Where the Wake County school system stands days away from the 50th anniversary of the integration of Raleigh's schools depends on whom you ask.
As noted in today's article, those who fought for integration in 1960 and today's supporters of the discarded diversity policy say Wake is heading in the wrong direction with the move to community schools. But the school board majority says they're trying to fulfill the dreams of those who wanted integrated schools to give children a better education
“I am disappointed that – with so many seemingly having endured so much for so long to get to what was a terrific school system in Raleigh – it would be dismantled without any consideration of the long-term detrimental effects,” said former Atlanta mayor Bill Campbell, who became the first black child to attend a white Raleigh city school on Sept. 9, 1960.
School board chairman Ron Margiotta disagrees with that pessimistic view. He said that those who followed up on integration with the diversity policy contributed to problems such as poor test scores for low-income kids and qualified minority students not getting into Algebra I in middle school.
“What we're trying to do is build on the past 50 years,” Margiotta said. “We're focusing on the education of all students. The low-income children have been deprived of a good education."
While some such as the state NAACP are decrying the changes, Raleigh-Wake Citizens Association President Dan Coleman is standing firm behind his criticism of the diversity policy.
"We can do better with the kids in their neighborhoods with the assets there," Coleman said. "As Hillary Clinton said, 'It takes a village to raise a child.' But we've gotten away from that."
Coleman is also critical of the magnet school program, which has resulted in thousands of Southeast Raleigh children being bused out of the community to free up magnet seats. He complains that diversity policy supporters treat Southeast Raleigh as a "desert" and the magnet schools as "oases."
One example of this isolation, Coleman said, is how Ligon Middle School holds its annual Bolt for the Blue run without involving the people who live in the community. He said the school doesn't notify the local Citizens Advisory Council about the event or work with local businesses along the route of the 5K event.
Coleman also directed some of his fire specifically at Enloe High School, where he complained that base students aren't getting much of the academic benefits of the magnet program.
"What are you doing for the kids who are not having the benefits of a world-class education?" Coleman said. "How is Enloe helping them?"
Comments
RE:Wake's future 50 years after beginning of integration Read m
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 23:57 — luxiaoxiaocityI do not apperceive if it is accepted to acquaint the bounded aborigine advising of academy armamentarium adopting events. All I can say it that back we did armamentarium adopting at Leadmine and Baileywick it was through the acceptance and parents. Committee parents would go about to the bounded businesses or whatever businesses they believed would be acceptant to solicite donations. We did not accelerate out association advisory's back we captivated out abatement and bounce armamentarium adopting carnivals. I alive 1 mile from a average academy - I am abiding they do armamentarium adopting and yet I accept never apparent a association notification. www.uk-power-battery.co.uk
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Mon, 09/06/2010 - 11:22 — red_balloon.
Nice Article
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 10:26 — Dove314I enjoyed reading the article, I went through desegregation elsewhere so appreciate the history of how desegregation occurred in Raleigh. I did not realize that neighborhood schools and controlled choice models were proposed in the 1960's and rejected.
Keung - on a side note - would there be any way to also link to the letter by Anne Tyler? I enjoyed reading her perspective.
It's there on the right side
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 10:49 — KeungHui (author)It's there on the right side of the page.
Thank you.
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 11:36 — Dove314I missed it when I looked on the article page.
Bolt for the Blue
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 10:22 — HereWeGoI am sure if Mr. Coleman would like to volunteer with Bolt for Blue they would love to have another organizer.
In other words, it falls to
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 11:21 — red_balloonIn other words, it falls to the AA to integrate. Voluntarily. But, when it comes to education, why do we need to force some of them onto a bus while bribing others?
For a much vaunted diversity policy, it sure is telling that an AA community leader has such unflattering observations.
Planned
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 11:50 — HereWeGoMy point was, it is easy to stand back and complain/criticize.
If you have ever, as a volunteer, organized a major event, you are going to miss something and somebody is not going to be happy.
For those that are not happy they should get involved instead of complaining to the local media.
Sure you can't please
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 13:51 — red_balloonSure you can't please everyone. But the question would be: did you hit your primary objective? Now, unless Coleman is lying or is ignorant, it appears the magnet objective of integration doesn't get anything more than lip service at Ligon.
Lip Service
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 20:29 — Solon77Can lead a horse to water but can't make it drink. Is Coleman waiting for an engraved invitation ? Here you have a group of teachers and students taking the initiative to put together a fund raiser with participation from the base as well as outside of the base community. If one looks at the pictures from the event, you will see it is an integrated event. If it were only the base students showing up- this would be alarming but this was not the case.
