Wake Democrats and Republicans are getting into the act for this fall's school board races.
Wake County Republican Party Chairman Claude Pope fired the first shot in April when he announced the GOP "will vigorously support School Board candidates who actively support the concept of neighborhood schools."
The Wake County Democratic Party is gearing up as well now to back candidates who would largely preserve current school board policies.
Wake Democratic Chairman Jack Nichols showed up at the Board of Elections on Monday to give encouragement to Karen Simon as she filed to run for school board. Simon is the Democratic secretary/treasurer for her precinct.
"We're supporting candidates who promote Democratic ideals," Nichols said.
The Wake Democratic Party also promoted Simon's candidate filing for the District 7 seat on its web site.
Simon is running against Deborah Prickett and Jerry Ballan.
In addition to Simon, you can also expect the Wake Democratic Party to back Rita Rakestraw in District 1 and Lois Nixon in District 9. No Democrats have yet filed in District 2.
Pope has said the GOP will back Republicans and Independents for the school board. One issue is whether the GOP will pick one candidate in races such as Districts 1 and 2 where multiple Republicans have filed.
In recent years, the Wake Republican Party has picked sides in races, angering the GOP candidates who aren't endorsed. The Wake Democrats have traditionally backed all Democrats who run, even when there's multiple people vying for the same seat.
Another issue is whether the GOP back Ballan, a registered Republican, or Prickett, a registered unaffiliated voter. If the GOP backs Ballan, it could split the opposition vote against Simon as Prickett is backed by the Wake Schools Community Alliance.
CORRECTION
Changed Prickett's voter status to unaffiliated from independent.
Comments
Ignorance is bless.......
Sat, 07/11/2009 - 22:17 — WuptdoSeems to me that Miss Simon is just another stooge for the WakeDems. Must be all that WCPSS Kool-aid they are drinking on their respective "ship of fools." Of course, the biggest fools are most of Wake's Lemmings, whoops, I mean voters.
I wonder how will Miss Simon knows Ty......never mind.
Ignorance is bliss.....
OT-alert and FYI
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 07:16 — AngelaWWhat Else Doesn't the Wake School Board Know? Every trained local government manager will tell you that they do not have the authority to accept real estate without the governing board's approval. So, the Superintendent of Wake County Public Schools did not have the authority to accept real estate from convicted former NC House Speaker Jim Black without approval from the Wake County School Board. http://venitapeyton.com/2009/07/what-else-doesnt-wake-school-board-know.html
Wake School Board Not Informed About Black Fine Settlement
Superintendent briefed some members after deal was struck
By David N. Bass
July 08, 2009
RALEIGH – The Wake County School Board learned of imprisoned former House Speaker Jim Black’s offer to use some undeveloped Mecklenburg County real estate to settle a criminal corruption fine after the deal went through, said school board chair Kevin Hill
http://www.carolinajournal.com/exclusives/display_exclusive.html?id=5509
The Jim Black Stain
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 07:45 — CaryCurmudgeonWhy is this story not on the front page, this smells worse than anything Mike Easley's team did with the DMV.
If Del Burns' statements are taken at face value, then he is guilty of exceeding his authority and making a really bad decision. The property in question has a tax value of $150,000, well short of the $500,000 that Jim Black was supposed to pay WCPSS. Tax values and appraisals are interesting, but the true value of a property is how much it can be sold for TODAY. If the property were really worth $500,000 (or more, as Mr. Burns feels), then Jim Black would have sold it and paid in cash. If he couldn't sell it for that amount, then it is not worth it.
WCPSS can't pay teachers in land, they need cash.
Party for the CHILDREN
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 01:05 — SDR256HEY! HEY YOU!
How about if we stop talking about the old politics and start focusing on what this is all like for the children. I don't really give a rat's a** what you call yourself. If you will stand up and fight for children and what the are TRULY experiencing in this system - I will vote for you. All this party talk is a bunch of crap.
Another Solution?
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 17:27 — cevangAre any of the school board candidates discussing any other options besides the two current options, neighborhood schools versus diversity?
