Hundreds of Students Selected for 2007 Pieces of Gold
More than 800 students representing 31 groups from 30 Wake County public schools (16 elementary, five middle and 12 high schools) have been selected to perform in the 2007 Pieces of Gold. Sixty-eight groups auditioned at Southeast Raleigh High School on Nov. 28-29 for the chance to shine in the 24th annual show on March 7, 2007, at the Progress Energy Center for the Performing Arts. Pieces of Gold is an annual arts extravaganza produced jointly by the Wake County Public School System and Wake Education Partnership. Students and teachers work throughout the year to produce performances that support the curriculum as well as entertain an enthusiastic audience. Follw this link for a complete list of the school groups selected to perform.
E-Newsletters Win National Award
Wake FYI and EduBrief, Wake Education Partnership’s periodic electronic newsletters, last month won a Carmen A. Sarnicola Award for Excellence in Communications from the Public Education Network (PEN) in Washington, D.C. In announcing the award, PEN described the Partnership’s newsletters as publications that “contain excellent content, are attractive and readable, and contain the right balance of news and advocacy.” Follow these links for more information about the awards program or to read archived editions of the newsletters.
Support Public Education with a Gift to EduBrief
Together, we can make a difference for Wake County. Every child deserves to find quality in the classroom, and with your help, the Partnership is working toward ensuring excellent schools for our community. Our award-winning publications, EduBrief and Wake FYI, are just two ways we work to keep citizens connected with our public schools – your gift to the Partnership’s Annual Fund for Education helps support these publications, as well as the important work we do for teachers, principals and students across Wake County. When we invest in our schools, we build a better, stronger, more prosperous community for us all. And together, we all win. Follow this link for more information or to make a gift online.
Growth Management Proposal Online Tomorrow
A draft Growth Management Proposal will be available for review and public comment on the school district website beginning at 5 p.m., Friday Dec. 8. Suggestions regarding the draft will be accepted via the website until 5 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 2. The WCPSS Growth and Planning Department will use this information to refine the draft and will present a staff recommendation to the Board of Education at the board's meeting on Jan. 9. The Board of Education will then schedule public hearings and work sessions. The board is expected to vote on a Growth Management Plan at its Feb. 6 meeting.
Wake to Consider Public-Private Partnerships for School Construction
Wake school leaders are interested in leasing schools from developers sometime in the future and want to know more about how the costs compare to building schools themselves. A Nov. 15 article in The News & Observer incorrectly suggested the district was putting the brakes on proposed public-private partnerships. A bill approved by the legislature earlier this year allows developers to build schools and lease them to districts for 40 years. After that time, districts would have the option of buying the schools at a discount.
Proponents of the bill say private companies can build schools faster and cheaper than school districts. In Wake County, the partnerships have been championed as a way to slow the pace of schools being converted to the year-round schedule and ease the burden on taxpayers. Don Haydon, the district's chief facilities and operations officer, said that the district backed the legislation that allows partnerships and plans to pursue them. His staff recommended that the district open a traditional school at the same time as one built by a private company so the cost and efficiency of the two schools could be compared. The district would also evaluate the results of similar partnerships in Charlotte. Follow these links for more from WCPSS and The News & Observer.
Wake Teachers Named 2006 Kenan Fellows
Five Wake County teachers are taking part in the 2006 Kenan Fellows program working with N.C. State University professors on projects and developing curriculum to be used in classrooms across the state. The five WCPSS teachers include Carrie Jones of Middle Creek High, Chad Ogren of Enloe High, Jodi Riedel of Wakefield High, Katherine Smyre of West Cary Middle and Susan Taylor of Panther Creek High. The teachers were selected for the honor by North Carolina State University's Kenan Fellows for Curriculum and Leadership Development Program. The teachers engage in a two-year fellowship in partnership with distinguished scientists and university faculty to develop innovative curricula for use in North Carolina classrooms.