School fundraising - I do not know if it is common to notify the local citizen advisory of school fund raising events. All I can say it that when we did fund raising at Leadmine and Baileywick it was through the students and parents. Committee parents would go around to the local businesses or whatever businesses they believed would be receptive to solicite donations. We did not send out community advisory's when we held out fall and spring fund raising carnivals. I live 1 mile from a middle school - I am sure they do fund raising and yet I have never seen a community notification. Mr. Coleman is out of touch.
Regarding his comment on Enloe - so whose fault is it that kids do not show up for school, who do not do their homework, do not study and end up failing. Bill Cosby and Clarence Thomas have it right.
Seems to be a label that
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 22:20 — red_balloonSeems to be a label that Coleman attracts from Policy 6200 supporters @ out of touch.
With regard to your first statement and the last paragraph, it reminded me of Policy 6200. If a kid is not an interested student, how does leading him to a different school help? Also, if the student has responsibility for failing, why is busing a fix for such personal failures?
so whose fault is it that
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 20:49 — CaryCurmudgeonSo why
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 22:05 — Solon77So why is your side wanting to build more schools in SE Raleigh in order to create more magnet seats ?
You would need capacity for
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 22:30 — red_balloonYou would need capacity for the students not being shipped OTB. Unless, there is another lottery but this time to remove applicant magnet students so that capacity exists for returning ITB students.
If
Tue, 09/07/2010 - 07:05 — Solon77If the magnets do not serve any other purpose than to provide NED kids with enhanced and special education opportunities - then why have them ? Disolve the magnet program, send all kids back to where they came from and leave it at that. Let the natural course follow. This way the offerings across all schools will be fair and equal.
I agree with CC, build the schools where they are needed. They are not needed in SE Raleigh.
I agree they are not needed
Tue, 09/07/2010 - 09:00 — red_balloonI agree they are not needed in SER. But unless magnet students are returned to base schools, I don't see how returning ITB students will have seats at the magnets. Also, even if applicant magnet students are shipped back to base schools, I don't see why the extra local funding for magnets should be discontinued. Instead of money being spent on Chinese, etc. it can be spent on courses more relevant to the base student population at that school.
My side? As far as I'm
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 22:27 — CaryCurmudgeonMy side? As far as I'm concerned, we should build schools where we need them. I have no idea what that has to do about your hand-wringing over whether black children come to school or do their homework. Saying that Bill Cosby has all the answers is a cop out. We can sit around hoping that there will be no more unwed mothers or unprepared parents, but that doesn't do these kids any good. We already know that putting kids on buses does not boost scores for kids who are academically struggling. Nor does putting bright ED kids in remedial classes do anything to challenge them and keep them in school. There is no magic administrative program potion. There is only hard work.
On what basis do you make the claim that Mr. Coleman is "out of touch?" When he made those statements I'm sure Mr. Coleman knew he'd catch hell from CCAACC and other groups. What did he personally have to gain by saying what he did? What motivation would he have for mis-characterizing the way some of the RWCA members are thinking? Mr. Coleman lives here and spends time with a large base of RWCA members. The CCAACC meetings are sparsely attended, and from their recent "BOE Update" they appear to be as much dedicated to partisan Democratic campaign support as they are helping children. Mr. Barbor pops in here and there to make a speech or encourage young people to go get arrested, he doesn't even live in Wake County. How "in touch" is that?
In reference
Tue, 09/07/2010 - 07:33 — Solon77Well
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 00:13 — TrailerParkGirlI can't speak for Mr. Coleman personally, but a couple things to keep in mind -
1) Many people were under the impression that everything was OK - everyone focused on overall school scores/results, the national accolades, etc. You have to remember that much of the less favorable results and data once parsed out by demographics have only started coming to light and getting public focus fairly recently. Why would people work to fix something, when everyone was under the impression that nothing was broken and we had the diversity policy that was supposed to
raise achievement? It's only been recently that more people have peeled back the pretty wrapping paper and seen that what is underneath doesn't match the wrapping and maybe wasn't working as they thought it was supposed to work. (I'd have to go back and reread for sure, but I think Mr. Coleman's email mentioned data "has come to light" or something along those lines meaning he was previously unaware.)
