urging people to vote in the runoff election today.

Although Truitt has argued that she's against forced busing, supporters of the diversity policy may consider her a more palatable choice than Tedesco. That's why she was endorsed in the runoff by groups such as the liberal Independent weekly.

NAACP's threat to sue over resegregation

KeungHui — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:32:36 -0500

To say that the NAACP is making a threat to sue just hours before the school board runoff election is a bit of a stretch.

As noted in Saturday's article by Thomas Goldsmith and Kristin Collins, that threat to litigate was made at Friday's NAACP mass meeting at Martin Street Baptist Church.

The Rev. William Barber, head of the state NAACP, drew a standing ovation at Friday's meeting when he brought up the willingness to sue Wake to prevent resegregation.

You can check out tomorrow's paper and the blog for an amplification on Barber's position. For now, you can read this speech he made Friday.

USA Today on school board election results

KeungHui — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:36:25 -0500

Wake's school board election results have gotten some national attention.

In an article in today's USA Today, it's noted how more school districts are using socioeconomic diversity with Wake as the national model. But the backlash in Wake was also noted as well.

"They take these poor kids who are struggling and do their very best to spread them around and create the appearance of healthy schools," said Joe Ciulla of the Wake Schools Community Alliance, in the article.

Ciulla's photo is also in the article.

But the fears about the victories by neighborhood school supporters are also mentioned.

Paulette Jones Leaven, the in-school suspension coordinator at Carroll Middle School, says resegregation will occur if the socioeconomic diversity policy is ended.

She also brings up the school district study that said that 96 percent of students go to school less than 10 miles from home as the crow flies. The study was frequently cited by the unsuccessful candidates who backed the diversity policy.

2008-09 N.C. School Report Cards released

KeungHui — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 13:15:11 -0500

The new N.C. School Report Cards are out with 2008-09 school year data.

Since these report cards have been used in the past to compare Wake and Charlotte-Mecklenburg, let's revisit the issue again. Wake gets less money and does better overall than CMS, but CMS does better among several subgroups.

Let's start with test results.

Looking at the percentage of kids who passed both the reading and math end-of-grate exams, Wake's overall passing rate is 70.3 percent. It's 63.5 percent in CMS.

But interestingly, CMS now has a slightly higher EOG passing rate among white students with 86.8 percent. It's 86.4 percent in Wake.

But Wake does better overall because it has fewer minority and low-income students than CMS.

Looking at some other CMS subgroups, the EOG passing rate was 47.9 percent for black students, 51.7 percent for Hispanic students, 46.7 percent for economically disadvantaged students, 38.6 percent for limited English proficient students and 29.8 percent for students with disabilities.

In Wake, it was 45.2 percent for black students, 46.9 percent for Hispanic students, 43.9 percent for economically disadvantaged students, 35.4 percent for limited English proficient students and 35.7 percent for students with disabilities.

On the flip side, defenders of Wake's diversity policy argue th district gets less money than Charlotte. They say it will cost more money to move to a system of neighborhood schools.

According to the report cards, CMS got $337.17 more overall per student. It was $8,619.34 in CMS and $8.282.17 in Wake.

Looking just at local dollars, CMS got $77.14 more per student than Wake. It was $2,533.90 per student in CMS and $2,456.76 per student in Wake.

Making up that $77.14 would cost an additional $10.8 million dollars in local spending.

CORRECTION

Corrected CMS overall passing rate on both EOG exams to 63.5 percent.

Truitt says she'll serve if she wins

BruceSiceloff — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 18:09:37 -0400

Wake County school board candidate Cathy Truitt said today she will serve on the board if she wins Tuesday's District 2 runoff election.

“It may be improbable that I'm elected, but if I am, I will take the oath and serve,” she told N&O reporter Cathy Truitt. “I made that commitment to the children.”

Truitt finished a distant second to John Tedesco in the Oct. 6 elections, and quickly requested a runoff. She later conceded the race and tried to take back her request after early voting had begun.

But Truitt never officially withdrew her candidacy, and the state Board of Elections last week decided to go forward with the runoff.

Discussing the impact of magnet and year-round schools

KeungHui — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0400

Tuesday's discussion about Fox Road Elementary highlights the challenges and limits that the current assignment policy faces in Wake.

For those who don't want to read the whole post, I'll run off some of the main points from Tuesday's facilities committee meeting. Staff is reviewing the draw areas for magnet and year-round schools, which could affect where current and future application students will go.

For diversity reasons, some magnet schools were deliberately left with empty seats this school year. For diversity reasons, an effort to encourage more low-income students to apply for year-round schools may have backfired, at least at Fox Road Elementary.

For those who are patient, here's how things unfolded.

Fox Road was chosen for a more detailed focus because the high number of middle-income students who've left the school have sharply increased its percentage of low-income students.

Look at this handout from Tuesday's meeting to give you a start.

There was a sharp spike in the number of people from Fox Road's base who applied for magnet and year-round schools in 2007-08. That's also the year in which a lot of Wildwood Forest Elementary students were reassigned to Fox Road.

Looking at the magnet totals, you'll see fewer students got accepted this school year from Fox Road.

(AC KI means accepted for kindergarten. AC Not KI is for applicants accepted for other grades. AZ KI is for kids who got in because of sibling priority.)

Staff explained that in past years, applicants from non-priority applicant schools such as Fox Road were often able to get seats in magnet schools over the summer. This took place when magnet principals feared they wouldn't have enough kids to keep their alloted teachers. When the priority pool was exhausted, it got opened up to everyone else.

But this year, Laura Evans, a growth and planning senior director, said they tried to do a better job at not filling seats over the summer with non-priority applicants even if meant leaving seats empty.

Moving to year-round schools, you'll notice a spike this year in the number of applicants accepted from Fox Road.

Asst. Supt. Chuck Dulaney explained that this year they had tried to increase the number of low-income applicants to year-round schools by changing the selection criteria.

In 2008, the selection was based on the node and base school both being 5 percent above the system average for F&R.

This year, it was based on the node and base school both having an F&R percentage above the county average of 33 percent.

This is where Fox base parents may have benefited. The school is well above the system average for low-income students.

Dulaney said what happened at Fox Road is that they got middle-income applicants who applied from high-needs nodes. The F&R percentage of Fox's year-round applicants was 17 percent.

"We probably pulled students out who were not from high-needs families who were from high-needs nodes," Dulaney said.

Dulaney said this is a problem that's not exactly uncommon.

"The problems of middle income students migrating to year-round schools has long been a problem," Dulaney said. "It’s not a problem we’ve figured out how to solve, and it’s a problem that manifested itself this year at Fox Road."

Wake's problem is that it can only look at node-level data. It's not allowed to look at the F&R percentage of an individual student who has applied for a seat.

