http://www.newsobserver.com/news/education/story/345865.html

So, the short of it is, the new school board has nixed his idea of early release Wednesdays to allow for teachers to have group planning sessions and they have also stopped the diversity policy that Wake County has. He says he cannot continue his job in good conscience because he thinks their ideas are wrong for students, and he work to implement policies he disagrees with.

I was a product of Wake County schools, and I always thought the concept of busing and ensuring diversity was great. Also, I think the idea of having one hour a week for group planning sessions is very helpful. High schools especially tend to operate on a different system where every teacher is an island, and that doesn't support the students as well as the middle school team model.

In my opinion, it seems to come down to the fact that 4 Republicans were elected by a bunch of self centered parents who have the attitude that their kids are all that's important, not the community as a whole, and they don't care that this is going to destroy the schools in districts with lower SES. It will take a few years, but you're going to get severe stratification and I think this is the beginning of the decline of the Wake County Schools.

2/18/2010 10:48:06 PM

http://bluenc.com/three-year-olds-running-wake-county-schools

Quote :

"What happens when Republicans run things? Squandered resources. Chaos for parents. Imminent tax increases. All hell breaks loose. Hat tip to Progressive Pulse. * 43 elementary schools would be over capacity if all elementary schools went to a traditional calendar; Wilburn would be over 300% of capacity; Wake Forest, Brentwood, Vance and Olive Elementary Schools would be over 200% of capacity. Assuming a year-round calendar remains in place, 33 elementary schools would be over capacity. * Under a traditional calendar, 10 middle and 6 high schools would be over capacity. * Overcapacity schools would not only be in downtown or west of the city. Mapping of the schools reveals these schools would appear in suburban locations where neighborhoods are dominated by ‘empty nesters’. * Growth patterns, and land and construction costs will add problems in the future. The report concludes: “Given the amount of land needed and the spiraling costs for new schools, it may never be possible to assign all families in western Wake County to their closest schools.” This is what happens when you put three year olds in charge of a school system."

2/18/2010 11:32:21 PM

the wednesday thing was terrible for parents

2/18/2010 11:43:11 PM

how exactly does the hierarchy work between the superintendent and the school board?

The school board is just laymen, and the superintendent is generally a professional educator, right? How bound is this position to listening to the board?

2/19/2010 12:07:43 AM

I don't know a lot about how school boards work. But my understanding is county commissioners approve the budget amount for county school boards, but the school boards themselves direct how the money is spent. If this unprofessional school board is controlling the purse strings, I could understand why the professionals might get fed up.

[Edited on February 19, 2010 at 12:18 AM. Reason : .]

2/19/2010 12:18:17 AM

It sucks, moron.

The board sets policy, and the superintendent carries it out.

The board actually could have fired Burns if they wanted.

And they'll be the ones who pick his replacement.


But I don't really blame the guy for leaving.

2/19/2010 12:19:10 AM

Quote :

"the wednesday thing was terrible for parents"

School isn't daycare.

1. Impact on student learning
2. Cost

...

3. Impact on parents' schedules

2/19/2010 10:17:54 AM

that's assuming a false dilemma where that is the only option. the large amount of kids left unsupervised on wednesday afternoons should be taken into consideration.

2/19/2010 11:38:40 AM

Quote :

"* 43 elementary schools would be over capacity if all elementary schools went to a traditional calendar; Wilburn would be over 300% of capacity; Wake Forest, Brentwood, Vance and Olive Elementary Schools would be over 200% of capacity. Assuming a year-round calendar remains in place, 33 elementary schools would be over capacity. * Under a traditional calendar, 10 middle and 6 high schools would be over capacity. * Overcapacity schools would not only be in downtown or west of the city. Mapping of the schools reveals these schools would appear in suburban locations where neighborhoods are dominated by ‘empty nesters’. * Growth patterns, and land and construction costs will add problems in the future. The report concludes: “Given the amount of land needed and the spiraling costs for new schools, it may never be possible to assign all families in western Wake County to their closest schools.”"

Sounds to me like the previous people in charge failed to adequately plan for the growth that wake county had, encouraged and wanted.

Quote :

"School isn't daycare."

