Many national organizations as well as national media outlets are ignoring the many facts indicating that forcibly busing for diversity does not address the academic success of our students and in fact has denied many individual students an appropriate education. The recent article by Stephanie McCrummen from the Washington Post is one such example. She came to Wake County recently to write a story. Instead of  focusing on reform in education, she proceeded to write an article to prove that the Tea Party is organizing citizens and taking over the Wake County Public School System. The illusions in this article about the motivations driving school related reform do a huge disservice to everyone in Wake County by taking the focus off of the really critical issues that we need to address to ensure the future success of students within our school system. A blog by News Week went on to debunk the Tea Party assertion.

SEE BOTTOM OF THIS POST FOR LINKS TO THESE ARTICLES

The citizens of Wake County are fortunate to live in an affluent county with several world class universites and the Research Triangle Park in the area. The Wake County School System in totality has a very good reputation.  Wake County is also the most diverse county in the state. The 143,289 students are 49% white, 25% African American, 15% Hispanic, 6% Asian and 5% multi-racial.

With a large population of academically high achieving students, it is likely that our system will maintain a great reputation even if we do not do everything perfectly. We should not however be proud of a system that shuffles its students around so that no one ever notices that we have significant achievement problems and inequities within our schools. When reviewing academic outcomes, no school ever looks like it is doing too badly. Achievement for individual students is not reflected in this overall appearance. In the 2008-2009 school year for example, fewer than half of our African American and Latino students could read or do math at a proficient level.

With the budgetary constraints we are facing, we must evaluate every policy and implement more effective approaches that focus on educational achievement and provide every parent, regardless of race or economic status, an equal opportunity to choose a high quality school in close proximity to their home, choice in the calendar and the ability to participate in their child’s education.

See the attached links to these articles as well as the brief response allowed to WakeCARES by the Washington Post. 

WakeCARES Letter

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/30/AR2011013003976.html

Washington Post Article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/11/AR2011011107423.html

News Week Post

http://www.newsweek.com/blogs/the-gaggle/2011/01/21/weak-tea-party-connection-to-wake-county-n-c-school-board.html

The Wake County Board of Education continues to persevere in a highly politicized environment to pursue commonsense solutions to help improve educational opportunities for children throughout Wake County. Like much of the rest of the nation, education, teacher quality, public and private school choice, challenging and appropriate curriculum, graduation rates and digital learning in the midst of budget constraints are at the forefront. We are enthused by the selection of Tony Tata as Superintendent of the Wake County Public School System. He has excelled academically, graduating from West Point Military Academy, Catholic University, Harvard, and is a 2009 cohort of the Broad Superintendent Academy. He also brings 28 years of world-class leadership experience in the US Army, strong budgetary acumen, as well as operational experience from the DC Public School System, one of the most challenging school districts in the country. Tony Tata comes from a family of educators. During his recent visit to Wake County, he demonstrated his willingness and ability to listen and respond to many stakeholders with a variety of concerns and viewpoints. In short, he appears well equipped to help institute much needed accountability and change from the status quo that voters in our last school board election were clearly demanding.

In the fall of 2009 the voters in Wake County elected new representation to the Wake County School Board by an overwhelming majority in response to the policies and results of the school board at that time. WakeCARES commends the actions of the current Wake County Board of Education as they develop and execute new initiatives that focus on making a real difference in the educational success of all students and allow all parents to play an integral role in their children’s education.

In spite of the overwhelming support of the electorate, it has become clear that some in the business community including the Wake Education Partnership and the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce are unwilling to support the Board’s efforts to limit reassignments, restore accountability to individual schools and educators, and improve educational outcomes. Recently, these organizations hired a consultant whose specialty is advocating for limiting choice with quotas. This consultant will be tasked to design an alternative assignment plan to the one proposed by the current Board. By replacing assignment quotas driven by economic status with assignments based on student performance, the end result of this plan will be very similar to the current busing plan which has enabled the WCPSS to mask the outcomes of lower performing students.

The citizens of Wake County have finally achieved our goal of providing every family a voice in their child’s education. At last, all stakeholders of our school system - parents, taxpayers, community and business leaders - are able to be a positive influence in our school system. Do not let those who are only interested in influencing a student assignment plan for their own financial gain take that away from you.

We ask that you take a stand today!

The Wake Education Partnership is promoting a fundraiser in which they are asking citizens for donations to fund their $750,000 annual budget. Rather than support a group that is perpetuating a deceptive and controlling approach to education, we ask that you make a donation to a local organization that more clearly focuses on benefiting students’ educational needs. Some organizations that may fit that description include:

Read and Feed http://www.readandfeed.org, a “non-profit organization dedicated to improving the reading comprehension skills of Wake County youth”

Communities in Schools Wake County http://www.ciswake.org, which “connects students with community resources and educational opportunities”. Your donation, large or small, will be a stand in support of initiatives focused on providing the best possible education to all students in Wake County.

