NEWS ALERT: Principal Dunn Passes Away at conference

DEVELOPING…

From a News & Record Staff Report: A Guilford County principal died Tuesday while attending a principal’s conference at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, school officials and friends said.Leslie Dunn, 47, had been promoted in January to prepare the new E.P. Pearce Elementary school to open this fall.

Before that, Dunn had served as principal at Bessemer Elementary for five years. The district named her Principal of the Year in 2004 for her work turning around Bessemer, which had been on a federal watch list for poor performance on state tests.

E.C. 🙂

Ronald McNair…or Reedy Fork…Reexamined?

On tomorrow’s GCS Board meeting agenda:

As reported at the May 24, 2007 board meeting, pursuant to our procedure on the naming of schools (FDCA-P), the project team working on the new Reedy Fork Area Elementary School put out a recommendation for naming the school Reedy Fork Elementary School.

After reviewing the materials and hearing from members of the public, the board voted to propose the name Ronald McNair Elementary School at Reedy Fork.

In keeping with the procedure, the board proposed name was posted on the district website for a period of public comment and feedback.  Sixty-eight additional public comments from the community on the name have been received. The comments can be summarized as follows: 

• 62 in favor of Reedy Fork Elementary School
• Four in favor of Ronald McNair Elementary School at Reedy Fork
• Two comments related to the opinion that a school should be named according to the location and community

Upon final approval of a name, staff will move forward with appropriate efforts regarding signage, etc.

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This entire issue has created a massive firestorm among advocates who desire to honor an individual versus those who seek to preserve the name of a rapidly-growing area of Northeast Greensboro.

Both sides of the issue have made well-thought-out and well-considered points to their arguments. Both sides are to be respected. But where I’m from originally, many schools are named after individuals. I realize that schools named after areas or compass directions play a major part in this area and that’s fine. But there’s also no harm in honoring an individual who has made a significant contribution. I think the two can coexist peacefully.

It may be time for the current school naming policy to be reexamined in light of recent events.

E.C. 🙂

GCS Budget Battle: Social Workers Threatened

UPDATE BELOW… 

It’s not the top-heavy administration downtown that’s threatened to get any lighter, nor is Dr. Grier’s salary…it is the lonesome school social workers that will be examined (and possibly threatened) at tomorrow night’s GCS Board meeting (click here for the full agenda).

Check out today’s News & Record for this story…an excerpt:

The district’s more than 60 school social workers visit homes and connect families with agencies that provide everything from counseling to food to shelter.Superintendent Terry Grier told board members in an e-mail last week that eliminating 40 social workers would save about $2.6 million.By Tuesday, he was looking at a much smaller number, less than half that. But he wouldn’t say how many or what types of jobs could be cut.

The board will meet Thursday night, and balancing the budget will be a priority.

Oughta be an interesting meeting.

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UPDATE, 4:41PM, 6/27/07: The N&R’s Chalkboard reports that Chief Finance head Sharon Ozment (Oz) sort of danced around the mulberry bush when questioned by N&R education reporter Morgan Josey-Glover about tomorrow evening’s meeting regarding the budget-redo. By the way, Oz makes $145,000 and change (according to the recent Rhino Times Salary Survey story)…go figure! That’s pretty good for a bookkeeper!

E.C. 🙂

Davenport Has Spoken

Local commentator and periodic News & Record columnist Charles Davenport frequently tells it like it is.

This past weekend, in his most recent column, it was no exception. It is a fabulous read, and I’ve posted it here, I hope he won’t mind.

Keep it simple, stupid: Reading, writing and arithmetic

“It would be nice for us to once, just once, value education the way we need to for these children.” –Guilford County Schools Superintendent Terry Grier Spokesmen for the education establishment would have us believe that public education—a failure by any objective standard—can be salvaged by ever-increasing infusions of cash. The “underfunded” mantra has been chanted for so long that many of our fellow taxpaying citizens believe it. They are mistaken. Dr. Grier’s remarks suggest that those who dare to question his recently-submitted budget for Guilford County Schools do not value education. This is obviously false. But county taxpayers do expect GCS to be accountable. That is, if the schools are failing to teach the fundamentals—and many are—then perhaps our elected officials should scrutinize GCS budgets more closely. And cut them liberally. Most of us outside the community of professional educators would agree that the objective of public education is to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. Yet GCS squanders incalculable time and money on initiatives irrelevant to its mission. For instance, according to Dr. Grier’s budget proposal, the system’s “core values” are diversity, empathy, equality, innovativeness, and integrity. The first three have absolutely nothing to do with education, and innovativeness has probably done more harm than good. Professional educators, it seems, disagree with the rest of us about the purpose of public schooling.

Little Johnny will probably lack the skills necessary to read the new Harry Potter book next month, but at least we know GCS is “developing a culture where our employees identify with and understand the feelings of our students and parents and their colleagues.” That’s the important thing, isn’t it? At least Johnny’s parents, schooled in the core value of empathy, will understand why their son can’t read, can’t get into college, and can’t get a job after graduation.
Under the core value of equality, Dr. Grier’s proposal states that GCS is “a school system where everyone is appreciated and judged based solely on their contributions and performance.” (Standards and equality are incompatible, aren’t they? But never mind.) In the spirit of equality, then, let us consider the recent performance of GCS.

Last year, 61 percent of Guilford County elementary and middle schools fell short of their goals on state ABC’s of Public Education and federal Adequate Yearly Progress exams. On writing tests given in the 2006-07 school year, only 57 percent of Guilford County 10th-graders were rated “proficient.” Scores at troubled Smith High fell 17.2 points, and less than 25 percent of fourth-graders at Washington Elementary passed the test. The biggest disgrace, however, took place at Kirkman Park Elementary, where only 4.2 percent of students are proficient in writing. GCS is a demonstrable failure.

