Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
To add to your point about y/r schools, they HAVE families that want in. I know of families that have been denied entrance year after year.
Because they're the wrong demographic.
Cries of "school crisis" ring false when you are deliberately keeping people who want IN y/r schools OUT, and trying to 'coerce' folks who DO NOT want it, IN.
That dichotomy is one of MANY examples of how diversity trumps EVERYTHING ELSE in the WCPSS.
I think breaking up the district is the worst thing you could do for the area. Certainly Cary and very high income areas would love it….they could keep out all they consider ‘riff raff’.
Then we’d end up with a school system more like Durham…one or two high performing schools…and other ones so bad that state threatens to take control of.
Yes, that is exactly what we need for Wake County. Great way to build our economy and society. (Note the heavy sarcasm.)
Carol Parker and Susan Parry, in a recent interview with Ruth Sheehan of the News&Observer, said that they cannot focus on education because of all the other concerns regarding growth, purchasing land sites, reassignment, etc.. that they are forced to deal with day in and day out.
If members of the BOARD are saying that this district is too big to manage, especially when board members are "part-time" public servants paid roughly $17,000 a year to do their job, perhaps breaking up the district into smaller, more manageable pieces is an idea worthy of consideration.
I don't know why there is such a fixation on those evil high-income people. Clearly, if you do well for yourself in this country, and want the best for your children, you're considered some monster who doesn't understand the plight of the poor person. Yeah, ok. Thanks for painting everyone with such a broad brush.
I personally think that socio-economic data could be used to draw district lines, thereby guaranteeing that there would be FEW instances of pure wealth/pure poor schools. But, the money saved on criss-cross busing could be redirected to *GASP* EDUCATING the children that need it most. What a concept.
Carol Parker and Susan Parry, in a recent interview with Ruth Sheehan of the News&Observer, said that they cannot focus on education because of all the other concerns regarding growth, purchasing land sites, reassignment, etc.. that they are forced to deal with day in and day out.
If members of the BOARD are saying that this district is too big to manage, especially when board members are "part-time" public servants paid roughly $17,000 a year to do their job, perhaps breaking up the district into smaller, more manageable pieces is an idea worthy of consideration.
I don't know why there is such a fixation on those evil high-income people. Clearly, if you do well for yourself in this country, and want the best for your children, you're considered some monster who doesn't understand the plight of the poor person. Yeah, ok. Thanks for painting everyone with such a broad brush.
I personally think that socio-economic data could be used to draw district lines, thereby guaranteeing that there would be FEW instances of pure wealth/pure poor schools. But, the money saved on criss-cross busing could be redirected to *GASP* EDUCATING the children that need it most. What a concept.
I am not poor by any means and I hold my daughter’s education to a very high standard.
However, I feel strongly that we are all members of society and as a society we are only as strong as our weakest areas. I do not support those parents that only want to educate the best and the brightest (which of course, their child is always part of).
Is it convenient to not write off large groups of people just because they may come from a background I don’t personally approve of, are familiar with or if they have not had the chance to be exposed to the value of a good education? Nope. It isn’t. In fact, it’s a PIA at times.
The more opportunities for a quality education the better off we all are. Certainly, not every child is going to take advantage of the offer, but heck, even Paris Hilton didn’t graduate high school….money doesn’t mean anything when it comes to having the intelligence and drive to succeed.
Carol Parker and Susan Parry, in a recent interview with Ruth Sheehan of the News&Observer, said that they cannot focus on education because of all the other concerns regarding growth, purchasing land sites, reassignment, etc.. that they are forced to deal with day in and day out.
If members of the BOARD are saying that this district is too big to manage, especially when board members are "part-time" public servants paid roughly $17,000 a year to do their job, perhaps breaking up the district into smaller, more manageable pieces is an idea worthy of consideration.
I don't think having smaller school districts is the answer. I grew up in a public school system that was managed county-wide, had a larger population than Wake County, was also experiencing growth, and we did not have these types of issues. Breaking the county into more than one district doesn't remove the problems facing Wake County - high, decentralized growth, and too few schools to handle the current population, much less the future population. Sure, it adds more people into the mix to try to handle the current workload. But that can be done within a single district by delegating responsibilities to any additional personnel that are needed.
Quote:
I don't know why there is such a fixation on those evil high-income people. Clearly, if you do well for yourself in this country, and want the best for your children, you're considered some monster who doesn't understand the plight of the poor person. Yeah, ok. Thanks for painting everyone with such a broad brush.
I think we can all agree that almost everyone wants the best for their children, whether they are rich or poor. But those of us who are doing better owe it to our children and society to help the children of those who aren't doing quite as good. Having a well-educated population is becoming a pre-requisite to compete in the global economy, and leaving behind any segment of the population makes it extremely difficult.
Quote:
I personally think that socio-economic data could be used to draw district lines, thereby guaranteeing that there would be FEW instances of pure wealth/pure poor schools. But, the money saved on criss-cross busing could be redirected to *GASP* EDUCATING the children that need it most. What a concept.
I'm not sure what those district lines would look like, but I suspect that they would not be nice and compact. With the resulting convoluted district lines, busing would probably be similar to what we are experiencing today.
I am not entirely sure what that has to do with the fact that the BoE has said they CANNOT focus on their job, and that tens of millions of dollars have been wasted in the last decade on a failed policy where EOG scores are down, dropouts are up, SAT scores are lower, and mandated "less than 40% FNR at EVERY SCHOOL" has not been met. Instead of building schools and focusing on education, there's been waste upon waste upon waste. To ask for another bond is an insult.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Desdemona123
money doesn’t mean anything when it comes to having the intelligence and drive to succeed.
As far as the above quote, I agree with you. But that attitude isn't fostered on 1.5 hour bus rides, or because WCPSS sits you next to a wealthy kid, in a school outside of your neighborhood. That attitude is fostered at home. And if you have apathetic, uninterested parent(s), unless WCPSS plans to foster-parent children 24/7 from K-12, then they'll always be behind the 8-ball in trying to instill (which they cannot) winning attitudes in children who have parent(s) that don't care.
It's, unfortunately, an exercise in futility.
We do, on some level, have a societal responsibility to TRY. Even though we know that the vast majority of such attempts will not produce the desired result. The question the becomes "At what cost do we try?" -- where does our obligation end? It's ends at MY CHILD having to spend 1.5 hours on a bus, one way, past FOUR OTHER CLOSER schools. That is where is ends. There is idealism, and then there's realism.
Originaly posted by Dire Wolf
I have generally voted Yes on Bond issues, but, like many, am getting a bit tired of the frequency they keep going back to the well. I'm in favor of impact fees, but unfortunately the laws need to change to make that happen from what i've heard.
Counties Next Transfer Tax Battleground for Realtors Published: August 8, 2007
News & Observer, Rick Martinez Correspondent
The budget that Gov. Mike Easley signed into law last week gave the counties the right to assess up to a 0.4 percent tax on real estate sales. But before the new tax can be levied, the law requires counties to hold a voter referendum.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
