March 4, 2010

Board backs community assignment zones

The push to redesign the Wake County Public School System entered a new – and more contentious – phase this week as school board members squared off against each other and against dozens of angry, divided residents over the issue of school assignments.

The focus of virtually everyone’s ire was a new resolution calling for community-based assignment zones that would remove socio-economic diversity as a goal of the system. The resolution emphasizes stability, choice and local communities. It was approved 5-4 behind the strength of the new board majority, which was elected this fall.

Frustrated pleas, angry retorts and plenty of theatrics have become common fare at the marathon board meetings since the new majority took office Dec. 1. But this week’s gathering – stoked in part by politically partisan calls to pack the house – at times bordered on hostile.

Critics and supporters of the board arrived early and spilled into the hallways carrying placards and passing out stickers. In public comment sessions lasting more than three hours, they resorted to calling each other racists and apologists. A few isolated calls for compromise drew only tepid support.

Filling out the details

For all of the fire, the resolution itself contains few details about how community assignment zones would actually work. It calls for development of a new “zone based assignment model” during the next 9 to 15 months.

It requires the school system staff to present a plan by June 30 that offers “logical feeder patterns,” “optional choice assignment opportunities” and “better alignment of internal management systems.” It anticipates the changes will begin in the 2012-2013 school year.

One of the first key questions the board will need to address is the role of magnet schools. The plan calls for “high-quality year-round and magnet schools as viable options,” in addition to vocational and alternative schools.

But the new board majority has offered mixed opinions on where magnets would be placed. Some have suggested keeping the current system virtually intact while others have proposed spreading magnets around the county.

Removing current magnet schools would likely create pockets of high-poverty schools in several areas of the county. That has led representatives from several local PTAs to approve resolutions in the past few weeks underscoring their support for current assignment policies.

Searching for middle ground

While no board member escaped criticism during Tuesday night’s debate, Debra  Goldman was singled out multiple times for helping to write the resolution. Just a few days earlier in a committee meeting, she led a call for more research to guide student assignment decisions.

In prepared remarks Tuesday, she explained it is the job of the full board – not the committee – to provide overall direction on student assignment. Approval of the resolution, she said, was needed to guide the committee’s work.

She then went on to speak of her support for the current magnet program and the value of diversity, challenging fellow board members on both sides of the debate to do their homework and rise to the challenge of finding a compromise.

“The community-based schools idea is not one that goes against diversity. The two ideas can work in tandem,” she said. “Until you can absorb that and start looking at things from a realistic and honest standpoint, we won’t be able to craft a holistic and effective assignment policy.”

What followed, however, was a testy exchange among board members. Those in the minority repeatedly questioned why such a sweeping resolution had to be introduced and voted on in the same evening. Chairman Rob Margiotta effectively cut off debate on several points.

The minority members then offered an amendment, including the addition of language that promised all children “a sound basic education” – a phrase that comes directly from a landmark ruling by the N.C. Supreme Court defining a student’s constitutional rights. The amendment was defeated and the original resolution eventually passed 5-4.

Margiotta then called a brief recess. The Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, immediately came forward from the back of the room and called opponents together for an impromptu rally. Under the glare of TV lights, they chanted and sang in solidarity. Barber threatened court action.

And at that moment, the middle ground in this debate seemed like a faraway place.

 
Layoffs needed to balance budget

At least 83 full-time workers will be eliminated in the coming months as part of almost $21 million in cuts to help balance next year’s budget, according to David Neter, chief business officer for the school system.

Neter’s presentation to the school board this week is the first formal step in shaping a $1.2 billion operating budget for the coming school year. School board members have until May to make a formal request to the county commissioners. Commissioners must act on that request before the new fiscal year begins July 1.

The cuts will come from central services positions rather than classroom reductions, but the loss of services will be felt in the schools, Neter said.

The budget plan represents the second consecutive year of increased students with flat to declining revenue. With enrollment expected to grow by roughly 3,800 students, local per pupil expenditures will decrease by $63 per student, Neter said.

That will bring local funding to $2,102 per student.  Total per student funding from local, state, federal and other miscellaneous categories will be $8,306 per student, which is certain to remain below the state average. Click here to see a one-page summary of revenues and expenses.

Early indications suggest the state could make additional reductions in per pupil expenditures next year, but that won’t happen until after the new school year begins in July.

The state’s inability to rebound sharply from the economic downturn also left Neter pessimistic about 2012-2013 when federal stimulus money is scheduled to run out.

While there is no good news to offer, Wake has plenty of company this year. A recent article in the publication Education Week cited a survey showing half of all states are likely to cut education funding this year.

Four schools to change calendar

Three schools currently operating on a year-round calendar and a fourth scheduled to open as a year-round this summer were converted to traditional school calendars for 2010-2011. The decision followed weeks of debate, online parental surveys and five community meetings.

Several hundred students will probably need to be reassigned following the decision to convert Leesville Road Elementary, Leesville Road Middle, Mills Park Elementary and Mills Park Middle. All four schools are in the western part of the county.

The board also considered converting Salem Middle and Wakefield Middle, but those schools will remain on the year-round calendar.

The moves were part of the campaign promises made by new school board members to end mandatory year-round school assignments. Year-round calendars can accommodate more students by staggering the schedules of four different groups of students over 12 months.

Noteworthy…

… The future of Superintendent Del Burns Jr. is unclear more than two weeks after he announced he would resign his position June 30. Burns stunned board members with his Feb. 16 announcement that he could not “in all good conscience,” carry out some of the new board’s policies. He then angered them when he granted interviews the next day offering more detail. Some board members publicly suggested paying Burns for his remaining sick leave and vacation days at a cost of about $100,000 and letting him go immediately. No final decisions have been made.

... Wake County’s recent debate over student assignment plans is now playing to a national audience. Shortly before this week’s school board vote, The New York Times published a story highlighting the fight. An Associated Press story from Raleigh was also picked up by the national wires.

… The Civitas Institute, a conservative think tank in Raleigh, was approved by the school board this week to provide board member training to any member that wishes to take classes offered by the group. Training is typically offered by the N.C. School Boards Association or the School of Government at UNC-Chapel Hill. According to its web site, “the mission of the Civitas Institute is to facilitate the implementation of conservative policy solutions to improve the lives of all North Carolinians.”

... What do teachers most want in a school? Good leadership, according to a Gates Foundation survey released this week. Good leadership topped a long list of variables in the survey of 40,000 teachers. Many of those surveyed also described "relevant" professional development as essential. The survey was silent on the role of politics.  

Wake Education Partnership is a 501(c)(3) non-profit created in 1983 to support public schools, in part by educating the community on current school issues. Most of its financial support comes from local business. Send comments to Tim Simmons, VP Communications, at  tsimmons@wakeedpartnership.org