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Can someone break this down for me? Everyone has always said stay away from Durham because the school system is brutal. Ive been told itme and time again that Wake's school system is the best and Cary has the best schools, which is great for resale value.
Is this not the case now?
It's still the case. We just have some loud mouths that get upset that their snowflakes are getting redistricted and that they may actually have to deal with F&R students...which is something that they should have been aware when they moved here....becuase it's been going on for years.
Durham has a few good schools and lots of marginal and downright bad ones. Durham has schools that don't have decent books or enough of them.
Wake County has a MUCH higher percentage of well performing schools and even our schools that don't post great 'numbers' are good schools but may have unrelated issues that make not do so well in the numbers game. Wake County has schools that are well supplied.
Yes, as I've said, we can always improve...but not by dismantling the system so it created the haves and have not areas like Durham.
Sarahmom, I you said in several past posts that no longer live in Wake County (due to the schools)? Why the anger over something you don't even have to deal with anymore? The fact is the one one is forced to live in Wake County and no one is forced to go to their schools. There are plenty of alternatives for people in all price ranges, to live the way they want to live without living in Wake County and dismantling a school system that works. Is it perfect? no. Is there ALWAYS room for improvement? Yes. But overall, there are just as many of us who support the system as who don't.
PDXMom: your idea of financial incentives to suburban schools to take on F&R is a terrific, terrific idea. I think ideas like this are exactly what we need to try to do.
Yeah! I'm glad this idea did not get lost in all the other stuff going on here. I wish I could take credit for it. I'm just mimicking Richard Kahlenberg's ideas.
Personally, I'd love to see a wholesale revamp of our country's education system. I think it's got to come from the top.
This is what happens when hordes of sheep flood into an area in order to buy ever-bigger McMansion's and destroy the quality-of-life of the natives. It is not natural for such an influx of people such as Raleigh has experienced over the past decade. The result is over-crowding, traffic, sprawl, pollution, water shortages, etc. Do a little research before moving somewhere, other than online trying to decide which new neighborhood to "pick." Willow Springs or Clayton. blah, blah, blah.
Just imagine if you were someone who grew up in the triangle knowing a certain quality-of-life and simply wished the same thing for your children, only to now be mired in this absurd growth and the corresponding issues that have come with the Long Island/New Jersey invasion.
Oh please.... Cary NC is not all that! We UNFORTUNATELY had to move and I miss home more than ever! The only positive thing is the weather (give or take)
As for the Natives, oh please again...it is the builders and the greed of the gov't that has allowed cary and the surronding areas to be in the position it is in. OVER GROWTH, TINY, TINY LOTS...with beautiful homes that other (ZONING STATES) would not allow. Cary gave people, who possibly would not be able to afford a NEW HOME somewhere else that chance, and the way they did it was to build home after home on top of one another (huge homes for that matter) for families with 3 and 4 kids...needing schools.
I lived in a small town in MA, great school (BUT HAD ZONING!!!!) so the builders could not capatilize! and the town was able to maintain wonderful schools. It was difficult as the years went on, more and more outsiders moved in, but still there was ZONING and the town was not over-developed. In MA, most towns have strict ZONING, causing there to be some capability to maintain order, making the schools diverse and very functional.
For a STATE which has wonderful COLLEGES, they have dropped the ball with the schools...they need to get some input from other states. AND STOP STOP BUILDING!!!!!
Oh please.... Cary NC is not all that! We UNFORTUNATELY had to move and I miss home more than ever! The only positive thing is the weather (give or take)
As for the Natives, oh please again...it is the builders and the greed of the gov't that has allowed cary and the surronding areas to be in the position it is in. OVER GROWTH, TINY, TINY LOTS...with beautiful homes that other (ZONING STATES) would not allow. Cary gave people, who possibly would not be able to afford a NEW HOME somewhere else that chance, and the way they did it was to build home after home on top of one another (huge homes for that matter) for families with 3 and 4 kids...needing schools.
I lived in a small town in MA, great school (BUT HAD ZONING!!!!) so the builders could not capatilize! and the town was able to maintain wonderful schools. It was difficult as the years went on, more and more outsiders moved in, but still there was ZONING and the town was not over-developed. In MA, most towns have strict ZONING, causing there to be some capability to maintain order, making the schools diverse and very functional.
For a STATE which has wonderful COLLEGES, they have dropped the ball with the schools...they need to get some input from other states. AND STOP STOP BUILDING!!!!!
Shame on the builders trying to get a bail out!
One thing to remember, that has NOTHING to do with the recent growth, is that Wake COUNTY is the school system...not just the town as if often found in Northern states. You aren't dealing with one small school district with just a few schools.
It's still the case. We just have some loud mouths that get upset that their snowflakes are getting redistricted and that they may actually have to deal with F&R students...which is something that they should have been aware when they moved here....becuase it's been going on for years.
Durham has a few good schools and lots of marginal and downright bad ones. Durham has schools that don't have decent books or enough of them.
Wake County has a MUCH higher percentage of well performing schools and even our schools that don't post great 'numbers' are good schools but may have unrelated issues that make not do so well in the numbers game. Wake County has schools that are well supplied.
Yes, as I've said, we can always improve...but not by dismantling the system so it created the haves and have not areas like Durham.