Still, Guilford County Schools, like clockwork, has requested a 10 percent increase over last year’s budget. Never mind the system’s performance. Said Dr. Grier two weeks ago, “We’ve cut and cut and cut. What do you cut?”

Well, I am not a professional educator, but it seems rational to cut the things that do not have anything to do with the teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic. For instance, because about half of our students are illiterate, one could eliminate the $106,000 Dr. Grier has requested for a Mandarin Chinese Program at four schools. If our kids are illiterate in English, why confuse them with alien tongues?

One could easily trim $234,000 from the budget request by denying the system’s request for four new “diversity specialists.” They have nothing to do with the teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Likewise, jettison the proposed new social workers and “intervention specialists,” which would save the taxpayer $350,000.
Another wasteful expenditure is “GCS Connects,” in which teachers and staff mentor troubled kids as a means of reducing suspensions and drop-outs. Aborting this redundancy would trim $1,555,060 from the proposed budget. Good teachers double as counselors; many inspired and motivated me more than any “intervention specialist” or counselor ever could.

Finally, administration could probably be cut by about 20 percent. Administrators have nothing to do with the teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic. Every position that is redundant, unnecessary or pernicious should be eliminated.

And what’s this $453,695 for “additional specialists and planning time”? The schools have too many “specialists” already, and teachers have about two months of “planning time” every year. If your job is outside the education establishment, march up to your boss tomorrow morning and demand two months off for “planning time.” Good luck.

Charles Davenport Jr. (www.cdavenportjr.com) (daisha99@msn.com) is a freelance columnist who appears in the News & Record on alternate Sundays.
From the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record of Sunday, June 24, 2007

E.C. 🙂

Smith Gets SMOD

Smith High School will join Andrews, Dudley, and High Point Central in implementing a “standard mode of dress” (SMOD) beginning in August. See today’s News & Record. See this excerpt:

Smith will require it for freshmen only as part of the phasing in of a reform that divides the students into small learning groups, said principal Noah Rogers. All students will wear uniforms by 2010.

“Most of the parents were already familiar with (standard mode of dress),” said Donny Brown, who served as PTA president last year. “It didn’t raise their eyebrows.”

Acceptable attire: black shoes, khaki pants and shorts, and polo shirts and dresses in green, gold and white.
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With a strong emphasis on discipline and code enforcement, hopefully it will work. We shall see.

 E.C. 🙂

Layoffs Threatened

 “They did us no big favors,” Supt. Grier said of the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, who passed a lean-and-mean school budget at a raucous County Board meeting last Thursday.

Dr. Grier is threatening to slash vital positions as a result of that newly-trimmed budget. See this past Saturday’s News & Record for more.

Layoffs. Not good.

GCAE chief Mark Jewell is asking GCS to slash Mission Possible: “That has not been a popular program with educators,” he said in the N&R article.

Board member Deena Hayes does not support cutting classroom positions:
“I definitely don’t want to see any shifts in the classroom,” Hayes told the N&R.

BUT…look at what else Hayes is saying, in this article:

Hayes sees the budget crunch as an opportunity for the board to get a fiscal check-up. That means evaluating the effectiveness of existing programs before expanding them and looking further into the future to see if the district can afford certain administrative positions.

“I’m not sure they’re having the impact to justify having all of the programs,” Hayes said, mentioning literacy programs as an example. “We just keep doing the same thing over and over again.”

Thank you, Ms. Hayes, for visiting my website, because this is a campaign position of mine…to evaluate the existence of programs, and cut what’s not working. Imagine the savings…wow!

Have you noticed that we go through this same song-and-dance year in, year out? The GCS Board takes about 2-3 months to conjure up and pass a budget they KNOW will not pass the County Board, then the County Board puts on their own Dog-and-Pony show, slashes the GCS budget, the GCS board and Grier & Co. cry foul, bad-mouths the County Board publicly, threaten layoffs, etc….

My friends, there’s got to be a better way to do this annual budget salsa…and I’m all ears, because this makes little sense to keep doing this same song-and-dance every year. GCS needs to be more fiscally prudent, and the County Board needs to do a better job of being more conscious when it comes to our children–yes, they need to take a certain amount of responsibility (and blame) for this yearly silliness.

The only thing this accomplishes (or should accomplish) is to rally citizens, make them angry and make them want to vote them ALL out of office: school board, county board, ALL OF THEM.

Once again, the children of this county get the short end of the stick. They don’t deserve it, not one bit.

E.C. 🙂

Grier Bad-mouths CoCo’s Over Budget

UPDATE BELOW… 

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From today’s GCS Friday Spin:

Commissioners Slash District Budget

Last evening, the Guilford County Board of Commissioners approved a county-wide budget that significantly reduced funding to GCS for the 2007-08 school year.  In statements made during the meeting, Commissioners did not include education as one of the basic services of the county.  They under-funded our operations budget by $3.5 million; did not provide requested additional funding to address school safety issues; did not restore the $3 million they cut from our capital outlay budget last year; and, took $4 million of the district’s $8 million in state lottery funds to repay previously acquired debt service and are holding the balance as a possible Eastern High funding source should the future bonds fail.  They also postponed placing the district’s construction bond referendum on a county-wide ballot until May 2008. 

This action will result in the Board of Education having to make painful cuts to its budget and could result in the district cutting positions.  Our system’s budget is approximately 85 percent personnel and benefits.  That leaves little room to recover $3.5 million in non-personnel areas.   Please call me at 370-8992, should you have questions.

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Hmm…I wonder if the County Board is being more meticulous at the dollars funneling in and out of Central Office and is scrutinizing that more this year.

I’m not happy with any position (especially a front-line position) being cut. But perhaps it’s a wake-up call to take the budget back to the drawing board and make changes necessary that ultimately will put the children and front-line teachers first in Guilford County.

Just my $.02 worth…

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UPDATE, 6/22/07, 2:52PM: apparently, there were a lot of fireworks at the County Board meeting; FOX-8 has complete coverage (with video) here.

