tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post7657250703934181932..comments2023-10-23T09:23:22.051-04:00Comments on Your Schools: Will Bill Gates come courting me?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger45125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-65382009425291753922011-03-14T11:10:13.941-04:002011-03-14T11:10:13.941-04:00Concern about overreliance on any one source is va...Concern about overreliance on any one source is valid. But a danger that Pam Grundy (or anyone else) is the only message you hear from the Observer ... seriously?<br /><br />If you check the seven stories and seven blog posts I produced during the past week, you'll find quotes from students, teachers, principals, volunteers, CMS board members, top administrators, a judge, the NAACP president and a private-school instructor. My inbox is open to all, and this forum provides an "open mic" for all who care to post.<br /><br />Did Pam Grundy get a disproportionate share of my time and ink during the past week? Yep. So did CMS's performance pay director Andy Baxter and science director Cindy Moss, for the same reason: They were in the thick of stories I was working on.<br /><br />The old saw about Charlotte's spring weather could just as well apply to a reporter's focus: If you don't like it, wait five minutes and it will change.Ann Doss Helmshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03511764376105157616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-84490428190816450892011-03-12T19:13:57.252-05:002011-03-12T19:13:57.252-05:00I would be interested in a deeper explanation of t...I would be interested in a deeper explanation of this statement:<br /><br /><b><i>I don't know if this kind of segregation affects the way that Shamrock's students see white people. But I do know that it affects me. Our neighborhood is now full of young white couples, and of light-skinned children perched in strollers, riding bikes, dashing wildly down the streets. As I ride my own bike, or labor in my garden, I see them through the lens of segregation. All I know – or really care to know – about them is that they will never pass the threshold of our school.</i></b><br /><br />"Never pass the threshold of our school"? I suppose we're left to infer that these kids don't go to CMS schools but alternative education venues? <br /><br />Most of what I read from this person comes across as bitter and angry towards those who don't agree with her position and that's fine. I do see passion for her child's future, just as I have for mine. <br /><br />We all have our opinions for whatever the reason(s). I have my anger and yes bitterness too.<br /><br />When she was in the third grade in Arizona, not in the South like many of us, I was in high school, going through busing, fights, riots, not learning anything because teachers were too scared to discipline.<br /><br />What she fails to understand, because she wasn't here at the time, is that Whites went through desegregation and the Great Social Experience called busing just like the Blacks. We were ALL affected. <br /><br />Separate but equal was wrong and needed to be eliminated, we all agree on that. The problem is, 40 years later and after busing ended, nothing has changed.<br /><br />I would also like to tell a brif story about my som when he was about 4 years old.<br /><br />I picked him up from daycare after work one day and his "teacher" handed me the things he had done for the day. That day, all of the kids were given pictures of Dr. King to color, as it was during Black History month.<br /><br />As I stood there and looked at the picture, I almost started to cry. My son had colored Dr. King's portrait with probably 6 or 7 different colors, not black, not brown but all different colors.<br /><br />We have raised our son to respect everyone as equal, no matter what color they are or what their household income is.<br /><br />As his father, I look at the ills of education today and why we continue the same lame programs that do not work.<br /><br />I have no problem cutting Bright Beginnings.<br /><br />I have no problem demanding that our elected officials demand from the USDA that the school lunch program be audited and if in fact 44,000 students don't qualify that are currently on the program, kick them off.<br /><br />I have no problem firing "quality teachers" that refuse to be assigned to low performing schools if that is where they are needed. <br /><br />I have no problem kicking kids out of school who habitually disrespect teachers and disrupt classrooms.<br /><br />I have no problem with the fact some schools have high concentrations of low income students. We already pour more funds into those schools than others. People live where they live and make education choices for THEIR kids as THEY see fit and I don't question them as to why, other than to maybe build on the fact 30% of White and many Blacks don't send their kids to CMS. WHY? <br /><br />Maybe having the answer(s) to that question might help fix what ails CMS today.<br /><br />By the way. My wife and I still have that picture of Dr. King.Wiley Coyotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16966764080565903720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-27613600079706674542011-03-12T18:23:43.912-05:002011-03-12T18:23:43.912-05:00Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!Are you kidding me?!?!?!?!?!therestofthestorynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-11137801496111086232011-03-12T18:15:29.956-05:002011-03-12T18:15:29.956-05:00If you want to put your dinner off a little longer...If you want to put your dinner off a little longer read this (to the very end):<br />http://seenfromtherock.blogspot.com/2010/03/black-history-month.