Upbringing drives Wake’s point man on school zoning – Source: News & Observer

Upbringing drives Wake’s point man on school zoning

John Tedesco, whose election to the Wake County school board in November helped form a majority against the school system’s policy of busing for economic diversity, has emerged as the group’s front man in its push for neighborhood schools.
Updated Mar. 21, 2010 6:19 AM | Full Story

Many Wake County schools may start later

Most Wake County elementary students could start the school day later as the district alters its schedules this fall to save money.
Updated Mar. 20, 2010 3:31 PM | Full Story

Legislators’ grades weighted – heavily

The N.C. Association of Educators, an organization of mostly teachers, released its grades for legislators Thursday.
Updated Mar. 19, 2010 5:08 AM | Full Story

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Wake County Public Schools

Dan Coleman on Economic Diversity Wake County Public Schools – Should One Class of People Be “Looked After” By Another?

RWCA members,

Last night I allowed my disdain for economic diversity to control my tongue and my actions.   My mia culpa does not diminish my belief that economic diversity has exacerbated the idea that one class of people should be "looked after" by another.  It inherently states that financial net worth is more important than human net worth.  For the residents and businesses of SE Raleigh it has created a culture that you can not do for yourself.  For a kid that grew up on the knees of the likes of Dan & Bertha Coleman, Fred Carnage, The Very Reverend John Milton Coleman, John W. Winters, John P. Top Greene and AW Solomon, not being able to do for one’s self has never been their modus operindi.  These people worked with people of like mind and not, matching their resources, if only proportionally with others to captain not only their own lives but the community itself.  Economic Diversity has given the green light to the notion that you are not expected to do for yourself and in its worse disguise fosters the "poverty pimping" that I think has destroyed so much of the low wealth communities of Raleigh and Wake County.

But a leader is suppose to bring people together not run them away from one another or the issues.  Notwithstanding the fact that I brought Edna Earles to the group some many months ago, with the help of Representative Deborah Ross, to advise us that what the ‘other side’ could not do through the courts they were poised to do through the ballot box, ‘our side’ failed to prepare and the rest is history. 

Cash Michaels was right on point when he said the backlash at the ballot box was part of our inability to handle the growth spurt we were experiencing earlier in this 21st century.  I remember all the talk then was about we had over 100 people moving here a day as if that was verification that what ever we were doing was right on point.  We expanded all segments of our society with total disregard to the impact it was having on those segments and the county in general.  This past October and November was in essence our comeuppance for this total disregard.  During this period the RWCA tried to get a commitment before the most recent school bond was passed to build schools in the southeast quadrant only to hear that the growth was not there along the Rock Quarry Road corridor.  Good schools in close proximity to new subdivisions is without a doubt the most basic economic engine in our society and satisfies the basic tenant of real estate, location, location, location.

The motion was carried last night that the RWCA will go on record supporting our current economic diversity policy and I will send that letter out today or tomorrow just as the motion was made. 

This morning I read the article in today’s News and Observer titled "Wake’s indefensible suspensions" and wondered to myself and to our de facto parliamentarian was there a correlation between our economic diversity policy and this terrible problem we have that seems to prove that Wake County Public Schools are a party to the concept of "school to prison pipeline"?

In closing, irrespective of the vote by the Wake County Board of Education on "diversity" the RWCA has to commit itself to several key issues relating  the education of our children and these are my suggestions for our members to consider:

                                            -  how can we support a stronger link between parents and their children’s

                                               educational experience especially for those parents that are economically

                                               challenged and not in close proximity to the schools their children attend;

                                           -  how can we direct community resources, through the school’s facilities, to

                                              the families, especially those families that are on Free and Reduced 

                                              Lunches.  I think there is universal agreement that parents have to do more 

                                              and those on the bubble are not able to do more;

                                          -  how do we end the practice of our schools being part of the "schools to

                                             prison pipeline"; and

                                         -  how do we work with our low wealth communities so they can grow and

                                            prosper without external gentrification?

Therefore at our regular April meeting these issues will be on the agenda and volunteers will be required so we can deal with these and other issues as we address the education of our children.

Thanking you all for your continued support of the RWCA.