E.C. 🙂

We Wish Principal Miller Well

A little-known retirement is about to occur at the end of June. And this retirement is notable.

Principal Vicki Miller, who heads Parkview A+ Magnet Elementary in High Point and a former administrator over at Ferndale Middle in High Point will hang up her school bell after 32 years.

She and I have had a chance to know each other personally and professionally over the last couple of years. She had her hands full as a principal, but she provided the spark that Parkview needed. She always had a fire in the belly for such a little lady. She will be missed. We wish her the very best in her retirement.

E.C. 🙂

School construction takes shape in city: HP Enterprise

Today’s High Point Enterprise reports many school construction projects have begun to take shape or are in the finishing stages across High Point. Notable projects include expansion and improvements at Ferndale Middle; an increase in classroom space at Oakview Elementary; a huge transformation is in the works down at Parkview A+ Magnet Elementary with new classrooms, media center, multipurpose room and a whole new entrance to the school planned; current Allen Jay Middle School students will attend the new Southern Middle School this fall, which will be located next to Southern High School and Southern Elementary School; and current Union Hill Elementary School students will attend classes in the current Allen Jay Middle building while the old Union Hill structure is demolished to make way for a new school building to be built on the same grounds.

E.C. 🙂

School Bond Postponed?

UPDATE BELOW… 

The Guilford County Commissioners may decide tonight whether to postpone the school bond referendum until the primary election day next May, in order to get a larger voter turnout, today’s News & Record is reporting.

This may be a good thing, as referendums in off-year elections really don’t do as well. And while municipal elections are scheduled for Greensboro in November, they are not for High Point, at least not until next year.

An excerpt:

Among those who have expressed at least some support for a May referendum are Democrats Gibson, Melvin “Skip” Alston, John Parks, and Kirk Perkins, along with Republicans Billy Yow and Linda Shaw.And Gibson said he thought a majority of commissioners would support moving the referendum to May.“What you want is the highest turnout you can get,” Parks said. “Certainly May would be a higher total than this fall.”

Stay tuned….

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UPDATE, 6/22/07, 9:53AM…the County Commissioners last night did postpone the bonds, and will go ahead and seek to put them on next May’s primary ballots. See this News & Record update story.

E.C. 🙂

2,300 schools face ‘No Child’ overhaul: AP

This is No Child Left Behind at its worst…2,300 schools nationwide face pending sanctions this year for missing federal benchmarks, according to an Associated Press article (click here). Schools range from high-poverty, high-impact schools to those found in sleepy suburbs and rural areas. That’s the damning part of it all…even missing one target and your school is labeled “failing.”

See excerpt:

The 2002 education law, which is up for renewal in Congress, offers a broad menu of options for restructuring. They include firing principals and moving teachers, and calling in turnaround specialists.

At Far Rockaway High School — or Far Rock, as locals say — restructuring has led to a new face in the principal’s office and a new teaching force.

The new principal, Denise Hallett, came from the district’s headquarters about three years ago. She splashed colors like hot pink and sunny yellow on the walls of the grand but neglected century-old building. She painted the library floors tangerine orange and replaced the moldy books with new, grade-appropriate reading material.

She also replaced three-fourths of the staff.

“The instruction wasn’t happening,” Hallett said, offering an explanation for poor test scores, high dropout rates and gang violence. “You’ve got to make changes in the teaching, so that you have wonderful things that are happening inside the classroom.”

Schools in low-income communities have trouble attracting and keeping sought-after teachers. Working conditions are often thought to be poor, and teachers in failing schools face increased scrutiny.

The federal law says schools in restructuring can replace teachers. Local union contracts can make that difficult, but some collective bargaining agreements are starting to permit it. Usually, the teachers transfer to another school or work as substitutes.

Hallett says she’s giving her brand-new teachers the support they need to thrive — and stay. She has a full-time professional development coach on staff and has promised more lesson planning time.

E.C. 🙂

DPI Briefs for 6/20/07

Some briefs from DPI:

DATE:     June 20, 2007
TO:          Subscribers, NC Partners
FROM:    State Superintendent June Atkinson

     Last week, the State Board of Education and I, along with several
Department of Public Instruction staff, once again traveled to Washington,
D.C., to present our views on No Child Left Behind to the U.S. Department of
Education staff and our Congressional delegation. The reauthorization of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (NCLB) is an important opportunity
for improvements in how this law works. NCLB has had some positive impact in
the national conversation about student achievement, but we believe that
major revisions are needed if NCLB is to be an accelerator rather than an
obstacle to significant school improvement in North Carolina. Our
recommendations for NCLB are outlined in detail in the white paper we
presented. You can see the full list of recommendations online at
www.ncpublicschools.org/nclb. It is still uncertain whether No Child Left
Behind will be authorized this year but these conversations are important to
ensuring that this legislation remains at the top of Congress’ agenda.
                            Regards,
                            June Atkinson

Blue Ribbon Commission on Testing and Accountability Meeting Summary ­
The Blue Ribbon Commission on Testing and Accountability heard from a number
of stakeholders, including teachers, counselors, K-12 college
administrators, and representatives of the business community, at its third
meeting held on Monday. The speakers offered insights and recommendations to
Commission members as they review the state’s accountability system. Some
presenters spoke of the need to relieve testing anxiety among students,
reduce the number of tests given, and the need to assess 21st century skills
such as creative problem solving and teamwork. Commission members also heard
comments on funding for testing coordinators, keeping the curriculum in line
with accountability standards, and how to better deal with students who just
barely pass their end-of-grade tests going into high school. The Commission
will meet again on Monday, July 9, in the 7th Floor Board Room, Education
Building, Raleigh.