There has to be a better solution that works in the best aspects of both these options while minimizing their weaknesses. An optional choice program has been working for years in a NY school district.
Why are there no discussions of alternate options?
Yes, there are other
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 18:30 — CaryCurmudgeonYes, there are other options. I personally like a choice plan like you mentioned.
There are also other issues, MYR at the top of the list. Chris Malone and Deborah Prickett have stated that they support voluntary YR schools, but not mandatory assignments. Their status-quo opponents (R.Rakestraw and K.Simon) have sent a strong message that they want to continue WCPSS policies. Unless they say different, that means they support continued MYR.
The pervasive issue, I believe, is accountability. Today's school board are accountable to themselves and staff (I'm not sure in which order). I think people would find it refreshing to have school board members who are beholden to citizens, not staff, political parties or eccentric academics from Washington, DC.
Typical
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 21:38 — supportwcpssThere you go again Joe making stuff up and spreading rumors. Everyone knows you are good at that. The absence if denouncing MYR in a single press release implies support?? Immediately on the attack aren't you Joe.
So are you speaking for Joe or WCSA?
What?
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 00:47 — SDR256Making stuff up? There was no conjecture there. The post was simply responding to the question posted. I have to agree this looks like a (politically?) reactive (aka troll) response.
I really don't have time
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 23:10 — CaryCurmudgeonI really don't have time for trolls, especially ones who haven't got the backbone to reveal their identity.
By all means, if you are in a position to speak for the other candidates regarding their position on MYR, please do so.
Otherwise, shut up.
I'm not
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 07:30 — supportwcpssin a position to speak on other candidates behalf but neither are you.
Don't be a hypocrite Joe. It's not becoming. Your 15 minutes of fame will soon be over and you can head back to your CP boards.
If you think this is about
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 07:58 — CaryCurmudgeonIf you think this is about fame, then you don't know me. Well, actually, you don't know me. Stop with the jabs and get back to facts.
Both Rita Rakestraw and Karen Simon have web sites up. Neither indicate that the candidates support rolling back MYR.
Chris Malone and Deborah Prickett have been clear on the issue: They do not support MYR.
Unless you know more about Rakestraw/Simon's positions, you have nothing of value to add to this thread.
Okay
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 08:40 — supportwcpssI'll stick to the topic for you. So Malone and Prickett have been clear and have made MYR one of their most criticial issues. Rakestraw/Simon have not.
Based on my personal views, which you promised to respect. the MYR issue is not on my priority list. As 1234 has indicated the 70% of voters who don't have children probably don't have MYR as a priority on their list.
Stricly from a marketing perspective listing things like:
are going to resonate more with the entire voting population. You and others are stuck on such a narrowly focused set of issues that you can't see the forest through the trees. I mean this whole string of posts is all about your blinders on view of MYR. No one is going win an election on that platform.
Well...
Mon, 07/13/2009 - 09:25 — Bob_SconceI agree that a significant portion of the registered voters don't really care about forcing students into year-round schools.
But, this is an off-year election held in October. Historically, turnout for school board elections is very low. The lion's share of people who vote in school board elections are people who really care about the issues. So, most of those indifferent people just won't vote at all.
If you look at the way the election is shaping up, on one side there's a contingent who is very upset about things that the current school board has been doing -- year-round schools, reassignments, declining test scores, violence in schools, merging YR tracks, etc.... On the other side are people who really like what the school board has been doing. Those people will be focused largely on the diversity policy.
Now, it may be that some of the new "pro-board" candidates can break the mold by creating other issues -- you name some of those. But, there's nothing keeping the "change" candidates from adopting the same positions. (e.g., I favor change AND think that we should focus more on US and World history than NC history.) In the end, it's all going to boil down to "Do you want to continue with the current board's policies or not?" asked to the people who have a strong opinion.
