Moving Day is today…update your bookmarks

Please update your links and bookmarks…Guilford School Watch is back, and has a new home.

Our new location can be dialed up at: http://guilfordschoolwatch.blogspot.com/

Our new e-mail contact address is guilfordschoolwatch@gmail.com

Please make a note of this change. Because of the extensive archives, this WordPress site will remain open, however, there will be no new postings here.

E.C. 🙂

we’re back….

…and we’re moving…stay tuned to find out where to dial up our new location….

E.C. 🙂

Taking some time…

No, the sun hasn’t yet set on Guilford School Watch, but with job(s) and work responsibilities, needless to say, I have been unusually busy since my election loss.

It’s been a good busy, but you have been missed. Not to worry, I will have a lot to say when things settle down later in the month. Summer is always a slow time as well.

Those of you heading out of town, best wishes for a good summer. Best wishes to all our graduates. Best to all our students finishing for the year and all our teachers preparing to close their classroom doors in a matter of days. We’ll see you all in the fall.

I’ll be back soon…

E.C. 🙂

GCS Board meeting agenda 5/22/08

Click here for the GCS BOE meeting agenda for 5/22/08.

Of interest:

C. Twelve-Month Pay Option
At the meeting of May 22, 2008, Sharon Ozment, co-interim superintendent, will present to the board information regarding the twelve-month pay option.  If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Ms. Ozment at 370-8343, prior to the meeting.

D. How Discrimination is Handled in GCS
At the meeting of May 22, 2008, Dr. John Morris, chief student services officer, and Monica Walker, diversity officer, will present to the board a report on the process of handling discrimination within schools.  If you have questions regarding this item, please contact Dr. Morris at 370-8380 or Ms. Walker at 370-8999, prior to the meeting.

Hmmmmmm…….

E.C. 🙂

Chicken Pox outbreak at Lincoln Academy

From the N&R:

Approximately 17 cases of chickenpox have been reported at The Academy at Lincoln School in Greensboro, the county health department said today.

The first case of varicella occurred on April 22. The most recent case was Wednesday.

Public health and school officials have been working to contain and control the outbreak by speaking to parents and school staff and holding an evening vaccination clinic beyond the chickenpox vaccination appointments currently offered.

According to the Guilford County Department of Public Health, following steps can help spread the outbreak:

* People in high risk groups should seek medical care immediately if they are exposed to chickenpox. High risk groups are identified as people with weakened immune systems due to disease or medications; newborns whose mothers had chickenpox around the time of delivery; premature babies; and pregnant women.

* Check your children’s vaccination record to ensure they have immunizations for chickenpox, which requires two doses. Contact the health care provider or the public health department at 641-5563 in Greensboro or 845-7699 in High Point to make an appointment for the vaccination.

Vaccinations will be provided at no charge, although you’re asked to bring the child’s health insurance card or Medicaid card.

* People who cannot be vaccinated should be protected from exposure by avoiding those suspected of having chickenpox.

* Aspirin should never be given to children who are less than age 19 that have chickenpox because it can result in a potentially fatal disease called Reye Syndrome.

* Aspirin may be listed on the medicine label as acetylsalicylate, salicylate, acetylsalicylic acid, ASA or salicylic acid.

Chickenpox is an infection caused by the varicella virus, with most cases occurring in children up to age 10. You can catch chickenpox by coming in contact with the fluid from the blisters or breathing the air when an infected person speaks or coughs.

For more information about chickenpox, call the health department at 641-7777 or go online at http://www.guilfordhealth.org.

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E.C. 🙂

No jobs for teens this summer

(Cross-posted with Triad Job Watch)

(N&R credit)

Today’s N&R reports many of our teens will be competing with the grown-ups for jobs this summer. With local unemployment at around 5%, the outlook appears grim.

N&R excerpt:

…a lot of the jobs out there are part-time and low-paying.

“I’m looking. I’m just not finding,” said Zac Herrmann, a 17-year-old junior at Grimsley. “A lot of places require you to be 18. I tried Dick’s (Sporting Goods), but you have to be 18 to sell firearms. You have to be 21 to deliver anything. Even (grocery stores) want you to be a certain age to work in the deli or sell alcohol.”

Herrmann and three friends stood in a parking lot on a sunny afternoon and talked about the job market after finishing their Advanced Placement English exam Wednesday.

Elia Feldman, 16, and Jack Woolard, 17, are in business for themselves, doing yardwork in their neighborhoods.

Feldman hopes to land a paying job at the Natural Science Center, where he has worked as a volunteer. But he said that job would only open up if someone else left.

Woolard has looked around, and plans to stick to mowing lawns because the money is better.

“It’s picking up. It always picks up in the spring,” he said. “At one place, I can make $20 in 20 minutes. I just can’t make it every 20 minutes, you know?”

The fourth friend, 17-year-old Luke Blackwood, has high hopes for a summer internship at Red Hat, a high-tech company based in Raleigh.

“I’m 90 percent sure I got the job,” he said. “It’s an internship working with robotic prothesis.”

That’s a long way from the five months he spent at his first job, making food at Penn Station. But it points to a trend.

“It comes down to, it’s always tougher for teens to find summer jobs when the overall job market is tightening up,” Brod said. “And the reason is, teens tend to be the marginal workers. They’re the ones who are brought on last and laid off first. You’re not going to hire an 18-year-old intern if you can’t afford to hire the 26-year-old, full-time employee you really need.

“Of course, the story is different if you’re a teen with excellent skills,” Brod said. “The advice to anyone in any job situation is the more job skills you have, the better. It’s hard to find good-paying jobs without having a lot of skills to bring to bear. … If you have skills, things open up to you in the job market. What we’re finding in the teen job market is a smaller version of this.”

The tighter job market allows summer employers to be choosier.

“Not a whole bunch of people are hiring right now, so people are applying everywhere,” said Varkey Kuruvilla, a supervisor at the Friendly Center McDonald’s. “I just brought on three teens. We have more opportunity to get the cream of the crop.”

Kuruvilla said the restaurant typically adds extra help in the summer, giving year-round employees relief for vacations. The pay varies based on experience, he said, and a teen in a first job can expect to work 20 to 25 hours per week for between $6.25 and $6.50 per hour.