E.C. 🙂

Remedial Math?–cartoon

Hopefully, none of our 2007 high school graduates will have to face a scenario like this:

E.C. 🙂

Values set Baltimore school apart: USA Today

Baltimore’s Talent Development High School, using the Johns Hopkins University model to help at-risk students is showing signs of success. See this USA Today story. See also the links here to other stories the USA Today did on this particular high school over the past few days.

A link to the JHU Talent Development H.S. program is located in the blogroll section on the right-hand side of your screen. Many of Guilford County’s high schools have ninth grade academies using the JHU model.

An excerpt:

It was an odd little idea that stuck in assistant principal Saeed Hill’s head and wouldn’t die: Two years after his tiny high school’s founding, it needed something — he wasn’t sure exactly what — to set it apart from the dozens of others in the city, even the small core of “innovation” schools to which Baltimore Talent Development High School belonged.

“I realized the school needed some kind of tradition,” Hill says.

Before students arrive at Talent Development, many are on the path to dropping out. In a city where only one in three students are likely to earn a high school diploma, the school offers a gold-plated second chance. But that wasn’t enough.

He began asking people: What does it mean to be a student here? Soon he had an idea.

He envisioned a sort of honor society whose members would wear enamel lapel pins painted with “words that meant something to me.”

So Hill created five pins, each showing a star and a positive trait: respect, dedication, integrity, perseverance and leadership.

“Education should be more than just math, science and English,” Hill says. “You have to build character.”

E.C. 🙂

Teachers at targeted schools get university mentors: HP Enterprise

Educators (specifically new math teachers) at Mission im(Possible)-designated high schools in Guilford County will receive extra help from mentors at NC A&T State and UNC-Greensboro, according to a High Point Enterprise article today.

See this excerpt:

Tracey Howell, who coordi­nates a math project between Guilford County Schools and the UNC system, said the math initiative is an extension of Mission Possible, which also provides a professional de­velopment component to help teachers adjust. The newest mentoring program will pro­vide teachers with intense mentoring, professional train­ing and summer math insti­tutes, Howell said.

E.C. 🙂

Putting the “Fun” in Fundraising

I had an interesting conversation the other day with Ray Riffe, the UniSERVE director over at the Guilford County Association of Educators/NCAE. Riffe, a one-time candidate for the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, said in small talk that he estimates the cost of a countywide at-large race such as the one I’m running for to be around $25,000-$40,000 in terms of fundraising.

What I don’t want this race to be about is fundraising. Instead, I want this race to be about ideas…ideas on how we can do a better job at educating our children. And while I do want fundraising to be an integral part of this campaign, it is not an exclusive part of this campaign either.

We will begin accepting donated funds very shortly, I’m still evaluating a good online channel of how we want to begin accepting those donations and I haven’t found a good one yet. But when we do, any donation will be accepted. But remember the theme of this campaign…grass-roots, all the way. Sending out letters and e-mails. Knocking on doors, hosting coffees (and I’m lining up some more coffees to host this summer–and if YOU want to host a coffee in your home with your friends and neighbors, e-mail me today on hueyforguilfordschoolboard@yahoo.com and we’ll get it set up), passing out fliers, speaking up at meetings…this is the way we will win next Spring.

This is the way we will win, and this is the way we will begin taking back our school board. We will raise money, but more importantly, we need to raise the consciousness level of everyone in Guilford County. We CAN do better, we MUST do better…we WILL do better for our children.

E.C. 🙂

Jamestown Middle Parent Advocate Speaks Out

A Jamestown Middle School parent advocate is speaking out on the school’s woes, and spoke recently to the Jamestown News (click here for the article).

Lori Farlow, the mother of a JMS 6th grader, has emerged as the leader of an active parents group to advocate for change at the overcrowded school which has seen a number of violent incidents and an increase in disciplinary cases this past academic year (click here for past JMS coverage).

And with good reason…one supporter of this campaign, whose child attends Jamestown Elementary has stated to me personally that she will yank her child out of GCS entirely before she sets one foot in Jamestown Middle because of the discipline problems there.

Look at this excerpt:

Farlow, who also has two children in college, both of whom came up through the area system, has emerged as a spokesperson for the parents group. She and several other parents met with principal Richmond June 10 before addressing the June 12 meeting of the Guilford County School Board to express their concerns.“No one is trying to sweep these problems under the rug,” said Farlow in a June 3 interview, “but it’s way too strong to say that we’re in a crisis situation or in dire straits. We have all the parts in place right here to address these issues. It’s just a matter of getting the community involved, getting everyone engaged in the process.”
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Good for her. See this other excerpt:

“Yes, I’d like to help facilitate a town meeting to address the bond referendum, child safety, overcrowding and a number of other issues,” she said. “The community knows what the needs of the community are.“A lot of parents don’t know how to become engaged, because they don’t think they have any power. They don’t understand that you can go in there and be a part of the school. It’s important that these lines of communication be open among us parents as well. Neither side is all right or all wrong.

“I’ve been humbled by this process. I’ve had parents tell me that they like what I’m doing but they’re afraid their child might be affected if they speak out. I’m trying to show them that it’s more empowering than frightening. Only by getting engaged can we make things better for our children, ourselves and our community.”

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Good for you, Ms. Farlow. It takes active parents who care about the system as a whole to make changes. The squeaky wheel obviously gets the oil. And if Anita Sharpe won’t take time to meet with you, I will.

I would be interested in helping you in putting together such a meeting. Please contact me so we can talk and get started.

E.C. 🙂

Peacemaker Interviews GCS Diversity Officer

A recent issue of the Carolina Peacemaker includes a feature story on GCS diversity officer Monica Walker. And there are some interesting quotes in this article.