Dan Coleman
Raleigh Wake Citizens Association

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Wake County Public Schools

Ron Margiotta Speech to The North Raleigh Republican Club Discusses Breaking Up The County’s School System

Subject: WRAL video of Mr. Margiotta’s speech, Great Schools Forum

WRAL has the full video of Chairman Ron Margiotta’s speech to the North Raleigh Republican Club.  In his talk, he discusses breaking up the County’s school system, and he got big cheers for saying he was ending "busing for the sake of diversity."  He said "No one should be shocked–it (diversity) was the main issue of the campaign."  He says those opposing him and the new Board majority are those "who lost the election" in the fall and those "who do not accept the election."  He emphasized how "strong" the five majority Board members are as a group.

Hear research and data on the Wake County Public School System at the March 20 forum sponsored by Great Schools in Wake.  Mr. Margiotta and Debra Goldman were invited but declined the invitation to speak at the forum.  There will be other national, state, and local speakers, including folks from Charlotte as well as Raleigh. 

More details are online about Won’t You Be My Neighbor?  The Great Schools in Wake Coalition Forum.  It will be held Saturday, March 20, 8:30 am to 12:30 pm, with Community Action Sessions, 1:30 to 2:30 pm; McKimmon Center, NC State University, 1100 Gorman Street (corner of Western Blvd.), Raleigh;  Nationally recognized speakers include Gerald Grant, author of Hope and Despair in the American City:  Why There are no Bad Schools in Raleigh; Richard Kahlenberg, Senior Fellow, Century Foundation; former WCPSS Superintendent Bill McNeal; Benita Jones, JD, UNC School of Law; and others.  Go online to register.  Admission is free and open to the public.

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Wake County Public Schools

Diversity policy voted down in tense meeting – Source: The News & Observer

RALEIGH In a chaotic and conflict-filled meeting, Wake County’s school board voted Tuesday night to kill the district’s long-standing diversity policy and begin implementing neighborhood schools. (Read more @ The News & Observer)

An opinion from a DCN Reader

Wow!  Even if this was remotely good intending, this formula to eliminate “diversity busing” harms not only children of color, but it also harms the opportunities for Caucasian children to be exposed to other cultures early.  Making the claim for neighborhood “only” schools would seem to be the perfect recipe for “turning back” the clocks particularly given that existing and poorer schools are currently NOT adequately funded and because existing funding seems chronically limited and always favors building new/modern schools in high growth areas. This seems to be a perpetual chase without win for those that cannot afford to move to the better area.  Often the new and modern schools have some of the “best teachers” and student ratios and are often away from economically deprived areas and areas of color.    The courts have long been a better ally of last resort for demanding equal and adequate funding for existing schools and for demanding this reasonable equality before allowing new schools to be built.  What say you?   This is not just a local issue strategy for preserving the best opportunities for the select few while using the collective’s resources.  Amazing – elimination of the diversity policy reminds me so much of the plan and justification for “Separate But equal Schools” but in this case it seems to allow an exemption for socioeconomic status because of the neighborhood you live in.

Just an opinion,

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Wake County Public Schools

NAACP FILES COMPLAINT WITH SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS and CALLS FOR THE STEPPING DOWN OF WAKE CHAIRMAN MARGIOTTA at MORNING PRESS CONFERENCE

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE

NORTH CAROLINA STATE CONFERENCE

114 W. Parrish Street, Second Floor Ÿ Durham, North Carolina 27701

866-626-2227   Ÿ    919-682-4700   Ÿ   FAX  919-682-4711

www.naacpnc.org www.ncprosecutorialmisconduct.com www.hkonj.com

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II President                                                                                                                                      

Amina J.  Turner Executive Director                                                                                                                                                               

 

Immediate Release

March 5, 2010

Contact:  Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, State President, 919-394-8137

                 Atty.  Al McSurely, Communications, 919-389-2905

NAACP FILES COMPLAINT WITH SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGES AND SCHOOLS and CALLS FOR THE STEPPING DOWN OF WAKE CHAIRMAN MARGIOTTA at MORNING PRESS CONFERENCE

(Durham, NC)  Today, State NAACP President Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II and Attorney Al McSurely, Communications Chair, unveiled the formal complaint to the prestigious Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS).  “We believe these acts are in violation of SACS CASI standards including, but not limited to Standard 1, vision and Purpose; Standard 2, Governance and Leadership; Standard 6, Stakeholders Communications and Relationships; and Standard 7, Commitment to Continuous Improvement.”