Dulaney called Fox Road an example of an "assignment puzzle." While Fox Road doesn't have the space to handle all the kids from its base, Wake would prefer that more low-income students leave than middle-income ones.

Dulaney said that if all the base returned, they'd have to reassign 300 to 400 students out of Fox Road.

"It's a quintissential example of how hard it is to assign students to their closest school, keep schools balanced and offer choice to families," Dulaney said.

Dulaney and board members stressed that they're not talking about forcing application and transfer students to return to their base schools.

But Dulaney said his staff is reviewing the draw areas for the magnet and year-round schools. He could present new draw areas to the board in November or December.

Dulaney said they'll look at things such as whether a particular school gets too many or too few applicants.

The issue here is you're applying to a program and not to a specific school. So if they change which year-round school covers your area or which GT magnet school is in your area, you've got a problem.

They'll let you stay, but possibly without transportation. You can also go to the new school or return to your base school.

Wake redrew several draw areas for this school year.

As part of the review of draw lines, school board member Lori Millberg suggested making River Bend Elementary the year-round application school for Fox Road. It's currently Durant Road Eleentary, which has a much lower F&R percentage than either River Bend of Fox Road.

Millberg said making River Bend the year-round choice for Fox Road would be a "win, win" situation.

Aside from the potential draw area changes, the outgoing board doesn't appear to be set to make changes to the selection lottery. Board member Patti Head said they should share all this data with the new board members.

“The new board that’s seated in December will very much be interested in these new reports," Head said.

It's more likely that the new board will go to a random selection process instead of the weighted one now in place.

Calendar changes for Leesville schools?

KeungHui — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0400

This month's school board election in District 7 pretty much has shown that more people opposed mandatory year-round schools and the calendar conversions than supported them.

Concerned and Committed Lessville Parents and BiggerPicture4Wake had both claimed they represented the silent majority. But as noted in today's North Raleigh News article, CCLP's side prevailed and now the question is when Leesville Road elementary and middle schools will go back to a traditional calendar.

The signs seem to be pointing to both schools abandoning the year-round calendar for the 2010-11 school year.

New school board member Deborah Prickett thinks a switch for next school year is reasonable. While Prickett says she can only speak for herself, the other members of the new board majority aren't saying no to holding back on the Leesville changes.

Lisa Boneham, founder of CCLP, said it's a "no brainer" to switch next year. She said the elections results have been cheered by parents throughout the Leesville area.

Boneham and Prickett are envisioning Leesville Elementary's year-round application students going to Sycamore Creek Elementary. But Boneham said she'd like the board to allow any current application students to stay at Leesville if they don't mind the calendar change.

It's not as clear what you would do with the application students for Leesville Middle. It's not like there are nearby year-round middle schools in that part of the county.

Prickett also wants to look at returning the Wood Valley subdivision students to Leesville Middle. They were moved to West Millbrook Middle this year to help that school's F&R mix and because their elementary school feeds there.

But Rhonda Curtright and Maria Mauriello, co-founders of BiggerPicture, say that leaving the Leesville schools on the year-round calendar are a better move for the future of the school system.

School board memer Patti Head echoed the BiggerPicture view. She said that growth will eventually pick up and the two Leesville schools won't be able to keep up with all the new students operating on a traditional calendar.

Head warned that Leesville parents who are pushing for the traditional calendar now could be courting major reassignment out of the schools in the future.

Head compared Leesville to the situation at Lacy Elementary, which had initially been considered in 2006 for year-round conversion before being dropped from the list.

The Lacy parents had fought conversion, helping form Wake Families for School Choice.

But this year, the school board voted to reassign students out of Lacy to help reduce crowding. (Also to improve the F&R balance at schools such as Stough Elementary.)

Head said several Lacy parents had come to board members saying they now wanted the year-round calendar if they could stay at the school. She said she told them it's too late to make the change now even though the renovated campus has more space.

(I'm on vacation for the rest of the week. I won't be checking the blog until Monday.)

WSCA's runoff campaign report

KeungHui — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:49:47 -0400

The Wake Schools Community Alliance has continued to raise more money for the runoff.

In this campaign report received today, the WSCA reported having raised $36,919.44 as of Oct. 19. The group had spent most of the money, leaving $2,650.54 available.

The biggest new donor was conservative businessman Robert Luddy, who gave $4,000. School board member Ron Margiotta gave $1,650.

County Commissioner Tony Gurley gave another $1,000 to increase his total contribution to $2,000.

Other donors include former Raleigh City Councilman Kieran Shanahan and Civitias Institute executive director Francis DeLuca. The WSCA also received a number of donations from Indian-Americans.

The WSCa reported giving Deborah Prickett's campaign another $2.000 to bring up the total to $2,500. John Tedesco's campaign got another $2,250 to bring up the total to $4,950.

The WSCA is still facing the campaign election complaint filed by political consultant Perry Woods over whether it exceeded limits for supporting individual school board candidates.

CORRECTION

Changed wording from violation to complaint.

Tedesco's runoff campaign report

KeungHui — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:29:16 -0400

School board candidate John Tedesco has overtaken Cathy Truitt for the fundraising lead in District 2.

In this campaign report received today, Tedesco reported having raised $20,065.96 as of Oct. 19. Through that same time period, Truitt had reported raising $19,425.31.

Tedesco also has a lot more money than Truitt available for spending in the final week. He reported having spent $12,936.07 and having $6,100.40 on hand.

Tedesco's biggest new donor is conservative businessman Robert Luddy, who gave $4.000.

Tedesco also got money from new school board member Deborah Prickett, state Sen. Richard Stevens, County Commissioner Paul Coble, Garner Town Alderman Phillip Matthews and former County Commissioner Gary Pendleton.

Tedesco got another $2,250 from the Wake Schools Community Alliance, bringing up the group's donation to $4,950.

Other PAC money came from Take Wake schools Back, former County Commissioner Phil Jeffreys, state Rep. Paul Stam and the N.C. Indian-American PAC. Jeffreys had also given money to Truit.

State Board of Elections to hear runoff Wednesday

KeungHui — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:10:42 -0400

The state Board of Elections has scheduled the discussion of the District 2 school board runoff election for 9 a.m. Wednesday.

The state board is meeting at the State Capital Clarion Hotel, 320 Hillsborough Street in Raleigh. It is open to the public in case you don't want to chance the television stations streaming the school board discussion on air or online.

Tedesco mailer urges voters to come out Tuesday

KeungHui — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:14:51 -0400

With the possibility that the runoff won't be cancelled, school board candidate John Tedesco is urging his supporters to turn out on Tuesday

In this campaign mailer that went out today, Tedesco tella voters "don't be tricked." He's urging voters to come out to make sure that the current school board doesn't have a chance to fill the seat.

The state Board of Elections could get to the issue Wednesday. But it's safer for Tedesco to tell his supporters not to be complacent.