Walker came to GCS, by way of her work in the community. She moved to Guilford County four years ago after accepting a position at Guilford College. For three years, she taught courses on community and race.
Prior to her stint at Guilford College, she conducted seminars in Greensboro as an “anti-racism trainer.”
“When you understand how racism has impacted and created these huge disparities then you become better positioned to be able to do something about it,” said Walker. “And I think that’s essentially what hopefully we’re doing in the school system—seeking to better understand what racism has done to create disparities in education in order to begin to undo it.”
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ummmm……

Let’s see more:

So far, Walker has been conducting follow-up diversity training with schools and personnel, and looking at other models and programs in different parts of the country in order to develop or access the kind of training that educators need to address diversity in schools.
Currently, Walker does the training alone, but said creating a support staff is a goal of the department.
They are also in the process of developing a diversity council, which would consist of representatives from inside and outside the school system. Ideally, this council will help to bridge the disparities surrounding issues of diversity, according to Walker.
“When we do that we become a better and healthier school system,” she said.
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Again, I will ask…is racism running rampant in our schools? Is it utterly and completely out of control? I continue to believe that there is an economic disconnect when it comes to our highly-impacted schools, and there again, I feel it is more of a lack of oversight on behalf of our school system and board than it is a racial issue. I’m not saying it does not exist, but I would really like to see (and hear) more of these stories on my own so I can make and formulate my own opinions.

So let me open the door…if we have any GCS staff (or students) or parents (and you can remain anonymous) who would like to share their stories, please respond to this posting, or e-mail me direct to hueyforguilfordschoolboard@yahoo.com because if there is a need, I want you to be heard. At least then, we can come up with a real plan of action instead of idle comments at Board meetings.

E.C. 🙂

GCS Friday Spin for 6/15/07

Click here for the GCS Friday Spin for 6/15/07. Of interest, a new principalship for the Academy of High Point Central, lots of internal promotions to assistant principals, and the annual scholarship list.

E.C. 🙂

Western Guilford’s “Newsweek” Ranking Changes

Kudos to News & Record reporter Morgan Josey-Glover for uncovering the finding of discrepancies of Advanced Placement data and notifying GCS of the issue (note, it was the N&R that uncovered the discrepancy and brought it to the attention of Guilford County Schools…yet, another definition of irony). As a result, Western Guilford H.S.’s ranking will drop. High Point Central also had inaccuracies, but their ranking will not change.

Clickables…click here for Josey-Glover’s blog posting about it over on the N&R Chalkboard. Click here for the GCS spin on its Friday Notes. Click here for our past Newsweek ranking coverage not long ago.

E.C. 🙂

Charter School Commission Convenes

From DPI:

*  Blue Ribbon Charter School Commission Convened

The State Board of Education has convened the Blue Ribbon Charter School
Commission to take a comprehensive look at North Carolina¹s charter school
program. The Commission will be charged to look at the types of charter
schools that have been successful, possible guidelines for approval of
future charter schools, and whether the cap on charter schools should be
raised. To read more, please go to the NCDPI Web site at
http://www.ncpublicschools.org and click on the appropriate link under
‘News.’

*  Blue Ribbon Charter School Commission Schedules First Meeting

The Blue Ribbon Charter School Commission will meet next Thursday, June 21,
from 9:30-11:30 a.m., in the 7th Floor Board Room, Education Building, 301
N. Wilmington Street, Raleigh. For those who cannot attend, the meeting is
being audio streamed. To listen in, please go online to
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/sbe_meetings/07sbemedia.html and click on the
appropriate audio stream link. For more information, please contact the
NCDPI Communications division at 919.807.3450

E.C. 🙂

DPI Teachers Message for 6/14/07

From DPI:

TO:        NC Public School Teachers
FROM:  State Superintendent June Atkinson
DATE:   June 14, 2007

     After many months of discussion, a number of public meetings, review of
hundreds of email messages and conversations by phone with educators,
parents and community leaders from across the state, the State Board of
Education last week approved the Future-Ready Core Course of Study for high
school students. The Future-Ready Core will help ensure that our high school
students graduate with the academic foundation they need to be successful
life-long learners, workers and citizens. The new core, with six electives
(two of which are designated), allows students the opportunity to design a
concentration reflective of their interests beyond high school. Students
need to begin thinking about their long-term goals and dreams early on and
we all need to be prepared to support them.
                           Regards,
                           June Atkinson

In this Biweekly Teachers’ Message:
1. State Board Meeting Highlights
2.  Future-Ready Core Approved; Preliminary Writing Results Released
3.  Blue Ribbon Commission on Testing and Accountability Meets
4.  Learn & Earn Online Expected to Provide College Credits this Fall
5. NCDPI Middle and High School Writing Institute: Writing on Demand
6.  Write On! Best Practices Conference to be Held in August
7.  Math and Science Presidential Awards’ Recipients Named
8.  Four North Carolina Schools Receive Technology Grants
9.  School Districts Recognized for Providing ‘What Parents Want’
10.  Education Mini-Grants Awarded

1.  State Board Meeting Highlights – At last week’s State Board meeting,
members approved the Future-Ready Core Course of Study for high school
students, proposed standards for the Standard Course of Study in American
Sign Language Secondary Level, and revisions to Praxis II testing
requirements for Exceptional Children’s teachers. Complete highlights of the
State Board meeting will be available online next week at
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/sbehighlights by clicking on the appropriate
link.

2.  Future-Ready Core Approved; Preliminary Writing Results Released – The
following press releases are available online at
http://www.ncpublicschools.org under ‘News.’
     New High School Graduation Requirements Approved – After many months of
discussion, the North Carolina State Board of Education yesterday approved a
Future-Ready Core Course of Study that will prepare all students for careers
and college learning in the 21st century. Board members unanimously approved
the new high school graduation requirements, effective with the ninth grade
class of 2009-10.
     Student Writing Scores Improve in 2006-07 – More fourth and seventh
grade students scored proficient in writing in 2006-07 when compared to
student scores from last year, according to the ‘Preliminary Report of
Student Performance on the North Carolina General Assessment at grades 4, 7
and 10.’ Results showed that 52.7 percent for fourth grade students scored
proficient on the assessment, an almost 3 percentage point increase from
2005-06. Seventh grade results also improved this year, with 50.8 percent of
students scoring proficient. Tenth graders showed a small decrease in their
scores in 2006-07. A total of 51.4 percent of students were proficient in
writing at 10th grade, down from 53.2 percent in 2005-06.