In addition, the NAACP called for the Wake County School Board Chair, Ron Margiotta to step down as chair of the largest school district in the state.  In this regard, Rev. Barber said, “Mr. Margiotta openly referred to the many stakeholders of color at a public meeting as ‘animals’ into his microphone, so that all could hear: ‘Here come the animals out of their cages.’  The obvious racial meaning of this remark is even more hurtful because, if the Chair of the Wake School Board feels comfortable in openly deriding people of color who have been waiting to make their public comment as ‘animals out of their cages’ without fear of ostracism… we can infer [that they] must feel free to express similar derogatory and racist attitudes toward people of color in their secret meetings.”

Click on the link: http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org:80/2010/03/04/margiotta-calls-parents-animals/.  See the full complaint attached.

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF COLORED PEOPLE

NORTH CAROLINA STATE CONFERENCE

114 W. Parrish Street, Second Floor Ÿ Durham, North Carolina 27701

866-626-2227 Ÿ 919-682-4700 Ÿ FAX 919-682-4711

www.naacpnc.org www.ncprosecutorialmisconduct.com www.hkonj.com

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II President  Amina J. Turner Executive Director

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

5 MARCH 2010

CONTACT: REV. DR. WILLIAM J. BARBER, II, PRESIDENT, 919-394-8137

MR. AL MCSURELY, COMMUNICATIONS, 919-389-2905

REMARKS from NC NAACP’s NEWS CONFERENCE

March 5, 2010

Al McSurely, Communications Chair & member Legal Redress Committee

North Carolina NAACP

Good morning. I want to make two points. I realize many people are not familiar at all with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, and its Council on Accreditation and School Improvement. This prestigious organization has been in business since 1895, when it was formed to insure that the new public school systems in the South met best practices standards of good education. The NAACP, a national and state-wide organization, is constantly learning about effective ways to push forward our purpose of DE-Segregating our society—our neighborhoods and our schools. Recently we learned from our Burke County Branch that it had received a quick, effective response from the SACS when some members of its School Board had been engaging in similar autocratic, racially-discriminatory acts. SACS sent in a team of investigators, corroborated the NAACP’s allegations and found some other violations of the SACS standards for accreditation, all in a couple of months. The SACS team required several fundamental changes in how the Board related to the minority community and our members involved in the process have been impressed by the professional and thoughtful way the SACS has intervened. We are aware of another case in Clayton County, Georgia, where SACS withdrew its accreditation, and wholesale changes were initiated to bring the school system into compliance. I urge you to research this prestigious organization and its solid track record of responding quickly and effectively to this type of complaint.

Secondly, I want to emphasize that the complicated task of repairing the breach in the human family, rent asunder by slavery and Jim Crow, cannot be captured in 30 second sound bites, or in caricaturing individuals and their statements to imply this exercise in democracy has degenerated into a yelling match. This story is not about Ron Margiotta’s “animals” and “cages” remark. Nor is it about individuals, Black and White, who have been systematically shut out of the decision-making process by the ideologically driven Caucus of five. It is clear, as we have alleged in our complaint, that they hold secret caucus meetings before the public meetings, that they make their decisions then, and that they even plan on how Mr. Margiotta will handle the “public.” This is not democracy. These are acts of a small group of conspirators, afraid of democracy, afraid of the “animals” –all of us—getting out of our “cages” and expressing our hopes for our children.

Let us who have dedicated ourselves to truth and justice renew our commitment to providing the historical context, the political agenda, and the financial foundations that lay behind the racially demeaning remark of Mr. Margiotta. Let us ask our editors, our supervisors, our teachers, and anyone interested in the De-Segregation of our society, to tell the whole complicated story occasionally and the pivotal role the NAACP has played for 100 years in guiding our society toward one nation, with freedom and justice for all.

Amina J Turner, Executive Director, NC NAACP

As a former school board member, it is understandable that there can be heated debates and arguments around policy and direction in which a school board should lead its schools and educate its children. But it is unacceptable that the heat of the moment as described by Mr. Margiotta was the excuse for not be respectful of people exercising their rights to hold divergent opinions in a democratic society by calling them animals. If it is a matter of managing the public, as chairperson you use the gavel. You don’t resort to school yard tactics of insults and one-upmanship through verbal attacks. This behavior seems rather arrogant and anti-community building, anti-seeking common ground, anti- working on behalf of all children and their families in the Wake County School District.

A gavel will do when trying to maintain order. But the use of charged language in an already fractious situation is highly improper and demonstrates a lack of understanding of history, and the purpose of civil discourse. Civil discourse is what has lead to the gains in civil rights in our country. But to shut discourse down through the Margiotta Method will not raise test scores, maintain diversity in public schools nor support equitable distribution of resources and in opportunity for learning.