Quick recap of magnet, Forest Ridge High discussions

KeungHui — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:23:18 -0400

Here's a quick recap on today's facilities committee meeting.

The school board wrapped up the magnet school discussion without proposing any changes to the magnet selection process. But staff is looking at the draw areas for magnet and year-round schools so stay tuned.

I'll do a separate post on the magnet discussion later. For now, I'll focus more on the Forest Ridge High discussion.

In a nutshell, the school district is still moving forward with using the site on Forestville Road near U.S. 401.

Asst. Supt. Joe Desormeaux said they've completed new traffic studies for the site but are now waiting to hear from the state and Raleigh about how it could impact costs.

The review of alternate sites is also moving forward.

A working group of county and school staff have been reevaluating sites within and near the original target ring for the school. A narrowed-down list is now being reviewed by the county's Water Quality Department to see what water issues might knock out those parcels.

Once the water people pare down the list, staff from the county, Raleigh, state Department of Transportation, Wake Forest, Rolesville and the school system will meet Friday and shrink the list further.

The list will then go back to the working group, which will compare the parcels to the existing site. They'll forward the information to the school board and county commissioners in November.

New board members to speak at Taxpayers Association meeting

KeungHui — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0400

Chalk this up as another example of how things are changing on the school board.

The Wake County Taxpayers Association is announcing that school board candidate John Tedesco and the three newly elected school board members will speak at the group's monthly meeting on Thursday.

They'll be joined by current school board member Ron Margiotta, called "our hero" by the WCTA, and Allison Backhouse of the Wake Schools Community Alliance.

"How great it is to see the way things are shaping up to effect the changes that have been needed for so long," says former state Rep. Russell Capps, president of the WCTA, in a e-mail message announcing the meeting.

The current board members are not exactly favorites of the WCTA. Then again, critics argue that the new board won't be able to keep taxes down while also bringing about changes such as moving to neighborhood schools and ending busing for diversity and mandatory year-round schools

The meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Barbecue Lodge, 4600 Capital Blvd. in Raleigh. You're told to come at 5:45 p.m. if you want to order food.

More magnet, Forest Ridge High discussions

KeungHui — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0400

The outgoing school board delves back into the world of magnet schools and the new Forest Ridge High School today.

During today's facilities committee meeting, board members will talk more about changes to the magnet and year-round selection process, focusing particularly on how the current system has affected Fox Road Elementary. They'll also discuss whether to continue going ahead with construction of Forest Ridge High.

The board is moving forward on both issues even though it's likely the new members will go the other way after taking office Dec. 1.

Today's meeting is open to the public. It begins at 9 a.m. in the board conference room, 3600 Wake Forest Road, Raleigh.

Truitt spent most of campaign money

KeungHui — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:25:36 -0400

School board candidate Cathy Truitt burned through a good chunk of her campaign money before the runoff.

This campaign report Truitt filed today showed that she had $621.39 left as of Oct. 19. She's spent most of the $19,425.31 she's raised so far.

Truitt continued to get most of her contributions from members of Greater Garner Advocates.

Candidates and PACs who've spent money as part of next week's still scheduled District 2 runoff have to have reports postmarked by today. No reports were in this morning for John Tedesco or any of the PACs.

Candidates in races without a runoff don't have to file until the end of the year.

No decision expected today on runoff election

KeungHui — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:04:50 -0400

The word coming from the N&O reporters at the state Board of Elections meeting is that the District 2 school board runoff election won't be discussed today.

What's uncertain in when and if the state board will hear the issue as it deals with the Easley investigation. While local elections officials say they're confident the won't be left hanging, the state board could duck the issue entirely.

A no-call by the state board would mean that the runoff still takes place on Nov. 3.

UPDATE

NBC 17 is reporting that state board chairman Larry Leake says it may be Wednesday before they get to the runoff.

Sutton questions lack of diversity among employee honorees

KeungHui — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:00:00 -0400

School board member Keith Sutton wasn't happy last week at the apparent lack of diversity among the latest winners of the district's Employee Excellence awards.

Once a month, the school district honors employees, who've been nominated by their colleagues, at a school board meeting. Last week, 13 employees were recognized.

It was the first such ceremony for Sutton, who joined the board in August. After the ceremony ended and the employees left the room, Sutton said the winners did not appear to be a very diverse group.

"It's a stark recognition I saw tonight," Sutton said.

It appeared that only two of the winners were African American. For those who don't know, Sutton is the lone minority on the nine-member board.

Sutton said he couldn't hold back from voicing the concerns he had raised privately with Superintendent Del Burns. (After the awards ceremony, the board went into closed session and later returned to open session.)

Sutton said the winners were not representative of the diversity that Wake is expected to uphold.

But Sutton quickly added that he didn't want to take anything away from the winners.

School board member Ron Margiotta asked Sutton if he any ideas for improving the diversity of the winners.

Sutton responded that he didn't have any ideas at this time. He also acknowledged that it was his first time seeing the awards ceremony and that the winners may have reflected who was nominated.

Margiotta said he hadn't noticed the concerns Sutton saw of the winners.

School board member Patti Head said Sutton needs to hold judgment. While she said she hadn't done a personal study, she said they see lots of different people honored over the course of a year.

Head suggested holding off the discussion for a year after seeing who else is honored. (She'll be off the board by then.)

Wake revises graduation rate

KeungHui — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 09:00:00 -0400

Wake's high school graduation rate has dropped more than what was previously reported.

The state released this month revised graduation rates for individual school districts. In Wake, the overall 4-year graduation rate is 78.4 percent. It had been reported at 78.6 percent in August.

The graduation rate also dropped since August for several Wake groups, including low-income students.

The 2008-09 graduation data was originally presented on Aug. 6 as part of the ABCs of Public Education report. Lou Fabrizio, director of accountability policy for the state Department of Public Instruction, said districts were given 30 days from that point to report changes.

Wake's corrected data saw several changes among individual groups and the overall percentage.

Wake's new graduation rate for economically disadvantaged students is 54.2 percent. It had been originally reported at 54.6 percent.

The winning school board candidates had focused on the graduation rate for ED students during the campaign. The state rate for these kids is 61.8 percent.

For Wake's black students, it's now 63.4 percent instead of 63.6 percent.

Hispanic students are at 51.1 percent. They had been at 51.7 percent in August.

Limited English proficient students are now at 38.9 percent instead of 39.5 percent.

Students with disabilities are now at 56.8 percent instead of 57.1 percent.

Wake has a pretty good overall graduation rate compared to the nation's largest districts.

Wake's overall graduation rate is still above the state average of 71.7 percent. But the gap between Wake and the state has been shrinking.

Wake's graduation rate has been falling. It was 82.6 percent after the 2005-06 school year. It was 79.3 percent after 2006-07. It was 78.8 percent after the 2007-08 school year.