May not win on that platform alone,
Sun, 07/12/2009 - 20:25 — g88ky07but you can count your sour toes, FYR will be a thing of the past after this Fall if many of us can help it! And we certainly can help it!! The budget will no longer sustain it, PERIOD, as class sizes burst the seams, the ones that aren't dark, and teachers aren't needed! FYR is no longer, and never was, sustainable on the hopes that growth will return "someday" and FYR was never needed!
;c )
I respect everyone's
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 09:13 — CaryCurmudgeonI respect everyone's personal views, even if I don't agree with them.
I'm a parent, not a politico, so I am sure there are people better qualifed than me to predict which issues will resonate with voters. I do know that MYR is one of them, and there are a lot of parents whose fury will drive them to the polls -- especially in the outcome of the WakeCARES lawsuit giving WCPSS free reign to make MYR assignments.
I don't know how many voters will be mobilized by the need to have alternative learning programs for students suspended for behavior issues, but I do agree that that is a legitimate need.
I also agree that we should have more languages in elementary school. But the reality is that today we are fighting to keep ANY foreign languages in elementary school as our school funding continues to dry up. My reaction to a candidate promoting those things would be along the lines of "great idea, but where are we going to come up with the money?"
for those that say it doesn't happen
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 14:19 — samwright23I live in N. Garner...close to Raleigh/Garner border...and my son goes to a school in Apex. Not by choice, that is where the bus takes him. We live in a low income neighborhood but instead of going to a school like Creech that's got a really high low income population and decient test scores...my son goes to a really nice school were the the low income population is super small and the test scores are really high.
True, he spends lots of time on a bus, but for me it's worth it so that he can have a good education.
I'm glad he does.
Glad your son has had a good experience, but
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 10:19 — me_mcadamsI'm not sure test scores are a sign of a good school - especially since I believe kids are bused around so that all schools will have very similar scores. Plus it sounds like NC has lowered the standards so much on its tests that I'm not convinced a good score here is comparable to a good score elsewhere. Essentially, scores are irrelevant.
for those that say it doesn't happen
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 14:19 — samwright23I live in N. Garner...close to Raleigh/Garner border...and my son goes to a school in Apex. Not by choice, that is where the bus takes him. We live in a low income neighborhood but instead of going to a school like Creech that's got a really high low income population and decient test scores...my son goes to a really nice school were the the low income population is super small and the test scores are really high.
True, he spends lots of time on a bus, but for me it's worth it so that he can have a good education.
I'm glad he does.
for those that say it doens't happen
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 14:18 — samwright23I live in N. Garner...close to Raleigh/Garner border...and my son goes to a school in Apex. Not by choice, that is where the bus takes him. We live in a low income neighborhood but instead of going to a school like Creech that's got a really high low income population and decient test scores...my son goes to a really nice school were the the low income population is super small and the test scores are really high.
True, he spends lots of time on a bus, but for me it's worth it so that he can have a good education.
I'm glad he does.
Not by choice?
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 00:55 — SDR256What would be your choice? A great school - fabulous school hopefully - right near you where your child could attend with their friends and you could drop by for lunch? A school where you and your child's grandparents could see them excell with their other friends at events that included their neighborhood friends? Doesn't your child deserve this? Or, does he deserve a long bus ride to show that he doesn't live in a derserving neighborhood?
Build it and they will come
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 09:51 — user1234I suggest he continue to attend the good school until his bad school is fixed first.
Good Stuff
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 16:25 — user1234"True, he spends lots of time on a bus, but for me it's worth it so that he can have a good education."
There are a lot of people here saying how bad your life is and how the long bus drive is oppressive for your kids. Don't let them talk for you and take aways your kid's opportunity for a great education.
Once again...
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 07:16 — designmanOnce again, user1234, you only see the surface of an issue. The issue is not whether one parent is happy or not happy with their particular school situation, the issue is that parents feel they have to shipped their children across the county to get a "good education." If this is true, that means that some students must be relagated to "bad" schools. In what way is that fair to all the students in Wake County? Don't they all deserve a "good education?"
