Poetry...your opinion is as important as mine. However, let me share a different perspective - especially for ppl out of this area looking to move here....
Not talking about you - but for anyone to form an opinion on this matter, they
really need to research the current system v's the upcoming one. Otherwise they bring in pre-conceived notions based on their life experience that taints how they view the issue.
Most people who have kids in school know intimately how delicate the system is and how a school can go from excellent to poor in the matter of a couple of yrs. based on the population shift. This is why WCPSS has had to move SOME kids around, there is a socioeconomic and racial component to this.
Don't let the new board members' rhetoric fool you...it sounds good to say we need neighborhood schools. Before I had a child in school I thought that sounded good but I didn't have the full picture. Once I researched it I totally changed my mind and saw what could happen....not good.
First, to clear up a misconception - many children do currently go to neighborhood schools. The further from the center of Raleigh/Wake Forest, etc you go, this decreases and is mostly a function of growth and school over crowding due to new residents moving here. It seems to happen more in certain areas of Cary.
We
currently have the choice of accepting our
assigned school, majority are neighborhood schools, (small % buses for econ. diversity or to reduce overcrowding) or applying to a magnet school or a year round if base school is traditional calendar. Some parents opt for Charter Schools. This is why kids in the same neighborhood don't all go to the same school.
The
new system to be implemented, called "neighborhood schools" says that
all kids will go to their local school. And have the choice of a magnet and yr round - same as current system.
The
problems with this are that the kids who would have been bused are now in their home school, raising the odds that the school will have too many underperforming kids as economic status is linked to academic performance and low parental involvement. This makes the school and homes less desirable.
And, it will cause over-crowding in many schools by as much as 250% according to the latest stats. Other schools will be at 50% capacity - these are inside the beltline in the hi-rent district.
So we will need
more schools or more trailers asap just to cover neighborhood schools. Then there is the issue of Magnets and yr rd. If kids choose to go to these, the neighborhood will still have the same issue of kid going to different schools. I honestly don't think we will have enough Magnets to go around. I wonder too if they'll need to make more schools yr round? The new system says we will have the "choice" of this. But how can they promise this when currently only a small % of applications get in as the school has a neighborhood base population assigned to it.
The small savings in bus transportation (if any) will not benefit the school system as the $$ mostly comes from the State. So this is a moot point.
Again, we will see property values depreciate in areas where ppl can least afford it as they will have the undesirable schools... many are teetering on the edge already and are forecast at 150% capacity.
The folks who can already afford the higher end homes will see their values increase at a higher rate as their schools will be in demand. But are forecast to be at 50% capacity.
As for higher growth areas of the county...their problems won't be over. They'll just trade them for another set of problems as the issue remains - we can't build schools fast enough or come up with the $$ for them to keep up with the growth. I see our taxes going up to fund all this. The issues people are moving from will be here in the future.
What bothers me about the new board members is that they say they'll change the system but they don't have a concrete plan, they say they will take up to 18mts to come up with it. This is asinine, their actions have far reaching consequences affecting property values and children's lives. I resent my child's educational future being treated with such flippant disregard.
As for Tedesco...he is the least qualified for the job to lead us through this process. He has not been a corp executive or educator, he is a fundraiser for an organization that serves 1,000 kids yr., by comparison other local non profit organizations serve 100,000 to 150,000 yr. He was a city administrator for a city that had a population of 5,000 and a budget of <$2M if I am remembering correctly. Wake County's budget is 1.2B that's BILLION!
WCPSS:Board Approves 2009-10 Budget And this is the man that was trash talking about Dr. Del Burns...I'm sorry, he just doesn't have the experience we need. I'd be fine with him being on the board as Jr member, learning the goings on, but to take the lead role in forming our new system...crazy!
He, and the other conservative (new) members have the backing of the Pope Foundation, NC Taxpayers Assoc and that Woodhouse guy. I am suspicious of this...why are they involved? They didn't express their desire to help our kids, our schools before now. Why do they want to see these changes? With their money and power they could have done a lot to help fix the "old" system. Heck, if they cared that much, they could help buy books for some schools where kids have to share them. Or fund fellowships for new teachers...there is much they could HAVE done.
I recently read that the state requires the board to have training each yr in board management. Members have to pay for this themselves. They just selected a branch of Pope Foundation to provide them the training. So, the foundation backed the new members, advises them, and now trains ALL board members for a fee? There are other places they could receive this training free of charge.
Look for more positive PR on him (like Sunday's paper) and Margiotti (if needed) as their backers go into full swing. Have you noticed he's been cured of his case of diarrea of the mouth? These good ole boys know what they are doing, they've been playing the game for a long time!
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No easy answers...