We greatly appreciate your continued support of WakeCARES and our efforts in bringing parents back as a vital piece of our system. Please consider sending us an email at info@wakecares.com and tell us what you are doing to support education in Wake County. WakeCARES is committed to supporting educational solutions for all children and families in Wake County.

School Board member John Tedesco’s presentation of a new vision for student assignment in Wake County provides an impressive insight to the future of our school system and our communities. We commend Mr. Tedesco in recognizing the significant role of parents as part of a student assignment process and the need for collaborative efforts from all stakeholders. As presented, this vision incorporates parental choice, stability in assignment and efficient capacity utilization into a community model that values the vital role of our school system in our county.

For years, citizens of Wake County have dealt with a reassignment policy that neglected many influential factors in a child’s education. Previous assignment priorities resulted in a lack of stability, much parental discontent, forced calendars and very limited choice opportunities. Ironically, members of previous Boards of Education have scheduled a press briefing for today claiming they know how best to serve our children. These are the very people who supported a failing policy for decades, which has resulted in a continual decline in all academic measurements, consistently mediocre schools and created a culture of low expectations and loss of opportunities for many students across all demographics and economic spectrums. This very assignment program that was designed to benefit economically disadvantaged children has resulted in a 54.2% graduation rate in the economically disadvantaged demographic. Support of this policy has allowed the unique needs of Wake County students, families and communities to be hidden and ignored. Instead of focusing on the guise of “healthy schools” and a one-size-fits-all approach as these previous Board members have, WakeCARES supports a student assignment model that promotes factors that address and positively influence individual student achievement and success.

WakeCARES eagerly looks forward to the process of designing and implementing a plan specific to the needs of Wake County.

Dr. Del Burns announced his resignation as Superintendent of the Wake County Public School System. In his 30 years with the WCPSS, Dr. Burns has shown a strong commitment to education and we wish him well in his future endeavors.

Any efforts for reform and improvement within the WCPSS require leaders who are willing to continually ask what can be done to make our schools a better place. They must challenge the established paradigms and be willing to reframe their vision as necessary to provide quality and stability to those served. A new paradigm will only emerge when there are changes in expectations and a willingness to evaluate and make adjustments to shape education policies accordingly.

It is our hope that the Board of Education will act aggressively and quickly to recruit a Superintendent whose values and vision are congruent with the vision of the current BoE. Their primary focus should be on improving education for all students, effective and efficient use of schools and resources, commitment to transparency and accountability and quality choice in education. He or she should have strong strategic planning skills and feel comfortable with the involvement of parents, teachers and community members in shaping a vision for the District’s future direction. Since it appears the vision and philosophies are so different between Dr. Burns and the new school board, everyone’s best interest is served by his resignation. The new Superintendent should be open to new ideas and encourage staff to take risks with research-based initiatives that engage students in learning and maintain high academic expectations for all students as they work together toward common goals.

The strong support for the WCPSS by Wake County citizens and the highly competent, dedicated, hard-working teachers and support staff committed to the success of all students are reflected in the satisfaction within the schools. The following is a list of on-going issues and concerns that are commonly expressed which have not been resolved by Dr. Burns and need to be considered and addressed by the Board of Education and the new Superintendent.

• Development of a community school model with reasonable calendar choice and effective utilization of facilities
• Renewed commitment to improve achievement and reduce the achievement gap between subgroups of students
• The declining test scores among all student groups
• SAS EVAAS Report
• Ongoing waste in land acquisition and development
• Provision of training to assist staff in meeting the special needs of a diverse student population
• Retention of small class sizes particularly in elementary schools
• Lack of rigorous curriculum and course offerings in many schools
• Development of teacher incentive programs to attract and retain high quality teachers
• Support of music programs, the arts and sports
• Special education program with the focus on the inclusion of students in regular classrooms
• Empowered Principals who are dedicated, accessible and innovative leaders in providing programs that reflect the needs of their individual school populations
• Partnership with local colleges and businesses as invaluable assets more widely developed and offered
• Concern over the future ability to maintain excellent academic programs and student performance, given the District’s strained financial resources, and  ever-growing low-income and ESL student populations
• The exodus of a record number of high-performing upper/middle class students to alternatives to the WCPSS
• Failure to cut the personnel costs of a “top heavy” central office
• Evaluation of funding and programs of the various schools
• The changing school culture in which gang activity, fights between students, a pervasive lack of respect by students toward authority are perceived as the norm
• The need to provide more relevant programs for the non-college bound students
• High dropout rate among minority and low income students
• Concern that students from minority group populations are disproportionately disciplined, suspended and/or expelled
• The need to gain the trust of parents and the community through communication and dialogue
• Lack of transparency in district decision-making
• Show of disrespect toward those who question administrative proposals
• The importance of technology in the classroom
• Ability of administration to deal collaboratively with the BoE
• Recruitment of minority staff
• Development of positive working relationships with state and local officials, business and community groups
• When confronted with controversial issues, the lack of willingness to respond to the views of those affected