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E.C. 🙂

GCS 08-09 budget submitted

Seems as though next year’s budget has something for everyone.

A modest raise for classified employees. Full restoration of the cultural arts coordinator position. Full restoration of arts/music time.

N&R:

The board also voted to fund:

• A $74,800 arts coordinator position by eliminating one of two early college academy directors;
• The expansion or implementation of high school reform programs for $709,000;
• A new reading program at middle schools for $475,000; and
• The full-year operation of an evening high school currently at Smith High School for $533,067. This does not include costs associated with the board’s desire to expand to a second site.

The school board gave itself some wiggle room in the budget by projecting salary raises of state-paid teachers and classified workers at 8 percent and 4 percent, respectively.

HPE:

Board members seemed to agree that upgrading all 2,000 of the district’s lowest-paid workers to the Triad’s “living wage” of $12.40 an hour would cost too much at $4.9 million. Instead, the board considered wage adjustments of 20 cents per hour for wages up to $12.40 per hour. The hourly range for most workers is $10.06 to $10.41 per hour.

“Many of these employees have to work two or three jobs,” [GCAE Mark] Jewell said.

The Board of Education wants a $15.8 million increase to $180.9 million from commissioners, mostly to pay the higher salaries. The district asked for the same increase last year. Commissioners approved $8.5 million. County Manager David McNeill will offer his budget message to the Board of Commissioners on May 22.

However, it seems unlikely that this budget will pass the “smell test” with the county commissioners. It does seem likely that this budget, like others over time, will be modified multiple times.

E.C. 🙂

Introducing San Diego “Sue”

…okay, “Sue” is not her real name, but I have just deputized an employee of the San Diego Unified School District.

She has become a regular here on GSW since the Grier-regime stormed into SD weeks ago. She is not happy with ole’ Terry. And she reports many of her colleagues are already displeased.

Thus, she will be sending in regular reports in-so-far-as the goings-on within SDUSD. Not to fret, I’ve already sent her the mother lode of background and links to get her and her colleagues started on the warpath.

I know what you’re going to say; Grier isn’t our problem anymore. But it sounds as though we need to begin sending those folks some “Get Grier Outta Here” signs.

San Diego-Sue writes:

…Our local news anchor Rory Devine, NBC 7/39 (she tackles education big!) She’s interviewing him [Grier] this Saturday and I need facts! I did send her the links you sent to me as well as informed her of the “hush hush” hiring of 15 assistants to the 5 area assistants to the one Superintendent. Ay yi yi.

Our teachers are LIVID to say the least. Laying off teachers went as far back as 8 year tenure. YIKES! Administration top heavy. Yes some of it is our Board, that we ignorantly voted in. Guess you never know.

More:

We are in for a treat (- insert sarcasm here-). Well after he does his damage we can thank our board for yet another fine job.-again sarcasm-

You know I saw comments about race. I bet he’ll be happy to see that we here in San Diego have a good chunk of students that don’t speak English AT ALL.-sarcasm- AND we have students that live in Tijuana and cross the border everyday. While they do have the right to learn, they should also be citizens, and if they are not, we as tax payers should not have to pay for them.

Gotta gotta go now and look for a job that I can’t be bumped or laid off of… –again with the sarcasm-

Sounds a lot like Alan Bersin we had a few years back… Politician, lawyer, hands in other peoples pockets! BARF! He killed our morale!

Oh yeah I forgot, he’s (Grier) asking our teachers to take a pay cut. I bet his $289K a year won’t be touched.

********************************

Our San Diego brethren need our support and prayers…and some grist for NBC-7/39’s Rory Devine. Forward your messages here, and I’ll make sure San Diego Sue gets them all.

E.C. 🙂

Teacher, deputy attacked by student at Northeast H.S. (N&R)

From the N&R:

MCLEANSVILLE – A 16-year-old girl was charged Wednesday with attacking a Northeast High School teacher and a Guilford County Sheriff’s deputy at the school.

Teyonna Range-Hall of 1401-D Donathan Place in Greensboro was charged with two counts of assaulting a government official and one count each of resisting arrest and of injury to personal property.

According to arrest warrants, Range-Hall is accused of attacking math teacher Jeffrey Alexander and the School’s Student Resource Officer, Deputy C.T. Sluder at the school on Wednesday.

Warrants state the teen kicked Alexander when he attempted to restrain her and then kicked Sluder when he went to assist the teacher.

Warrants do not state what started the scuffle, nor if any one was seriously injured.

Other information about the incident was not available late Wednesday night.

Range-Hall was released to the custody of a guardian.

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E.C. 🙂

No regrets blogging

(N&R credit)

My friend Tony Wilkins offers inspiration on blogging the vote…and I have no regrets.

Wilkins today revisits Greensboro’s Bill Burckley, in his recent comments to the News & Record (we talked about them here not long ago). As it relates to last week’s vote, Wilkins says:

What’s the correlation between blogging and not being elected locally?

Recently Erik Huey and Greg Woodard. I voted for Erik because of the information I learned about him on his blog, and he had the Rhino endorsement. Yet he finished fifth out of five.

A while back Joe Wilson, Bill Knight and Billy Jones. During that same election Sandy Carmany’s posts on her blog certainly contributed to her election loss after serving 16 years.

Before that Roch Smith, Jr. and David Hoggard.

Bill Burckley, Greensboro’s Karl Rove, states a candidate should never blog because they “get sloppy”. That may be the case for Carmany but I haven’t seen that in any other candidate blog.

The candidates I mention above are good people and could serve this city/county well. Does blogging play a role or might these just be coincidences?

I do think blogging plays an important role, and will continue to do so. And I have no regrets blogging the vote for the past year-and-a-half. This blog has been the anchor for my campaign, and even though I was unsuccessful, I have continued this blog into a full-fledged stand-alone product that will continue to be successful as an independent mouthpiece, watchdog and sounding board for Guilford Co. Schools. Not once did I ever think blogging would substitute for traditional campaigning, but it was useful, in every sense of the word.