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-61661175256102406082011-03-12T17:57:45.750-05:002011-03-12T17:57:45.750-05:00Sorry meant "the other day" instead of e...Sorry meant "the other day" instead of everyday.therestofthestorynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-60334037768790994012011-03-12T17:56:05.333-05:002011-03-12T17:56:05.333-05:00I was talking to a black coworker everyday. He we...I was talking to a black coworker everyday. He went to school in CMS but now lives in Lancaster. He thinks we need a "Joe Clark" type as superintendent and in a lot of schools. A number of folks I have talked to just do not understand about "one bad apple spoiling the barrel".therestofthestorynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-91956346023281574582011-03-12T17:52:49.074-05:002011-03-12T17:52:49.074-05:00Yep already saw it. I have put dinner off for an ...Yep already saw it. I have put dinner off for an hour or so (not just Louise but the biasness of the whole story).therestofthestorynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-39846801410252335892011-03-12T17:49:06.740-05:002011-03-12T17:49:06.740-05:00Speaking of Louise, in case you missed the followi...Speaking of Louise, in case you missed the following post from anonymous 9:09 am, follow the link and you can see that Louise is still in action.<br /><br />You might find this link interesting (I found it on Parents Across America website):<br />http://www2.nbc17.com/news/wake-county/2011/feb/07/neighborhood-schools-charlotte-10-years-later-ar-763038/.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-89819700926067560692011-03-12T17:45:36.603-05:002011-03-12T17:45:36.603-05:00I can not resist adding to that I just do not unde...I can not resist adding to that I just do not understand people that believe they have to cause other people to live or do their lives as they see fit. Why do they think they are blessed to be the decision maker for the rest of us? Unless you are a "Yalie".therestofthestorynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-18957520209992570972011-03-12T17:31:19.644-05:002011-03-12T17:31:19.644-05:00Well that is an interesting term "equitable&q...Well that is an interesting term "equitable". I guess am a dinosaur to believe schools are for education to prepare you for a good job or career. I do not believe schools are for "kumbaya" moments for libs to get their backs slapped on the church steps for their "nobleness" particularly when their private schools and neighborhoods are protected.<br /><br />I was here in the 80's and 90's and Lousie Woods and I had heated words a number of times as she insisted my neighborhood was needed to "balance" schools. One of my children would have had 3 different middle school assignments if I had not intervened.<br /><br />The interesting thing about one of the middle schools she was in she heard numerous times in the hallways black girls saying they could not wait to have a baby so they would have someone to love them. That has been a number of years ago and it is only worse now.therestofthestorynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-88814760616288786462011-03-12T16:56:15.807-05:002011-03-12T16:56:15.807-05:00Oh, but Restofthestory--Don't you know that if...Oh, but Restofthestory--Don't you know that if those inner city kids could just go to school with those suburban kids everything would suddenly be just fine (and much more "equitable" to boot).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-84378784821048486702011-03-12T16:40:34.982-05:002011-03-12T16:40:34.982-05:00I forgot to add too. I am not sure what good talk...I forgot to add too. I am not sure what good talking about busing is anymore. The number of white students in this system has not grown in 10 to 12 years. Their percentage is about half of the county wide percentage. Additionally, the single largest exiting group of students and families now are the middle class blacks. <br /><br />Also, inner city folks may jump and shout about closing of inner city schools but they have had under capacity for over 10 years and new and rebuilt schools were not needed. For example, Greenville Park Elementary was built after all the public housing was taken down but was done just to satisfy a few loud neighborhood activists. Not done for the good of the system either from financial health or from delivering academic services to students efficiently. <br /><br />Bottom line, I am not sure why a reasonable person would think of closing an overcrowded suburban school just to be "fair" to closing an inner city school when the only schools left, for the large part to send the students to are already overcrowded. Anyway, there are still another 8 to 10 inside the middle ring schools that are under 50% capacity that could be closed. Minimally, one principal could oversee 2 of these schools till consolidation could take place.<br /><br />As for my perfect world, I would perfer for the tax money, both federal, state and local, follow the child no matter what school they go to. Maybe the George Dunlap followers would think again about running the "good" students and families out of the school system.therestofthestorynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-88037250025095112062011-03-12T15:37:09.795-05:002011-03-12T15:37:09.795-05:00Well said Wiley and 1:19 PM. You must remember to...Well said Wiley and 1:19 PM. You must remember too that this is the left wing agenda that is so mainstream press oriented. It is interesting like Larry found out when he went to Raleigh 2 years ago when they attempted to breakup CMS. Somehow, these people will continue a failing system rather making drastic changes. <br /><br />This current public school model serves such a small number of students well now. The "powers that be" continue to attempt to "tweak" it with unproven, illogical (mostly political or social engineered approaches) and simply sneer at us "unwashed" folks that we do not understand the bigger picture. <br /><br />If CMS and its advocates are so gun-ho to celebrate diversity, they should allow the system to change to address the different needs of different students or get out of the way and go away.therestofthestorynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-70001617697742749922011-03-12T13:19:50.481-05:002011-03-12T13:19:50.481-05:00"The danger in the Observer giving one person..."The danger in the Observer giving one person a mic with no off switch is that it's the only message we hear."