Congratulations on your victory and thank you for your willingness to serve on the WCPSS Board of Education. We look to each of you to set policies that fulfill the promise of a high-quality education for ALL children, regardless of race or class or language ability. Educating all of our children to high standards is, however, a collective responsibility that requires support and engagement from parents, neighbors, business owners, community leaders, administrators, teachers and students. WakeCARES encourages all of these groups to partner to support and respect the ideas and decisions of the newly elected board members in their efforts to improve on those initiatives that are working within the WCPSS as well as their efforts to bring innovative solutions to those things which are not. We look forward to a culture that connects the community to the public school system and gives all families an opportunity to be a part of the decisions and the process, provides stability, increases expectations and opportunities for all students, and offers greater accountability and transparency.

Chris, Deborah, Debra and John, you have promised positive change and you have sparked the hope and enthusiasm of those who have supported you.

The following is taken from the summary of a SAS EVAAS report to WCPSS on June 29. This information was withheld until Friday, October 2. This validates our concern that while making the schools in the system look “Healthy”, current policies are failing many students.

Because the WCPSS E&R (Evaluation & Research) analyses include two adjustments for students’ socio-economic status, these key systematic differences are hidden in the results of the E&R analysis. The WCPSS E&R analyses ‘expects’ students who are poor to score lower at the end of the year than more affluent students, even when individual students from a lower ses(socio-economic status)group start the school year at the very same achievement as more advantaged students, it ‘forgives’ the school serving the poorer students because of the demographic makeup of the school, thereby removing any opportunity that the students results will signal educators that something is amiss. Thus, it is most difficult to identify ad correct the situations that contribute to the student inequity.

…Policy makers should be alerted to these important differences, not have them hidden.

To read the reports in their entirety visit http://blogs.newsobserver.com/wakeed/sas-and-wakes-achievement-gap

In a 4-3 split the NC Supreme Court ruled that school boards have the statutory authority to assign students to year round calendar schools without parental consent. Had the Wake County School Board been responsive to the concerns of the many citizens negatively impacted by their decisions and responded to those elected officials acting on behalf of taxpayers in Wake County in a meaningful way all of this would have been avoided. 

We are saddened by the impact this will have on the citizens of Wake County; not only those seeking traditional seats, but those seeking year round seats and those currently enrolled in the year round program as well. Parental input in student assignment has been further limited. 

While we were not successful in getting the “pot of gold” at the end of the rainbow, we were able to expose the true colors of the WCPSS and the administration.

As growth has slowed dramatically, it has become abundantly clear that the conversions were implemented largely to further the diversity policy at all costs without any studies to validate this program. 

As a result, the WCPSS school board has consistently shown a willingness to sacrifice families and compromise education despite the lack of evidence to support an academic benefit or to justify the fiscal expenditure.

The failure of the legislature to clearly define their intent at the time of the calendar law resulted in our loss at the NC Supreme Court. Please continue to contact your state legislators and other elected officials to make your voice heard.

The NC Board of Education clearly understood the intent of this calendar law when they wrote Policy EEO-V-000, requiring LEA’s to request waivers for all YR schools after the 2003-04 school year.

Wake Schools are NOT in compliance with this policy.

The massive implementation of the mandatory year round calendar to select parts of the county, the unsubstantiated scare tactics and threats, the lack of responsiveness with citizens and the many elected officials who have consistently expressed concern, the declining test scores, and the massive reassignments are just a few examples of the issues which indicate the need for major reform within the WCPSS.    

In October, there will be four open seats on the Wake County Board of Education. We must elect candidates who possess the strong leadership skills necessary to fulfill the promise of a quality public education for every student, show responsiveness to families, implement programs to increase academic achievement and measure the results. These candidates must also research and carefully consider the impact of their decisions on communities and property values.

Please keep informed and involved by checking the websites and signing up for email lists of WakeCARES, Save our Summers, WCSA.

