JIM MARTIN - RETRO

Look at this quote from Jim Martin:

“Let’s look at bringing neighborhoods together and evening achievement,” Martin said.

 

N&O - October 31, 2012

Once again we are back to the pre-2009 assignment by diversity policy. Note that he talks about spreading around/"evening" achievement. We are back to the place where we focused not on addressing the challenges facing socio-economically disadvantaged students but rather spreading them around like pawns in a statistical chess game. This "nationally recongized" policy resulted in a stellar 54.2% graduation rate for socio-economically disadvantaged students in Wake County.

We await for scientist Jim Martin's data showing how the former diversity assignment Policy 6200 improved academic performance. Since you are building a new assignment policy based on "evening achievement," let's see your data set. 

MORE PARENTAL ACTIVISM

Interesting group of other "parents" on their email list. More chaos creation. Stay tuned ...

From: Action for Community in Raleigh (ACRe) [mailto:actionforcommunity@gmail.com]
Sent: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 3:44 PM
To: Action for Community in Raleigh (ACRe)
Cc: Christine Kushner; Christopher Brook; Christopher Hill; Haddix, Elizabeth McLaughlin; gabe@taltongilbert.com; peter@taltongilbert.com; Nancy Petty; Nancy.McFarlane@raleighnc.gov; Russ.Stephenson@raleighnc.gov; eugene.weeks@raleighnc.gov; klhill@wcpss.net; ksutton@wcpss.net; tqureshi@email.unc.edu; Mark Dorosin
Subject: RELEASE: WILL FIRING TATA STOP WAKE'S STPP? NC HEAT OCT 6 School to Prison March in Raleigh

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10/2/2012

Contacts:
Monserrat Alvarez - 919-349-0928
Carly Campbell - 919-265-4645

Will Firing Superintendent Tata Stop the School to Prison Pipeline?
Saturday October 6 Students Across the Triangle Will March From Washington Elementary to Central Prison to End School Push-Out

Raleigh, NC -- On Saturday October 6, NC HEAT (Heroes Emerging Among Teens) will march and rally as part of Dignity In School's National Week of Action Against School Push-Out.  Students, educators, families and public education advocates will gather at Washington GT Magnet Elementary School for a speak out and press conference, then march to Central Prison. The event will raise awareness of the issues and policies that contribute to North Carolina’s school to prison pipeline and school push-out.

Press Conference at 4:30p at Washington Elementary (1000 Fayetteville St., Raleigh, NC)
Closing Rally, Speak Out & Participatory Cultural Event at 6:00p at Central Prison

This action is part of Dignity in School's National Week of Action on School Push-out, September 29 to October 6, 2012. Throughout the week, thousands of parents, students, educators and education advocates will take part in student-led actions and events around the country to expose the school push-out crisis and advocate for the human rights of every young person and student to a quality education and to be treated with dignity.

NC HEAT FACEBOOK EVENT
NC HEAT WEBSITE

“We need to work together to turn schools into places where kids feel safe, and not hunted,” said Qasima Wideman, a junior at Cary High School and member of NC HEAT.

“As we say good-bye to Anthony Tata, who showed through his actions that he was more concerned about partisanship and proximity than he was with equity, we need to think about what kind of values & priorities we as students want to see in the next Wake County superintendent.  We demand an open process and meaningful input from students, educators, and families when hiring this person.  We demand someone who will work hard to end policies that lead to push-out in our schools and who is committed to end the school to prison pipeline.  We call for an end to school policies that criminalize immigrant, LGBTQ youth, and youth of color,” said Monserrat Alvarez, a founding member of NC HEAT.