And yet, one of the primary arguments for mandatory year round schooling is that it reduces the burden on parents where summer break is concerned.

2/19/2010 1:47:43 PM

I thought the primary argument was that we aren't all fucking farmers anymore and a year round school schedule is better for the children's actually education

2/19/2010 2:00:15 PM

Liberal Playbook in full effect here

All people that are Conservative are stupid, we are the only enlightened people.

And FuhCtious education has changed a lot since you were in school.

I am sure a website like Bluenc.com isn't full of bias and only reports the facts

2/19/2010 2:33:24 PM

^Shit like that is precisely why Burns resigned.

Congrats on getting it.

2/19/2010 2:49:33 PM

^^The assessment results were reposted there, but they did not generate the findings.

Quote :

"According to a white paper released by the Wake Education Partnership today, an assignment plan in Wake County that abandons the magnet school policy and sent students to their nearest schools would cause “dozens of capacity problems.” A move to abandon year-round schools would greatly compound the enormous capacity problems such a change in assignment policy would cause. The Wake Education Partership is a non-partisan non-profit organization dedicated to a world class school system in Wake and receives significant support from local business. Among the key findings of an assignment system based on students attending the nearest school: * 43 elementary schools would be over capacity if all elementary schools went to a traditional calendar; Wilburn would be over 300% of capacity; Wake Forest, Brentwood, Vance and Olive Elementary Schools would be over 200% of capacity. Assuming a year-round calendar remains in place, 33 elementary schools would be over capacity. * Under a traditional calendar, 10 middle and 6 high schools would be over capacity. * Overcapacity schools would not only be confined to downtown. Mapping of the schools reveals these schools would appear in suburban locations where neighborhoods are dominated by ‘empty nesters’. * Growth patterns, and land and construction costs will add problems in the future. The report concludes: “Given the amount of land needed and the spiraling costs for new schools, it may never be possible to assign all families in western Wake County to their closest schools.”"

2/19/2010 2:59:25 PM

Del Burns was my principal when I was in HS, and he's just as much a part of the problem as any other educrat. Maybe we can get a superintendent who will actually work with the school board.

And really, in this day and age, can Wake County really afford to keep paying for failed social experiments like bussing? Imagine how much is not only being saved on fuel but for our environment!

2/19/2010 5:21:49 PM

^You are acting like he was a noncooperative superintendent before, like he posed some huge problems for the board. He didn't. He realized he couldn't work with them and resigned.

Furthermore, the fuel savings will disappear when we have to pour money into failing schools.

2/19/2010 5:58:29 PM

aren't they gonna build new schools so that we don't have to deal with year-round?

2/19/2010 6:12:37 PM

How many high schoolers like their principal to begin with?

Mine would always go on the intercom during the spring to remind people that "this is NOT myrtle beach people" and you should dress appropriately. Then I think he retired, and we had another principal for a few years. I think she went on to be superintendent of schools for my old home county.

2/19/2010 6:12:43 PM

i did a lot of intercom speaking for my high school due to my position in student government

but then again

people liked me and they liked our high school so nobody was disgruntled

ever

2/19/2010 6:14:55 PM

Academia should be about a diversity of ideas.

Every school in Wake County is given their budgets based on the number of students they have. It's not based on whether it's a rich white kid or a poor hispanic one. Every child is afforded the same amount of funding.

At my high school, it was as polarized racially as if it were the 1950s. White students ate in one area, blacks in another, by choice. There were underlying tensions, like the black students that threatened to riot and burn the school down if OJ was found guilty. Is this the legacy of busing? It was at my high school.

I think it's time that local communities were allowed to have some control over their local schools so they can develop an instilled sense of pride. It would make it easier for poor parents to get to teacher's conferences if their child's school is right around the corner. It's foolish to bus a student all the way across the county when there's a perfectly good one 2 blocks away. We are far from the original intent of busing, which was based on a premise of separate but unequal. Today, funding is the same. Schools were orginally integrated because of the inadequacy of funding based on race. That's simply not the case anymore.

2/19/2010 8:42:17 PM

http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=588359

2/19/2010 9:01:19 PM

^^ Your high school sounds

My high school you didn't really see segregation like that. It was more the nerdy AP kids hung out together and the I-just-don't-give-a-fuck kids hung out together.