E.C. 🙂

Analyzing the Vote

(N&R credit)

It’s been nearly a week and it’s time…I’m ready to analyze the vote.

Last Tuesday, this coalition hit another milestone. With 8% of the vote and over 7,200 votes countywide, it shows that an ordinary citizen, who cares about children, can mount a countywide campaign and receive votes in every precinct in the county.

Click here for the Excel spreadsheet with the breakdown.

Here are some thoughts as I’ve now had the opportunity to ponder the numbers:

1. A big presidential primary. A big governors race.

Normally, the old north state doesn’t matter, but this time around, with a presidential contest still unresolved, our state managed to muster enough new voters to the polls. But it may have backfired.

Many of the new voters randomly chose a “good looking-good sounding name.” Many chose a female (Alexander). Many chose their presidential preference and then just stopped.

Many just plain failed to research the candidates. Many don’t have a stake in the school system so they just didn’t care.

All in all, it’s hard for local candidates to get substantial face-time when a big presidential primary, coupled with a big gubernatorial race looms. Thank God for the Rhino and others…since 2006, we had the media on our side, and I sincerely think that helped with some sort of name recognition. Even in precincts where we failed to campaign in, we received votes. That’s a blessing.

We did very well in North Jamestown and North High Point. We also had a good showing in Pleasant Garden. That too is a blessing.

2. We were outspent.

(pictured at left, YES! Weekly credit) Alexander and McKinney raised over $2,000 a piece. We raised just under $400. Hawkes raised slightly over $400. But this campaign was never about money and I have no complaints. It was about ideas on how to make our schools better.

3. The Crawford factor.

Some things can’t be explained. But it’s not easy to run a countywide race like this when five are on the ballot.

4. The Simkins/Roundtable factor.

Again, some things can’t be explained. The Simkins/Roundtable PACs endorsed McKinney. He finished a distant second. Anyone want to tackle that one? Simkins said vote ‘no’ on the Bonds…the Bonds won handedly.

5. A ‘radical’ platform.

I’m still reeling from GCS Board member Anita Sharpe’s comments about me being radical. I thought it was funny at first. I took it as a compliment, I still do. Then over the weekend, it really bothered me. It bothers me that if you’re concerned about the state of public education, and you have a child in the system, and you only want the best education for your child, your ideas to make improvements are called radical. I guess that makes me a rebel-rouser!

You would think I called for a return of corporal punishment the way Sharpe described me.

I respect Anita Sharpe for the work she’s done on behalf of our children. But I respectfully disagree with her sentiments. She’s welcome to participate in this forum at anytime to explain herself, I’ll give her as much space as she wants. Or any other Board member. That’s how Guilford School Watch works.

Many have suggested a write-in effort for the Fall. I’ve thought about it, but the voters have spoken. To mount a write-in effort, even just to educate the voters on how to do it would be burdensome and cumbersome.

Many have asked that I think about 2010 (Dr. Routh’s seat). It is tempting; filing for that seat is two years away, almost to the day. But it is a long way away to make a decision. Let’s see how things go between now and then, and if I feel we can mount a successful effort (with the blessing of my family), we’ll try it again. But that’s a long way off.

For now, I’m going to enjoy doing GSW. This blog has an audience and has penetrated every corner of GCS, including many sitting board members. For the time being, we have enough power to influence those who make decisions on behalf of our children.

I will also be setting up a coffee-meeting or two with both McKinney and Alexander separately to talk about the November matchup. I’m preparing my questions as I speak (and trust, these questions will be tough). As soon as those meetings take place, the interviews will be posted here on GSW. Will an endorsement be made? It’s too early speculate at present.

But for now, and once again, thank you for allowing me to share with you my ‘radical’ vision of Guilford County Schools for the last several months. I’ve enjoyed it immensely.

E.C. 🙂

Hammer’s flummoxed, Morgan’s scratching her head, Huey’s at peace

John Hammer, Rhino Times:

…he [David Crawford] almost made it through the primary and received more than twice as many votes as Erik Huey, who is a former teacher and a legitimate candidate. Huey finished last with 7,292 votes. Crawford also beat another legitimate candidate, Alan Hawkes, who had 10,543 votes. It is baffling why so many people would vote for a candidate who was the only one in the race who, if elected, would not be able to do the job.

But then it is difficult to understand why more people voted for the $412 million school bond than for the $45 million bond to finish Eastern Guilford High School, and why the voters were so adamant that the bonds be paid for by raising property taxes.

This was an unusual election and I’m hoping that someone is going to be able to explain it.

———————-

Morgan Josey Glover, N&R:

I try not to make predictions to my editors about election results because I’m not that good at it. The at-large race somewhat threw me for a loop. I figured Michael McKinney would move on to November, but was surprised that Erik Huey did not crack the top three because of his long and strong online campaign. I didn’t count on David Crawford getting as many votes as he did.

However, after polling voters on Tuesday I realized there is not necessarily any rhyme or reason to the numbers. Many voters go on name recognition, regardless of the candidates stance on the issues. Some of the people I talked to said they could not even remember what at-large candidate they selected. And this was five minutes walking out the door.

One gentleman I interviewed said he picked Sandra Alexander because a campaign volunteer handed him a card with her name on it on his way into Eastern Middle School. Another woman said she voted for David Crawford because her husband told her to (she couldn’t remember why her husband was a supporter).

I talked to Michael McKinney last night and he said a woman voted for him because his name sounded right. Huh?

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Let not your heart be troubled. Your humbled radical-rebel will analyze everything next week.

E.C. 🙂

Special budget meeting next week

From the N&R:

The Guilford County Board of Education will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 14, to continue discussion of the 2008-09 superintendents’ budget recommendations. The meeting will be held in the board room of the Guilford County Schools’ central office at 712 N. Eugene St.

During the meeting, the board will call on members of the public who wish to address the board regarding 2008-09 budgetary matters of the school district.

E.C. 🙂

Special Meeting May 27

From the N&R:

The Guilford County Board of Education will hold a special meeting at 6 p.m. on May 27 to hear a presentation on the academic achievement of black male students.

The meeting will take place in the board room of the Guilford County Schools’ central office at 712 N. Eugene St.