####

DAILY JOURNAL - NOVEMBER 9, 2011

WAKE COUNTY SCHOOLS: NEW APPROACH

SET ASIDES: THE NEW DIVERSITY QUOTA

MCFARLANE GOES "OUT OF HER WAY" TO HELP REHASHED HIPPIES

MEEKER'S MINI-ME CONDUCTS RALEIGH PROTEST BUSINESS PRIVATELY

WILLIAM "JOHN 2:16" BARBER: FORWARD TO 54.2%

HILL PREPARES TO "TWEAK"

HILL: ONLY "SMALL" TWEAKS NEEDED

WAKE ELECTION RESULTS

MORRISVILLE CANDIDATE LYONS 0 FOR 2 ON ELECTION LAW

WEATHERLY WINS

KILLEN WINS IN KNIGHTDALE

INSERT jESUS PROP

CHEERING ON MEDIOCRITY

"Teaching and learning is evident when we look at the scores," said Calla Wright, president of the Coalition of Concerned Citizens for African American Children, which backs the diversity policy. "How can these people dispute that fact? The state is confirming that."


http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/15/581976/test-gains-renew-diversity-flap.html#ixzz0v6Y3UwEv

2010 AYP results for urban counties
Posted by Dr. Terry Stoops at 08:38 AM

AYP Status – A federal measure that determines how subgroups (e.g., race/ethnicity, sex, disability, and socioeconomic status) performed on state tests. For a school to make Adequately Yearly Progress (AYP), all subgroups in the school must score proficient on state tests.

Guilford: 69 schools out of 116 (59.5%)
Charlotte-Mecklenburg: 97 schools out of 168 (57.7%)
Winston-Salem/Forsyth: 44 schools out of 81 (54.3%)
Wake: 61 schools out of 159 (38.4%)
Durham: 13 schools out of 52 (25.0%)

Related Link

New ABCs results rebut claims of academic benefits from forced busing

By CJ Staff
July 29, 2010

RALEIGH — Wake County public schools lagged behind other urban districts this year, when it came to meeting goals set in North Carolina's ABCs of Public Education accountability program. That's the assessment of the John Locke Foundation's top education expert.

"The preliminary data clearly show that test score gains in Wake County are consistently smaller than those in North Carolina's other large school districts," said Terry Stoops, JLF Director of Education Studies. "These numbers rebut the claims that Wake County's unique system of forcibly busing students for socioeconomic diversity generated some kind of special benefit for student performance. If you think test score growth is linked at all to student assignment policy, the latest numbers suggest Wake should look at other large school districts for examples. None of those districts uses forced busing for student assignment."

The state ABC report set for release Aug. 5 shows that 61 of Wake's 159 schools met state standards of adequate yearly progress for student performance. That's 38 percent of Wake schools. Nearly 60 percent of Guilford schools (69 of 116) met the state's standards. In Mecklenburg, the number was 58 percent (97 of 168), while 54 percent (44 of 81) of Winston-Salem/Forsyth public schools met state goals. Among the largest school systems, only Durham trailed Wake's percentage, with 25 percent (13 of 52) of its schools meeting state targets.

Of these districts, Wake County has a significantly lower percentage of low-income students as measured by the federal school lunch program, Stoops said.

"While three other large urban districts saw at least half of their schools meet state ABC performance goals, barely more than one-third of Wake's schools met that benchmark," he said. "No one should look at those numbers and determine that anything special is happening in Wake County that sets it ahead of other urban districts in improving student performance."

Stoops takes away another lesson from the new ABC numbers. "During the tight state budget conditions we've seen in recent years, public education cheerleaders have complained constantly that cuts in funding would hurt the North Carolina public school classroom," he said. "These new numbers don't fit that template. Test scores didn't go down as the state tightened its budget belt. In fact, test scores went up in many schools."

"I suspect state education officials will trumpet these scores when they release them officially next week," Stoops added. "But I wonder if they will feel inclined to mention that test scores climbed despite the fact that North Carolina legislators slowed the river of taxpayer dollars flowing toward public education.”

Wake lagged behind other urban districts this year in more than just the percentage of its schools meeting state student performance goals, Stoops said. In composite math and reading scores for grades 3 through 8, Wake's growth trailed growth in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Guilford, and Winston-Salem/Forsyth schools.