Quote :

"aren't they gonna build new schools so that we don't have to deal with year-round?"

With what money?

2/19/2010 10:04:37 PM

My HS was...interesting.

Which was weird. My best friends in middle school were all black, not that it mattered. We all played basketball and football together, played sega, nintendo, spent the night at each other's houses. We all got along great. I dunno what happened but HS was completely separated. It was sad really.

2/19/2010 10:46:35 PM

I think the old board took it too far with the wacky wednesdays thing, here is why.

The parents who were complaining suggested maybe Friday would be a better day, the schools then complained that they would have trouble keeping the staff there on Fridays. I thought that was a load of crap, if my boss tells me to do something or be somewhere at a certain time I do it. I do not see why it is any different for school employees. They get nights and weekends off pretty much always, unlike many parents with school aged kids.

Also many of the poor and reduced lunch students have parents who have enough trouble supervising them on a normal schedule, forget an early release day every week. Regular early release days cut not only in to instruction time, they also leave more at risk kids unsupervised.

I disagree with pretty much everything else the "new majority" is doing but the old leadership could have avoided this shitstorm by just listening a little bit to the parents and citizens they work for.

Also John Tedesco seems like a douche, his loud mouth may come back to bite him in the next election. He is shooting from the hip and don't even know what to aim at yet.

2/20/2010 12:39:59 AM

^ If there is nothing that can be done about the new schoolboard, then people should really refocus their efforts on do what else can be done to keep the education system running as best as possible.

It doesn’t really help to just bitch about the idiots that have taken power. They might as well embrace what initiatives they can’t help, and push for maybe new initiatives to work around the problems they might create.

Removing of bussing is not really the end of the world for the more disadvantaged schools. They just need whatever support they can get.

Local politics don’t have to be the monkey-poo-throwing contest national politics are.

[Edited on February 20, 2010 at 2:12 AM. Reason : ]

2/20/2010 2:12:08 AM

Quote :

"I think the old board took it too far with the wacky wednesdays thing, here is why. "

Just admit it, they were too wacky for you.

2/20/2010 2:13:29 AM

I wasn't a big fan of the early release on Wednesdays. Just kinda like meh.

Quote :

"If there is nothing that can be done about the new schoolboard, then people should really refocus their efforts on do what else can be done to keep the education system running as best as possible."

But the diversity policy was the very best part for everybody. We wouldn't be where we are without it. And this was a national-level decision, by the way. I mean, it's a very, very big deal that will affect far more than the less affluent students. Thirty years ago, the Triad (Greensboro, High Point, Winston Salem) used to have more people than the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill)...it's no secret why the two areas have developed so differently...

I appreciate your optimism, but I don't know how you imagine we can isolate the majority of the less affluent students in a handful of schools and then just throw at them "whatever support they can get," especially when we already have people (Wlfpk4Life) making a big deal about how all the students/schools must get the same amount of funding...

2/20/2010 2:59:20 AM

I went to a magnet school in Charlotte that was about 60-40 white to minority which is about as balanced as you are going to get. Students pretty much segregated themselves. Why force diversity when people pretty much segregate themselves. I hated riding the bus for 2 hours and being up at 4:30 in the morning so I could be out to the bus stop by 5:30. Forced integration has served its purpose. What the poor schools are worried about is now they can't bus in the kids that want to succeed so test scores will drop at some schools.

Its amazing I drive by several bus stops at apartment complexes on the way to work which typically is where a majority of the poor students come from outside of government housing. Its disgusting to see that most don't have a book bag or any books in their hands. They are going to school because they have to. Until you change the perception of education at home failing students will not succeed no matter where you send them to school and how much money you throw at them.

2/20/2010 8:20:37 AM

Wacky Wednesdays were the dumbest thing ever devised.

2/20/2010 9:13:21 AM

can anyone post evidence supporting diversity programs? it's been shown again and again that choice leads to racially distinctive schools and research such as that done by weiher at the university of houston suggests that minority students do better at minority schools. what is the purpose of pushing false diversity? so schools can have one half of the cafeteria with kids from one part of the city and kids in the other part of the cafeteria from the other? does simply seeing more minorities in the hallways somehow make one more culturally sensitive?