E.C. 🙂

Clueless Cookie Strikes Again

Another example of out-of-touch Board members…

From this week’s Rhino Times:

Election night brought together school board member Kris Cooke and [GCS Board at-large candidate Michael] McKinney, who it turned out she knew – at least by sight.

“What are you doing here?” Cooke asked McKinney.

“I’m running for Board of Education.” McKinney responded, evidently puzzled.

“Are you?” said Cooke. “I didn’t know. I never put the face with the name.”

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Sheesh!

E.C. 🙂

Jamestown area schools first for bond projects

Both Jamestown Middle School and neighboring Ragsdale H.S. are the first two projects to get started following the bond that was approved by voters this week.

This morning’s N&R reports construction could begin as early as years end.

N&R:

Construction of a new Jamestown Middle School could begin by the end of the year if Guilford County Schools sail through the permitting process, the school board learned Thursday.

Members of the Board of Education gave the facilities department clearance to start identifying firms to work with architects and state and county officials on the permitting process for the construction of Jamestown and the expansion of Ragsdale High, which would include a wing for students with autism.

Both schools top the list of projects in a $457.3 million bond package that voters approved Tuesday. The schools originally were approved to be built using 2003 bond money, but the board had to delay them because of cost increases in other projects.

The Jamestown and Ragsdale projects are estimated to cost $28 million each.

E.C. 🙂

Sharpe: Huey “too radical” for School Board

I guess I didn’t receive Anita Sharpe’s vote on Tuesday.

I was speechless when I read this moments ago in the latest Rhino Times, which is hitting the streets now. The outgoing GCS Dist. 5 board member tells Rhino reporter Paul Clark that I made a mistake running against the Bonds and that “running as a candidate for change rarely works in school board races.”

“He’s too radical,” Sharpe said. “Radical doesn’t work well with the county commissioners, and it doesn’t work well with the school board. An anti-school board campaign doesn’t work.”

If I’m so radical, how did I receive the support of two other SITTING Board members…your colleagues? If I’m radical, how come I received the support of many many teachers and parents countywide? Lawyers, city councilmen, a major realtor in High Point…was my agenda too radical for them?

What about my platform was radical? The part about putting children first or the part about fiscal accountability?

My wife just told me that Sharpe’s words are a compliment. Thank you for reiterating how much more work we need to do in Guilford County Schools.

E.C. 🙂

GCS Board agenda for 5/8/08

Click here for the GCS BOE agenda for tonight, 5/8/08.

E.C. 🙂

Taking Initiative: A Look Inside Guilford County Schools

Must see TV for tonight: check this out from our PBS affiliate…

Taking Initiative: A Look Inside Guilford County Schools
Premieres Thursday, May 8, at 9:30 PM

Imagine trying to educate a small city comprised entirely of diverse kindergartners to high school students. Guilford County Schools, North Carolina’s third largest school district, teaches more than 70,000 students annually. Each child’s individual needs inspire educators there to create new initiatives to help students and teachers succeed.

Taking Initiative: A Look Inside Guilford County Schools, premiering Thursday, May 8, at 9:30 PM, only on UNC-TV, highlights some of Guilford County’s reform efforts—including school choice, teacher incentives and other ways educators help students find safe, nurturing schools.

This informative special, hosted by UNC-TV’s Shannon Vickery and produced by Elizabeth Wilder, shares these strategies in a very personal way through the stories of parents, students, teachers and community leaders.

Funding for Taking Initiative: A Look Inside Guilford County Schools was provided by The Joseph M. Bryan Foundation of Greater Greensboro, Inc., the Cemala Foundation and the Tannenbaum-Sternberger Foundation.

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E.C. 🙂

Amos, Deena and the Bonds

GCS Board member Amos Quick and I had a strange encounter on Election night. The one-term Board member, who is running for re-election unopposed in November, shared pleasantries with me upon my arrival at the Old County Courthouse to watch the final results. What happened next was kind of odd.

I asked him, jokingly, if I received his vote that morning. He hesitated, shrugged his shoulders, beat around the bush, then said reluctantly: “No, McKinney…McKinney got my vote.”

“Okay…oh well,” I said. We wished each other well and that concluded the encounter.

…so much for that cup of coffee he and I have been trying to have for the past few months.

But the other odd part was that he supported a candidate who was pro-Bonds, whereas a day earlier, he joined an unholy alliance with GCS Board member Deena Hayes and several Simkins PAC representatives in asking the public to oppose the bonds on racial reasons.

It didn’t work. Here are the unofficial Bond vote numbers:

SCHOOL BONDS OVER17

with 164 of 164 Precincts counted (100.00%)

	Votes	Percent
YES	68,238	54.79%
NO	56,317	45.21%

The anti-bonds people suffered defeat. What’s also interesting is that in Deena Hayes’ own district, according to the News & Record’s Doug Clark: “The $412 million school bond package was supported by 57.9 percent* of voters in Hayes’ School Board District 8 — a stronger endorsement than countywide.”

Naturally, this week’s events are bringing out those who would not mind seeing Hayes off the Board:

From Doug Clark’s blog:

Deena Foe said:

To me, Deena Hayes should be charged with child neglect. She has neglected every single child in Guilford county but mostly those in her own district. She is on the SCHOOL board yet she never talks about EDUCATION. The schools in “her” district are failing the children that show up each day. Deena Hayes is a disgrace and should be recalled immediately. If she wants to talk about racial dilemmas in society that’s fine but the school board is NOT the place!

——————

From the Chalkboard:

Stormy said:

“Opposing school bonds has been a civil rights strategy for a long time, and we’re employing it today,” Hayes said.”

It appears that Deena (and Walter and Amos?) views getting black contractors significant amounts of taxpayer money as the new civil rights movement. When he was sitting in the Birmingham jail, was Martin Luther King thinking about about how much school bond money he could get for black contractors when he said “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere? Is this the “not too distant tomorrow that the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty” that he envisioned?

Is this what Ezell A. Blair Jr., David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and Franklin McCain were thinking when they sat at a Woolworth lunch counter to launch a civil right movement? How much tax money can we get for black contractors?