3.  Blue Ribbon Commission on Testing and Accountability Meets ­ The Blue
Ribbon Commission on Testing and Accountability has met twice to discuss the
state’s testing and accountability programs. Discussion by commission
members has been robust and frank, as they’ve identified a number of the
concerns many educators have regarding tests and accountability models. Sam
Houston, chief executive officer and president of the Science, Math and
Technology Center, is chairing this group. In addition to some time for open
discussion, the meeting’s agenda provided time for an overview of North
Carolina’s current testing and accountability program, its purposes and
history; a regional overview of testing and accountability by Joan Lord,
interim Senior Director of Education Policies at the Southern Regional
Education Board; and a presentation of high school accountability model
research by Michael Cohen, president of Achieve. The group is on a fast
track, with recommendations expected to go to the State Board of Education
in September. Summaries of these meetings, particularly as recommendations
begin to take shape, will be shared with you in future messages.

4.  Learn & Earn Online Expected to Provide College Credits this Fall – A
team of NCDPI staff has been working with colleagues from the University
system (UNC-G) and the Community Colleges system to develop Learn and Earn
Online, a new program to begin this fall that will provide college courses
and credit to high school students at no cost to the students or their
families. A new Web site –
http://www.ncpublicschools.org/learnandearnonline/ – has been built to
provide information on the program.

5. NCDPI Middle and High School Writing Institute: Writing on Demand –
NCDPI, in collaboration with the National Council of Teachers of English
(NCTE), will offer two writing professional development sessions this
summer, with online follow-up throughout the year through the NCTE Pathways
to Adolescent Literacy initiative. The workshops will be held from 8
a.m.-4:30 p.m. on July 16-17 at the Crowne Plaza Charlotte, Charlotte, and
July 19-20 at the Holiday Inn Crabtree Valley, Raleigh. During the workshop,
teachers will learn strategies for following what they know to be best
practices in teaching writing while still helping students prepare for
writing tests. These strategies, designed to address specific features of
writing on demand, can be incorporated into an existing curriculum. They
adhere to the principle that test preparation and good writing instruction
are not incompatible. After the workshop, teachers will further their
learning with colleagues and workshop presenters through online professional
development in Pathways. For more information, including registration,
please visit
http://community.learnnc.org/dpi/ela/archives/2007/06/ncdpi_middle_an.php or
call Teresa Parker, NCDPI, 919/807-3837, or by email,
tparker@dpi.state.nc.us.

6.  Write On! Best Practices Conference to be Held in August – Registration
is now open for ‘Write On! Inspiring Our Students to Write Through the Arts
and Experiential Learning,’ a K-8 Best Practices Conference sponsored by the
A+ Schools Program at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG).
The Conference, which is open to teachers, administrators and teaching
artists across the state, will be held Thursday and Friday, Aug. 2 -3, at
UNCG. Conference strands include The Writing Process, Writing as ‘Art,’ and
Writing Across the Curriculum. There is a registration fee. For more
information, please call 336/217-5117 or email aplus@uncg.edu. To register,
please go online to http://www.ssltransaction.net/a_plus/2007.

7.  Math and Science Presidential Awards’ Recipients Named – Congratulations
to North Carolina’s 2006 Presidential Awards for Excellence in Mathematics
and Science Teaching recipients Elizabeth Thurlow, a mathematics teacher at
Haw Creek Elementary (Buncombe County Schools) and Cheryl Collazo, a science
teacher at Stoney Point Elementary (Cumberland County Schools). The
President Awards for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching is a
national awards’ program administered for the White House by the National
Science Foundation. Each year the program recognizes outstanding mathematics
and science teachers from across the United States and four U.S.
jurisdictions for their contributions in the classroom and to their
profession. In addition to honoring individual achievement, the goal of the
awards is to expand and exemplify the definition of excellent science and
mathematics teaching.

8.  Four North Carolina Schools Receive Technology Grants – Congratulations
to East Forsyth High (Winston-Salem/Forsyth Schools), Fairmont Middle
(Public Schools of Robeson), River Road Middle (Elizabeth City/Pasquotank
Schools) and Williston Middle (New Hanover County Schools) for their recent
receipt of grants funds from the 2007 Hewlitt Packard Technology for
Teaching Grant Program. The grants, part of the 2007 HP Technology for
Teaching grant program, are designed to improve student achievement through
the innovative uses of technology in the classroom while encouraging student
interest in careers in technology, engineering, math and science. For more
information on this grant program, please go online to
http://www.hp.com/go/hpteach.

9.  School Districts Recognized for Providing ‘What Parents Want’ –
SchoolMatch recently recognized the following 21 North Carolina school
districts with its 2007 Sixteenth Annual award for consistently providing
‘What Parents Want’ in public education: Ashville City, Buncombe, Carteret,
Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Chatham, Durham, Elkin City,
Forsyth, Guilford, Henderson, Hickory City, Jackson, Moore, New Hanover,
Orange, Pitt, Polk, Transylvania, Wake and Watauga. SchoolMatch is an
independent, nationwide service that helps corporate families find schools
that match the needs of their children. Only 16 percent (2,516) of the
nation’s 15,571 public school districts were recognized for meeting the news
of families choosing schools. Additional information regarding this award
can be found online at http://schoolmatch.com/ppsi/wpwlist.cfm.