2) Per the information provided by the N&O recently, it seems about 1/2 of the students in SE Raleigh are attending school outside SE Raleigh. At Ligon, only 30% of students are base students and 70% are non-base. That's sort of the point - the community and school connection is not as strong because not that many kids living in the community are going to school in that school and most of the students/families in that school are not from the surrounding community. I'm not sure why you would expect organizations in the community to contact the school, rather than the other way around, especially when the majority of students at the school are not from the community. I don't know for sure, but I'm pretty sure most community organizations in my area aren't the ones calling up our school or PTA and saying "hey, what are your fundraisers, when are they, how do we get involved." I'm pretty sure it usually works the other way around where our school or PTA contacts organizations in the community to make them aware/ask for assistance and that's in a school with a much higher percentage of community base students than Ligon.
I'm curious, it seems this particular event is a PTA event, what percentage of PTA officers and board members are base parents? I'm curious because I could see how people from outside the local community might not automatically think about contacting local organizations. No offense intended, but the picture from the events didn't appear to reflect the surrounding community or base students (i.e. seemed predominantly white kids). Why hold the event on Saturday instead of during a normal school day when all the students could participate in the fun walk/run (even if they didn't raise money)? That's when you start getting into these schools within schools type divisions. I'm sure nothing intentional was meant by it, but was that angle thought through? It's an inclusion vs exclusion consideration.
PTA
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 06:20 — HereWeGoMost PTA officers are magnet families. So, when Ligon becomes a neighborhood school who is going to run the PTA? I bet funds raised benefited the neighborhood students more than it benefited the magnet families.
Couple points
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 10:06 — TrailerParkGirl1) Last I heard the magnet program was expected to largely remain so not sure that it has been determined that Ligon would be a "neighborhood" school. As I understand the proposed model, middle and high school option are at the Region level, so at a minimum it would be a Regional school, not a “neighborhood” school. In any case, where I used to live none of the schools seem to have issues with PTA involvement, not even the 80% FRL neighborhood ES, but again the local culture/mindset/expectations there seems to have been very different than here for a long time.
2) PTA funds are supposed to benefit the entire school, not just one portion over another, so not sure your bet is valid. I looked at Ligon’s PTA site and it appears they are appropriately generally sponsoring school wide events/items (Cultural Arts, Technology improvements, teacher supply gift cards, etc.), so it appears all students benefitted about the same. I believe that guideline may relate to maintaining non-profit status with the IRS. The PTA student focus description, with things like Career Day, is something some other schools do outside of the PTA.
"it seems this particular
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 06:06 — magnetParent"it seems this particular event is a PTA event, what percentage of PTA officers and board members are base parents? I'm curious because I could see how people from outside the local community might not automatically think about contacting local organizations. No offense intended, but the picture from the events didn't appear to reflect the surrounding community or base students (i.e. seemed predominantly white kids). Why hold the event on Saturday instead of during a normal school day when all the students could participate in the fun walk/run (even if they didn't raise money)? That's when you start getting into these schools within schools type divisions."
Trying to understand your point - are you saying that the PTA participation is divided between base and magnet parents? That it is a PTA within a PTA? I am not sure how you can deduce that from the picture, but, if it is true that the percentage of base parents in the PTA is less than 30% (the percentage of base students), does that not tell you that the parent participation rate of a neighborhood school in that area would be much lower than it is now with magnet families? And regarding the fact that the event is held on a Saturday instead of during a school day - it is a fundraiser - it is a 5K - to do that on a school day would take up a large portion of teaching time. Typically these kind of school fundraisers (5Ks, carwashes, yard sales) are held outside of school hours. And I am not sure why you think it is harder for base students to attend a Saturday event than it is for magnet students. I think you are reading way to much into a picture and event just because it is a magnet school.
"That's sort of the point - the community and school connection is not as strong because not that many kids living in the community are going to school in that school"
Au contraire - the school embraces its community. I can't speak for Ligon, but Partnership ES is and always has been largely application. This school embraced its community. It was important to be sure the surrounding neighborhood saw this school as its own - even if they did not have kids attending the school. PES gave back to that community - holiday caroling every year in the surrounding area and sometimes at the nearby senior center. The neighborhood residents were invited to PTA events. The community and school connection was very strong.
Response
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 10:44 — TrailerParkGirlNo, I wasn’t trying to suggest anything - just asking. I’m trying to understand why things are the way they are. How does one improve something without understanding why it is in the current state.
