Candidate Huey quoted in 2/28/08 Rhino Times

From this week’s Rhino Times:

Three School Board Seats Up For Grabs
by Paul Clark
Staff Writer

It’s too early to predict the outcome of the election, but it is a certainty that there will be at least three new faces on the school board.

High Point resident Michael McKinney filed on Monday, Feb. 25 as a candidate for the at-large seat now held by Dot Kearns, who on that same day announced that she will not run for reelection.

McKinney will go up against David Crawford and Erik Huey. Crawford filed last year to run for the Greensboro City Council but dropped out of that race, announcing his intention to run for 6th District Congressman Howard Coble’s seat. And Huey, who had been wavering between running for the at-large or the District 5 seat, said he will file to run at large on Friday, Feb. 29. Kearns’ exit, and the filing of candidate Paul Daniels, decided the issue, Huey said.

The entry of McKinney and Huey raises the number of at-large candidates to three, which will result in that race being placed on the May 6 primary ballot. The two top vote-getters in the primary will compete in the general election Nov. 4.

As expected, school board member Walter Childs this week announced that he does not plan to run for reelection in District 1. Childs endorsed J. Carlvena Foster, executive director of the Carl Chavis Memorial Branch YMCA in High Point, who filed for the seat on Feb. 18.

Greensboro attorney Paul Daniels filed on Feb. 22 to run for the District 5 seat now held by school board member Anita Sharpe, who is not running for reelection.

Oak Ridge resident Mike Stone, a manager at Pactiv Corp., filed on Feb. 18 to run for the District 3 seat now held by school board member Darlene Garrett, who filed to run for reelection the same day.

District 7 school board member Kris Cooke on Feb. 11 filed to run for reelection, and District 9 school board member Amos Quick said he would file to run for reelection by week’s end.

Kearns, a long-time fixture in the county’s political landscape, said the time was right for her to step down. Kearns, 76, was elected to the old High Point school board in 1972 and the Guilford County Board of County Commissioners in 1982.

“Over the last weeks I have been in conversation with several potential candidates whom I find to hold similar beliefs about the imperative power of public education in a democracy and who hold similar hopes for building a strong effective Guilford County School System as I hold,” Kearns said in a press release. “With that knowledge, I am comfortable to leave the at-large seat in new and vigorous hands.”

Violence in the schools, the management of school construction projects and a more open school administration are shaping up as key issues in the race, candidates said this week.

McKinney, a vice president and community lender for Southern Community Bank and Trust whose daughter attends Southwest Elementary School, said safety in the schools and academic rigor are two of the focuses of his campaign.

McKinney said he had not yet decided his position on many issues but that safety is a big issue.

“I worry every day about my 9-year-old daughter, and I know other parents do, too,” McKinney said.

The idea of school uniforms is appealing, McKinney said.

“When you have kids together on that level, not competing on clothes or shoes, that makes the environment more conducive to academic focus,” McKinney said.

Garrett, who now holds the District 3 seat, said principals and teachers need to have input on decisions, rather than having decisions forced on them. She said the main issue in District 3, as in the county, is school funding, “because we need more funding.”

Garrett, who voted for the school bonds despite doubts about their size, said there is support for them in District 3. “But there is some skepticism,” she said. “It’s not going to be an easy sell. It’s a really high bond.”

The school board needs to look closely at discipline in the schools, and will be helped by the Monday, Feb. 25 report of the School Climate Task Force, Garrett said.

The exit of School Superintendent Terry Grier is a big opportunity for the school board to make changes, Garrett said.

Foster, who has degrees from Shaw University and High Point University, said safety issues are creating havoc in schools. The school board needs to enforce discipline and to more closely monitor who comes into schools, she said.

Foster proposes a “safe schools report card” that would grade individual schools on discipline and behavior issues. The schools also need to involve parents more, she said.

“Parents need to take some responsibility,” Foster said. “You can’t enforce discipline at school if it’s not enforced at home.”

Stone, who ran for school board in 2000, also in District 3, said things have gotten worse since his last race.

“In 2000, the big issue was bullying,” Stone said. “Last year, it transitioned more into gangs. It sounds like it ratcheted up a notch.”

Principals have to make judgment calls about what disciplinary incidents to report, which shouldn’t be the case, Stone said.

“You can’t fix it if you don’t know how big the problem is,” Stone said. “Right now, we’re not tracking the problem.”

The schools should reach out to gang leaders to get them to make schools a truce zone, Stone said.