During that same time period, the state's four-year graduation rate has increased. It was 68.3 percent after 2005-06. It was 69.5 percent after 2006-07. It was at 70.3 percent after 2007-08.

Student assignment still an issue in Charlotte schools

KeungHui — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:59:42 -0400

The return to neighborhood schools hasn't ended fights about student assignment in Charlotte.

As noted in today's Charlotte Observer, student assignment is a major factor in next month's Charlotte-Mecklenburg school boards elections. Fights over boundary lines for new schools brought hundreds of people to school district meetings and intensified interest in the elections.

Charlotte still uses diversity as a factor, albeit not a major one, in assigning students to neighborhood schools. Some candidates say CMS should "stop juggling demographics and create stable boundaries that reflect neighborhoods and communities."

But at least one candidate thinks CMS needs to do more to promote diversity.

Moving to controlled choice to maintain diversity?

KeungHui — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 14:42:57 -0400

Should Wake adopt a controlled choice model as a way to promote diversity without going to neighborhood schools?

That's the approach pitched in an op-ed piece today by Richard Kahlenberg, who says controlled choice would "honor school integration, minimize mandatory student reassignment and maximize parental choice." Kahlenberg, a senior researcher at The Century Foundation, is a big booster of Wake's current diversity policy who is trying to make the best of the recent school board election results.

Under controlled choice, all of Wake's schools would essentially become magnet schools. Parents would select from schools within a zone with the district making the final choice to promote diversity.

The challenge is that controlled choice models are something usually done by much smaller school districts. Charlotte-Meckelnburg tried a variant on this after ending busing for diversity in 2002 before scrapping it after determininig it was too cumbersome.

Kahlenberg cites Cambridge Public Schools in Massschusetts, which was the first to use controlled choice. The 6,000-student district has the goal of each grade in each school being within 15 percentage points of the districtwide K-8 percentage of F&R students.

Cambridge has had mixed success achieving that diversity goal.

If controlled choice sounds familiar, it's what school board candidate Carlene Lucas had promoted in District 2.

District 2 runoff on unless state says otherwise

KeungHui — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 14:56:33 -0400

Until the state Board of Elections decides on the issue, the District 2 school boar runoff is still set to take place on Nov. 3.

That's the message Wake County Board of Elections Director Cherie Poucher is telling people. She said this means that groups who'd file campaign finance runoff reports that are due Monday must still do.

In terms of Monday, the hope is that the state Board of Elections will decide at the start of their 11 a.m. public meeting at the Clarion Raleigh Hotel State Capital at 320 Hillsborough St., Raleigh. If the board goes into the Easley investigation first, who knows when the issue will be addressed.

Poucher said she can't imagine the state board ignoring the county's request for guidance on the runoff.

State Board of Elections to decide on school board runoff

KeungHui — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:37:28 -0400

You can add the Wake school board runoff mess to the list of items that the state Board of Elections will handle next week.

The Wake County Board of Elections unanimously voted today to ask the state board for guidance on whether to still hold the Nov. 3 runoff in the District 2 race. That contest could decide the future direction of the school system.

When the state board gets to the runoff issue is uncertain. They'd have to fit it into a busy meeting schedule that begins on Monday with the hearing into former Governor Mike Easley's campaign finances.

Wake County Board of Elections Director Cherie Poucher said she's confident that the state will act on the issue to give the local board some guidance before Election Day. Only the state board has the authority to cancel the runoff.

On Wednesday, school board candidate Cathy Truitt withdrew her earlier request for a runoff. If the runoff is cancelled, John Tedesco would take the seat and provide the vote needed to form a new board majority that supports neighborhood schools.

On one side, the Wake County Republican Party and others critical of the school district's socioeconomic diversity policy want the runoff over.

But on the other side, the state NAACP wants the runoff to continue.

If the runoff takes place, supporters of the diversity policy could mount a campaign to have Truitt get the most votes. Since she has withdrawn from the race, the seat would be declared vacant if she won the runoff. The current school board would then appoint a person who'd leave supporters of the diversity policy in the majority.

Democrats deciding on District 2 runoff election

KeungHui — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:50:26 -0400

This may have no impact on the District 2 runoff decision, but one thing to consider is that Democrats make up the majority of the local and state elections boards.

Two of the three members of the Wake County Board of Elections are Democrats. Three of the five members of the state Board of Elections are Democrats.

Democrats have been more supportive than Republicans of maintaining the school district's socioeconomic diversity policy.

Raleigh not charging Friends of Diversity for using Convention Center

KeungHui — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:36:41 -0400

It looks like the Friends of Diversity held their Oct. 5 press conference without having to pay to use the Raleigh Convention Center.

Raleigh City Manager Russell Allen told local conservative political activist Joey Stansbury that nothing was charged because the space "was available and would require no support or expense from the Convention Center operation."

The city owns the convention center, which hosted the press conference on the day before the school board election. Local dignitaries, including Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, attended the event to urge voters to support keeping Wake's socioeconomic diversity policy.

None of the speakers endorsed specific candidates. But it wasn't too hard to figure out who they were backing.

Below are e-mail messages that Stansbury provided to the N&O concerning his public records request on the Friends of Diversity using the convention center. (i've removed the e-mail addresses and phone numbers.)

From: Allen, Russell
Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2009 12:53 PM
To: 'Joey Stansbury'
Subject: FW: confirming

Dear Mr. Stansbury,

This is the only email correspondence related to your public information request. The original call for availability of the public plaza area in front of the Convention Center came via phone call to our center director Roger Krupa and it came from the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. The space was available and would require no support or expense from the Convention Center operation, so there was no fee. As you can see in the email, it was subsequently moved to just inside the lobby, and again there was no conflict or cost to the Center.

Sincerely,

J Russell Allen
City Manager, Raleigh

From: Barclay Williams
Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2009 11:19 AM
To: Roger Krupa
Subject: FW: confirming

From: Barclay Williams
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 11:34 AM
To: 'Ratledge, Brenda'
Subject: RE: confirming

OK

Barclay Williams | Assistant to the Director |

From: Ratledge, Brenda
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 11:34 AM
To: Barclay Williams
Subject: RE: confirming

According to Harvey it is inside the main lobby in front of the stairs.

From: Barclay Williams
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 11:26 AM
To: Ratledge, Brenda
Cc: 'Michelle Boyette'; 'Erin Corona'
Subject: RE: confirming

And again, this is inside the RCC? Staff notice that went out said it was outside. I do not think this will be a problem but again, just making sure.

Barclay Williams | Assistant to the Director |

From: Ratledge, Brenda
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 11:24 AM
To: Barclay Williams
Subject: RE: confirming

No sound. Media will have their own. Thanks for asking.

From: Barclay Williams
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 11:20 AM
To: Ratledge, Brenda
Subject: RE: confirming

a podium w/ sound I assume...?

