The Wake Education Partnership's new report calling for an overhaul of the education system to provide students a "world-class education" is now officially out.
But the question is whether the group can sell the findings to the public to bring about the sweeping recommendations included in the report.
Will it succeed or will it end up on the wayside like the group's highly touted school funding proposal?
Officials from the partnership argue that the difference is that the funding proposal was caught up in the recession. They say that this new report covers changes over a much longer period of time.
Even though the recession is far from over, Ann Denlinger, president of the partnership, said the report provides a framework for discussing future changes.
After giving the public some time to review the report, the partnership will begin a year-long effort in October to see how the recommendations can be implemented.
“This is designed to stimulate conversation,” Denlinger said. “It’s up to the community to decide what pieces they want and what they can afford.”
Click here to read the report.
Comments
Gauging Graduation,
Tue, 06/09/2009 - 07:36 — AngelaWGauging Graduation, Pinpointing Progress
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/06/11/34progress.h28.html
http://www.edweek.org/media/ew/dc/2009/33sos_gains.pdf
http://www.edweek.org/media/34highest-c1.pdf
Charter-Style Schools Catching on Across the World
Sat, 06/06/2009 - 07:28 — AngelaWhttp://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/05/20/32charter.h28.html?tkn=YVYFdOoJniC7IkP3rfhfu1LMUDX9bjtdx%2BeW
Report Points to Risks of Merit Pay for Teachers
Sat, 06/06/2009 - 07:26 — AngelaWhttp://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/05/13/32meritpay.h28.html?tkn=LLNF5dAr9tzr0ir5h%2BJCpySBnSZxa5seRh1x
http://www.edweek.org/ew/arti
Sat, 06/06/2009 - 07:24 — AngelaWhttp://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/05/27/33race.html?tkn=YVQFbsd%2Bkjr0%2BmNRGUFcRjflaVrWBOgIul52
and WCPSS just lets them slip away.....
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 16:33 — AngelaWhttp://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/education/05charter.html?no_interstitial
The school’s founder, Zeke M. Vanderhoek, 32, a Yale graduate who founded a test prep company, has been grappling with just these issues. Over the past 15 months he conducted a nationwide search that was almost the American Idol of education — minus the popular vote, but complete with hometown visits (Mr. Vanderhoek crisscrossed the country to observe the top 35 applicants in their natural habitats) and misty-eyed fans (like the principal who got so emotional recommending Casey Ash that, Mr. Vanderhoek recalled, she was “basically crying on the phone with me, saying what a treasure he was.”)
Mr. Ash, 33, who teaches at an elementary school on the outskirts of Raleigh, N.C., will take the social studies slot.
WCPSS is to Blame for his Leaving???
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 18:34 — shank56and WCPSS just lets them slip away.....
Angela,
Please explain your headline. How is WCPSS to blame for a teacher leaving for a salary that will probably double- if not triple?? Not that salary is the point.
Do you assume that WCPSS knew about his applying elasewhere or do you think the principal screwed up?
What should WCPSS have done to keep this teacher and others who are looking?
Maybe
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 20:02 — SDR256I don't want to put words in her mouth, but maybe what Angela response is somewhat frustration that WCPSS has NO innovative programs that might attract forward thinking teachers. Of course WCPSS can't afford to pay all teachers this salary, but what about ONE school that was a special focus school that had some kind of creative approach which a dedicated teacher interested in education might look twice at? Merit pay in a school which appreciates dedication and results might have helped make Mr. Ash think twice about moving. Maybe. If he's that good, it is a shame NC lost him.
A. If you think Angela is
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 21:40 — shank56A. If you think Angela is capable of speaking or herself, then don't put words in her mouth. It's interesting over time how often this happens. Let her speak for herself and answer her own questions.
B. As I understand , the state of NC pays the bulk of a salary and Wake County (not WCPSS) through the commissioners pays a supplement to the base salary.
C. Merit pay- I have no problem with, but it has not, and is not , and will not be in the mix for a while IMO, due to intense feelings about it from a number of players- teachers, admin, NCAE. Time to rethink, BUT this would not have saved this teacher from relocating.
D. Copied from the posted article:
To make ends meet, teachers will hold responsibilities usually shouldered by other staff members, like assistant principals (there will be none). There will be no deans, substitute teachers (except for extended leaves) or teacher coaches. Teachers will work longer hours and more days, and have 30 pupils, about 6 more than the typical New York City fifth-grade class.
So what kind of teachers could a school get if it paid them $125,000 a year?