“”We believe that it is imperative that this community hold this district accountable to our children and remove barriers to equitable access to a quality education,” Hayes said at a Monday news conference in front of the district’s central office.”

So, who does Deena Hayes think that “this district” is that should be held accountable by the community? Aren’t Deena, Walter, and Amos part of the district? Aren’t they part of the problem? Deena Hayes has the lowest performing high school in her district. What has she done to to remove barriers to equitable access to a quality education for those students. The graduation rate from Smith has been appalling: 2002 – 39.5%, 2003 – 49.5%, 2004 – 59.4%, 2005 – 45.2%, and 2006 – 34.3%.

Yes, Deena, it’s time that the Smith community hold you accountable to the children and remove barriers to their equitable access to a quality education. Perhaps, you should be more concerned about that than how much taxpayer money you can direct to black contractors.

*************************************

This may be why she is a “disgrace”….look at this e-mail, obtained by the News & Record and posted on the N&R Chalkboard blog. Morgan calls it their “rationale” by Deena & Co. for their ‘oppostition’ to the Bonds (notice to all you future editors…at the very top of this e-mail, in the subject line, ‘opposition’ is spelled incorrectly).

The e-mail speaks for itself…this is your elected school board.

This may be why the Bonds passed, glowingly.

Allen Johnson, N&R:

I am (pleasantly) shocked and flabbergasted.

The school construction bonds passed.

The GTCC bonds passed.

The jail bonds passed.

The Eastern Guilford bonds passed.

This, despite opposition from a number of quarters in the county, including the Simkins PAC, three African American school board members, and a number of other candidates and elected officials.

In fact, according to unofficial results, the general school bonds even slightly outperformed bonds for the reconstruction of fire-ravaged Eastern High School.

The school bonds won 54.8 percent to 45.2 percent. The Eastern bonds won 53.94 percent to 46.06 percent.

Eastern was expected to pass fairly easily and the other school bonds not at all.

Go figure

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Yep…go figure. Deena & Co. have no credibility…none.

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UPDATE: The more I think about this, the angrier I get.

It should also be mentioned that just days earlier Amos was publicly slammed on the Chalkboard for his stance on the Bonds, and his flip-flop stance on busing.

An excerpt:

Amos Quick said:

Dear Anonymous and others with misinformation about my “no” vote on the bonds –

This is Amos Quick. The reasons I did not vote to support the bond proposals as presented were:

1) the initial price estimate for the “Airport area” High School was $80 million dollars – that was too much compared to other districts.

2) the bond did not do enough to address the renovation needs of schools throughout the district, rather than building new ones.

3) county commissioners initially pledged to rebuild Eastern Guilford High School using other methods, not a bond.

4) continued concerns about MWBE efforts.

Debates are a lot healthier when factual information is being debated. My phone number is (336) 235-0345 during the day and I welcome any calls with questions about GCS matters.

Thank you.

—————-

Anonymous said:

Amos,

Here’s part of an article from the April 25th News & Record:

“School board member Amos Quick said he opposes the $412 million bond package because of the price, as well as the location of the projects. Quick said he would have liked to see more work done in poorer areas of the county.”

“We’ve been willing to redistrict those kids out of those communities and not put investment into those communities,” Quick said.”

Amos – you, too, have been more than willing to redistrict kids from their neighborhood schools.

Do you not practice what you preach?

And, if Dudley was getting another $40Million renovation, would you then support the bond?

————————–

Statman said:

Amos,

A close friend of mine teaches at Andrews and he constantly complains about the lack of basic school supplies at the school. I know he has a hard time paying his own bills but I also know that he spends his own money on supplies and he recently bought a DVD player for his class.

Why have I NEVER heard you or other members ask for an investigation into why this happens? Why have you not asked for an action plan from the administration to resolve the issue? You are very quick to vote for these kids to be bussed away from their neighborhoods but I see little action from you to question some investment back into the communities that you reference.

I do believe that you are a good person and that you do favor neighborhood schools but I think you are too weak to withstand the special interests that are forcing you to vote the way they want the vote to go.

Its way past time to step up!

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Amos Quick said:

Andrea –

Thanks for your post. And, no I do not suffer from Kerry-itis. The vote and discussion on the Welborn and Andrews attendance lines is only a small part of the larger topic of neighborhood schools. Please review also the vote from February, 2006 where the High Point Choice Plan was dismantled. Look also at the redistricting votes that were taken involving students in Greensboro.

Statman, I again refute that I have voted consistently to move students from their neighborhoods. That is against what I have wanted/experienced with my own daughter and is against what I philosophically believe in my core.

Thanks for telling me about the conditions at Andrews, I will most certainly ask that that is investigated and remedied ASAP. I, honestly did not know about it. But now that I do, I will see to it that we adress the concern.

Please also keep my numbers and email handy when you hear of needs in the future.

Thanks

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Let the record show, Mr. Quick, that supply shortages at Andrews (and other high-impact schools) ARE NOTHING NEW IN GCS. I’ve been preaching about this since this blog started in Dec. of 2006. Read the archives, Amos. This was a platform item in my campaign…where the heck have you been?

This is YOUR elected school board.

Because of the behavior of Amos and Deena and Walt and others aligned with them, my wife and I are actually glad the bonds passed. And when the final numbers came in Tuesday night, I witnessed Amos eating crow as he shook GCS Board chairman Alan Duncan’s hand in congratulations.

This is YOUR elected school board.

Amos, Deena & Co., do your damn jobs! Start putting our children first.

E.C. 🙂

The Ghost of Grier

He just won’t go away into that good night.

Consider this response to a strand back in January from “Holly”–presumably in San Diego:

HELP [Terry] Grier is now our Super and we are a broken system!!! We are laying off and pink slipping educators and he’s implemented 18 positions that will cost our district 1.5 mill a year…. Can we have details! We are disgusted!!! San Diego Unified!!!

Uh boy.

Holly, you’re in for a treat. Just spend some time on this blog and we’ll easily catch you up to speed on what’s been going on before Grier left North Carolina. Please fill us in on what’s going on down there.

By the way folks, enjoy these latest articles from the Voices of San Diego on the mess Grier is taking over.

