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Grew up in Massachusetts where we have city/town based schools. Not the trying to start the stereotypical yankee "we did it better" but just saying we didn't have these issues. The whole county was not held hostage to political games like this.
You grew up in a city, you went to that city's schools. Wanted to go to school in another city? You pay for it and you are responsible for transportation. Pretty cut and dry.
I don't yet have kids... And I don't yet live in wake county. I have however frequented these boards bc a little while back wake county had great schools (at least that was the word...and wake county still does probably have great schools compared to where we are moving from). We still hope to move for our future family... But hope the county can get back on track before we have kids needing to get into the system.
The only thing I have to say....from the OP...I really haven't seen much in constructive suggestions in what people would do... Besides "fire everyone" and stuff like that. I'm interested... Current residents of wake county... What policies would you put in place if you were a board member? And why? Pretend like these people that you hate or love so much aren't even there... And you are there to make the decisions... What items would you change? What could make it better? I would love to hear those types of suggestions instead of throwing people under the bus.... Bc that doesn't seem to be doing any good. Not trying to be rude.
And I'm sorry...I just thnk "bigot" is the most overused word of the year.... And a large percentage of the time misused...towards people that individuals don't even know.
Do we have any people on this board who graduated from an older system that seemed to work great? Maybe the system that sent out the original word that wake county had great schools? Any advice on what they could go back to that you KNOW worked well from experiencing it?
Hoping to hear some solid, detailed opinions on new ways to fix the system...not really involving specific individuals and positions.
I would change the law so removing a superintendent would require a super majority. If they are bad for the school system it shouldn't be hard to get 7 out of 9 votes should not be hard. Then I would continue a choice plan, with transportation to the closest base traditional and base year round. Everything else would be parent provided transportation.
Finally there would be a strong focus on two sets of kids...the poor performing because of things out of their control, and the kids who are smart, but not college bound. You either pay for education or you pay later, via jail, welfare or food stamps. We need kids to be plumbers, mechanics, electricians and what have you. In wake county if you are smart and college bound your are in good shape. If you are not, then you are in for the challenge of your life.
Location: Chapel Hill, NC, formerly NoVA and Phila
9,775 posts, read 15,776,851 times
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I am not in Wake County and never was, but I just moved here from a similar-sized school system - Fairfax County, VA. No school system is perfect, but for the most part, the school system I came from is successful. Or, at least, it doesn't have the problems that are plaguing Wake.
In Fairfax County, there is no real "busing." For the most part, students go to neighborhood schools. This does lead to some uneveness in the schools. Richer neighborhoods have schools with higher test scores and poorer neighborhoods have lower scores. They seem to deal with this in various ways:
-If there are poor neighborhoods that abut some richer ones, the boundaries are drawn such that there will be poor students in the mostly rich school.
-They put special programs in lower-performing schools. Gifted & Talented Centers are often located in some of these schools. Special programs like International Baccalaureate (IB) are put into some lower-performing high schools.
-There may be more help and better teacher/student ratio at poorer schools to increase academics.
It is by no means perfect:
-There is wide variation in academics. SAT scores were just released. And the average scores across 24 high schools range from 1400 at one school to over 1800 at another. People want to move where the good schools are and not where the bad schools are.
-There is also much less choice than in Wake. You pretty much go to your assigned school unless you are GT (for elementary/middle) or if you want a program that is not offered at your school (want IB but your school is an AP school, but your "choice" is one other specific school not any of the IB schools, for example.).
-But for the most part, boundaries are set. There are boundary studies/changes about once per year where certain neighborhoods get moved. But for the most part, they are stable. And the good schools are very good that they attract high-income, highly educated families.
I think at the end of the day, there are no great answers to even everyone out. Families with money will move out or go private if the schools don't meet their needs. Most families want to know that they are going to a good school. And when buying a house, that is usually one of the top questions for families with kids. I would never move into Wake with the mess going on there now or even last year. It's obvious on C-D, that people are looking elsewhere - Durham, Johnston, CH, Orange or looking private. If Wake wants to have a good reputation, they need a school system with stable assignments.
Yes, get rid of the bigoted transplants that tried to turn WCPSS into New Jersey.
Then, hire back our previous great Superintendent, Dr. Del Burns.
WCPSS couldn't hold a candle to NJ's public school systems and that goes beyond a difference in property taxes. You're hatred for all things NE is quite amusing.
Bad schools? Transplants!! Someone beeped at you in traffic? Transplant!!! Your knee hurts? Transplants!!
Just find it funny/ironic you called the board bigots when you are displaying bigotry by labeling them transplants, as if they/we all fall into the same bin.
Really, the few people you see on C-D forum threatening to leave are just that few. Most people, while disappointed with the school board right now, are going to stay put because they like their schools!
First step is accept that the primary problem has been a massive underinvestment in school infrastructure dating back over ten years, through a massive period of growth. Second step is to decide what mix of tax increases you will accept to catch up on infrastructure till it matches the student population and can grow appropriately. That's most like going to mean impact fees, transfer taxes, and an increase in property taxes. If you are lucky, then in six or eight years you can come up with a rational mechanism to distribute kids to schools that their parents are relatively happy with.
This is a great post. Unfortunately, the people first in line picketing the current school board will also be the first in line picketing against any kind of referendum on taxes. There's no way around it the school system needs more money and while there obviously has to be good systems in place the money is a major piece of the puzzle. I completely agree toot Unfortunately it's like everything in our society...everyone wants the best but no one is willing to pay for it. A couple pennies here and there from us all to improve the local school system? No way! 100 bucks a month for a cell phone and 300$ every 2-3 years to buy a new one? Sure!
Grew up in Massachusetts where we have city/town based schools. Not the trying to start the stereotypical yankee "we did it better" but just saying we didn't have these issues. The whole county was not held hostage to political games like this.
You grew up in a city, you went to that city's schools. Wanted to go to school in another city? You pay for it and you are responsible for transportation. Pretty cut and dry.
I also lived in the Northeast where they had city/town based schools. It was pretty bad since it basically created the achievement gap from hell and encouraged the creation of academic ghettos in the inner city and poorer towns where students were overwhelmingly from poor or working class backgrounds, and schools were ill equipped due to the insufficient tax base. All this was next to tiny wealthy suburban districts that fiercely guarded their privileged position and tax base advantages.
The result was it was great if you lived in a posh suburb, or corporate bedroom town, but awful if you lived in the city, or a depressed working class town.
Yes, get rid of the bigoted transplants that tried to turn WCPSS into New Jersey.
Then, hire back our previous great Superintendent, Dr. Del Burns.
things were pretty good before the guys from NJ fixed things. they had local support as well. it wasn't their sheer genius alone.
public education has a liberal lean. get over it. it worked extremely well here
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Unfortunately it's like everything in our society...everyone wants the best but no one is willing to pay for it. A couple pennies here and there from us all to improve the local school system? No way! 100 bucks a month for a cell phone and 300$ every 2-3 years to buy a new one? Sure!
