BUSINESS AWARD TO CELEBRATE EFFORTS FOR EDUCATION

The search is underway to identify the region’s most accomplished business partners who have made high quality public education a top priority for employees and their company. The Business Partner for Education Award is presented each year by the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and Wake Education Partnership to one large and one small business that have taken a leadership role in sustaining quality in the public schools. The awards will be presented at the Partnership’s Annual Meeting on Oct. 12, from 7:30 –9:30 a.m. at the McKimmon Center. Nomination forms can be obtained on the Partnership website or by contacting Fran Carruthers at (919) 821-7609 ext. 30. Nominations must be received by Sept. 11, 2006.

NEW TEACHERS FILL WAKE CLASSROOMS

More than 8,000 teachers will be prepared to teach more than 127,000 students at 147 Wake County Public schools this year. WCPSS has hired more than 930 new teachers for the 2006-07 school year. As of Aug. 18, 52 vacancies remained. Approximately 57 percent of this year’s new teachers are from out-of-state. Visit the district's web site for more about new teachers in Wake County.

PARTNERSHIP CONVENES BUSINESS MEETING ON SCHOOL GROWTH

Executives from the homebuilders industry came together with Superintendent Del Burns and County Manager David Cooke in July to talk about enrollment growth and school construction needs in Wake County. The event, hosted by Wake Education Partnership, included discussion about new legislation for public-private partnerships that would allow long-term leases for schools built by private developers. At the meeting, school district employees presented an overview of their future construction needs and talked about how the long-term leases might work. For more information, read these articles from The News & Observer: "Wake examines leasing schools" and "Bill lets schools make build-and-rent deals."

INFORMATION ONLINE ABOUT SCHOOL BONDS

Two new web sites are now offering information about the school bond campaign and the district’s capital improvement program. The Friends of Wake web site offers information about the bond referendum, as well as links to sign up for a newsletter and to volunteer. On November 7, Wake County voters will decide whether to help pay for a portion of this building program with a $970 million general obligation bond.

WCPSS has also launched the Blueprint for Excellence 2006 web site to provide the most current information on the $1.056 billion capital improvement program to provide space for the thousands of additional children moving into Wake County by 2010. The Blueprint for Excellence 2006 will help build 17 new schools; convert enough elementary schools to the multi-track year-round calendar to gain 3,000 seats in 2007-08; provide major renovations at 13 schools and lay the groundwork for the next school construction program.

DISCUSSION OF YEAR-ROUND SCHOOL CONVERSIONS CONTINUES

In order to meet the demand for seats, the Wake County Public School System and the Board of Education have proposed 23 elementary schools for conversion to multi-track year-round calendar for the 2007-08 school year. Schools on this calendar can serve 20-33 percent more students than those on a traditional calendar. Only three new elementary schools are currently under construction to open in July 2007 and more than 5,000 new elementary students are anticipated. The conversions would help the school system gain 3,000 elementary seats.

1. Registration for public hearing on year-round conversion: Wake County resident can sign up now to speak at the August 28 public hearing on transitioning some elementary schools to the multi-track year-round schedule to provide space for students for 2007-08. The online sign-up is available until 12:01 a.m., Monday, August 28. The public hearing will be held 6:30 p.m. on Monday, August 28, at Southeast Raleigh High School. Wake County residents who don't plan to attend the public hearing may still provide comments online until 5 p.m. on August 28.

2. Wake middle schools also could go year-round: Some Wake County middle schools will likely be switched to a year-round calendar next year to help families keep siblings on the same schedule.
The school board has asked administrators to put together a list of middle schools that could go year-round in 2007. Visit The News & Observer for more information.

MINORITY STUDENTS RETAINED MORE OFTEN

Wake County school statistics show that African-American students are held back at much higher rates than their white or Asian classmates. Hispanic students, particularly at the elementary school level, also struggle more. School leaders say many African-American and Hispanic students, some of them from poor families, start school with insufficient skills in reading and math. The school system mailed more than 4,000 letters in the spring notifying parents that their child could be held back. More than half the notices concerned African-American and Hispanic students, although they made up only 36 percent of the total student population for 2005-06. The final tally of students retained for the 2006-07 school year will be available in September. For more information about how these challenges are impacting students and schools in Wake County, read the article from The News & Observer.