Thanks
Barclay Williams | Assistant to the Director |

From: Ratledge, Brenda
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 11:20 AM
To: Barclay Williams
Subject: RE: confirming

Thanks for checking. This media conference has been called by Keith Sutton, newly appointed Board of Education member. It is not a Chamber event. The conference is set to begin at 10 a.m. and they will need a podium in front of the stiars in the main lobby. Thanks again, Barclay.

From: Barclay Williams
Sent: Friday, October 02, 2009 11:05 AM
To: Ratledge, Brenda
Subject: confirming

Brenda:

You are probably not the person I need to be checking with - but Roger is out of office today & yesterday. On his way out the door on Wed., he announced the Chamber's press announcement scheduled for Monday morning outside the RCC. I asked him if this event required any set/up / technical support from RCC staff and he stated that it did NOT.
I just want to make sure! Do you know any specifics on the event?

Thanks!
Barclay
Barclay Williams | Assistant to the Director |

Disenfranchising District 2 voters?

KeungHui — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0400

Would the will of the voters in District 2 be disenfranchised/suppressed if the runoff took place or if was canceled?

As noted in today's article, state NAACP President William Barber said canceling the runoff now would deprive voters of their say. Even though Cathy Truitt doesn't want a runoff, Barber said holding the election on Nov. 3 would give voters the right to say they don't want John Tedesco to represent them.

"We're calling on the county Board of Elections and the state Board of Elections to rule in favor of not disenfranchising voters," Barber said.

Barber also acknowledged that a campaign against Tedesco could push the seat in the hands of the current school board to fill. That's not something he'd mind considering how he's warning that diversity is at risk.

But Tedesco said the voters spoke on Oct. 6, giving most of the votes to him and Truitt. (Turnout was 9.3 percent on Oct. 6.)

"Why are these people trying to suppress the will of those voters now?" Tedesco said. "This is between Cathy and I, and Cathy doesn't want a runoff. The voters spoke overwhelmingly for me."

Tedesco said he was also disappointed that the NAACP had not been in touch with him before calling on the runoff to be held.

"Heaven forbid they actually sat down and talked to me about what I am trying to do to help these kids," Tedesco said.

Today's special meeting at noon of the Wake County Board of Elections has now gotten a lot more heated. It's open to the public but it's probably going to be cramped.

The meeting is supposed to take place in Wake Board of Elections Director Cherie Poucher's office at 337 S. Salisbury Street in Raleigh. Poucher said the board members will participate through a teleconference call.

NAACP demands that District 2 runoff go on

KeungHui — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:09:52 -0400

Folks who thought that the diversity policy supporters might try to slip an election win in District 2 may be right after all.

The state NAACP announced today that it's demanding that elections officials go ahead with the runoff even though Cathy Truitt withdrew the request. The same press release also accuses Republicans of using neighborhood schools as a guise for resegregation.

If the runoff goes forward and Truitt gets the most votes, she could be declared the winner or the seat could be declared vacant so that the current school board would fill the spot.

Here's the NAACP press release:

APPLYING OLD STRATEGY TO WAKE COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION:

Changing Mid-stream

Press Statement by

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II

NC NAACP STATE PRESIDENT

This election for school board in Wake County has turned on the issue of whether we want an American school system here in Wake County that follows the Constitution, upholds the mandates of Brown vs. Board of Education and provides a high quality diverse integrated educational environment or whether we want to abandon the Constitution and some progress for a return to resegregated high poverty schools, which discriminate and undermine commitment to fundamental high quality education. Some seemingly want to run back to and old America while those wanting to maintain diversity desire to keep pushing towards a better America and North Carolina.

While this is supposed to be a non-partisan election, we can clearly see this push against diversity is being done and orchestrated to some degree by persons affiliated with the Republican Party. And, it is being carried out by reviving the old Nixon Southern Strategy of the late 60s and early 70s in new ways. We have seen in this election cycle the re-vitalization of Nixon's Southern Strategy Proven Slogans against "Forced Busing" and for "Neighborhood Schools," which then and now meant resegregation and serve as code words to engender racial fear and division.

Now, this week, a new manipulation is being employed: the engineers of this plan, plan to hijack the school board, do away with diversity, and have gone beyond coded political debate to an attempt to disenfranchise voters and railroad the voting process itself. We cannot stand for this as a community. People of all races and backgrounds who believe in fundamental fairness must challenge these efforts. It is one thing to be wrong in your debate and misleading in your political positions. It’s entirely another thing to try and manipulate the law and voting process in the middle of an election where voters have already gone to the polls. This is anti our democratic process.

We call on the county and state boards of elections to adhere to a logical interpretation of the Law.

According to statute (NCGS 163-111(c)(2-3):

“(2) A candidate who is apparently entitled to demand a second primary, according to the unofficial results, for one of the offices listed below and desiring to do so, shall file a request for a second primary in writing with the chairman or director of the county board of elections no later than 12:00 noon on the ninth day (including Saturdays and Sundays) following the date on which the primary was conducted, and such request shall be subject to the certification of the official results by the county board of elections:

(3) Immediately upon receipt of a request for a second primary the appropriate board of elections, State or county, shall notify all candidates entitled to participate in the second primary, by telephone followed by written notice, that a second primary has been requested and of the date of the second primary.”

These provisions clearly mean that a candidate had, in this instance, through October 15 to seek a second primary (which I assume the second place finisher did in this case). The reasoning behind this is pretty clear: making sure that preparations can be made in a timely fashion for the run-off if it is necessary. Approaching this reasoning from the other perspective, one could reason that, in this scenario, if the second place finisher said she would seek a run-off by October 15, then the election's board will operate on this information going forward from this date, and, therefore, subsequent efforts to get off the ballot after this date, when preparations have already been made for the election, should be disallowed.

We must not allow the political chicanery of any group for its own political reason to upset or overturn the rights of the voters and the integrity of the system.

Beyond today we are organizing a NAACP MASS meeting on Oct. 30 at 7pm at Martin St. Baptist Church to expose this New Southern Strategy under the guise of “neighborhood schools” and to articulate our clear legal and activism strategy going forward. We are committed to SAVE OUR DIVERSITY AND SAVE OUR CHILDREN.

Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities, conducting voter mobilization and monitoring equal opportunity in the public and private sectors. For more information, call the State Office at 866-626-2227 or e-mail us at execdirnaacpnc@gmail.com. ###

Tedesco responds to concerns about resegregation and magnet schools

KeungHui — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 16:11:54 -0400

School board candidate John Tedesco is responding to the attacks made that the new board will resegregate schools and do away with magnet programs.

Tedesco says they'll find a new way for schools that's not the Charlotte way or the Wake way. While they won't abolish magnet schools, Tedesco said they will look at changing "inequities" in the selection process that reduce the odds for gifted students in low-income communities from getting into the program.