10.  Education Mini Grants Awarded – Congratulations to the following
schools/school system for their recent receipt of Education Mini Grants from
The North Carolina Biotechnology Center: Atkins School of Biotechnology
(Winston-Salem/Forsyth Schools), Carrboro High (Chapel Hill-Carrboro
Schools), Dillard Middle (Wayne County Schools), Lincoln County Schools,
North Stokes High (Stokes County Schools), School of Inquiry and Life
Sciences (Asheville City Schools), South Granville School of Health and Life
Sciences (Granville County Schools), and Terry Sanford High (Cumberland
County Schools). The grants will be used to support biotechnology education
and may be applied toward purchasing biotechnology-related equipment,
supplies and teaching materials in addition to developing new courses or
programs and to enhance existing ones. The Education Mini-Grant Program is
one of several Biotechnology Center programs and activities intended to
inform the public and prepare a trained work force to support the state’s
growing biotechnology industry.
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E.C. 🙂

News from DPI for 6/14/07

Lots and lots of news from the state’s Department of Public Instruction (DPI):

*  Blue Ribbon Commission on Testing and Accountability to Meet

The Blue Ribbon Commission on Testing and Accountability will meet Monday,
June 18, from 10 a.m.-3 p.m., in the 7th Floor Board Room, Education
Building, 301 N. Wilmington Street, Raleigh. Representatives of a number of
professional associations, the business community, and higher education will
share their perspectives on assessment with Commission members. For those
who cannot attend, the meeting is being audio streamed. To listen in, please
go online to http://www.ncpublicschools.org/sbe_meetings/07sbemedia.html and
click on the appropriate audio stream link. For more information, please
contact the Communications Division at 919/807-3450.

*  Advisory Commission on Raising Achievement and Closing Gaps to Meet

The N.C. Advisory Commission on Raising Achievement and Closing Gaps will
meet Wednesday, June 20, from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., in the 7th Floor Board Room,
Education Building, 301 N. Wilmington Street, Raleigh. Agenda items include
updates on State Board and Department initiatives, a discussion of the
Regional Education Summits, and a report of ad hoc committee findings
regarding updating the 2001 Commission report. For more information, please
contact Mary Anne Tharin at 919/807-3658, or by email,
mtharin@dpi.state.nc.us.

*  State Board Approves Grants to Family Education Programs

The State Board of Education last week approved federal grants to support
two programs for academically at-risk students and their parents in school
districts across the state. To find out which districts received grants for
the 21st Century Community Learning Center summer program and Even Start
Family Literacy program, please go to the NCDPI Web site at
http://www.ncpublicschools.org and click on the appropriate link under
‘News.’

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E.C. 🙂

Violence Being Reported in our Elementary Schools: Rhino Times

Irving Park Elementary, McLeansville Elementary, Lindley Elementary and Jamestown Middle are all examples of schools where incidents of violence and discipline problems are alarmingly on the rise. See this article in this week’s Rhino Times.

The article says most of the incidents involve students diagnosed as behaviorally-emotionally disabled (BED) which is an exceptional children category. parents are complaining that these students are not getting the help they need in these schools.

See this excerpt:

A parent of a Lindley Elementary School student said they were concerned about the welfare of students in that school because recently there was a student who threatened several other students on a bus ride to school. The parent said the student said he was going to “bring my knife to school and kill you.”

Five students told the principal about the incident, the parent said.

“Principals hands are tied,” the parent said.

The parent said it is unsettling because if it is not stopped, the student could become a bully in high school.

“These kids don’t just come from nowhere,” the parent said. “They are 8, 9 and 10 years old seeing objects being thrown. There was a first grade student thrown to the ground and given a concussion. The student told the student, I meant to kill you. Teachers have been assaulted.”

Wow…

E.C. 🙂

The Rhino Times’ Annual School Salary Survey

School staff are public employees. And as such, their names and how much they make are public information.

In Guilford County, our friends at The Rhino Times graciously publishes the salaries of these GCS employees annually. Here’s the link to this week’s article.

Some things to note right off the bat…some of the salaries are inflated because many teachers are paid for 10 months, and a person’s education/experience is figured into one’s salary as well.

Not withstanding, Dr. Terry Grier heads the list making $218,158.

<cricket sound goes here>

I said…Terry Grier makes $218,158.

Chief Auxilary Services officer John Wright comes in a distant second at $148,577.

Here are the top ten:

Grier, Terry $218,158 Superintendent
Wright, John $148,577 Chief Aux Svcs Ofcr
Becoats, Eric $145,866 Chief Of Staff
Ozment, Sharon $145,866 Chief Fin Ofcr
Collins, Valerie $139,870 Principal (Brown Summit Middle)
McCary Mack $139,849 Chief Academic Ofcr
Thompson, Peggy $139,472 Chief HR Ofcr
Young, Terrence $139,472 Chief Info Ofcr
Zhang, Gongshu $135,000 Accountability Ofcr
Rogers, Noah $130,028 Principal (Smith H.S.)

E.C. 🙂

More On Those State Writing Test Results

Good morning folks.

Here’s more on those preliminary state writing test results we told you about a few days ago (click here for that previous blog entry). We have the chart showing how Guilford County students fared. 4th graders showed an increase in proficiency, while 7th and 10th graders showed an overall decrease. Click here for that chart.

Interestingly, the News & Record’s story yesterday played up the elementary rankings increase and mentioned nothing about the middle and high school results. The “Fair-and-Balanced Award” goes to the High Point Enterprise, where a Tuesday, June 12 story mentioned both the good and the bad.

See excerpt:

School officials expressed disappointment at the overall results for secondary schools. “We are working hard with curriculum specialists and schools that did improve to develop a more effective dis­trictwide approach to teach­ing writing at the secondary level,” Mc Cary said.
Statewide, seventh-grade averages improved in writ­ing (46.2 to 50.8 percent) and declined among 10th-graders (53.2 to 51.4).

