Recent Comments
Re: “Wake School Board race taking shape”
walter--we are talking about bus rides of more than 45 minutes in many cases There are low income kids from downtown who are being bused 18 miles one way out to Green Hope Elementary. Some of the buses are getting to the schools late in the morning. Then the kids must eat breakfast (part of the free/reduced lunch program I think), making them even later in getting to the classroom. These distances also make it harder for parents/guardians to be involved or to even pick up their kids when they're sick or in an emergency. On more than one occasion when Chuck Dulaney (WCPSS Growth Management)has been asked about these concerns, his response is that in his experience, distance doesn't matter when it comes to these families. They won't participate no matter how far away or close to the school they are. While that is true for some of the families, it is certainly not true for all. Why are we making it even harder for these families to be involved? I could go on and on but I will make just one more point. Most of these kids are not being moved out of high poverty, low performing schools. About 60% of the low income kids in last year's assignment plan were moved out of a school less than 40% F&R to a school that was less than 20%. They were being moved solely to raise the F&R at another school. That makes our schools look 'comparable' on paper, but what is it doing to the kids themselves? Teachers at Swift Creek ES begged Dulaney not to move their ESL kids to Davis Drive. They had made great progress at Swift Creek and the staff felt like they had made connections with them and their families. They were moved anyway. Swift Creek had an F&R in the mid 20s--very healthy by WCPSS's own standards. Why was it necessary to disrupt kids who need stability most of all? I'm a founding member of WSCA. This is not just about diversity or busing or neighborhood schools. Its much larger than that--its about putting the kids first.
Re: “What white liberals can learn about Wake schools”
White liberals don't get it, he said. "You don't get change without conflict; you don't get crops without plowing the field." Sure, be reasonable. But if that's all you are, Farrell added, "the other side will just roll right over you."
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This comment really struck me because it applies to the parents who fought to elect the new school board as well. For years we offered suggestions to improve assignment while still keeping the diversity policy in place. No yelling, no shouting, no interrupting meetings, no rude or snide comments directed at board members. Just well thought out suggestions for improvement and we were ignored. So we plowed the field--at the ballot box!