The same was true for composite high school end-of-course test results. "The end-of-course results were particularly interesting," Stoops said. "Wake's composite score grew by 4.8 points, while Charlotte-Mecklenburg's score grew by 8.3 points, Winston-Salem/Forsyth's grew by 9.2 points, and Guilford's score grew by 10.3 points. Wake also registered the smallest gain among the four large systems on six of eight individual end-of-course tests."

Those numbers do not make a great case for Wake County's efforts to improve student performance, Stoops said. "Wake County's test scores are improving, but no one could look at these numbers and say that Wake is exceeding other large North Carolina school systems in speeding improvement. People who argue that Wake's recently discarded forced busing policy produced benefits for students might want to rethink their arguments after studying these numbers."

Related Link

SEGREGATED CHURCH TO FIGHT "SEGREGATION"

RALEIGH -- The A.M.E. Zion Church has joined a growing chorus of religious groups opposed to dismantling the Wake County school board's diversity policy, becoming the first national denomination to do so.

The decision by the denomination's 12 bishops is one indication that the school board's rollback of a policy that buses students to achieve diversity is gaining national attention.

The bishops also agreed this week to cancel their winter meeting in Arizona to protest the state's newly passed immigration law.

A historic, mostly African-American denomination of more than 1 million members, the A.M.E. Zion Church has long advanced civil rights causes. The church is also a stalwart supporter of the NAACP, which is leading the Wake protest.

http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/07/17/585437/bishops-dont-end-diversity.html#ixzz0txE7w66D

WHEN YOU LOSE AN ELECTION....

Just bypass the voters:

PART XXXIV. LEGISLATIVE COMMISSION ON DIVERSITY IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS (Dannelly, Michaux)

SECTION 34.1. There is created the Legislative Commission on Diversity in the Public Schools.

SECTION 34.2. The Commission shall consist of 15 members as follows:
(1) Five members of the House of Representatives appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
(2) Five members of the Senate appointed by the President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
(3) Five public members appointed by the Governor.

SECTION 34.3. The Speaker of the House of Representatives shall designate one
Representative as cochair, and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate shall designate one Senator as cochair. Vacancies on the Commission shall be filled by the same appointing authority that made the initial appointment. A quorum of the Commission shall be a majority of its members.

SECTION 34.4. The Commission shall study the effects of student diversity in
public school enrollment. As part of this study, the Commission shall:
(1) Consider whether schools in which students of various racial, ethnic, and
socioeconomic characteristics are balanced improve the quality of the learning experience and the academic achievement of all students as compared to schools with more homogeneous student enrollments.
(2) Examine whether diverse public schools are successful in closing the achievement gap.
(3) Explore the level of parental involvement in schools with a diverse student
population.
(4) Examine best practices for creating and maintaining student diversity in schools and school systems in other states.
(5) Consider whether diverse public schools improve student discipline.
(6) Consider the fiscal impact and efficiency of State funding streams given the data accumulated in subdivisions (1) through (5) of this section.
(7) Study any other issue the Commission considers relevant.

SECTION 34.5. The Commission, while in the discharge of its official duties, may
exercise all powers provided for under G.S. 120-19 and G.S. 120-19.1 through G.S. 120-19.4. The Commission may meet at any time upon the joint call of the cochairs. The Commission may meet in the Legislative Building or the Legislative Office Building. With approval of the Legislative Services Commission, the Legislative Services Officer shall assign professional staff to assist the Commission in its work. The House of Representatives' and the Senate's Directors of Legislative Assistants shall assign clerical staff to the Commission, and the expenses relating to the clerical employees shall be borne by the Commission. The Commission may contract for professional, clerical, or consultant services as provided by G.S. 120-32.02. If the Commission hires a consultant, the consultant shall not be a State employee or a person currently under contract with the State to provide services.
All State departments and agencies and local governments and their subdivisions
shall furnish the Commission with any information in their possession or available to them.

SECTION 34.6. The Commission shall submit a final report of the results of its
study and its recommendations to the 2011 General Assembly. The Commission shall
terminate on March 1, 2011, or upon the filing of its final report, whichever occurs first.