As part of the two-year fellowship, the teachers will collaborate with the N.C. Department of Public Instruction in the development and distribution of curricular resources statewide, work closely with distinguished university faculty or research scientists in developing their projects, participate in research to develop inquiry-guided instruction to be used in the classroom, talk with state leaders at events that encourage professional development, train to be teacher leaders and present findings at state and national conferences. Wake Education Partnership is proud to be a sponsor of the Kenan Fellows for Curriculum and Leadership Development Program.
SEPTA Memberships Available for Teachers
Through a grant from an anonymous donor, the Wake County Special Education PTA is offering a limited number of free memberships to WCPSS teachers and staff. The Wake County Special Education PTA was formed in 2005 to promote positive, constructive communication between parents and educators; to provide information about special education law and issues as well as specific disabilities; and to form a network across the district to share ideas about how to promote successful strategies and programs for the benefit of all children with IEPs. For more information, visit www.WakeSEPTA.org or call 788-2500.
Supreme Court Hears Desegregation Cases
The Supreme Court this week considers whether programs in which race is a factor in placing students in schools is an acceptable means of diversifying the student body or another name for illegal racial quotas. The cases focus on policies in Kentucky and Washington, but the issues are also relevant in Wake County, where the district’s decisions about race’s role in school assignments might be considered by the Supreme Court. The Court’s decision could also impact hundreds of districts across the country that currently employ voluntary policies to ensure integrated schools.
In the case of Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District, the court will rule on whether achieving a racially balanced school is constitutionally valid. In the case of Meredith, Crystal (next friend for McDonald, Joshua) v. Jefferson County Board of Education, et al., the court will review parents’ complaints of forced busing and intricacies involved in the magnet school application process as being a violation of their child’s constitutional rights based on the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.
• For more information about the Supreme Court cases, visit PBS online and The News & Observer online.
• Listen to oral arguments online.
• For more about Wake County’s connection to the case, visit The News & Observer online.
• For more about how parents in Louisville, Kentucky, feel about the school policies, visit Time Magazine online.
• For more about the research behind Wake County’s assignment policy based on socio-economic status, read the Partnership’s “Making Choices” report.
Report Studies School Choice Trends
A new report from the National Center for Education Statistics presents data on the use and users of public schools, private schools, and home-schools. According to "Trends in the Use of School Choice: 1993 to 2003," the percentage of students enrolled in their assigned public school decreased from 80 percent in 1993 to 74 percent in 2003, essentially mirroring an increase in chosen public school enrollment from 11 to 15 percent. During this same period, enrollment in church-related private schools remained stable (8 percent), while enrollment in non-church-related private schools increased from 1.6 percent to 2.4 percent.
Foundation Fuels Charter School Movement
The Walton Family Foundation, established by Wal-Mart Founder Sam Walton, is the second-largest donor to K-12 education. While the Walton Family Foundation's education work is best known for supporting vouchers, the foundation also has played a significant role in building and shaping the future of the charter school movement in the United States. A new Education Sector report illustrates the various Walton Family Foundation investments in the charter school movement, connecting the dots between the foundation and individual charter schools, charter management organizations, support organizations, advocacy groups and research and information efforts. The report describes the roots of the foundation's involvement in the charter school movement, in the late John Walton's support for school choice, and looks at how the foundation's approach to funding charter school activities represents a new breed of "muscular" philanthropists that actively seek, and sometimes help to create, opportunities for investments in line with their priorities.
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Your donations make the Partnership's work possible. Please help us continue to support excellence in public education in Wake County by making an investment in the Annual Fund for Education today. When we invest in our schools, we build a better, stronger, more prosperous community for us all. And together, we all win.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Feb. 6: Wake Regional Education Roundtable from noon to 1:30 p.m.; hosted by the Wake Forest and Rolesville Chambers; discussion topic will be charter schools.
March 7: Pieces of Gold at 7 p.m.;Progress Energy Center for Performing Arts; tickets go on sale in January.