Stone attacked the current board’s management of construction projects, which he said could be better handled by the private sector. He said he was leaning against supporting the $412 million in school construction bonds.

Guilford County Schools is not equipped to spend money as fast as it is raising it, Stone said. The schools should raise money in smaller increments, prove they can manage it well, and then ask for more, he said.

The $500 million in bonds approved by voters since 2000 have not bought enough, Stone said. “Does anybody really see a half billion dollars worth of schools?” he asked.

The current school board has identified too strongly with the administration of Grier, Stone said.

“The school board has circled the wagons with the administration and said, ‘It knows best,'” Stone said. “There are some smart people in the administration, but you need new ideas from the citizens.”

Daniels, running for the District 5 seat, is an attorney at Teague, Rotenstreich, Stanaland, Fox & Holt, LLP in Greensboro and a US Army veteran who has children attending Alamance Elementary School and Southeast Guilford High School.

Daniels said, the school board has lost touch with its customers, the parents, has let violence spiral out of control and is building schools “willy-nilly” without a coherent plan.

His children have witnessed fights in schools, one of which resulted in the school being closed for a day, Daniels said. “There is violence in these schools,” he said.

Daniels accused the schools of “under-representing crime” and said he disagreed with school board Chairman Alan Duncan’s assessment that no principals would risk their careers by not reporting crimes.

“I would say the opposite is true,” Daniels said. “Reporting crime can also ruin your career.”

Daniels said many District 5 residents are justifiably upset that the proposed middle school in Jamestown was not built after cost overruns on projects built with the 2003 school bonds.

Voters who approved the bonds “got taken for a ride,” Daniels said. The schools should have top-notch construction planning done by professionals, instead of haphazardly approving new features such as toilets that flush with rainwater, he said.

“Are we going to build Taj Mahal schools with the latest green gadgets, or are we going to be good stewards of the taxpayers’ money?” Daniels asked.

Daniels said he was angriest about the recent Guilford County Schools redistricting plan, which he described as “social engineering” and “one of the most egregious examples of, ‘We don’t care what the people think’ that I’ve seen.'”

The school board held hearings on four redistricting plans, then pulled a fast one, Daniels said.

“When it came to a vote, they pulled out Plan E, which no one hard heard of but the school board,” Daniels said. “That was a gross violation of the public trust.”

Huey, running at-large, said Daniels is “a level-headed guy” who is for fiscal conservatism and against the construction bonds.

“That’s two thumbs up, in my opinion,” Huey said. I will not run against him.”

Huey said his strategy is to build a voting bloc of more conservative school board members, including Daniels, Garrett and Garth Hebert.

If that happens, “we can actually get some things done,” he said.

Huey has scheduled a press conference on his filing for Friday, Feb. 29, at the old Guilford County Court on Market Street.

Huey praised Kearns for her long service to the county but said it was a good time for her to step down.

“I think she’s made the right decision to let a younger generation take the reins and make the decisions for the children of Guilford County,” Huey said.

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E.C.

The play-by-play as I filed today…

Thanks to the N&R’s Doug Clark via his blog, here’s a play-by-play on the final minutes of the ballot filing period:

Just hangin’ out at the elections office before the filing deadline

Entering the old Guilford County Courthouse about 11:45 today, the first thing I notice is there’s no line of candidates leading to the elections board office.No, say the very friendly women working behind the desk. It’s been quiet.

The last-day filers are few:

* Olga Morgan Wright, challenging Alma Adams in state House District 58 (again).

* Greg Woodard, running against Skip Alston in County Commissioner District 8 (that’s interesting). Woodard and Alston are both Democrats, so they’re heading for a primary contest in May.

* Alan Hawkes, for the at-large school board seat.

A couple of people are hanging around, somewhat anxiously. It turns out they’re Paul Daniels and Linda Welborn. Daniels filed last week for the District 5 school board seat that Anita Sharpe holds currently, and he’s waiting to see if anyone else will jump into that race. Welborn, an advocate for Southeast Guilford, supports Daniels and says she would have run if he didn’t.

County Commissioner Paul Gibson drops by and threatens to have me evicted for loitering. I ask him if he’s come to withdraw his candidacy for re-election. They won’t refund his filing fee, he says. I think he’s just making sure he and fellow Democratic incumbent John Parks aren’t going to have a primary. Indeed, they won’t: They’re the only two Dems in the race for two seats.