The original topic was that Dan Coleman and the local community didn’t seem to know about Ligon’s 5K run/walk, so the discussion was pretty much about why there might be this disconnect. As I mentioned, my point was that I could imagine if the PTA is largely comprised of people outside the local community that the PTA members simply might not think about contacting one of the local organizations. They might not even know what those organizations are as they do not live there. Simply an – oh, we didn’t think about that / weren’t aware of it thing. Sounds like Partnership may have thought about that angle, but that doesn’t mean everybody automatically does. Is that why Partnership is called Partnership – because of the concept of a school/community partnership? If so, sounds like it has one angle of a community model school.
Actually, all the picture tells me is that there didn’t appear to be much local participation in that event. It doesn’t tell me why nor does it tell me how it might be different under different circumstances or not because we don’t have the “why”. I have no idea what efforts, if any, the Ligon PTA has made to involve base parents and I can only speculate, based on my own past, why more base parents may not be involved and why this is different than what I experienced growing up.
Every school we’ve attended here has held these events during school and all students have participated. That way all students can feel a part of the event and school (like a team building thing). It’s just an angle to think about. That’s all I was trying to say.
Dan Coleman complained
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 11:46 — magnetParentDan Coleman complained about not notifying the CAC for the area. Looking at the CAC's web pages, and I just don't see a place for this information. Their last newsletter was issued in July 2010, so there would be no place for it there. There is no place in the CAC web pages that lists events of the local schools. You can go to the "Neighborhoods" link and see links to events such as "Parks & Recreation Alerts" and "Downtown Traffic Alerts" but where is the link to "Local School Events"? It seems to me that not only is Ligon not communicating with its neighborhood CAC, but also, the CAC does not seem to have embraced its local schools. That being said, I do not see a connection with the fact that Ligon is a magnet school.
Yes, Partnership is called that because it believes in the concept of a community/school/family partnership (it takes a village to raise a child). And you could call it a community model school - but keep in mind the students do not live in the neighborhood that the school resides, so your definition of community may be different than mine.
"Every school we’ve attended here has held these events during school and all students have participated."
And I can tell you that not every school in Wake County restricts their fundraising activities during school hours. Book fairs are usually in the evening. Partnership has had silent auctions/field day events in the evenings. I've been to other fundraising events (spaghetti dinners, etc) at other schools in the evening as well. And all students have participated. I still do not understand why you seem to think that activities outside of school hours would exclude base students.
Confused
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 13:53 — TrailerParkGirlSorry about the font, something weird happened and can't figure out how to fix it.
That being said, I do not see a connection with the fact that Ligon is a magnet school.
Huh? If you check my original post, it doesn't have the word "magnet" in it. Are you responding to something Dan Coleman said?
You do realize that non-magnets have base and non-base students too? I realize your username is magnet parent, but everything is necessarily about the magnet angle. These types of considerations about PTA support, events, and inclusion and school-community connections apply to all schools – they just can tend to be more pronounced with a larger non-base (not necessarily magnet) population.
It seems to me that not only is Ligon not communicating with its neighborhood CAC, but also, the CAC does not seem to have embraced its local schools.
What “local schools”? We’ve spent the last ten years being told there were no “neighborhood” (i.e. local) schools and that all the schools in Wake County belong to everyone (think that’s pretty close to what Rosa Gill had said). So, why would you expect an organization to have embraced its “local schools”?
you could call it a community model school
I didn't call it that - I said it seemed to have one angle of that model
not every school in Wake County restricts their fundraising activities during school hours
By "these events" I specifically meant Fun Run/Walk type events. Book Fairs seem often to be both during school and plus a Family Night.
I still do not understand why you seem to think that activities outside of school hours would exclude base students.
Now you are extrapolating. I said the picture didn’t seem to reflect the base students. I didn’t say it would exclude base students. What I said was that it wouldn’t include all students (unless somehow there isn’t a single family/student that doesn’t have another commitment on a Saturday and no people wouldn’t feel odd making an extra effort to attend even if they hadn’t raised much, and all parents were willing to make an extra effort to get their kid there or the kid was going to make the effort to get there alone). Geez, it was just a suggestion to think about. Forget, I even brought it up.
No, you did not use the word
Wed, 09/08/2010 - 15:35 — magnetParentNo, you did not use the word "magnet", you said:
"At Ligon, only 30% of students are base students and 70% are non-base. That's sort of the point - the community and school connection is not as strong because not that many kids living in the community are going to school in that school and most of the students/families in that school are not from the surrounding community"
and
"No offense intended, but the picture from the events didn't appear to reflect the surrounding community or base students (i.e. seemed predominantly white kids). Why hold the event on Saturday instead of during a normal school day when all the students could participate in the fun walk/run (even if they didn't raise money)? That's when you start getting into these schools within schools type divisions. I'm sure nothing intentional was meant by it, but was that angle thought through? It's an inclusion vs exclusion consideration."