WILL THEY DISCLOSE THE FUNDING FOR THIS?

calling-high-schools-studentsapp

Perhaps these folks would like to disclose the financing for this? I doubt it. Nor will the media ask them either. They get a pass while publicly disclosed campaign funds by the likes of people like Bob Luddy get put through the grinder.

NEVER KNEW BOB LUDDY WAS MORE POWERFUL THAN...

Dear Friend:

As you know, the new members of the Wake County School Board are feverishly dismantling the diversity policy that made Wake's schools a model for the rest of the nation.

But, in their zeal to deny every student the opportunity to achieve the American dream, the right wing interests on the Wake School Board have glossed over the true cost of destroying the diversity policy. They're trying to keep working families in the dark and hoping they won't notice the millions of dollars in federal aid that could be sucked out of our schools, possibly resulting in higher property tax.

But we can do something about it. That's why we're launching "You fight, we'll fight" - a volunteer pledge bank, modeled after a similar program sponsored by Organizing for America, where you can commit your time to educating your friends, family, and community about the true cost of this disastrous policy.

I invite you to attend one of two community forums sponsored by Great Schools of Wake County being held on April 15th in Wake Forest or April 22nd in North Raleigh, respectively to learn more about how you can help.

In addition to pledging volunteer hours and attending a community session, you can also hold the school board accountable by phone banking and canvassing to elect county and state officials who will hold true to diversity policies. We'd like to get volunteers across Wake County to join us in pledging 10,000 volunteer hours to spread the word to fellow voters.

Help us show that we can hold the school board accountable, save taxpayers, and preserving the American dream for generations to come.

Can you pledge a few hours today?

Sincerely,

David Young

Chairman

North Carolina Democratic Party

GREAT SCHOOLS (NOT STUDENTS) PUTS THE FIRST AMENDMENT ON ICE

Hey Great Schools (not students) in Wake County. I'll let you in on another real secret policy. It's called the First Amendment:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Guess there are different standards for Mr. Tedesco as opposed to Mrs. Clark, a former school board member, who referred to the new majority as "jackasses" at your recent McKimmon Center forum. She was met with loud cheers from those attending.

Thank goodness she's not on the school board now or you might have to say bad things about her.

Well, then again, probably not.

STATEMENT - RON MARGIOTTA AND NAACP

Statement - Ron Margiotta and NAACP -

CRUCIAL CONVERSATIONS ON HYPOCRISY?

So Schofield/Fitzsimon and their enlightened masses over at NC Policy Watch are hosting a Crucial Conversation Luncheon: The Supreme Court's corporate speech decision.

More like crucial conversations on hypocrisy.

In their nifty little email they bemoan the right of:

"..... corporations to spend unlimited amounts of money on politics."

".... tilting it decisively in favor of corporate interests."

How about your bread and butter buddy Mr. Goodmon? Yes the one who now is using a corporate entity to fight against the political wishes of the majority of Wake County citizens. Talk to your friends at Public Policy Polling - they have the data (including the polls they refused to release).

Goodmon, via Capitol Broadcasting, is running television ads promoting diversity.

Luddy and Pope's involvement in school board elections was transparent - found right on campaign finance reports that the N&O and others like yourself gladly publicized. And that was their personal cash.

In the spirit of transparency, will the costs of production of the ads and the buy schedule be made public? I would suggest that someone pay for these ads, but what's the point? Frankly that's just the tip of the iceberg but we'll keep it focused.

Sounds like a case of wrong for thee, right for me.

I'm looking forward to hearing your denouncement of CBC's corporate money in politics at your luncheon.

Birds chirping.....

(WRAL sure has come a long way since my days marching around with Uncle Paul.)

COALITION FOR HEALTHY SPORTS TEAMS CONGRATULATES ROY WILLIAMS ON A SUCCESSFUL SEASON

Parody

For Immediate Release

February 23, 2010

UNC CAMPUS Y STUDENTS FOR HEALTHY SPORTS TEAMS CONGRATULATES ROY WILLIAMS ON A SUCCESSFUL SEASON

Members of UNC's Campus Y group - Students for Healthy Sports Teams - congratulated Roy Williams on the health of his team.

