Dec. 4, 2008

                                    School cuts: Round 1

A new political and economic reality framed the discussions of Wake County public school leaders this week as school board members agreed to make $11.2 million in budget cuts.

The amount represents $5.5 million in mandated cuts from the state and $5.7 million requested from Wake County commissioners. School board members and county commissioners say more cuts are likely if the economy continues to deteriorate as expected.

The county currently needs to cut about $17 million from its budget of $984 million due to declining revenues. That’s tough to do without the help of the school district because roughly one-third of the county’s operating budget goes to the schools.

But while the state cuts were required, the local cuts were requested by commissioners. Following the strong recommendation of Superintendent Del Burns to absorb the full $5.7 million requested, the school board unanimously approved the reductions.

The $11.2 million will come, in part, from reduced classroom materials, longer delays in central office hiring, leaving vacant positions unfilled, freezing out of state travel and savings from slower enrollment growth. For a full list, click here.

          Reassignment plan hits a snag

School board members will meet Dec. 10 to consider removing the International Baccalaureate magnet school program from Broughton High School, a decision that would have a ripple effect for hundreds of students in the proposed reassignment plan.

The board decided in October to expand the magnet program at Broughton, but existing families complained when they realized the decision would mean hundreds of students now attending Broughton would be reassigned to make room for the larger program.

Board members tentatively agreed that Broughton doesn’t need an IB program to maintain the district’s goals for performance and diversity. But waiting until Dec. 10 to formally make that change means the reassignment proposal will be delayed.

Wake County public school leaders released the first draft of the student reassignment plan Nov. 15. It takes a different approach from past efforts by detailing assignment changes for the next three years rather than the typical one-year cycle.

Administrators also started sooner and are seeking more comment before passing the draft along to school board members. The comments from Broughton families are a part of that process. Formal board approval is still expected in February.

‘The most ghetto school’

Seven teachers in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district were either fired or disciplined in the past few weeks for inappropriate comments and pictures the teachers posted in their Facebook accounts, a social networking site where people stay in touch through the internet.

The postings, first reported by a local television station, created obvious public relations problems for the district. In addition to the standard Facebook fare of party pictures, the posts included a comment by a teacher about hating her students.

And a teacher from Thomasboro Elementary talked about “teaching in the most ghetto school in Charlotte.”  The superintendent recommended she be fired. Her attorney said she was only telling the truth. About 90 percent of the students at Thomasboro are poor enough to qualify for subsidized lunches.

While the two sides sort out the differences between legal truths and appropriate behavior, the incident highlighted much bigger changes in the schools of Mecklenburg County that often go unnoticed among those who live in Wake.

Less than half of the students in Charlotte-Mecklenburg are poor enough to qualify for free or reduced prices on school lunches. But in more than three dozen schools – mainly in the city -- more than 80 percent of the students are considered poor. In six of those schools, the figure is 100 percent.

Charlotte once marketed itself as a place where socio-economic diversity worked for everyone, but its commitment faded. Now, school officials find themselves parsing the meaning of “the most ghetto school.”

High-poverty schools

More than 80 percent of students qualify for subsidized lunches in roughly one-quarter of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools. Most are in the central part of the county, which is bounded roughly by Cornelius and Davidson to the north running just outsideI-485 to Matthews and Pineville at its southern end.

Data source: NC Department of Public Instruction, Child Nutrition Services, 2007-2008 school year

                          Noteworthy

Despite budget cuts and court setbacks, magnet school programs do a better job than most other efforts -- including charter schools -- when it comes to providing high-quality academics and promoting diversity. The report by The Civil Rights Project, based at UCLA, suggests increased support for magnets could improve academics and voluntary integration….The Wake school board this week formally approved its goals of a 100 percent graduation rate by 2014, stating “all students will graduate on time prepared to compete globally.” The goal includes 20 smaller measures of interim improvements, summarized in a document released by the district.

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