Last night the Wake County School Board placed Del Burns on administrative leave until the effective date of his resignation as superintendent of the Wake County Schools, June 30th. While I respect Mr. Burns’ contributions to Wake County Schools, I cannot agree with his decision to refuse to sign a statement to carry out board policy, as reported on last night’s TV news. Burns’ refusal is surprising to many. It also begs the question: If Burns doesn’t think he was hired to carry out school board policy, what then, does he consider his duties to be? Burns’ responsibilities are clearly spelled out in the statutes and his current employment contract. Those provisions also underscore, without question, that the superintendent serves the board and is an employee of the school board.
Three weeks ago Burns said he couldn’t agree with the direction of the board and submitted his resignation. Since then, his intemperate remarks have left no doubt that he couldn’t and wouldn’t carry out his responsibilities. The school board had no choice but to remove Mr. Burns. It was the right thing to do.
Last Friday current school board members and interested individuals gathered in Raleigh for a day of professional training. Attendees heard from Lindalyn Kakadelis, former member of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School Board, on the roles and responsibilities of school board members. Doug Punger, General Counsel with the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools led a session on employment law. In the afternoon, Phil Price of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction talked about school finance issues, while Phil Strach of Ogletree Deakins closed out the day with a discussion of parliamentary procedure. Feedback for Civitas’ first school board member training was encouraging. So, stay tuned for information on upcoming sessions.
With the Wake County School Board set to vote on Tuesday on a resolution calling for community-based school assignments to replace economic diversity, proponents of the diversity have been in overdrive trying to sell board members and community about the importance of diversity. Shouldn’t we also look at classroom results?
Does the following data suggest Wake’s diversity plan has been a success for minority students?
Percent of students by group who passed both reading and math elementary school EOG tests:
Whites: 2005-06: 87%; 2006-07: 88%; 2007-08: 79%; 2008-09: 86%
Blacks: 2005-06: 46%; 2006-07: 48%; 2007-08: 33%; 2008-09: 45%
Hispanics: 2005-06: 53%; 2006-07: 55%; 2007-08: 35%; 2008-09: 47%
Econ. Disadv.: 2005-06: 46%; 2006-07: 48%; 2007-08: 31%; 2008-09: 44%
Lim. Eng. Prof. : 2005-05: 38% ;2006-07: 41%; 2007-08: 23%; 2008-09: 35%
Stud. Disabilities: 2005-06: 44%; 2006-07: 43%; 2007-08: 27%; 2008-09: 36%
Percentaage of students by group with passing score on high school EOG Tests:
White: 2005-06: 90%; 2006-07: 88%; 2007-08: 89%; 2008-09: 91%
Blacks:2005-06: 60%: 2006-07: 51%; 2007-08: 53%; 2008-09: 58%
Hispanics: 2005-06: 66%; 2006-07: 59%; 2007-08: 61%; 2008-09: 66%
Econ. Disadv.: 2005-06: 60%; 2006-07: 51%; 2007-08: 52%: 2008-08: 58%
Lim. Eng. Prof. : 2005-06: 46%: 2006-07: 43%: 2007-08: 50%: 2008-09: 57%
Stu. Disabilities: 2005-06: 61%; 2006-07: 52%: 2007-08: 54%; 2008-09: 57%
(Econ. Disadv=Economically Disadvantaged Students; Lim. Eng. Prof. = Limited English Proficiency; Stu. Disabilities = Students with Disabilities)
Four Year Graduation Rates by Group:
All: 2005-06: 83%; 2006-07: 79%; 2007-08: 79%; 2008-09: 78%
White: 2005-06: 90%; 2006-07:88%; 2007-08: 88%; 2008-09: 89%
Black: 2005-06: 70%; 2006-07: 65%; 2007-08: 65%; 2008-09: 63%
Hispanic: 2005-06: 58%; 2006-07: 55%; 2007-08: 52%; 2008-09: 51%
Econ. Disadv: 2005-06: 60%; 2006-07: 63%; 2007-08: 56%; 2008-09: 54%
Lim. Eng. Prof.: 2005-06: 51%; 2006-07: 44%; 2007-08: 39%; 2008-09: 39%
Stu. Disabilities: 2005-06: 63%; 2006-07: 57%; 2007-08: 56%; 2008-09: 57%
In seven of ten minority achievement categories, EOG and EOC scores declined from 2005-2008. One category experienced no change; two others showed improvements. Four-year graduation rates for Black, Hispanic, Economically Disadvantaged , Limited English Proficiency and Students with Disablities all experienced significant declines. Clinging to a policy that has failed to produce results offers minority students no help. These failures are a compelling reason why the school board should move ahead with other options.
I imagine there were a few people shaking their heads this morning when they read about the punishment – or lack thereof – that was handed out to State Sen. R.C. Soles (See: news article). Yesterday Sen. Soles pled guilty in a Columbus County Courthouse to a misdemeanor assault with a weapon charge and paid a $1,000 fine. The incident in question took place last August when Soles fired on an intruder, Kyle Blackburn who had broken into his Tabor City home. Blackburn also happened to be a former client of Soles and — at the time of the incident — had been recently released from jail. Yeah, I know it sounds like a bad script from one of those TV movie channels. Unfortunately, it’s true.