The current selection system is weighted toward giving applicants from crowded, more affluent schools higher priority. That's because the base populations at magnet schools usually have a high percentage of poor kids.

Below is the post he sent in response to the new NAACP/CCCAAC attack on the board. At his suggestion, I'm turning his reply into a separate post.

Keung - This post may be better served under it's own heading but I will leave that for you to decide. This is being written in a bit of haste/frustration so forgive me this one time from typos/spelling mistakes and a hint of tone.

We have heard a lot about the D-2 race in the weeks since OCT. 6th from everyone except the man who won 49.4% of the vote in a 5 way race that drew a 38% increase in voter turnout from the previous school board election. I remain humbled by that support. I am looking forward to working with Mr. Tart and Dr. Truitt. But despite being out spent 2-1 by both Mr. Tart and Dr. Truitt, voters selected me over each of them by more than 2-1. Why? For over 6 months those voters had a chance to get to know me, hear me, see me, and then make up their minds. My message was clear, my vision has not changed, my character remained steadfast.

So in the last two weeks many have scrambled to re-cast my vision or stance on key issues. We have heard extreme sensationalism such as "blow up our schools" "resegregation" and "abandon magnets". While this may sell papers and strike fear it does not hold an ounce of truth. Now Calla wishes to pigeon hole me and note me as segregating schools with the KIPP model. Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.

I do believe there is some value to the KIPP models and we may want to borrow from some aspects or even create one. But this does not even touch the surface of my dreams and visions for our community. Try knowing me and what I believe before you decide. We spent too much time in our community looking for the lines that divide us and not enough time seeking the ties that bind us.

I have said from day one that I am committed to a community schools model. But do any of them even know what that really is??? I am committed to ushering in a digital age of innovation in our classrooms. I am committed to creating a vision to get us there together. I am attaching a few links to highlight some of these items that motavated me last year. I am also copying below a letter I sent to a parent who wrote the newly elected leadership with concerns.

Let me please encourage those truly interested in these matters to really pay close attention. Actually read the whole letter AND watch the videos before you chime in. It was the comments in the letter that helped assure Cathy of my goals. We will not agree on all of these things and I will not have all the answers on all of these issues. But I do believe that we can find them together.

First the videos are critical to understand. This link will take you to a page that shows a video tour of just some of the community schools around the country and what they have been able to do (each different). I have watched all of them several times and have contacted these schools. All of these were done while saving millions not adding millions.

ALLOW ME TO PLEASE ASK YOU to at least watch the first one the page (it is 17 minutes and you need to see the whole thing to understand how they put it together) it is the John A. Johnson Elem. School in St. Paul, and it is titled Great Schools by design. This represents one end of my vision geared at reaching our most vulnerable. The end end geared at reaching our most gifted uses a similar approach but taps into our rich resources to do dynamic things. Video link below.
http://thecommunityagenda.org/video/main/

This is the link for the home page of the Coalition for Community Schools. This is extra for those who really want more. Here there are countless resources, other videos, tool kits for funding for every size system, and so much more. http://www.communityschools.org/

The few videos below are each about 3 minutes and they reflect other pieces of my vision.

How about a need for digital innovation in teaching?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8

Now go from that to see that there some new schools that are building walls and desks like this video shows
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2Kn2HKCWqs

How about how we teach?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l72UFXqa8ZU

How about how we design our schools?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLvoNrjryeg

How do we get to all of this?
My letter as noted above, is below. This will show some insight to how I want to get there. Imagine what we can do together.

For those of you who watched all of these and read all of this and want to share in this process - Thanks. John
My email is jtedesco@4wakekids.com for those who want to continue the dialogue of all we can do together. Bare with me if I am slow on the response (I am a little busy these days as you likely can see if you read these blogs).

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear S.

We greatly appreciate your concern and comments. These are legitimate concerns in our community, but I assure you our new leadership is committed to being respectful of our past while building our future. There is an unfounded community fear (I believe a bit of media hype - personally) that we are going to abolish our magnet schools. This is simply not true.

We are intelligent, reasonable, respectful people who will provide good stewardship of our school system and the community it serves. No one will be acting rash or as renegades.

When it comes to our magnet schools I believe there is great potential in the programming they offer, but I believe there are inequities in the way it is offered. So I do feel we need to do some tweaking. There are some amazing and talented children in Wake County who live in our poorer communities. These kids get a bus ride to an average school to balance out socio-economic numbers. In my mind they should have a chance at the very best we have to offer. Our magnet schools should truly offer exceptional programming to our gifted and talented kids regardless of their economic or racial status.

We are also committed to building a community schools model. I fundamentally reject that it is either the Charlotte way or the Wake way – we can and we must create a new path. But we understand that these are things that will take time to find the appropriate balanced solutions, so we intend on building a vision that moves us forward - together. Parents and community stakeholders will have a say in the process.

Our vision remains to create a new path to a 21st century system of education; a dynamic system that is efficient and effective in the education of our children, while building up our families and communities. This vision will be created with care in a thoughtful an diligent manner with all stakeholders to build a community schools model that is respectful of our past while embracing our future.

We will provide expanded choice for parents. We WILL challenge our most gifted while raising up our most vulnerable. We will usher in a digital age of innovation. We will create a better educated citizenry, a more healthy and reliable workforce, and a more engaged community. We will prepare our children for the global economy AND the local economy. We CAN do this while being fiscally conservative.

On behalf of our children, we will tap into the rich resources of our region such as our wonderful universities, thriving business communities, government partners, compassionate churches, and our diverse cultural assets. As we build this unified vision in our community we will do some amazing things together. Together we will use this opportunity to cross many divides: generational, geographic, racial, economic, political, cultural, and more. This will require real leadership. This will require heavy lifting, and we remain committed to bringing everybody to the table in this process.

I hope this answers some of your questions, and we looking forward to working for you and all of the parents and tax-payers of Wake County.

Thanks,
John Tedesco

Truitt fell short with supporters of diversity policy

KeungHui — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:17:46 -0400

In the two weeks that have marked Cathy Truitt's school board runoff election campaign, one challenge that she couldn't overcome was the inability to pick up the backing of people who supported the diversity policy.

Truitt had said she could be the swing vote against resegregation. But the Independent was the only diversity policy supporter to back her in the runoff, with columnist Bob Geary urging moderates and progressives to rally behind her.

But Truitt struck out with other groups. In particular, Wake NCAE chose not to make an endorsement in the runoff. The group had backed Horace Tart originally.

While the Wake NCAE endorsement didn't help any of the candidates on Oct. 6, the fact that the group wouldn't back a retired educator in a race against a non-incumbent was telling.

It also didn't help that Tart didn't back her despite her lobbying efforts.