E.C. 🙂

Half-a-billion Bond Referendum Goes to CoCos

The school board last night passed its nearly-half-a-billion-dollar bond referendum. On an 8-3 vote (Board members Dot “cold-cash” Kearns, Amos Quick, and Deena Hayes voted ‘nay’), the proposed referendum now goes to the County Commissioners for their approval before it goes to the voters in November. Considering the commissioners still haven’t passed the county budget and may threaten to slash some of the anticipated monies the school board wanted this year, I predict the bond may have a hard time with the county board.

See today’s News & Record and High Point Enterprise for complete coverage.

Excerpt from the N&R:

The proposed bond includes $45 million to pay for the reconstruction of the fire-damaged Eastern Guilford High School, estimated to cost $61 million. Jill Wilson, attorney for the school board, said she estimates the district will receive no more than $17 million in a state insurance settlement.

Commissioners plan to decide whether to schedule the bond for a November referendum at the June 21 meeting.

Board member Darlene Garrett said she expected the bond referendum to be difficult to pass because of anticipated property tax increases.

“I’m hopeful that people will support it, but I think we will need to make good cases for it,” she said. “It’s a lot of money.”
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Interesting excerpt from the Enterprise:

High Point representatives questioned the need for addi­tional high school seats in projects for the airport area school as well as Southwest Guilford High. The board members ar­gued that enough space is avail­able in some of the city’s schools like Welborn Middle and T. Wingate Andrews High.

“I don’t see building all the seats in high school (projects) until we see some growth in those (High Point) schools,” board member Dot Kearns said. Chairman Alan Duncan re­sponded: “The purpose of the airport area high school is not focused on High Point. The pur­pose is focused on Northwest and Western, which are overca­pacity.” However, Duncan said the airport area school would also impact overcrowding at both Southwest and Ragsdale.
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Cold-cash Kearns still doesn’t get it. High Point, North High Point, Southwest Greensboro/West Greensboro and western Guilford County WILL NOT STOP GROWING and clearly the system needs to prepare for growth. If the ex-High Point City Schools system (under which she was a former school board members of) planned for growth, there would not be any redistricting or student shuffling.

 Now, granted, I’m still not a fan at all of this bond referendum and I honestly don’t think it will do well in November. But if it does, it needs to be fair and equitable and countywide. Kearns clearly wants to continue making High Point the stepchild of the county and that’s wrong.

BTW, you’re asking why the name “cold-cash?” Kearns has no trouble spending your taxpayer money on travel expenses for junkets and has readily done so in the past. As a fiscal conservative, I would rather send a teacher to an educational junket and if a Board member goes, they can pay their own way.

E.C. 🙂

State Board of Education Travels to DC to Lobby for NCLB Changes

From DPI:

State Board of Education Travels to Washington, D.C.;
Reauthorization of NCLB Focus of Trip

State Board of Education members and key leaders from the NC Department of
Public Instruction will take a bus ride to Washington, D.C. tomorrow to meet
with members of the state’s Congressional delegation and top U.S. Department
of Education staff. The message they carry with them is clear:  No Child
Left Behind needs improvements if it is to live up to its name. To read
more, as well as access a copy of the Board’s recommendations, click here.

E.C. 🙂

Finch Survives, but will Ferndale?

The News & Record’s Jeri Rowe, this school year, highlighted the successes and trials of Kate Finch, a first year 6th grade language arts teacher at High Point’s Ferndale Middle School. See previous blog entry about Finch here.

See this excerpt from Rowe’s final column on Finch here:

Of her 56 students, only five failed the reading section of the state’s end-of-grade tests a few weeks ago. She posted the scores on her refrigerator so she could be reminded every day of her students’ success.

She grew to love her students. Just last weekend, she had a dream about two of them. In her mind’s eye, she saw them, turned away and heard the pow-pow-pow of gunfire. She woke up with a start. She worries she can’t protect them. So, on Friday, as she hugged them and signed their shirts, she made sure to say, “Have a safe summer!”

She doesn’t hold the same warm-fuzzy feelings for public education.

“I just feel like it’s just so much junk and garbage,” Kate says. “I heard someone talking about private school kids are more well-rounded than public school kids. But daggonit, public school kids know how to take a test. It’s sad.”
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As we said before, we wish Finch all the success in the world. This campaign supports her, and we hope she will contact and support this campaign. As I told some kids from Andrews this past week, if I’m elected next year, help (REAL HELP) is on the way. That goes the same for Ferndale…help is on the way.

E.C. 🙂

New Links Added to the Blogroll

I’ve added some choice sites to the blogroll/links section, located on the right-hand side of your computer screen. These sites are well worth the time and effort in reading.

1. North Carolina Community Advocates for Revitalizing Education (http://www.nccare.org/index.htm)…This organization, according to their website, was developed by parents, community members and the Education and Law Project of the North Carolina Justice Center. An outgrowth of the famous Leandro case from a few years ago, NCCARE has two primary goals: to reform our current system of school finance to ensure that every district has adequate and equitable funding and to eliminate the achievement gap. The site also features a lot of good in-dept information on Leandro and Judge Howard Manning.

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2. Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) (http://www.sacscoc.org/index.asp) This is the primary accrediting body for most of of the schools in the Guilford County Schools system. On their site are links to publications and accrediting standards.

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3. Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) and SREB’s High Schools That Work (http://www.sreb.org/) According to its website, SREB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works with leaders and policy-makers in 16 member states to improve pre-K through postsecondary education. Through many nationally recognized programs and services, SREB’s mission is helping states achieve the 12 Challenge to Lead Goals for Education. Many of Guilford County’s High Schools participate in HSTW. The site also highlights the organization’s positions on elementary and middle school education and has links to white papers.

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4. Talent Development High Schools-Johns Hopkins University (http://www.csos.jhu.edu/tdhs/) A number of ninth grade academies in Guilford County are using the “Johns Hopkins” model, which includes strategic reading, freshman seminar, and college prep reading and writing. GCS has spent big bucks on this model. Results? Jury’s still out.

E.C. 🙂