[Edited on February 20, 2010 at 9:37 AM. Reason : .]

2/20/2010 9:20:45 AM

Quote :

"Its amazing I drive by several bus stops at apartment complexes on the way to work which typically is where a majority of the poor students come from outside of government housing. Its disgusting to see that most don't have a book bag or any books in their hands. They are going to school because they have to. "

Further proving that balanced schools are needed. Its not fair to the kid that wants to learn has parents who support their education to get stuck at a school with a disproportionate amount of disadvantaged or apathetic students.

2/20/2010 9:32:55 AM

Quote :

"I went to a magnet school in Charlotte that was about 60-40 white to minority which is about as balanced as you are going to get. Students pretty much segregated themselves. Why force diversity when people pretty much segregate themselves. I hated riding the bus for 2 hours and being up at 4:30 in the morning so I could be out to the bus stop by 5:30. Forced integration has served its purpose. What the poor schools are worried about is now they can't bus in the kids that want to succeed so test scores will drop at some schools. "

I don’t see why what your perception is of peoples’ view on segregation has to do with bussing. The fact that people at your school segregated themselves doesn’t mean bussing shouldn’t be done. It would even be a symptom that there are still more problems to be solved, and tolerating a problem doesn’t mean it’s solved.

They are practically two completely separate issues, in my mind.

And it also highlights that this is more of a race issue than any of the new board members will admit. They don’t want their kids going to school with the poor black kids, and they don’t care who gets left behind by their policy.

2/20/2010 10:48:09 AM

everything is a race issue to minorities.

I think its more of a class issue, because any race can be poor.

2/20/2010 12:13:10 PM

^ haha wow

So why did you play your story about how your school was segregated, if YOU yourself don’t view it as a race issue…?

2/20/2010 12:15:01 PM

http://www.newsobserver.com/home/story/348511.html

"Burns had to give at least 90 days notice of resignation or risk a $30,000 penalty."

It looks like the superintendent gave notice, which his contract requires of him, but the board is considering a 100 k payout to not have to work with him until his departure date.


http://www.newsobserver.com/news/education/story/342647.html

"A divided Wake County school board voted 5-4 today to scrap the proposed Forest Ridge High School in northeast Raleigh even though staff warned that switching to a new site in Rolesville could cost $15.4 million."

"School administrators said that switching sites means they won’t be able to open the school as planned in 2012. They said they’re now expecting a 2014 opening at one of the alternatives.

Administrators said much of the $15.4 million in extra costs would come from purchasing and locating additional classroom trailers to deal with overcrowding caused by delaying the school by two years."

If the new board fights against year round schools, fights against building new school as soon in response to a NIMBY campaign, and tries to start weighing proximity over number of students per school, then they may be pretty popular with those who elected them in the short run, but they are going to make overcrowding worse in the long run.

2/20/2010 3:46:14 PM

Quote :

"Furthermore, the fuel savings will disappear when we have to pour money into failing schools."

aren't we already pouring money into failing schools?

2/20/2010 4:24:30 PM

Quote :

"the wednesday thing was terrible for parents"

Perhaps it was inconvenient for parents, but it is a program that is designed to directly improve classroom instructions for students. Look no further than chit chat to view the necessity of teacher collaboration in professional learning communities. The OP in the chit chat thread complains about a partner teacher in his/her PLC as not pulling their weight but that lazy teacher's students benefit from the collaboration through improved instruction.

Quote :

"Sounds to me like the previous people in charge failed to adequately plan for the growth that wake county had, encouraged and wanted."

The statistics quoted could indicate that but they certainly don't account for everything. In many cases, new school construction couldn't keep up with the population boom. The Wake County Commissioners also effectively forced the school board's hand a few years ago by hindering raising funds for the necessary school construction. This resulted in the board's decision to implement mandatory year round.

Quote :

"And yet, one of the primary arguments for mandatory year round schooling is that it reduces the burden on parents where summer break is concerned."

No, the primary argument for mandatory year round is overcrowding in our existing buildings. Year round calendars more efficiently utilize the space than traditional calendars. The reduced burden is a secondary benefit for sure, but not likely one strongly considered by the board when making their decision.