I think we are getting
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 09:32 — user1234I think we are getting close ... the issue is why does one part of Wake have such good schools that a person in another part of town feels they will put up with a long bus trip to take advantage of ... it is similar to why do people move constantly, rent an apartment or give a false address to get in a good school? Why is there such disparity between the schools that causes people to do these non-productive things? The least controversial answer is that we want to improve the bad school such that the desire to leave does not exist. The more controversial and unspoken answer is that the good school has secured more resources (experience teachers and administrators, new facilities, special programs, etc.) and would need to share to bring the schools into parity.
No, you're not "getting close"...you're on a fool's errand!
Sun, 07/12/2009 - 01:52 — Its_the_parents..." I think we are getting close ...The more controversial and unspoken answer is that the good school has secured more resources"
Once again, (very tedious, but we will go through this lesson again)...the difference between "good" and "bad" schools, isn't all about "money"; "resources" etc etc. Please play this outdated "us versus them" theory in the privacy of your bat-cave for your personal delusional amusement.
You and your worldview are obsolete because (in your distorted alternate reality) YOU completely FAIL to take into account the crucial role of family and parents in education...that is why children growing up in desperately poor circumstances...kids in poor countries (or now-growing countries) in Eastern Europe, Asia and South America are increasingly "kicking ass" around the global market. Many of these children live on subsistence-level meals and have decrepit schools, yet they outperform US-educated children, whose transportation budget probably dwarfs their TOTAL educational budget!!!
And yes, there will always be children who are terrifyingly ADRIFT in a cruel world with no responsible parents, or other adult extended family supervision (no parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts, ex-boyfriends, girlfriends etc)...our world-leading civilized society (no sarcasm here) will take care of them, but that does not involve busing them long distances!
Get this fundamental reality into your head...my personal hero Barack Obama conveyed the same reality through his speech in Ghana yesterday...IT IS NOT A CRIME TO BE POOR, OR OF A SPECIFIC SKIN COLOR...BUT...ultimate responsibility for "upliftment" resides within ourselves..the old excuses...ARE OBSOLETE!!!!
Hey user1234...stop being an ideologue...and look for new solutions.
Interesting....
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 16:31 — Bob_SconceNobody knows how to make a good school. Educators and policy makers have been experimenting for decades, and have yet to come up with that magic formula. They just seem to come up when the stars align. It's not just a matter of resources -- educational history is full of schools that got every resource they could want and got worse. Consider the Kansas City experiment, for example.
Until that magic formula appears, I suggest that the best approach is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." If a school is really doing a good job, then it should be left alone. Fiddling with good schools is a great way to turn them into crappy schools and, once broken, are impossible to reconstitute. (Maybe you could study it to gleam some of why it's a good school, but remember Heisenburg's uncertainty principal -- you can't observe without changing what you're looking at.)
At one point Wakefield Elementary was a "Honors School of Excellence." Then they dropped the Honors, then it was a School of Distinction. Now, it's a "School of Progress." Along the way, it has been the victim of multiple reassignments, a shift to year-round schedules, vindictive comments made by school board members (here's looking at you Lori Millburg) and several changes in administration. That pattern has been repeated in a number of other county schools. And that, more than any particular issue, is why I'm frustrated with the board and looking for it to change.
Thanks
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 16:15 — supportwcpssSam,
Thanks for this feedback. I have spoken to a lot of individuals in your situation and hear similar feedback. It's unfortunate that the schools are so disparate that this is an issue.
seems to me
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 14:11 — AngelaWthere are links that tell something about how to contact people, could just be me though..
I live in district 7. I too
Thu, 07/09/2009 - 13:54 — distric7momI live in district 7. I too am willing to distribute flyers but in support of Karen Simon. Whom can I contact?
Why?
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 07:27 — designmanjust curious...what do you find appealing about Simon as a candidate? I've read her website and it appears she has very little relevant experience and a limited understanding of the issues. What am I missing?
I like the fact that she
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 09:21 — user1234I like the fact that she has high school kids who are in a Rim school (Millbrook, Sanderson, Athens, Garner) so she will understand our needs.
That's it?