E.C. 🙂

e-mails

I’m about 50 e-mails behind over the past three days. Please be patient. If you’ve e-mailed me, I am responding to all of them personally, and as quickly as I can.

Oh and to you David Crawford supporters that keep writing in and harassing me, I’ve got one word for you…

Spellcheck.

E.C. 🙂

More thank you’s

I would be hard-pressed if I didn’t thank a few others:

1. I need to urgently thank the 10,000 teachers and staff of GCS, of which I feel made up the bulk of my support. Thank you for what you do each and everyday to serve the children of Guilford County.

2. I also need to thank the local news media for the positive and fair campaign coverage these last two years: Katisha Hayes at the Enterprise, Morgan and Amanda and Jennifer Fernandez and Doug Clark at the News & Record, Paul Clark and John Hammer at the Rhino Times, Ogi Overman at the Jamestown News, Sandra at the Northwest Observer, Gabriel at the Peacemaker and Jordan Green at YES! Weekly. You helped immensely in getting our message out. Thank you all.

3. I’m indebted to our local and very active blogging community. The support you have given me was immense. Thank you for embracing my message and for spreading the word. You all are truly the best, in every sense of the word.

4. One other person to mention is Matthew Tabor of Cooperstown, NY. Mr. Tabor runs an active education blog and was, too, a former local school board candidate not very long ago. Tabor has been here since the beginning and we share a number of common values related to public education. Thank you, Matthew, for being here and for contributing and for being on the side of children.

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As I close, and take a day off from the blog here, there are a number of things to address once we get back up and start being GCS watchdogs again (hence, the new name of this blog: Guilford School Watch). We will need to address GCS Board member Amos Quick’s flip-flop, and his sudden cozy relationship with Deena Hayes. We will need to address Deena’s letter attacking the Bonds on “racial principles” and we will need to analyze all the numbers once the canvass is made.

All of this and more is coming in the next few days.

Thank you all again and may God truly bless you all.

E.C. 🙂

I have 7,283 new friends

Let not your heart be troubled over Tuesday’s results.

I’m not down, I’m not discouraged, I’m stronger than ever.

While the numbers clearly didn’t go our way Tuesday, for us to garner 7,283 votes says a lot. Let me be clear…this is not a defeat. It is a call for action, it is a call for pure change in our schools, a call for accountability in our Central Office, and it is a wake up call for our Board to be on notice that there are at least 7,000 in our county (if not more) that are demanding change.

Here are the final, unofficial numbers:

BOARD OF EDUCATION – At Large

with 164 of 164 Precincts counted (100.00%)

	Votes	Percent
David Crawford	16,141	16.70%
Alan Hawkes	10,521	10.88%
Erik (E. C.) Huey	7,283	7.53%
Michael McKinney	20,040	20.73%
Sandra Alexander	42,676	44.15%

There clearly is a lot to analyze here, and we will do so in the coming days. But at 12:23am, let me say just a few things to close out Election Day.

1. I want to recognize my opponents Alan Hawkes and David Crawford on a good campaign. I’ve enjoyed meeting them both and I wish them the best. Mr. Hawkes is still involved in the operation of Greensboro Academy, which is a very successful charter school on Greensboro’s northwest side, and I thank him for his dedication to our children.

2. I want to publicly congratulate Dr. Alexander and Mr. McKinney on their respective victories Tuesday. I congratulated both of them at the Old County Courthouse Tuesday evening. They both ran fine campaigns, and the margin of victory for Alexander was startling. I told both of them that I want to spend time with both of them over the summer and over coffee to discuss the issues that were near and dear to me and my supporters and perhaps see if there is any common ground. Both were very gracious and warm and I wish them well in their race in the fall.

3. I want to thank you…all of you. I had volunteers who worked the polls Tuesday…who took precious, valuable time out of their busy schedules to pass out fliers on this campaign’s behalf. Thank you very much for all of your hard work and effort. To those who displayed a yard sign, thank you. To those who sent in a donation (and we raised close to $400)…a heartfelt thank you. To the many voters whom I personally greeted on the campaign trail since 2006 and whom I met for the first time on Election Day…thank you for your support and your vote.

I’m eternally grateful and I’m humbled at the outpouring of support. It really means a lot.

4. I want to thank my family…my wife Jennifer and my daughter Alexandra. This campaign was dedicated to her and to the 71,000 children who attend a Guilford County Schools facility, and Alexandra was one of them. Running for office means you sacrifice yourself, you sacrifice your time and that’s time away from your family and your family sacrifices you while you’re running. So for me being away to campaign, even when the timing wasn’t so perfect, thank you. I love you.

5. Where we go from here…many have asked that I continue my blog…done. Effective immediately, I have instituted a new name for this blog as “Guilford School Watch,” because I will continue to focus on the issues that matter to our children. This continues to be the best-read “independent blog” on education issues in Guilford County. We may have lost the election, but this blog isn’t dead. This campaign to put our children first isn’t dead. If anything, it continues to make us strong. And it will.

I think it is too early to speculate on 2010 (Dr. Routh’s seat)…she has made no secret that she will likely retire after this current term. Running for her seat is tempting, but we will have to see where things are in late 2010. It would be a short race, with filing close to the fall for a primary (if there is one) then a general election in November 2010. But again, it is way too early to make any kind of prediction or speculation.

I plan to enjoy this time of rest. Travel a little bit. It is time to slow down a little and focus on my family and take care of my family.

In the coming days, we’ll look at the numbers a bit more closely and I’ll give my take on some other observations on Election Day (and eve…many school board members were downtown watching the returns)…I’ll share with you my encounters with them very soon–it was interesting.

To close, at 12:44am Wednesday May 7, I will go to sleep in a few minutes knowing that we genuinely tried to do some good for the children of Guilford County. And that is nothing to be discouraged about. So thank you all once again. Thank you for allowing me to share with you my vision of Guilford County Schools…and I’m confident that vision will come true one day soon.

Thank you, God bless you all, and may God continue to bless the children of Guilford County.

E.C. 🙂

Happy Election Day

UPDATE 9:36am….