Quote :

"Maybe we can get a superintendent who will actually work with the school board."

The Superintendent is employed at the discretion of the school board, the can remove an uncooperative Superintendent at any time, just as they can do the same for any teacher.

Quote :

"And really, in this day and age, can Wake County really afford to keep paying for failed social experiments like bussing? Imagine how much is not only being saved on fuel but for our environment!"

Your argument against bussing is environmental? Really? Please tell me that you are not serious. I really hope that I am missing the joke.

Quote :

"Academia should be about a diversity of ideas. "

Wouldn't the current diversity policy more effectively foster this notion of a diversity of ideas? Would a socio-economically and racially homogeneous learning environment?

Quote :

"Every school in Wake County is given their budgets based on the number of students they have. It's not based on whether it's a rich white kid or a poor hispanic one. Every child is afforded the same amount of funding."

And here is the crux of the diversity argument, equal funding does not in any way, shape, or form translate to equal success among students or schools. All things being equal, it is much harder to attract top notch teachers to failing schools and even more difficult to retain the few that you do attract.

Quote :

"I think it's time that local communities were allowed to have some control over their local schools so they can develop an instilled sense of pride."

What is preventing the vast majority of communities from doing so now? Bussing for diversity in this county accounts for a minority of any student population (~15%). Poorer communities perhaps have a harder time doing this but then again magnet schools are built in these areas, so they have opportunities to build this sense of pride.

Quote :

"Removing of bussing is not really the end of the world for the more disadvantaged schools. They just need whatever support they can get."

The problem with the statement is that under the current system, there arent any truly disadvantaged schools when compared to others around the state. Eliminate bussing for diversity and you will have disadvantaged schools. Why create a problem only to have to support them later? This county had disadvantaged schools prior to integration and the merger of Raleigh City Schools and Wake County Public Schools in the mid 70s.

2/20/2010 4:37:59 PM

Quote :

"Wouldn't the current diversity policy more effectively foster this notion of a diversity of ideas? Would a socio-economically and racially homogeneous learning environment?"

you do NOT achieve a diversity of ideas through a forced diversity of race

2/20/2010 4:44:37 PM

But do you achieve it through a forced segregation of race/SES? I'd argue that integrated schools which combine both advantaged and disadvantaged students at least presents the opportunity for a diversity of ideas

2/20/2010 4:47:26 PM

^^wake county doesn't bus based on race. they bus based on free and reduced lunch.

2/20/2010 4:50:08 PM

which is strongly correlated with race. Thus, they bus on race.

2/20/2010 4:55:59 PM

^hypothetical question. if you could flip a switch to make all affirmative action/race based considerations across the country instead based on poverty/income levels, would you flip it?

[Edited on February 20, 2010 at 5:30 PM. Reason : .]

2/20/2010 5:30:22 PM

considering that the entire purpose of putting it to "income/poverty levels" would be to legitimize it while keeping it based on race, why even pose the question? Nice try, though. I like trick questions

2/20/2010 5:36:05 PM

but it's not based on race. not at all.

2/20/2010 5:41:13 PM

only, it is. absolutely.

2/20/2010 5:42:20 PM

you're going to need to explain that, then.

2/20/2010 5:46:08 PM

there's nothing to explain. The people in charge know they can't explicitly bus on race, but they still want to. So they pick something that is highly correlated with race and claim that that is what they are busing on. Pretty fucking simple.

2/20/2010 5:51:39 PM

poor parts of the state (and country) beg to differ

and why would they explicitly want to bus based on race?

[Edited on February 20, 2010 at 5:57 PM. Reason : .]

2/20/2010 5:56:59 PM

why don't you ask them, since they used to do it, before it was ruled illegal.

btw, it's hard to bus on race in the poorer parts of NC when there are only white folk there anyway. We're talking about Wake County right now, NOT edenton.

2/20/2010 6:18:02 PM

(believe it or not, there are poor white people in wake county)

2/20/2010 6:23:15 PM

i'm well aware of that. That doesn't mean that the busing in Wake County isn't ultimately done based on race. That's the genius of using SES. Even though it is highly correlated with race, you still get white folk in there, so you can claim it's not based on race

2/20/2010 6:25:56 PM