As noon approaches, the final candidate finally appears. Ironically, it’s the guy who was the very first to announce his candidacy: Erik “E.C.” Huey. It seems like he’s been running for almost two years now, and he was brushing the deadline. He becomes the fifth candidate to enter the nonpartisan at-large school board race, so there will be a primary in May to whittle that to the top two.

Huey is a former newspaper reporter (he and I worked together at the High Point Enterprise) and teacher. Despite his almost last-minute appearance, he’s very organized. He even has a press release and written statement.

Interestingly, he announces “the mutual support from GCS Board member Darlene Garrett and GCS Board candidate Paul Daniels.” They represent a potential “voting bloc” on the board, Huey adds.

He and Daniels praise each other and launch into a discussion of school issues, joined by Welborn and state Rep. John Blust, who popped in to find out if anyone filed to run against him (no). Blust will engage anyone in conversation on any subject for as long as they want to talk.

Also passing by is Alston. Stuck in the aforementioned gabathon about schools, I miss his reaction when he finds out about Woodard. I can say he doesn’t look panic-stricken. Woodard isn’t likely to scare Alston much, but he was a hardworking, credible candidate in the District 1 City Council race last year, and he will make a lot better opponent than no one.

I wish I could report on more action at the courthouse today. We’ll have to hope for exciting happenings on the campaign trail.

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BTW, the folks down at the Board of Elections were the absolute best and very helpful and friendly. Kudos to you all.

E.C.

I’m in…

From the up-to-date election filings over at the Guilford Co. Board of Elections…

Jamestown resident Erik “E.C.” Huey today filed as a candidate for the GCS Board at-large seat. Huey, who publicly announced his intentions almost two years ago, will face four other candidates in a May 6 primary. Huey has widespread support among both teachers and parents, along with local advocates for public education.

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E.C. HUEY’S PREPARED REMARKS TO BE DELIVERED FRIDAY

29 FEBRUARY 2008 TO OFFICIALLY FILE FOR

SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDACY

Almost two years ago, I stood at a spot not far from here, and publicly declared my intentions to run for the at-large seat on the Guilford County Board of Education. Almost two months ago, I returned to that spot to reaffirm my candidacy.

Well, what a difference makes with the passage of time.

Now that the February filing period has drawn to a close, we have now passed another milestone in this grass-roots effort to take back our schools.

Today, I am here to announce my official entry in the race for the Guilford County Board of Education where I am seeking the at-large seat to be vacated by outgoing Board member Dot Kearns.

And while I wish Mrs. Kearns the best in her difficult decision to retire from public service, coupled with the current superintendent search, 2008 will provide a golden opportunity for Guilford County Schools.

In December of 2006 when I originally announced my intentions to run for this seat, I challenged the status quo running Guilford County Schools to stop busing our children, to stop the wasteful spending of taxpayer money, to be smarter with regards to school construction, to do something about student achievement before Judge Howard Manning yanks our schools away from us, to get serious about cracking down on school violence and lack of discipline in our schools and classrooms, and to get serious on granting real whistleblowing protection for teachers and staff who wish to voice work-related complaints in their schools.

Unfortunately, our schools are worse off today than they were in 2006. Since the beginning of this school year, we’ve had several well-publicized incidents which have resulted in arrests. The recent GCS School Climate Task Force final report uncovered the many lapses we have in our schools with regard to safety and security.

When school board members openly questioned why a new proposed high school should cost nearly $88 million to build, they received a rather cold and condescending reception by GCS administrative staff.

With a nearly half-a-billion-dollar school bond referendum looming, it will ultimately yield more debt, which is already spiraling out of control. Race-baiting continues to be alive and well on our school board. Real whistleblowing protection for employees continues to be lacking, and as we’ve seen, teachers are administratively thrown under the bus if they blow the whistle and voice a complaint in their schools. And now principals are allegedly threatened if they report too many safety incidents in our schools or suspend too many students.

Some on our school board continue to push busing our students to schools across town instead of advocating for neighborhood schools. Cultural arts programs in our schools continue to be scaled back in favor of teaching our children how to pass a two hour test.

A lot has happened with respect to this campaign. Today, I’m proud to announce that my campaign site and blog has logged more than 33,000 visitors. My blog has become one of the fastest growing political and education blogs among Guilford County’s blogging community. My blog was recognized last year by the Raleigh-based John Locke Foundation for being a “must-read” for information on public education in Guilford County.

I declared in 2006 that it is time for a change in our schools. And since then, many have answered that call and have joined my campaign.