Tart didn't endorse Tedesco either. But he showed up at Wednesday's press conference to say he will work with Tedesco as much as he can to make Wake a better school system.

Rallying churches to fight neighborhood schools

KeungHui — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:49:07 -0400

The NAACP, the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children and the Wake Voter Coalition are urging churches and "supporters of diversity" to fight the return to neighborhood schools.

In a Tuesday press release, the three groups warn that the new school board majority "will jeopardize our children's educational opportunities" and that Southeast Raleigh schools will "not have quality resources" as neighborhood schools.

The press release says that Debra Goldman's support for extending electives in Cary and Apex could eliminate magnet programs. They also blast the idea of a KIPP Academy in Southeast Raleigh, which has been favorably mentioned by John Tedesco and Chris Malone, as being "another segregated school" that won't provide equal education for students.

Wake restricts the electives that non-magnet schools can offer.

KIPP is a national charter school chain known for success with low-income and minority kids. It operates 82 schools in 19 states and the District of Columbia.

KIPP students attend school 8 1/2 hours a day and take extra sessions on Saturdays and in the summer. They and their parents pledge to do whatever it takes for them to succeed.

But not every church leader thinks neighborhood schools are bad. Charles Brooks, the pastor of Poplar Springs Christian Church, stood with other members of Greater Garner Advocates at Wednesday's press conference for Tedesco.

"We can have neighborhood schools and we can keep them diverse," said Brooks, who is African American.

Click here for the press release:

Press Release

TO: Faith Based Community

Supporters of Diversity

FROM:

NAACP Local Branches

Coalition Of Concerned Citizens for African American Children

Wake Voter Coalition

RE: Wake Board of Education Diversity Policy

WE must continue the struggle to fight for diversity in Wake County School System. As parents, community leaders and concerned citizens, we must ensure that our children receive a high quality education by providing them with the best teachers, quality resources, and technology that will prepare them to become successful and productive citizens. The newly elected school board members will jeopardize our children’s educational opportunities by allowing them to attend neighborhood schools which will not offer them the quality education they need and deserve. Many of our inner city schools located in Southeast Raleigh will not have the quality resources needed if we return to re-segregated schools. We are calling on the faith based community, sororities, fraternities, community organizations, citizens, and all who support equal educational opportunities and socioeconomic diversity to become actively involved in our children’s education. Please attend our local school board meetings, email the newly elected board members, make public comments to the board in support of diversity and equal education for all children. Next, we must closely monitor the actions of our newly elected board members. Let them know that we are holding them accountable to serving all children and all decisions and actions should be based on facts, independent judgment while refusing to surrender judgments to individuals or special interest groups.

According to Debra Goldman, she plans to extend elective courses in outlining areas of the county such as Cary and Apex, which will impact/eliminate our magnet programs here in Wake County. John Tedesco and Chris Malone want to put a stellar school in Southeast Raleigh, “KIPP Academy.” KIPP Academy is another segregated school that is not designed to provide equal education for each and every child. This school will be designed to keep our children in Southeast Raleigh and to promote segregation, which is also known as neighborhood schools. Let the newly elected officials know that we demand equal educational opportunities for each and every child and we support socio-economic diversity.

Together, we can ensure all children receive a high quality education.
Here's to equal educational opportunities for all children!!

Truitt changes her view of Tedesco

KeungHui — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0400

How Cathy Truitt went from saying that John Tedesco would resegregate the school system to now endorsing him is an interesting story.

As noted in today's article, Truitt said she changed her mind after speaking with Tedesco on Tuesday night. But Tedesco says he didn't tell her anything different from what he has said during the campaign.

Let's go back in time to Monday.

At Monday's press conference, Truitt had less than flattering things to say about Tedesco and the new board majority. She told the media that voter dissatisfaction with the school system's diversity policy was unwittingly leading to a path toward resegregated schools.

"The community has to be careful of what it's asking for," Truitt said Monday. "They may get what they don't want."

Truitt's original plan was to submit a letter saying she was dropping out of the race. That would have meant the election would go on with the school board filling the seat if Truitt got the most votes.

Truitt said she had the letter in her hands outside the Wake County Board of Elections for a half hour on Tuesday as she debated whether to submit it. She was questioning whether the original letter was sufficient or if she should do more, prompting her to call Tedesco and ask to meet with him that night.

During the meeting, Truitt said Tedesco told her that he would not resegregate the schools. She said he also agreed that he'd support policies that would create 21st Century schools.

Perhaps even more importantly, Truitt said Tedesco agreed to work with Greater Garner Advocates, the group that had backed her. They had stood with her at Monday's press conference to warn that pure neighborhood schools would lead to resegregation.

Greater Garner Advocates members were standing with Truitt, Tedesco, school board member Horace Tart and school board candidate Carlene Lucas at Wednesday's press conference.

Former school board member Amy White, a member of Greater Garner Advocates, said Wednesday it's important now to have a seat at the table and for the group's voice to be heard. This is the second board election in a row that the candidate backed by the group has lost.

Tedesco said he'll listen to Greater Garner Advocates, like he'd listen to any other group. But he said it doesn't give them any greater voice.

Truitt said she wanted to continued to be involved in district issues, both as a member of Greater Garner Advocates and as an education advisor to Tedesco. When asked by a reporter if he'd accept her as an advisor, Tedesco sidestepped the question by saying he'd be glad to hear advice from people senior to him. He noted he was the youngest adult at the press conference.

In the end, Tedesco is still running his campaign to make sure he gets the most votes on Nov. 3 unless he hears from the state Board of Elections that the runoff is not needed.

UPDATED POST TO MAKE IT CLEARER ABOUT HER WAITING TO SUBMIT LETTER

Quick recap of the press conference

KeungHui — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:06:31 -0400

To say that today's press conference was a 180 from Monday's event would be an understatement.

Cathy Truitt said she's endorsing John Tedesco after meeting with him Tuesday night and coming away assured that he won't resegregate the schools.

Truitt is offering to reimburse the county's expenses for the runoff by offering in-kind services as an education consultant to the community.

Truitt offered to serve as Tedesco's education advisor.

Also, the state Board of Elections does have the authority to cancel the runoff. Whether that happens is up to them.

Click here for the online story. I'll have more details about the press conference later.

Truitt withdraws runoff request, endorses Tedesco

KeungHui — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:39:47 -0400

Things are getting really interesting in the District 2 race.

Cathy Truitt dropped off a letter with the Wake County Board of Elections today. But instead of just dropping out of the race, she's asking for the runoff to be rescinded, which could result in the runoff not taking place.

Plus, the Wake GOP says Truitt is now endorsing Tedesco.

Wake County Board of Elections Director Cherie Poucher says she'll call for a special meeting at noon Friday to request that her board seek guidance from the state on whether the runoff still needs to be held.