<br />Well said, Wiley. In addition I think that most families are so busy living life that they don't have the time or energy to organize a "think tank" and put out data and sound bites favorable to their opinions. So it may appear that "the people" are rising up in protest when it's really just a small group with a narrow viewpoint.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-81224913418651544092011-03-12T13:04:11.438-05:002011-03-12T13:04:11.438-05:00When I attended the West Meck meeting last year ab...When I attended the West Meck meeting last year about school closings (Waddell specifically), I was very surprised to hear the vast majority of parents say they DID NOT want to have to send their kids to a school farther away.<br /><br />The danger in the Observer giving one person a mic with no off switch is that it's the only message we hear. <br /><br />Most people with a dissenting opinion left the school system long ago and today their kids have their grandkids in private schools.Wiley Coyotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16966764080565903720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-49594481947171143942011-03-12T11:39:01.285-05:002011-03-12T11:39:01.285-05:00I love how Bill Gates thinks he can bully his way ...I love how Bill Gates thinks he can bully his way on his wife's pet project of education reform, like he bullied Windows to top of marketplace in PC OS.<br /><br />This comes from a guy who went to an elite prep school and dropped out of Harvard, while his wife went to Catholic school and Dook. Not a day of public education between them. You want to impress me Gates, enroll your kids in public school and start effecting change there.blpadge2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-18019514921659113142011-03-12T10:37:57.289-05:002011-03-12T10:37:57.289-05:00Another extraordinarily interesting column from th...Another extraordinarily interesting column from the archives, this one from Mary Newsom, July 8, 1996:<br /><br />" On the last Saturday in June, some 50 people from 43 center city neighborhoods held the first of what they intend to be annual meetings of the Queen City Congress.*<br /><br />What they realized.........*<br /><br />Schools and lost connections<br /><br />Charlotte-Mecklenburg school assignments send children all over the county, so schools have lost their connections with neighborhoods, said Michael O'Brien, a Third Ward architect. ``They're not part of the social fabric, `` he said, ``even when they're part of the physical fabric.'' And often, he said, they're not part of the physical fabric either. Newer schools, particularly, seem designed to turn their backs, physically, on their surroundings.<br /><br />``It makes it harder for the school to think of itself as part of a community,'' said Elizabeth neighborhood representative Chris Burns-Fazzi. ``They don't think about parks and recreation because it's not their park, it's the neighborhood's park.''<br /><br />Passionate comments flew. A Plaza - Midwood resident questioned why her middle-class white child should be bused out of her integrated, economically diverse neighborhood to a middle-class, white neighborhood in Mint Hill. An Earle Village resident wanted to know why her black grandchild was not able to attend First Ward's magnet school, right in the neighborhood. Over and over, people asked why centrally located school buildings were used for offices or management schools while neighborhood children were bused far away.<br /><br />Those patterns exist all across the community, said Sylvia Bittle of the Cherry neighborhood. Parents can get involved and have a voice, others said. ``Our voice,'' Bittle replied, ``is the Queen City Congress.''<br /><br />As O'Brien and others pointed out, it would be foolish for the congress to take on the whole thorny, mine-studded issue of busing and school assignments . But it can pick specific school-related issues and go after them."<br /><br />I find it particularly interesting that Plaza Midwood apparently was bused away from Shamrock Gardens in the 80's. Could that possibly have led to the demise of community support for that school? Also,a lot of us have got a lot of grief for saying exactly what the above group said. I guess the difference is that this was a group from the inner ring neighborhoods rather than the suburbs.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-22915002221924176312011-03-12T10:02:52.772-05:002011-03-12T10:02:52.772-05:00Also of interest, in connection with the above lin...Also of interest, in connection with the above link to the Raleigh news broadcast, the following excerpts from the Observer:<br />From Charlotte Observer, The (NC) - Saturday, August 9, 1997<br />“Now that the state has targeted two schools each in Mecklenburg and Gaston counties as among the weakest in North Carolina, the rescue effort begins. <br />The intervention teams are part of the state's plan to help Allenbrook and Shamrock Garden elementary schools in Charlotte, Lingerfeldt and Arlington elementary schools in Gastonia, and 11 other schools designated as the state's lowest-performing schools based on students' scores on state standardized exams.”<br /><br />Does not exactly square with the description of utopia in Charlotte under busing that we hear about on that news report, does it?<br /><br />Observer archives are a wonderful thing!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-19023961200015128232011-03-12T09:54:29.578-05:002011-03-12T09:54:29.578-05:00Anon 9:09...
Interesting isn't it?