"Notwithstanding the team's current 14-13 record and ongoing player injuries, one can see from the team's photo the health/success of Roy William's current season. We congratulate him."

Sound absurd? Well dadgummit it is.

Want to see the photo of this year's team? Click here.

Yes, the team is pretty diverse. I count 10 of one ethnic persuasion and 6 of another.

One little problem with the above statement. The team's graduation, oops I mean won/loss record. After 27 games, they've won 14 games and lost 13.

Let's go to the stats.

Percent not graduating, oops I meant not won is at 48%.
Percent graduating, oops I meant won is at 52%.

Gosh those numbers look familiar. Let's look at the graduation rates for FNR students in Wake County.

Not graduating: 45.8%
Graduating: 54.2%

Source document here.

On the count of three, ONE BIG CHEER!!!

Get Wake Education Partnership, the Raleigh Chamber, CCCAAC, Great Schools (not students) in Wake County and every other status quo failure group some pom poms.

JUST THE FACTS M'AM

Wake Schools Graduation Figures 08-09 -

I guess the families of the 45.8% of FNR students not graduating are happy as well with the Wake School System. Do Wake Education Partnerhsip, NC Policy Watch or any other highly paid political organization care to tell us how happy these folks are?

CHICKEN LITTLE

INSERT YOUR OWN STATEMENT FROM

GREAT 54.2% SCHOOLS IN WAKE COUNTY

CCCAAC

WAKE ED PARTNERSHIP

RALEIGH CHAMBER

ETC.

APPARENTLY NOW WAKE COUNTY IS IN CRISIS.

FOR 45.8% OF ED STUDENTS IN WAKE, IT'S BEEN IN CRISIS FOR MANY YEARS.

ENLOE HIGH SCHOOL

Technically, on a statistical level, it's half and half.

Don't you feell all warm and fuzzy about all the social justice in this?

BRANNON STILL DRUNK

So Yevonne Brannon, Chair of WakeUp Wake County's Board of Directors, suddenly got all righteous in the N&O today.

Let's review this new found righteousness exhibited by Mrs. Brannon as she recounted her tenure on the Wake County Board of Commissioners:

"We never experienced such lack of decorum ..."

"We all obeyed .... the unwritten rules of courtesy and integrity...."

"We are not serving our county when our excellent reputation is smeared weekly with political shenanigans that show little concern for our quality of life in Wake."

(News & Observer - December 10, 2009)

Gosh Yevonne, when did you have a reborn experience?

The highlight of your tenure on the Wake County Board of Commissioners was marked by your flippant disregard for taxpayers.

From the News & Observer:

The more the commissioners talked, the higher the proposed increase got. The figure reached 13 cents when Commissioner Betty Lou Ward was told that was roughly what corresponds to a $200 average tax-bill increase.

"Sold!" Brannon yelled as she leapt from her seat in a meeting room of Wake Forest University's Graylyn Conference Center. "Hey, you guys - the bar is open!"

(News & Observer - February 20, 1999)

Very impressive display of maturity there Mrs. Brannon.

Sober up Yevonne.

NAACP Rally - October 30, 2009

FIRST DIVERSITY KOOL AID CANDIDATE COMES FORWARD

Related Link

PATTI AND LORI - THE DOUBLEMINT TWINS

After being two of the bigger proponets of disrupting the lives of parents and children through a disastrous reassignment process and trying to force mandatory year-round schools for a flawed socio-economic diversity experiment, what did they have to say about opening school earlier and changing adjournment times?

But the school board is considering the move's potential hardships on families, such as increased childcare costs.

"All of us agree that planning time as a regular commitment is a good thing," said outgoing school board member Patti Head. "But it's all these side issues we have to balance."

Raleigh News & Observer, March 25, 2009

"This is going to be difficult for parents in the community to make this adjustment," said school board member Lori Millberg.

Raleigh News & Observer, March 25, 2009

Spare me.