Polls opened at 6:30am. We’re not aware of any irregularities or difficulties with this morning’s opening.

So far, I’ve hit the Adams Farm Community Church and the Gate City Baptist Church on the north side of Adams Farm. Voter turnout was brisk at both locations in the 7:30am-8:15am time frame. Met blogger Tony Wilkins at the Gate City Church location. Also met a Sandra Alexander campaign worker.

9am: Campaign volunteer working a poll in North High Point calls to say voter traffic is very heavy and he’s out of campaign fliers already. This is a good sign.

More later….

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UPDATE…8:17PM:

It’s been a long day.

Click here for up-to-the-minute election returns from GC Board of Elections.

We’re currently in last place, with a long way to go. The polls closed at 7:30pm.

We campaigned today in Adams Farm, Jamestown, High Point and North High Point. I personally worked eight polling places, and I had volunteers at four other polls.

Turnout was brisk and steady. The grass-roots support was unbelievable. The calls for change in our schools was phenomenal.

I’m leaving to head downtown to the Old County Courthouse at 9pm. I should be there around 9:20-9:30pm. I invite you all and I’ll see you there.

E.C. 🙂

One More Day…

Tomorrow is the day…the polls open in less than 24 hours.

This will probably be my last opportunity to converse with you on a personal level prior to tomorrow. It has been a whirlwind ride, and an exciting road. And tomorrow will provide us with the fruits of our labor.

First off, let me indulge in a moment of clarity and wisdom.

Many of you have sent e-mails and messages about last Thursday evening when I couldn’t make the forum at the last minute due to a family issue; I sincerely and wholeheartedly appreciate all of them. I have been campaigning actively since December of 2006. In that time, I’ve made sacrifices for my family. I’ve been away campaigning many of days and nights, and I’m not the best at balancing things. But what I’ve learned on the campaign trail is that no matter what happens, family comes first, because they’ll always be there when you need them.

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Answers to YES! Weekly Questions

My friend Jordan Green from YES! Weekly was at last week’s forum. Here are the questions he asked, and my answers to them in an e-mail over the weekend:

1. If the $412.3 million school bond fails on Tuesday, what should Guilford County Schools do to pay for construction of new schools?

A: Not only does our school board want to have one of the largest taxpayer-unfriendly bond issues in county history, they’re so confident that they failed to conjure up a Plan “B” should it fail. It is irresponsible. I support responsible school construction in Guilford County by seeking public-private partnerships. I also support our county commissioners getting more involved in school construction matters (such as what is happening in Wake County) where our county board could acquire land, construct schools themselves and lease it back to the school system. I support best practices when it comes to school construction that is taxpayer-friendly, and one way to do that is to have all real estate and construction matters outsourced from GCS to an outside firm or agency that is charged and experienced with real estate and construction.
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2. Over the past 10 years we’ve seen a philosophical and legal shift in the desegregation aims of Brown vs. Board of Education. Each of you, drawing from your experience, research and political philosophy, explain whether or not you believe that students of color and students from poor backgrounds benefit academically from schools that are balanced along racial and socio-economic lines.

A. I believe all of our schools should be integrated and I believe in strong diversity in our schools. But I also believe in natural integration in neighborhood schools, not forced busing. We have magnet programs that can aid in this effort, but our magnets can be strengthened at all levels; they’re not working to their full potential. I’m in favor of children attending their closest neighborhood school.

Too many children are being bused all over this county, daily. And with diesel fuel at an all-time high, it is senseless. To that end, I’m also in favor of ensuring ALL of our schools have access to the necessary supplies, resources and manpower for them to succeed so that our children can succeed. Social experimentation on our children is wrong. It failed in High Point. It continues to fail countywide.

I feel very strongly that neighborhood schools are the anchor for every neighborhood and community, and must be treated as such. Our neighborhoods and communities must embrace these schools and embrace these children and do all they can to help these children succeed.

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3. The School Climate Task Force has recommended assigning one social worker to each school and reducing class size to improve student behavior and improve academic outcomes. Firstly, do you agree with the recommendations? And if you do agree with them, how would you be a forceful advocate to pay for these somewhat costly initiatives?

A. I agree with many of the recommendations from the School Climate Task Force. Safety and school discipline is a top priority in my campaign. As such and in addition, I have a six-point plan on school discipline. It includes:

1. Audit, examine and strengthen existing school rules. Enforce the rules GCS has on the books and enforce them uniformly across all schools.

2. Conduct an internal audit all of GCS’ existing alternative environments: In-school suspension, SCALE, etc., to determine their effectiveness (or ineffectiveness). Strengthen these programs where necessary.

3. Expulsions for serious offenses.

4. Examination of the “Charlotte model.” Specifically, it is looking at a unique alternative program Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools has, which they call 10-day/30-day “suspension centers,” to determine their effectiveness and see what can be duplicated here in Guilford County.

5. Expand partnerships with area churches and other local faith-based organizations.

6. Audit and examine miscellaneous programs GCS has to combat school violence: keep what’s working, toss out what’s not working.

My plan also includes keeping school resource law enforcement officers, adding and expanding closed-circuit camera surveillance systems in schools, and ensuring parents and teachers are part of any changes, through school PTSAs and school leadership committees.

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Another endorsement

From the very beginning, we have had a good deal of support from Guilford County’s active blogging community. Over the weekend, we received a very public endorsement from conservative blogger Joe Guarino. And some very kind words from a very kind gentleman.

On his popular blog, Guarino writes:

Many of us have had the opportunity to watch Erik’s thought process unfold on his blog on a daily basis for a long time; and he appears ready to serve with the right principles guiding him. He is a vast improvement over McKinney and Alexander….I am urging my readers to unite behind E.C. Huey because he has demonstrated over a prolonged period the rightfulness of his positions, his grasp of the issues and his passion for the job.

Many many thanks, Joe. I’m very humbled and honored with your confidence in me to do the job of putting our children first.

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Early voting appears successful

N&R reports yesterday that long lines greeted voters on Saturday, the last day of early voting statewide. This could be a good thing for us. My wife and I early-voted Friday at the Jamestown Town Hall. Traffic was brisk, but the line moved well.