CMS CONSIDERS REASSIGNING PRINCIPALS, TEACHERS

A majority of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board promised this summer to support new CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman if he decides to reorganize struggling schools and move in stronger teachers. But Gorman announced earlier this month that teachers won't be forced to switch schools in 2006-07, although some principals probably will be reassigned. Gorman and the Board of Education have proposed reassigning teachers to low-income schools to help boost achievement. But Gorman acknowledges that the transfers will work only if they’re part of a culture of change at the schools, including ensuring that the school has a strong leader. For more information, read the article from The Charlotte Observer.

BUSH SIGNS VOCATIONAL EDUCATION BILL INTO LAW

President Bush has signed the Perkins Act, the first major update of the nation's vocational education law since 1998. The law puts $1.3 billion a year into career-based courses in high schools and community colleges and extends the vocational programs through 2012. The renewed legislation, which emphasizes rigor and results, requires states to run career programs that will give students a broad base of academic skills, not just technical ones. In exchange for funding, states and school districts must produce more evidence that students are making progress and landing good jobs.

PUBLIC SCHOOLS’ PERFORMANCE COMPARABLE TO PRIVATE ONES

Public schools outperform private ones, when controlling for student characteristics, according to a US Department of Education study released this summer. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) study found that private schools outperformed public ones on the 2003 NAEP reading and math assessments, but when the characteristics such as race, socioeconomic condition, disability, and English as a Second Language were accounted for, public schools outperform private schools. The release of the report has generated some controversy, including questions about its utility and the study’s methodology. For more information, read the article from Education Week.

REPORT EXAMINES CHICAGO’S SMALL SCHOOLS INITIATIVE

A new report from the Consortium on Chicago School Research presents findings on the academic and personal experiences of students and teachers in small high schools created by the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative (CHSRI). In “Small High Schools on a Larger Scale: The First Three Years of the Chicago High School Redesign Initiative,” the authors examine Chicago Public Schools administrative records, test score data, and responses from the Consortium’s 2005 Improving Chicago’s Schools Survey to compare CHSRI schools to other Chicago public high schools.

TEACHER WORKING CONDITIONS RESEARCH INFLUENCES N.C. POLICY

The Center for Teaching Quality is analyzing and reporting on 2006 teacher working conditions data from five states across the country. The results are already influencing North Carolina policy developments. This summer, Governor Easley unveiled a plan to redesign 44 low performing high schools. At the heart of the recommendations is the recognition that the culture in these schools must change to ensure they are great places to teach and learn, particularly in the areas of trust, safety, and teacher empowerment.

The North Carolina legislature is also responding to the significance of working conditions. The recent passage of House Bill 1151 tightens up the state’s required duty free lunch and planning time provisions, now including elementary educators. In efforts to address issues of collaborative time, the legislation places decisions regarding the use of time in the hands of teachers themselves. For more information about the N.C. Teacher Working Conditions Survey, read the Aug. 17 edition of Wake FYI.

ARTICLE INVESTIGATES RESEGREGATION TRENDS

Are America's schools being resegregated? In a recent article from Harvard's Ed.magazine, Hanna Bordas asks this question as she notes that many court decisions nationwide in the 1980s and 1990s resulted in school desegregation orders being removed. While this trend seems to undo much of the progress towards racial integration, some argue that it is a step in the right direction, away from any kind of racial discrimination. Bordas looks back on the history of desegregation in American schools, and offers some insight into the future.

MAKE AN INVESTMENT

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

Oct. 12: Annual Meeting from 7:30-9:30 a.m. at the McKimmon Center. "A Community United: Celebrating 30 Years of Courageous Leadership." Join us for a celebration of the 30th Anniversary of the merger of the Raleigh City and Wake County School Systems.