I thought name calling was against the rules on this blog (loudmouth, snowflakes?)
I'll try to break it down for you, rory breaker, at the risk of being called more names.
Wake has a system that has very good ideals. It wants to address children at risk by pursuing diversity in the schools. That's a noble goal. The problem comes when it is done so forceably and multiple times that the problems it creates become as large as the problems its trying to solve.
Busing children based on race has become illegal. So, Wake has taken the approach of busing children based on income. The only way they can assess that legally is to identify children based on whether they receive Free and Reduced lunch or not (F&R). (Related to this is that there are currently no required background checks to see if people are eligible. It is an 'honesty' system. You just have to say you need it.)
They try to 'mix' the 'right' amount of children from all backgrounds. So far, so good. But with the growth, and other factors, the landscape keeps changing, so they further mix a few kids here and a few kids there. The reassignment plan this year affects 26,000 students. Its a three year plan, but no one is especially confident that the caveats will hold to allow it to be a stable plan.
The other factor in this is mandatory year round schedule. Wake would like to impose a rule that all schools will be year round. Not everyone favors year round, and there has been a lawsuit (WakeCARES) to require parental consent. Lots of parents think that they should have some say in their childrens' education and in their family schedule, you see. But again, I'm sure I'm a loudmouth for mentioning that.
An aversion to children of all types is NOT why this system upsets me. It is chaotic, heavy handed, inefficient, expensive and its not working. The county takes 80% of our property taxes and recently REFUSED to do any studies to show that the busing for diversity works. Many believe it is because some studies are showing that children left in their own neighborhoods (YES even the challenged ones) are doing better than those who are moving constantly. If they would take the money they use on buses and apply it wisely to challenged schools they would likely have better results, some suggest.
It is not all as it seems. Wake graduation rates are spiraling down. We have one of the lower than average scores in the state. The model is 'diversity at all costs' and if you argue you're called a racist. This is a great area to live is you're willing to put up with the risk of picking the 'wrong' 'node' (neighborhood, roughly) that will be reasigned multiple times. It happens more than anyone would like to admit.
I hope you look into it. Explore the N&O Wake Ed blog and that may answer some questions for you.
Sarahmom, I you said in several past posts that no longer live in Wake County (due to the schools)? Why the anger over something you don't even have to deal with anymore? The fact is the one one is forced to live in Wake County and no one is forced to go to their schools. There are plenty of alternatives for people in all price ranges, to live the way they want to live without living in Wake County and dismantling a school system that works. Is it perfect? no. Is there ALWAYS room for improvement? Yes. But overall, there are just as many of us who support the system as who don't.
Lamishra,
I don't exactly understand what you're saying. I do live in Wake County. ? I do pay 80% of my property taxes to the school systems.
I'm not angry. But I am passionate about the fact that so many of our children are being uprooted and shifted around like sacks of potatos. I think it is going to create a further disconnected next generation.
And the school board recently refused to do a study to show that this heavy handed, chaotic system is doing any good. See Geoffery Canada interviewed on Charlie Rose and tell me that you wouldn't wish we were doing some of the same here? I think the BoE's goals are good. I think their vision of how to get there is way, way off. And I believe deeply, as a mother, that is is completely disconnected from what children need. I see children being thrown into the hopper like so much data and no one seems to care about how they are dragged far from their homes and what is familiar. This is not a loving solution.
Yeah! I'm glad this idea did not get lost in all the other stuff going on here. I wish I could take credit for it. I'm just mimicking Richard Kahlenberg's ideas.
Personally, I'd love to see a wholesale revamp of our country's education system. I think it's got to come from the top.
I didn't miss it either. This is exactly the kind of creative thinking we need. Us vs. them and 'business as usual, don't let the secret out' is not what our children need.
I don't exactly understand what you're saying. I do live in Wake County. ? I do pay 80% of my property taxes to the school systems.
I'm not angry. But I am passionate about the fact that so many of our children are being uprooted and shifted around like sacks of potatos. I think it is going to create a further disconnected next generation.
And the school board recently refused to do a study to show that this heavy handed, chaotic system is doing any good. See Geoffery Canada interviewed on Charlie Rose and tell me that you wouldn't wish we were doing some of the same here? I think the BoE's goals are good. I think their vision of how to get there is way, way off. And I believe deeply, as a mother, that is is completely disconnected from what children need. I see children being thrown into the hopper like so much data and no one seems to care about how they are dragged far from their homes and what is familiar. This is not a loving solution.
Sorry then, for some reason I thought you'd said previously that you had moved out of Wake County due to the schools.
I have to say I am impressed with the amount of public stakeholder meetings held about reassignments. They get a lot of publicity and many people turn out. Seems like they are covered by the news almost nightly these days. It would also appear that changes do result from the feedback provided during these meetings and public comment periods. Obviously not every concern can be addressed to everone's satisfaction as I'm sure there are people on both sides of the arguments. With such a public process it is easy to focus in on only those unhappy with the proposals since they are likely to be the ones who come out in larger numbers to voice their concerns. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.
This is not a statement for or against any specific policy. Just a comment on how public the process seems to be which I do think is a very good thing.
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rory breaker