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Vote the whole ballot…please

We’re also getting reports of people not voting the whole ballot. According to yesterday’s N&R, many voters chose their presidential preference, then stopped. Please vote the whole ballot. Your Board of Education selections can be found in the middle of the ballot. Many candidates have worked hard for your votes.

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Plans for tomorrow

Polls are open at 6:30am. I will do just one blog entry tomorrow, and will add updates to it throughout the day. I will hit some polling places tomorrow, then enjoy dinner with the family as the polls close at 7:30pm. I’ll watch the first set of returns come in from here at campaign HQ, then will go down to the Old County Courthouse about 9pm. Any and all of my supporters who are free tomorrow evening are welcome to come too.

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One last word…

I want to take a moment and thank you all. Many of you have spread the word about this campaign, and with us crossing 45,000 visitors to this site a couple of days ago, it has worked. We may not have taken in a lot of money, but this movement has grown in intensity. If we’re successful in tomorrow’s primary, the race starts all over on Wednesday. We’ll have to raise a fair amount of cash…fast.

Michael McKinney may have garnered a number of the “corporate” endorsements (for someone that entered the race in late February), but there are some pretty significant philosophical differences between him and I in terms of how to represent our children. If we’re successful tomorrow, and if it comes down to a Huey vs. McKinney matchup (as many are predicting), this campaign will spell out those differences.

I’ve met a lot of nice people on the campaign trail and I’m truly blessed to have met you all. Your support has been invaluable. I’m hopeful that it will pay off tomorrow.

And no matter what happens tomorrow, I will go to sleep tomorrow night knowing that we tried to do some good for the children of Guilford County.

Thank you again, I love and appreciate you all.

E.C.

Huey’s Campaign Endorsed by the Rhino Times…Thank You!

DEVELOPING…we just learned of our endorsement today by the Rhino Times of Greensboro. This is a very big deal!

In today’s edition hitting the streets as we speak, editor John Hammer says the following:

There is only one Guilford County Board of Education seat on the ballot and it is the at-large seat currently held by Dot Kearns. School board races are nonpartisan, which means it is on everyone’s ballot. There are five candidates in the race, and we think Erik Huey is the best choice. He has been a teacher and a journalist and is completely committed to getting a seat on the school board. Huey has some good ideas about improving education and has actually been in front of a class. He taught at Andrews H.S. in High Point when it was like being on the front lines. He is committed to making a change for the better in education and realizes that what the schools are currently doing isn’t working…if you want someone to shake up the school board, Huey is the man for the job.

I’m very humble to accept the endorsement of a newspaper that continuously focuses on the citizens and taxpayers of Guilford County.

Week after week, the Rhino is there to highlight and spotlight the issues affecting your wallets and pocketbooks. From county government to our schools to city council, the Rhino has been a consistent watchdog in that regard.

I thank John Hammer and Paul Clark and the entire Rhino Times staff for this extremely important endorsement. I’m honored for your support and your confidence in me to put our children first above all else.

Thank you again.

E.C.

Tonight’s Forum…and Five More Days to Go

A reminder that there will be a campaign forum this evening at 6pm in downtown Greensboro at the GSO Historical Museum. The event will be sponsored by the Concerned Citizens of Northeast Greensboro. If you’re able to come, please do. I want as many of my supporters there this evening as possible.

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UPDATE: 7:48pm…I had an unforeseen family emergency to tend to on the way to the forum, precluding my absence this evening. I’m disappointed that I wasn’t there, considering this was the last forum before Tuesday, but I’ve learned that when family calls, you listen! And I have learned the hard way from time to time.

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Obviously, this is crunch-time. With five more days to go until Tuesday, things are ratcheting up quite a bit. I still have some signs to give away. Please e-mail me if you would like one. Some have signed up to help work a poll on Tuesday. And I’m asking as many of you as possible to help get as many of your neighbors out to the polls to vote. If you know of anyone that is shut-in and needs help getting to the polls to vote, please let me know.

If you have voted early and noticed any irregularities in your experience, please let me know. If you encounter any problems on Tuesday, please let me know. I’m in favor of fair and honest elections. Any and all complaints will be properly forwarded to the Board of Elections.

Five more days! Let’s keep the momentum going all the way through Tuesday…and all the way through November!

E.C.

FOX-8 puts Leo on hot seat

FOX-8’s Neill McNeill put GCS Chief Operations Officer Leo Bobadilla on the hot seat last night during the 10:00 news. Bobadilla talked about the Bonds at length and why he thought it was so important to get it passed.

Watch the story here.

E.C.

State testing changes urged (N&O)

More on those proposed state testing changes today, courtesy of the Triangle News & Observer:

North Carolina’s public school testing program could be overhauled as part of a sweeping series of changes that could affect how students are tested and how teachers get their bonuses.

Students could take fewer state tests, especially in writing, and teacher bonuses could be tied into how many students graduate from high school. Those were among the recommendations that a committee of State Board of Education members said Wednesday are needed to modernize North Carolina’s testing system.

“Developing a 21st century system will take time,” said Wayne McDevitt, vice chairman of the state board. “We need to do this, but we need to do this right.”

McDevitt headed a group of state board members that reviewed the recommendations of a commission on testing and accountability. The commission was formed by the state board in May 2007 to review the state’s 15-year-old ABCs of Education testing program.

“The system we have in place has plateaued,” said Sam Houston, chairman of the commission. “It’s time to move on.”

McDevitt’s group adopted most of the recommendations from the commission.

For instance, the commission found that too much time was being spent on testing.

The state board responded by recommending the elimination of state writing tests given in fourth, seventh and 10th grades. They are recommending that state educators instead develop a new series of writing assignments, across all grade levels, that local school districts would hand out.

Many educators have complained that the state writing tests aren’t a good measure of writing skills. They point to how North Carolina was the only state whose scores dropped on a recent national writing test as proof.

“The current instrument isn’t giving us what we need to improve the writing of our students,” said Howard Lee, chairman of the state board.

But John Tate, a member of the state board, raised concerns about the message being sent by eliminating the writing exams.

“It feels to me like we’re relaxing standards,” Tate said.

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E.C.