WakeCARES would like to thank all of our supporters in our efforts to advocate for choice, a quality education, fiscal responsibility and accountability within Wake County Schools. 

Today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders. To prepare them for the future we must have high expectations for every student, a challenging curriculum, qualified teachers and schools and programs that foster parental involvement and community support. The Wake County Public School System needs to return its focus to the education of all children and must be held accountable for their results and actions.

The most critical thing to occur if our school system is to achieve these objectives and maintain and exceed their current standards, is for more citizens to play a more active role in the decision making process.  Too many of us have been too unaware and uneducated of the facts related to planning within our school system. If the WCPSS is to improve its current course, it will take a lot of community involvement. This means that a lot of individuals will have to take some action. Educating ourselves and getting involved is the only way to ensure that taxpayers and citizens throughout the county get the school system that is best for our county, and not the one that we default to because no one was paying attention.

This fall, there will be four open seats on the Wake County Board of Education and you will have the opportunity to bring positive change to the WCPSS and finally have your voice heard. We will update you as candidates who possess the strong leadership skills necessary to fulfill the promise of a quality public education for every child are identified. We urge you to get informed and involved.

Please contact us to find out how you can help.

A recent article ran in the News & Observer regarding school violence in Wake County.  WCPSS administrators would like us to believe that violence is decreasing in our schools however a long term view shows otherwise. In the 1997-98 school year, NC Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) reported 4.9 acts of violence per 1,000 students.  In 2006-07, the last year recorded, Wake County schools reported 8.92 acts of violence per 1,000 students.  While this reflects a decline over the 2005-06 school year (9.6 acts/1000), it has drastically increased over the last 10 years.

The following links will allow you to view Wake County schools compared to other counties of North Carolina as well as each individual Wake County schools statistics. We encourage you to do your own research.

http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/research/discipline/reports/schoolviolence/2006-07schoolviolence.pdf

Wake County compared to other NC counties - page 27

http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/docs/research/discipline/reports/schoolviolence/2006-07schoolviolence.pdf

each individual Wake County school - page 84

Wednesday, August 27,  the North Carolina Supreme Court announced that they would hear the WakeCARES vs. WCPSS lawsuit regarding parental consent for students to attend year-round schools.

The court also announced that the previous Appellate Court decision continued to be “stayed”, and that Judge Manning’s ruling from the Suprerior Court Trial is still in effect.

This means, that parents in the Wake County Public School system are still entitled to a traditional option, and are NOT mandated to attend a Year Round school.

The Supreme Court Hearing date has not been set at this time.

Again, we appreciate the support we have received from parents throughout Wake County who value choice, and a say in their child’s education.

Your continuted support is appreciated.

We are very appreciative of the North Carolina Supreme Court granting a stay of the Superior Court ruling. We are cautiously optimistic and are grateful that parents will for a time continue to have a say in their child’s school calendar in the Wake County Public School System.

Recently, an editorial in the News & Observer encouraged the WCPSS Board of Education to reach out to and work with parents affected by the hardships of a forced year round calendar. We echo that sentiment, and continue to hope that the WCPSS will be responsive to parents on this issue.

Again, we thank all of those who support WakeCARES, and encourage you to join our email list, and donate to our organization as we continue to advocate for parent’s rights in the Wake County Public School System.

Update: media links on the story:

News and Observer: Court blocks year-round school ruling
WRAL: Supreme Court halts Wake year-round plans
NBC17: State Supreme Court Blocks Ruling On Year-Round Schools

While we are disappointed that the ruling was not entirely in our favor, we are currently reviewing our options, and considering requesting a discretionary review by the North Carolina Supreme Court.

We sincerely appreciate the support and donations we have received. You have helped to make our voices heard, and you can continue, as we will, to advocate for parent’s rights in the Wake County Public School System by supporting at large elections of school board members.

Click here to read the ruling.

The WCPSS will issue letters asking parents for consent to have their children attend year-round schools. The administration will make their recommendations for traditional calendar schools for those who require a seat to the BoE at their April 22 meeting. Then, the consent letters are to be sent by mail. While many are struggling with the forced conversions of schools to the year round calendar, there are still many other families who applied for year-round calendar seats this spring that were denied. The decision made by the Wake County Board of Education not to evaluate the need for each calendar will again make their responsibility to manage class sizes and school enrollments very difficult and will continue to waste valuable taxpayer dollars. No opinion from the NC Court of Appeals has been released as of yet. Families in Wake County are guaranteed the right to a traditional calendar seat.

At WakeCARES, we appreciate your support and will continue to advocate for All children in Wake County. Please contact us with any questions or comments.