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 11:07 — thegloveSo her qualifications, experience, knowledge of the issues, and the actions she intends to move forward with are irrelevant to you? Thank God most voters are not so vacuous.
"So her qualifications,
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 12:14 — user1234"So her qualifications, experience, knowledge of the issues, and the actions she intends to move forward with are irrelevant to you? "
I don't recall saying that? You might want to read more closely.
All the other details will come out over time and they can be compared. I think most voters vote for candidates that have similar experiences as they have experienced.
Personally, I don't even know what "character" education coordinator is or why we employ someone to do it which I need to better understand about Prickett.
Character Ed - to foster ethics, responsibility and caring
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 12:54 — FalcYour question is timely.
Here's the link:
http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/charactereducation/
I want a BOE member who understands the importance of these traits.
IMO character traits are key to fostering a successful learning environment. Yes, these should come from home, but in too many cases they are not and so are encouraged by the school. Even for those that get it from home, reinforcement doesn't hurt.
I think we have plenty of adult examples to show that we have an Ethics crisis these days. Just read the front page of the N&O today.
Would rather keep the math teachers
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 15:33 — user1234Sounds like a "nice to have" but in today's financial belt tightening times I would prefer to keep the math teachers and surplus character education. That is no slam on Prickett it is just character education would not be my priority to keep as the schools downsize.
FYI
Sun, 07/12/2009 - 00:16 — designmanCharacter education is legislated in NC -- so at least our legislators find it more than a "nice to have" thing -- and it is supposed to be incorporated into the general curriculum.
It is getting tedious bringing you up to speed on so many education issues.
Part of the problem....
Sun, 07/12/2009 - 10:27 — Bob_SconceThis is a very good example of why education is broken in North Carolina. Some politicians decide "It's important for our kids to have good character," so they pass a law mandating "character education" in the schools. But, those politicians don't know if "character education" in schools is effective, or that every student needs it, or if it's more important to teach character education over other things (as user1234 points out, I'd rather have my kids learn math than whatever watered-down politically correct version of "character" the schools will foist on them.)
In the end, school systems are hobbled by dumb decisions made centrally by politicians who have no real idea of the needs of the schools. That's why small local school boards are important -- they are much closer to the action and ought to have the authority to make their own decisions.
There are tons of examples of this. The standard course of study is a good example of this. As WEP recently pointed out, the SCOS focuses far too much on NC history and not enough on world history (or, IMO, US history.) The math curriculum is also watered down by going off on too many irrelevant tangents. (Why is the geometry curriculum watered down with idiotic things like the formula for finding the volume of a cone?) The calendaring law is another example where the GA oversteps its bounds.
"Nice to have?"
Sat, 07/11/2009 - 23:44 — designmanSome pretty intelligent and successful people believe that character is more than "nice," they find it to be essential to a full and worthy life:
Most people say that it is the intellect which makes a great scientist. They are wrong: it is character.
— Albert Einstein, Swiss-American mathematician, physicist and public philosopher (1879-1955)
— Theodore Roosevelt, American adventurer and 26th president (1858-1919)
— Booker T. Washington, American educator and civil rights activist (1856-1915)
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist, philosopher and poet (1803-1882)
— Helen Keller, American social activist, public speaker and author (1880-1968)
— Horace Greeley, American journalist and educator (1811-1872)
— William J. Bennett, author and former U.S. Secretary of Education (b. 1943)
— Heraclitus, Greek philosopher (c. 540-c. 475 B.C.)
— Beryl Markham, English adventurer and author (1902-1986)
I wonder how successful Math teachers are at
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 16:45 — Falcteaching Math to kids who are disrespectful, irresponsible and cheat. I'm not saying Math teachers are not important, obviously they are, but I think it goes hand in hand. I'm curious what your wife thinks as a teacher.
I realize engineering types need Calc but I would rather some more people have ethics than know the derivative of X cubed is 3X squared. Two years of Calc and I've never used it, but I use character every day and so does everyone. It becomes part of a person.
I could be wrong, but I think much of the Character Ed gets focused on at the ES level.
