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