If the runoff is cancelled, Tedesco would become the outright winner.

Poucher said that if Truitt had only dropped out, state law would have required the runoff to be held. She said there's no guidance under state law about a request to rescind a runoff.

To top it off, Wake GOP Chairman Claude Pope Jr. says Truitt is endorsing Tedesco. They'll make a joint appearance at today's Wake Education Partnership in Garner and talk with the media.

Considering the harsh words Truitt had for Tedesco on Monday, it's a major turnaround.

Here's the GOP press release:

Truitt Rescinds Her Call for a Runoff; Endorses Tedesco

RALEIGH, N.C., OCTOBER 21, 2009 -- Wake GOP Chairman Claude E. Pope, Jr. said today that District 2 Wake County Board of Education candidate John Tedesco is being endorsed by Dr. Cathy Truitt, PhD, who finished in second place in the District 2 race.

Pope announced that Dr. Truitt has submitted a letter to the Wake County Board of Elections asking that her earlier request for a runoff election in this District be withdrawn. Truitt said in her letter to the Wake County Board of Elections, “I would like to withdraw my request for a runoff for the District 2 Wake County School Board seat in order to spare the citizens of Wake County the added costs, if possible for this election.”

Dr. Truitt also said, “I am thrilled to endorse John Tedesco to represent District 2 on the Wake County school board. I am excited about this opportunity to work together, to collaborate as a community, and support John’s leadership as we move Wake County schools into a new era of 21st Century learning.

“The moments ahead will test who and what we are. We can accomplish anything if we work together, as one community concerned about our children. We will never allow our schools to be re-segregated. Our future will be determined by our willingness to set aside differences so that we become known throughout America for our determination to craft a new vision filled with hope, and shaped by our love for all children. It is a new day. Our children are watching. I ask each parent to take a moment today and talk with your child about how you are going to be involved in making our schools better,” Dr. Truitt added.

Tedesco, who finished just a few votes short of an absolute majority in the five-way race on October 6, responded to Truitt’s letter, saying he was “privileged to have the support and endorsement of Dr. Cathy Truitt,” and adding, “the District 2 seat is the critical last piece in an effort led by parents and taxpayers to create a school board that is accountable to the fact that they take care of other people's children with other people's money. The Tedesco Campaign 4 Wake Kids has always been about providing every child of Wake County every opportunity to seize the dreams of their future.” Referring to Truitt, he said, “I thank her and look forward to working with her.”

Pope said, “We are delighted with these actions. This is the beginning of a new vision for public education in Wake County, and the school board team will work cooperatively with parents to make sensible reforms on behalf of the children of this county.”

Both Mr. Tedesco and Dr. Truitt will be attending a meeting of the Wake Education Partnership in Garner today, and will be available to the media at 1:30 PM at the Eagle Ridge Clubhouse, 565 Competition Road.

Truitt and Tedesco to do joint appearance today

KeungHui — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:50:47 -0400

For those who think that Cathy Truitt is doing a fake withdrawal from the school board race, the Wake County GOP is announcing that she and John Tedesco will do a joint appearance today.

A press release is expected around 11 a.m. But here's the GOP announcement:

FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION
                                                                                    For additional information
                                                                                    Contact:   Jay Bryant

“MEDIA AVAILABILITY TODAY: JOINT APPEARANCE
WITH JOHN TEDESCO AND CATHY TRUITT”

RALEIGH, N.C. – As a follow up to Dr. Cathy Truitt’s withdrawal from the race for Wake County School’s District 2 she will appear at with John Tedesco a joint Media Availability event:

Eagle Ridge Clubhouse, 565 Competition Road, Garner at 1:30 p.m. this afternoon. Wednesday October 21, 2009.

A press full press release will be available before the event.

Wake schools signing up for EVAAS

KeungHui — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0400

Wake is now jumping into using the EVAAS program.

As noted in today's article, administrators said they're moving to get passwords into the hands of principals and other school personnel. It's a change from when a school had to request access to EVAAS to be signed up.

Wake still has a long way to go to catch up with other school districts in terms of using the program, which is free of charge to districts.

William Sanders, senior director of the EVAAS K-12 division, said that as of 5 p.m. Monday, Wake had 10 district user accounts, 46 school administrator accounts and 87 school users accounts. He said most were recently assigned.

School board candidate John Tedesco said the new board will make sure that schools use the program. He said they should be using it to identify which students need the most help.

There was very little discussion of the SAS report itself during the presentation to the board. It may be a result of Wake now using the program more than before.

The closest it came to the report was when board member Anne McLaurin asked about SAS questioning the statistical adjustments for poverty level that Wake makes in its Effectiveness Index.

Sanders gave the example of a student from an impoverished home and another from an affluent home who have exactly the same academic history. He said adjusting for socioeconomic status would show that the impoverished child is doing better than he actually is performing.

"You’re not really treating the children as individuals," Sanders said. "You don’t unwittingly want to be setting different expectarions for students. That what’s happens when you adjust for socieocnoeconm status."

But supporters of the diversity policy took solace from Sanders agreeing with them that high-poverty schools tend to have newer, less effective teachers. School board member Lori Millberg said Wake's diversity policy has led to healthy schools and avoided having too many new teachers at higher poverty schools.

Sanders said Wake is to be commended if what Millberg is saying is right.

Impact of neighborhood schools on property values

KeungHui — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:00:00 -0400

How will a return to neighborhood schools reshape property values in Raleigh and Wake County?

As noted in today's article by Sarah Ovaska, one person told Raleigh real estate agent Anne Sherron that he's backing out of a deal because of the school board election results. She said the person had been looking at moving his family and his start-up technology company to Raleigh from Austin, Texas.

“He emailed me and said I’ve put my decision on hold indefinitely until I see whether Raleigh is going to end up like Charlotte,” said Sherron, a supporter of the diversity policy, in the article.

John Chesser, a researcher with UNC-Charlotte's Urban Institute, found that Charlotte-Meck's switch to neighborhood schools hurt the property values of schools whose poverty percentages shot up.

Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker, who attended the Friends of Diversity press conference, is worried about property values in Southeast Raleigh falling if major changes are made to turn magnet schools into neighborhood schools.

On the flip side, some areas could see a boost in property values if there's a belief that reassignment is less likely.

The areas around rim schools could also benefit if they lose the kids who are bused in for diversity.

Interim principal named at Green Elementary

KeungHui — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:51:08 -0400

The school board appointed Ed Gainor today to be the interim principal of Green Elementary School in North Raleigh.

Gainor has been taking interim principal jobs since he retired as principal of Leesvlle Road Elementary in 2007. He'll be at Green from Oct. 27 to Dec. 21, with a salary equivalent to $105,387 a year.

Gainor had filled in as Green's interim principal for a few months last year.

No word on what happened to Green Principal Shelly Watson.