Mr. Margiotta, enough is enough! Your position demands more of you for all of Wake County’s citizens as well as those you were elected to serve—Wake’s public school children and their families.

Rev. Nancy E. Petty, Pastor, Pullen Memorial Baptist Church

I am the pastor of a church in Raleigh that, for 125 years, has stood for justice and equality for all people. I am here today to speak to an issue that is facing our nation and now, specifically, Wake County— a crisis in moral and ethical leadership when it comes to seeking justice in our world.

For certain, we don’t need our public servants, our elected officials calling people animals. We don’t need leaders who are unwilling to listen to their constituents; who are inflexible; who cannot make wise decisions about the best interest of the good of the whole; and who cannot after looking at the facts admit that they may be wrong.

I have worked with Rev. William Barber for some months now, specifically on the issues surrounding the Wake County Public School System. What I can say is that he is a man of integrity (a character trait we teach in Wake County’s school curriculum) and he is a man who respects (another character trait we teach in our public schools) his fellow human being regardless of race, gender, or political affiliation. He is a man who works with people, not against people. But more than that, he is a man of justice; and when he sees injustice, he shows up to shine a light.

As to the article in the News & Observer today (March 5, 2010) quoting him saying, “This is not a dictatorship. This is not a gang. This is not a Mafia meeting. This is a democratic process.” –his words speak the truth. We are citizens of a democracy, not a dictatorship. We are not “animals having been let out of cages” as chairman Marigotta called the citizens of Wake County; but rather we are people who are concerned for our children and our community. Rev. Barber in his remarks spoke to our PROCESS. Marigotta called people animals. That is very different.

The issues before us—our children and the well-being of our community as a whole—deserve our best. The issues deserve our highest respect and the integrity of a fair and transparent process. Anything less is an injustice!

If we are to move forward in this world as one humanity, we need more leaders like Rev. William Barber and more organizations like the NAACP who are willing to shine the light of truth and justice where the darkness of inequality and evil would wish to persist and prevail.

Michelle Laws, President, Chapel Hill-Carrboro NAACP Branch

District 8 Director

The question of what’s in the school board chair’s heart is best measured by his actions and his record. The hostile and politically regressive climate that we are now operating in requires us all to be very careful about the words that we utter that can spark the flames of destructive and division politics. As our president, Rev. Barber said, the issues affecting the education and therefore, life outcomes of our children are serious; they are not psychosomatic or simply in our heads but the repercussions are far too grave for us to take lightly. So, no one gets a pass for using racist rhetoric to get a point across or demonstrate powerful influence.

Rev. Curtis E. Gatewood, Second Vice President

The actions of five who make up the majority on the Wake County School Board continues to violate the best interest of poor children and a disproportionate number of African Americans. The fact that they make up a majority does not negate the fact they have a responsibility to serve the best interest of all. Furthermore, the chair’s reference to the supporters of the diversity plan as “animals coming out of cages” is consistent with his blatant disregard for justice, morality and protocol.

Debate over school busing in N.C. county gets uglier – Source: The Rocky Mount Telegram

RALEIGH — A racially charged debate over school busing in North Carolina has turned even uglier after an education official referred to proponents of a diversity program as “animals out of the cages.” (Read more @ The Rocky Mount Telegram)

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Wake County Public Schools

NAACP files complaint against Wake school board – Source: News 14

DURHAM – The North Carolina NAACP announced on Friday that it’s filing a complaint with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the group that accredits many of Wake County’s schools. (Read more @ News 14)

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Wake County Public Schools

NAACP Public Meeting Jan. 10 at 5pm To Discuss Wake County Public Schools

Friends,

We would like to invite you to attend this Public Meeting that is being sponsored by the State NAACP Office and the three Wake County Chapters. We are committed to seeing that the school board provides a sound basic education for every child in Wake County and in North Carolina . Please come to learn more about the challenges faces the students of Wake County as a result of the school board intention to dismantle our nationally recognized system. We know it wasn’t perfect before, but we are committed to preventing efforts to go backward. We will never go back.

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President & Amina Turner ,  Executive Director of the North Carolina Conference of NAACP Branches

Rev. Portia Rochelle,  Raleigh/Apex NAACP Branch President

Mr. Ronald White, South Central NAACP Branch President

Mr. Charles Upchurch, Wendell/Wake NAACP Branch President