When cert...Anon 9:09...<br /><br />Interesting isn't it?<br /><br />When certain "opinionated elites" here whine about the number of high poverty schools, they fail to mention that prior to 2000, CMS was one big soup bowl of kids stirred together by the government.<br /><br />During that time and as is today, people lived where they lived. Poverty follws you wherever you go. The designation you're an FRL student is a testament to that fact.<br /><br />Of course there are more schools with higher concentrations of low income students. Anyone with an IQ of 10 can do the math and understand the main reason pointed out above.<br /><br />Here is an interesting comment from an NAACP board member back when busing in CMS was stopped: <b><i>"But the argument for ending busing was probably best summed up by a Charlotte NAACP board member and business executive, who stated, "My daughter does not need to sit beside a white person to learn."</i></b><br /><br />The statement above is what I have been preaching for decades.<br /><br />You never see any of these "opinionated elites" talk about how the graduation rates for Blacks is still as dismal today as it was prior to the end of busing.<br /><br /><b>"Years after a Kansas City court implemented busing, black students in integrated magnet schools performed no better than blacks in neighborhood schools. San Francisco spent more than $200 million [on busing] following a 1982 court order to end school segregation, but a 1992 study led by Harvard Professor Gary Orfield, who supports busing, found black and Hispanic students lacked ``even modest overall improvement'' [as a result of intrusive court-ordered busing.] A National Institute of Education report could not even find a single study showing black kids fared appreciably better following a switch to integrated schools.<br /><br /> "...In fact, it is patronizing to think that minority students need to sit next to a white student in order to learn. Many black leaders, from Wisconsin State Rep. Annette Polly Williams, a Milwaukee Democrat, to Cleveland Mayor Michael White have come to that conclusion and led efforts to end busing.<br /><br /> "...Busing teaches our children a terrible lesson. Rather than eliminating racial discrimination, busing promotes it by teaching children that the government should treat them differently on the basis of their race." (Charlotte Observer 08/12/99 by Marc Levin and Ed Blum)</b>Wiley Coyotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16966764080565903720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-58697554829325240522011-03-12T09:09:15.894-05:002011-03-12T09:09:15.894-05:00Wiley,
You might find this link interesting (I fou...Wiley,<br />You might find this link interesting (I found it on Parents Across America website):<br />http://www2.nbc17.com/news/wake-county/2011/feb/07/neighborhood-schools-charlotte-10-years-later-ar-763038/. <br /><br />Notice an agenda?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-9326839950935139722011-03-11T21:58:24.780-05:002011-03-11T21:58:24.780-05:00The education blog for the Raleigh News Observer (...The education blog for the Raleigh News Observer (Wake ED) has been ongoing for a long time and seems to have a large audience. Lots of interesting discussions on that blog, especially as Wake has been changing its assignment policy. One thing I have particularly noticed is that the blogger, Keung Hui, has never been "chummy" with any of the blog participants, even the regulars. He does not mention any of them by name in his blog nor does he seem to use the participants as sources of information for blog topics (or at least he doesn't reveal his sources). I've also noticed that most of his bloggers use a pseudonym but no one seems to be clambering for them to reveal their identity.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-52149004555724307002011-03-11T20:50:08.877-05:002011-03-11T20:50:08.877-05:00The Observer has my email address and my name.
My...The Observer has my email address and my name.<br /><br />My opinion is the same regardless of whether I attach my name to an online opinion or if I'm standing right in front of you.<br /><br />It's a choice for a number of valid reasons.Wiley Coyotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16966764080565903720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-23867477056239902632011-03-11T20:10:46.787-05:002011-03-11T20:10:46.787-05:00A tip for those aspiring "parent activists&qu...A tip for those aspiring "parent activists" out there: it helps to be willing to attach your name to your opinion, rather than hiding behind a pseudonym. The Observer takes anonymous comments in the Forum, but like most other newspapers it generally won't use them in news stories.Pamela Grundynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-34565710624528837092011-03-11T19:46:25.236-05:002011-03-11T19:46:25.236-05:00Pamela Grundy said...
If I really did control the...<b><i>Pamela Grundy said... <br />If I really did control the universe, I'd eliminate racial and economic isolation.<br /><br />Period.<br /><br />It's really as simple as that.<br /><br />Just 2 + 2.</i></b><br /><br />Read more: http://obsyourschools.blogspot.com/2011/03/spring-contest-season-help.html#ixzz1GLEnymtH<br /><br />She still believes in busing to achieve those goals....Wiley Coyotehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16966764080565903720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4020455191286536580.post-21879462719321204452011-03-11T19:35:14.796-05:002011-03-11T19:35:14.796-05:00"Meanwhile, a local mom who's moving onto..."Meanwhile, a local mom who's moving onto the national stage is keeping an eye on such developments and alerting the local media about the plan to woo us."<br /><br />And you don't think Pam has been wooing you?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com