Curious, absent something like Character Ed how would you address kids in schools that are missing those traits? Do you think teachers get more worn out because Johnny struggles with 2x2 or because Johnny is disrespectful? My thoughts on character development come from it being a big part of the program that was successful in my 60%ED + a student in a wheelchair (and no TA) ES classrooms and why none of the 'trouble-makers' in MS came from my ES.
“I’m curious what your
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 18:05 — user1234“I’m curious what your wife thinks as a teacher. “
She teaches academic class only so many of her kids are in the 9th grade for the second or third time. There are quite a few that only come to school once a week while others alternate between school and jail (which is an excused absence, I think). When they are forced to be in class they typically put their head down and sleep. Their parents are non-existent. Why do teachers like my wife still loves these knuckleheads and continue to believe in, push and encourage them? … God Bless them … So, character development is probably too late for these kids. Maybe if they saw it in ES they would be good students now?
“I realize engineering types need Calc”
Personally, I would prefer a strong course in business math, finance and statistics. I think it would be more practical to most people.
“Do you think teachers get more worn out because Johnny struggles with 2x2 or because Johnny is disrespectful? “
Again, for my wife’s 14-19 year old 9th graders, a course in character is probably too late and too little. A large intimidating football coach or assistant principal sitting in the back of the room seems to most effective.
Thanks and God Bless your wife and others like her
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 23:58 — Falcfor not giving up. Why love knuckleheads? Suspect different people have different reasons - grew up with knuckleheads, just have a good heart, learned caring in character ed...
Yes, I believe there is a much higher chance of success if character development is started early and yes, I think it makes a difference certainly can't hurt, but of course there will always be exceptions either way. Other things that couldn't hurt are parental and community involvement in education. This is the part where the bussing supporters say parents won't be involved anyway. I found a presentation where parental and community involvement are included in best practices for at-risk students. Go figure. Also, not sure I've ever heard of a kid that was hurt by stability, so how about we try to maximize that too. Then there's putting the resources where the students need them.
Put it all together and maybe we can start to close the achievement gap, bussing sure hasn't done it. Healthy students mean more to me than healthy schools.
This is the part where you say the good teachers want to go to the low F&R schools, leaving bad teachers at higher F&R. Well, apparently that doesn't always hold. I'm guessing your wife's not teaching knuckleheads because she's a bad teacher, she's there because knuckleheads are her calling. I know several great teachers that chose or wanted to go to higher F&R schools for a variety of reasons.
The way I see it we can either try focusing on best practices to improve the health of students (which would lead to healthy schools anyway) or we can just keep focusing on healthy schools and where will node XYZ be sent next year and keep letting the unhealthy students in them continue to wither away. Just be ready for more of the same from your wife's future students. Afterall, why would using the same approach used since her current students were in ES produce a different outcome. This is the part where support says maybe what we have is the best we can do and I just shake my head. The best the most educated and affluent county in NC can do for its ED students is slightly below state average, in a last tier education state, in a mediocre education country. Seriously, that's our best effort?
This is the part where Mr. Hill counters how overall we are above state average. That's because of the NED performance, which is to be expected given our favorable demographics, but that part seems to get lost in the message.
“I'm guessing your wife's
Sun, 07/12/2009 - 11:11 — user1234“I'm guessing your wife's not teaching knuckleheads because she's a bad teacher, she's there because knuckleheads are her calling.”
Good stuff ... I admire your tenacity … my wife grew up in a housing project so she can relate to her students and being poor … but I think if given the opportunity to move to a Low Needs school which would mean fewer hours and more pay plus being able to teach challenging AP classes she would take it.
P.S. One note on the parental involvement, bussing and proximity … My wife’s kids live within a couple miles of the school, maybe within walking range and she has never see any of parent. The parents typically don’t have a phone or it has been disconnected or they don’t speak English. Note the situation is often complicated in that her kids live with the grandmother, aunt, boyfriend and the parents live elsewhere in separate homes so I am not sure who is suppose to be the parental support you want involved … the extended family housing the kid or the mother and father who float around from location to location with various boyfriends and girlfriends?
