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.
It's worth a shot seems like. All I know is when I went to school here in the late 90's before all the shuffling starting Wake County had one of the top schools systems in the country which is saying something for such a large system there was some busing going on. But there were more benefits than hinderances. They need to go back or get back to whatever worked and stay off of the news every other day I'm sure the parents are getting quite tired of the back and forth. It's just not good for publicity at all.
I certainly don't want our schools to become "have" schools and "have not" schools. That's terrible for education, and it would be awful for our economy. There are those who think that being able to afford a more expensive house entitles their children to a better public education.
Umm, no. We have a country run system so curriculum is fairly consistent throughout the county. In fact, many of the magnet schools are in zones deemed low income.
Instead of burning the money on a diversity office, why not spend the money on educating the parents in these underperforming schools. That is where the real improvement. When the parents place a higher value on education, so will the kids.
Most of the long bus rides are kids from lower-income neighborhoods being bused in to schools in higher-income neighborhoods. Schools with better scores and lower diversity, in most cases.
So, is the problem that people who are "successful" don't want their kid at West Cary instead of Davis Drive or is it that they don't want any kids from South Raleigh attending school with their kid that goes to Davis Drive (or West Cary)??
Because, really? I think THAT is the issue.
You'd have to ask the SE Cary (Oak Ridge Elem) folks and the Leesville folks what they think about the poor kids "ruining their school".
You'd have to ask how it is that Davis Dr Elementary has less than 10% FNR. And other schools in Western Wake well below the desired 30% figure.
What I can tell you about Lacy/Root/Joyner is the "advantaged" parents treat the "disadvantaged" kids as if they are our own. When we go volunteer in class, we're not hanging out with our Jane, we're helping their Juan. None of us begrudge our ABILITY to volunteer in the school because the disadvantaged have blue collar parents who aren't allowed to take time off from work.
So the problem is indeed, believe it or not - the parents who live in a neighborhood that has been assigned to the closest school for 3 decades (since no additional land got developed) don't like being told they're going to get sent somewhere else, even though we'll drive our kids to school and volunteer in that new school.
And the problem is all of the folks in Western Wake who just plain revolted at the ballot box when they got reassigned for the umpteenth time because of the growth they almost always were part of.
It's worth a shot seems like. All I know is when I went to school here in the late 90's before all the shuffling starting Wake County had one of the top schools systems in the country which is saying something for such a large system there was some busing going on. But there were more benefits than hinderances. They need to go back or get back to whatever worked and stay off of the news every other day I'm sure the parents are getting quite tired of the back and forth. It's just not good for publicity at all.
Late 90s before all the shuffling started? I don't think so. Maybe you were in high school at that time and they don't often "shuffle around" high schoolers....but elementary schools were getting reassigned to further away schools all over the map during that time. We were building a house in the Lochmere in Cary at that time. Oak Grove elementary school was LITERALLY at the end of the street, with Penny Road elementary not much further...and the kids got reassigned to Dillard.
Obviously this is slightly different in that it was a case of a new school opening up. But I think a lot of it also had to do with trying add some "lochmere wealth" into the new Dillard school which was in close proximity to South Raleigh "F&R".
First of all, no one can make anyone feel guilty. Under the old plan, MOST well off students were not bused long distances, it was the other way around. Also by creating diverse schools and avoiding pockets of high poverty schools, it helps by exposing those students to other ways of thinking besides what they've grown up with in a poverty stricken area (which does help address generational poverty). It also helps with teacher retention and quality and having more school resources.
Lastly, this new assignment has already stated one feature of it will be NOT busing students ridiculous dstances and not forcing moves. Sound slike a good plan. I do not believe in just throwing more money at high poverty schools, I don't believe that will improve the schools in any way.
one thing we haven't tried is "throwing more money at high poverty schools". When did we do that?
And I don't believe I've sever seen a study that showed in Wake County that "generational poverty" had been addressed successfully. Overall, the children who were bussed from downtown to the farflung schools, their scores went down. If their scores went down, their opportunity past high school went down.
Last edited by BoBromhal; 05-09-2013 at 08:46 AM..
Reason: "never" is always a wrong word :)
You'd have to ask the SE Cary (Oak Ridge Elem) folks and the Leesville folks what they think about the poor kids "ruining their school".
You'd have to ask how it is that Davis Dr Elementary has less than 10% FNR. And other schools in Western Wake well below the desired 30% figure.
What I can tell you about Lacy/Root/Joyner is the "advantaged" parents treat the "disadvantaged" kids as if they are our own. When we go volunteer in class, we're not hanging out with our Jane, we're helping their Juan. None of us begrudge our ABILITY to volunteer in the school because the disadvantaged have blue collar parents who aren't allowed to take time off from work.
So the problem is indeed, believe it or not - the parents who live in a neighborhood that has been assigned to the closest school for 3 decades (since no additional land got developed) don't like being told they're going to get sent somewhere else, even though we'll drive our kids to school and volunteer in that new school.
And the problem is all of the folks in Western Wake who just plain revolted at the ballot box when they got reassigned for the umpteenth time because of the growth they almost always were part of.
not disagreeing that this is part of it as well. And I do believe that many parents in higher income schools do spend much time helping and tutoring lower performing students. Kudos to you for being part of the solution.
we also got reassigned to a "bad school" whch guess what - wasn't "bad" at all - it was just full of kids with working parents who couldn't get involved during school hours, and didn't get involved after hours. It really opened my eyes that year to just how important the parental involvement is. But we could invest/throw money into additional teachers for smaller classes (giving them more "one on one" time) and we could even set up YMCA afterschool centers (or other) to tutor, help with homework, role model, etc.
The point I was making was that throughout this whole diversity argument the higher income parents are being made to feel guilty because of where they live, and should welcome their children being bussed to a different school "for the greater good". Conversely, what does busing low-income students to high-income schools accomplish other than resentment? Are the low-income kids supposed to suddenly pick up good grades and study habits by osmosis? Busing will not fix generational poverty or apathetic parents.
The problem is that instead of focusing on a quality education for every student and allocating resources appropriately to reduce the disparity between schools, the board is distracting itself with this diversity utopia BS and in doing so is failing in its mission. By making all the schools average none will succeed.
I dunno what to tell you. We're what one might classify as "high-income" here in the meh household and I don't feel like anyone wants to guilt trip me.
I also don't have kids being bused long distances. My high schooler is the 2nd of my kids to attend Green Hope, in fact.
That school suits us fine. Here's a tip for everyone. Don't relocate to a rapidly-growing area. Less chance that you won't get the closest school to your house.
__________________
When in doubt, check it out: FAQ
Most of the long bus rides are kids from lower-income neighborhoods being bused in to schools in higher-income neighborhoods. Schools with better scores and lower diversity, in most cases.
When I lived in north Raleigh we were in fact placed in an island node (higher income neighborhood) that was bused to distant schools for purposes of balancing socio-economic diversity.
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.