Not Quite
Sat, 06/06/2009 - 16:45 — Bob_SconceUnder B, the commissioners allocate a pot of money to the school district which the school district uses as it sees fit. Tony Gurley managed, for a short time, to have the commissioners impose a bit more control -- allocating the money by "purpose and function," but the new commissioners undid that fllowing the election.
The commissioners do not decide what the supplement to teachers' salaries will be, nor are the teachers county employees (except indirectly.)
Fine.
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 23:41 — SDR256Geez another one who found sour cheerios this morning. I'm sure Angela can speak for herself. It was a rhetorical phrase. And I'll speak as I please, thank you. In fact my point is that I PERSONALLY think it could be frustrating for teachers to have no glimmer of innovation on the horizon - just, as the other poster who is a teacher noted - more of what doesn't work. Of course if creative programs magically rained from the sky the one teacher might not have left. He's just one teacher. But he represents potentially many more who may be just as talented and just as stunted by WCPSS' narrow-mindedness. I'm glad you'd be willing to consider alternative approaches, like merit pay, to help turn this ship.
Thanks for the clarification for where the money for salaries come from.
Ms. Denlinger and her WEP
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 16:08 — CaryCurmudgeonMs. Denlinger and her WEP have zero credibility. She presented this at the WakeUp Wake County meeting, and talked about the "world class" school system we have today.
WEP doesn't reach many people to begin with, and those they do reach know exactly what WEP is about. Follow the money.
Today, 22% of our students don't graduate high school. 50% of AA men do not graduate. Spending time and energy on this is akin to turbo-charging the Titanic's engines instead of improving the navigation system.
while taking longer than the
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 16:19 — AngelaWwhile taking longer than the Titanic, WCPSS is sinking just the same, come October we can save our souls (and schools)!!!!!!!!!!
Like it....
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 14:32 — Bob_SconceJust skimmed the report. Looks like a graphics designer spent a little too much time with it, but I found myself generally agreeing with the forward-looking content. I do wish that it had focused on the math and science portions before looking at the multicultural stuff, but that's a relatively small nit. And, I think it makes some bad comparisons -- 4 semesters of NC history vs a 2-semester 9th grade world history course. (Don't middle school students also study things like Egypt,
Ancient Greece and so on?) Plus, at the risk of sounding xenophobic, I don't think US students necessarily need to learn Mandarin, since the Chinese are all learning English!
However, it's a good starting point for discussion. It's just going to be hard to overcome distrust brought by WEP's fawning support of all things WCPSS.
Language Choices
Sat, 06/06/2009 - 09:09 — kmisegadesGood point Bob. If one looks at the statistics on foreign companies in NC, and at the CIA data on GNP's, one would prioritize foreign language importance in NC as follows:
#1German, #2 French, #3 Italian, #4 Japanese
Spanish and Chinese are of little importance in NC, but one might argue that Chinese is worth learning for certain occupations. Spanish is a simple language to learn and it's not a bad idea to introduce it as a first foreign language in Kindergarten, if for no other reason that kids are going to see and hear spanish perhaps more than other languages. As far as its importance though for multinational industry goes, it is way down on the list. Portuguese might even be more important, given the emergence of Brazil as a major economy. The classics Latin and Greek have their role as the root of most all other languages. Many of our Founding Fathers were fluent in one or both, and could read the classics in their original versions. Smart folks, most were home schooled, too.
Genug gesagt!
It's a Start
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 15:20 — JSBinNCSimilar feelings here... on paper this has value. The proof will be in the pudding though - what actually becomes actionable? Time is ticking - any changes considered or even implemented NOW will take years to really see positive differences in our kids... the next generation of school kids would benefit. I'd like to see a plan or approach that not only thinks about the major overhaul needed in approach to learning, etc - but also tries to implement some practices that could very quickly have an impact on the kids right NOW. In particular our MS and HS kids - I truly believe that the vast majority are so unprepared for some of the real life things they will face as soon as high school graduation is over...
Thought WCPSS was already #1 ?
Fri, 06/05/2009 - 10:38 — kmisegadesHasn't Dr. Denlinger been claiming for years that our schools were already the best in the state/nation/world/solar system? You mean we're not there yet? Gee, what a shock!
We don't need an overhaul, Dr. D, just abolishment of another failed government service. Free markets already provide a far superior product.
Parents, reject the government one-size-fits-all-no-complaints-tolerated solution and demand vouchers so that YOUR money follows YOUR child to the school of YOUR choice. Since vouchers won't come overnight, tighten your belts now and do what is right for your children - you'll never regret it. There are plenty of excellent, affordable alternatives in Wake County.