What other kind of schools are you referring to that have base and non-base students (30% and 70%) and are accused of being a school within a school? Sure non-magnets have non-base students, on a much smaller scale, with transfer students. Together with Dan Coleman's comments against magnets ("Coleman is also critical of the magnet school program..."), it is pretty straightforward.
"Why hold the event on Saturday instead of during a normal school day when all the students could participate in the fun walk/run (even if they didn't raise money)? That's when you start getting into these schools within schools type divisions...It's an inclusion vs exclusion consideration."
Extrapolating? So which students were you saying could not participate? Your reference to schools within schools seems to refer to base.
"So, why would you expect an organization to have embraced its “local schools”?"
Because Dan Coleman complained that Ligon was not keeping its neighborhood CAC involved. I'm just saying it goes both ways.
Sorry I struck a nerve - that was not my intent. I agree that parent and student participation is important in a school. I just don't see Ligon's Fun Run/5K fundraiser as excluding one group of students over another.
Constructive suggestions?
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 14:21 — Dove314Does there need to be an alternative option for providing AG services than clustering AG children (regardless of economic status) in a magnet school which is shared with non-AG children (e.g. Ligon which houses AG and G/T children along with a small base population). What constructive ideas would you propose or explore as an alternative way to provide AG services to middle and high school students? How does the risk/benefit scenario of putting AG children together all in a few schools compare to distributing fewer AG children across schools? Should non-AG children attend the same schools as AG children? What are the costs associated with different models and can WCPSS afford those costs? Can a scenario be designed which is fair and equal to all AG children (i.e. not some get in to a "better" AG magnet while others do not)?
some initial thoughts
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 15:27 — red_balloon* Designate a few schools for students of academic merit. Disperse these equally resourced schools thoughout the county.
* Grant admission to the schools based on demonstrated merit and capabilities. After admission, acceptable performance will be needed to continue in these schools.
* EDs receive supplemental coaching services to compete for admission to these schools.
* Provide express busing to these schools. Provide greater busing coverage for EDs.
So
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 20:28 — Dove314So create some designated AG MS and AG HS centrally located with sufficient capacity to house all AG students county wide who maintain a set GPA or better? This would pull all AG level kids out of every other MS and HS. Would curriculum at the non-AG MS and HS level be impacted by the lack of AG students? Placing a ring of AG MS would be easier than placing AG HS's. Will there be any issues with having AG schools having different resources, most likely more, than non-AG schools, similar to the issues with magnets now?
Concur that ED students may require supplemental coaching services to first meet the AG threshold and second meet and maintain the admission criteria. Right now there are 3 MS -- Ligon, Carnage, and Martin -- with concentrations of AG MS students. For HS, the AG track would typically be Enloe and possibly Southeast and formerly Broughton. How would capacity initially be determined to know how many schools would be required? How would growth (and potentially shrinkage) be managed?
Transportation becomes sticky and expensive. Express busing helps but will still be extensive depending upon how zones are handled and given the very wide catchment dividing the entire county to have 2-3 HS.
What are the alternatives?
some alternatives
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 22:02 — red_balloon1. Offer enhanced curriculum to every student.
2. Decrease the number of electives/ resources at the schools of merit and provide better AG type services at the other schools.
3. Maximize the number of electives/ resources at the schools of merit and under resource the other schools.
4. Offer a three tiered system: base schools at the neighborhood level, schools of enhanced offerings at the zone level, and schools of academic excellence at the region/ county level (region level for ES and MS and county level for HS).
No disrespect to Mr.
Mon, 09/06/2010 - 09:02 — CaryCurmudgeonNo disrespect to Mr. Campbell, but this isn't 1960 and he has NO idea what is going on in Wake County schools. For that matter, where's Atlanta's program of forced busing based on socio-economic status. Yet another person with a strong belief about what Wake County should be doing when they do anything but that in their own community.
I have never met Mr. Coleman, but I sure hope I get the chance. He is certainly feeling the wrath of community "leaders" like Barber & co. for speaking out, and he is asking all the right questions. Yet another North Carolinian who would have been far more worthy of the longleaf pine award.