Personally, from what I have seen it is naïve for people to think parents will stream into schools when the school is close by for these F&Rs. I think that is an upper income view of the how the world is suppose to work in their limited experience.
Keep up the fight. I will say that if you could get some of the kids who care and have potential out of that environment to a low needs school where studying, doing homework, and going to college is expected it would do much more for them that leaving them in that environment which is why we see ED kids doing so well at schools like Green Hope (85% pass). I hope someone can come up a way to change the entire high needs school to be high performance but that is a monumental task to change an entire school, community.
Yes, it is a big task but something has to change
Mon, 07/13/2009 - 01:38 — FalcYes, this is a bigger issue than where Johnny goes to school, but IMO we can't afford to keep not doing it just because it is monumental.
I saw the show Whale Wars. These people expend a large amount of resources and risk their lives to saves whales. I heard irrigation water has been shut off to part of CA to save some type of minnow. So, society will do whatever it takes to save the whales, a minnow, dolphins, polar bears, then theirs the Save the Children in countries in poverty. I'm not saying those things don't have value, but why does it seem there isn't that same level of focus and effort for our own ED children?
Why should studying, doing homework, and going to college only be expected at low needs schools? These things (or learning a trade instead of college) should be expected of every child in every school - high needs or low needs. We have to expect that every child will succeed. They have to expect that and their families have to expect that of themselves (this may be the hardest part to change). But, if we don't expect something, it doesn't have much chance of happening does it?
Demographically, we can't have all <10% ED schools, so there has to be an answer besides send them to GHHS. Cary HS and Sanderson may have some answers. From the 2007-08 report cards it looked like 68.7% of ED passed EOCs at GHHS. Cary HS had a pass rate of 68.3% even with 4x the ED percentage of GH. Sanderson had 62.1% pass rate.
People have come up with ways of making positive changes, the question is how to get it done here on a larger scale. It's going to take leadership where the going in premises aren't that it's all about "healthy schools" and that everything about WCPSS is sunshine and roses. It's going to take leadership where the focus is on HOW Johnny will learn, not WHERE. From what I've seen, the where has not proven to be the best how.
“… but why does it seem
Mon, 07/13/2009 - 10:44 — user1234“… but why does it seem there isn't that same level of focus and effort for our own ED children? ….Why should studying, doing homework, and going to college only be expected at low needs schools? …
Those are the kinds of questions I will be listening for from the candidates. We know ED kids do better at some schools especially in ones that are not majority ED thus the creation of the diversity policy. It may be worth studying (better than Grade Doctor) what the levers are. Personally, I am guessing schools gravitate to their student mix. So, if you put an ED in a majority ED school where studying, HW, and going to college are not pervasive, ED students will gravitate to that attitude while on the other hand if you put them in GHHS where the norm is to study hard, excel academically and go to college they probably get swept up and go with the crowd (to college). So, if people want to keep ED in ED schools, they will need to simulate the attitudes, expectation, opportunities and peer pressure that are created at low ED schools which is quite a task.
Well, that is certainly your
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 09:39 — CaryCurmudgeonWell, that is certainly your prerogative. Personally, I would not embrace a candidate just because they have kids in the same schools as me. If Deborah Prickett also had kids at Sanderson, would you decide with a coin-toss?
Well if they both had high
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 12:20 — user1234Well if they both had high school kids, I would study their positions next ... I prefer to vote for someone experiencing what I experience and who has plans to address my concerns.
OK, which of her plans
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 12:34 — CaryCurmudgeonOK, which of her plans address which of your concerns?
Not sure yet ... I need to
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 13:12 — user1234Not sure yet ... I need to go to her talks and hear the debates first to get all the information ... by Oct we will know where everyone stands ...
What debates? Do you know
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 14:05 — CaryCurmudgeonWhat debates? Do you know of any that have been arranged?
Just assuming that as we get
Fri, 07/10/2009 - 15:04 — user1234Just assuming that as we get closer to Oct some public interest group will sponsor a public forum to hear the candidates.