So much for the work of those folks who served on the grand jury in January and indicted Sen. Soles on a felony assault charge. Soles’ plea means he will face no other penalties. Had Soles been convicted of a felony, he faced losing his senate seat, prison time and his law license. Sen.Soles is the longest serving member of the North Carolina legislature, having first been elected to the General Assembly in 1968. He is also Chair of the Senate Democratic Caucus. I wonder if a few of the ties Sen. Soles developed over the past four decades came in handy in resolving his troubles. Anybody who thinks an average citizen would have been treated the same way, let me know.
Race to the Top taught us that competition and incentives drive reform . . .So even as we continue funding important formula programs like Title I and IDEA, we are adding money to competitive programs that are changing the landscape of our educational system.
The quote is from Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education in a February 1, 2010 press release on President Obama’s new budget for education. It’s hard to miss the new emphasis on reform, innovation and competition. Gosh, states now battle with each other for Race to the Top funds – and may the best application win.
I wonder, if everyone benefits from states competing, you’d think the same logic would apply to schools. The reality is, such logic is still alien to the federal mindset. President Obama has not supported a single real initiative to bring competition to our schools since taking office. In fact, earlier this year – despite favorable Congressional evaluations — President Obama and Secretary Duncan worked to dismantle the DC Opportunity Scholarship program, a voucher program that allowed 3,300 of Washington’s poorest families to attend quality private schools. A new emphasis on competition? Don’t believe it. Actions speak louder than words.
“It appeared the superintendent and board members were at least trying to work together in the first two months, but it was a lopsided relationship. A majority of the board dictated changes often driven by campaign promises made during an unusually partisan race. Several members also made it clear they didn’t trust the information they were getting in response to their requests.”
That blurb is from Tim Simmons who’s writing in yesterday’s Wake Education Partnership Newsletter about the resignation of Wake County School Superintendent Del Burns. I found much of the phrasing curious. Simmons says a “lopsided relationship” is in part the reason for Burns’ decision. Really? Last I checked the superintendent was an employee of the school board. Since the school board hires the superintendent to carry out the policies and directives of the Board, I’d guess that an arrangement is accurately described as an employer-employee relationship. As such, there is every expectation that the relationship is NOT one of co-equals but of superior-subordinates.
Simmons also claims “a majority of the board dictated changes often driven by campaign promises made during an usually partisan race.” How dare that duly-elected school board tell Del Burns to carry out policies that – at times — differ from his own views! Sounds like Simmons thinks Del Burns should have the opportunity to pick and choose which policies he’ll follow and which board members he’ll listen to –since after all, a member’s election might have been contested or highly partisan.
Silly me. Here all along, I thought the voters were supposed to be in charge.
From what I hear, DPI is getting an earful about the new draft social studies curriculum (See: DPI: Don’t Know Much About History). If you’re not keen about giving America’s founding documents short shrift or having your child learn that Roe v. Wade is an example of “the U.S. Supreme Court upholding rights against oppressive government,” speak up. DPI has extended the public comment period until March 2 (the old deadline was February 15, 2010). Submit your comments to: feedback@dpi.state.nc.us
A new report says that children in the Milwaukee school choice voucher program were 18 percent more likely to graduate than students in the Milwaukee Public Schools (See: news article). The author of the study, Professor Robert Warren of the University of Minnesota, studied the voucher program from 2003-2008. Warren said if public school students graduated at the same rate as voucher students, 3,352 more public school students would have graduated over the same period. The difference in graduation rates is particularly striking considering the Milwaukee school choice program only enrolls low income students, while the Milwaukee Public Schools enrolls students from all economic classes.
Considering the beneficial impacts of school choice for the students, parents and community, it’s hard to find a credible reason why North Carolina shouldn’t adopt a similar program. Sixty-Seven percent of likely voters in North Carolina said they support giving parents vouchers so that their child can attend any school they choose (December 2009 Civitas DecisonMaker Poll). Even most charter schools have higher graduation rates than traditional public schools. Despite 16,000 kids on charter school waiting lists and 56 percent of likely voters in North Carolina (January 2010 Civitas DecisionMaker Poll) who favor lifting the cap, law makers in Raleigh continue to ignore public sentiment. Political candidates take note.
I have a hard time finding the story in the News & Observer’s article, “Two businessmen invested big in schools race”. It sounds like another tired “money buys election” story. I guess the N&O couldn’t bring itself to comment on three of the four school board races last fall where the losers actually outspent the winners. In the fourth –which involved a runoff election — the winner John Tedesco outspent his two opponents, Horace Tart and Cathy Truitt by a whopping $571. Money buys election? Hardly. I guess the facts got in the way of a good story.
Kudos to my friend Terry Stoops of the John Locke Foundation. Terry has been one of the few critics of the draft social studies standards being developed by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. See news report, here.
Once again DPI seems to favor the “salad bowl” approach to developing standards. While the new standards include lots of important concepts, they also rob students of the opportunity to learn historical context, a prerequisite for fostering a real understanding of history. Inexplicably, the standards remove the study of American history prior to 1877. Proponents say the Constitution and the founding documents are taught. However, shoehorning the teaching of the U.S. Constitution into a class that also teaches civics and economics robs the subject of the importance it deserves. Proponents also say Americans need to have an understanding of their place in the world. Doesn’t that question presuppose an understanding of what America is? The early history of this country and the founding documents answer that question. They have also been “window” through which America history is viewed. Sadly, the new standards attempt to remove that window There is one good thing about the standards: they are still in draft form. DPI is encouraging public comment. Be a good citizen and read the documents and share your thoughts. DPI is taking comments until February 15th.