I’m proud to announce that many teachers from various schools across the county have voiced their support for this campaign. I’ve been meeting with teachers countywide on a regular basis since this campaign began, and I expect that to continue right into Election Day.

We’ve already picked up support from various families of GCS Advanced Learning and Very Strong Needs students. I have begun working closely with SAVE GCS ARTS, which is advocating for the immediate restoration of music and art instructional time in our elementary and middle schools and the reinstatement of the GCS cultural arts coordinator position.

I’m also proud to announce the mutual support from GCS Board member Darlene Garrett and GCS Board candidate Paul Daniels.

In addition, many among Guilford County’s blogging community have publicly announced their support for this campaign.

With many challengers in the primary race alone, this election is critical. We cannot rest and we do not have the luxury of time to waste. Our children are at stake. Our children are our future. Until these aforementioned issues are dealt with, GCS will continue to fail our children.

I’m here to tell our county’s public school children, all 71,000 of them, that help is on the way. I’m here to tell the 10,000 employees of Guilford County Schools…that help is on the way. I’m here today to tell the citizens, taxpayers, business owners, community leaders, and others who care deeply about public education in Guilford County, that help is on the way.

This is a real grass-roots movement and the task ahead of us is great. Our only interests are those children…our children. For our children are indeed our future.

Please join me so we can take back this at-large seat and return it properly to the people of this county. Join us so that we can have a renewed spirit of cooperation and focus, so that our schools will get back to the business of educating our children and educating our future.

Thank you. God bless you. And May God continue to bless the children of Guilford County.

E.C.

Now it’s a five-person race

From the up-to-date election filings over at the Guilford Co. Board of Elections…

Greensboro resident Alan Hawkes filed this morning for the at-large GCS Board race. Hawkes is a former member of the Guilford County Planning Board and a former County Commissioner candidate who at one time challenged former commissioner Bob Landreth. Hawkes currently is listed as a sitting member of the NC Charter School Advisory Committee.

Don’t forget that I’m announcing my filing this morning at 11:45am (about two hours from now) in front of the Old County Court House. All of my supporters and well-wishers and curious onlookers are welcome to attend, as well as interested press.

E.C.

Board hears from search firms

In a special called meeting last night which was not televised (big mistake), the GCS Board heard from search firms that may be charged with helping to find our next superintendent.

Coverage from today’s High Point Enterprise:

 The school board is con­sidering hiring a search firm to find his replace­ment and to lead the third largest school system in the state. Because of the de­mographics of the district, one firm said board mem­bers would need to focus on a slate of multi-ethnic, multi-gendered candidates. Another said strong lead­ership and interpersonal skills are needed to carry the district to the next lev­el. A business savvy leader and someone with public relations skills are also im­portant characteristics for Guilford, representatives said.
“The best superinten­dent in the world may be the worst superintendent for Guilford,” said Bill At­tea of Hazard, Young, Attea and Associates. “You need a superintendent that will address the needs you have and that can work with the stakeholders in Guilford County,” Attea added.

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E.C.

The at-large race is one to watch (N&R)

According to Morgan at the N&R Chalkboard, the at-large race is the one to watch. See what she says:

School board races to watch

It looks like the Board of Education races to watch this year will be in District 3 and the at-large seat Dot Kearns is vacating.

Mike Stone has returned to once again face Darlene Garrett in a bid for representation in the northwest part of the district. Stone, an Oak Ridge resident and unit manager for Pactiv Corp. in Greensboro, said he is dissatisfied with Garrett’s leadership and the fact that some of the issues that they both campaigned about in 2000 (lack of school safety, transparency and financial accountability) still exist.

“It’s eight years later and we have the same issues,” Stone told me today. “And why is that? We have some of the same board members.”

It looks like four people will be running for the at-large seat, including Sandra Alexandra, who filed today. I haven’t spoken to her yet.

Who has the edge? Erik Huey so far has the publicity, having announced his intentions to run back in November 2006. He also has a blog that covers local educational issues.

But Michael McKinney, a commercial banker for Southern Community Bank & Trust, might have more business and community connections. He serves on the Guilford County planning board and executive board of TRIBEC (Triad Real Estate & Building Industry Coalition). He was also a former board member with the United Way of Greensboro and fundraiser for Bennett College.

David Crawford has some exposure from running against Mike Barber for Greensboro city council last year. So the at-large race should be particularly interesting.

Who do you think has the best chance of winning?

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So Mr. McKinney is a banker and has ties to developers…I can’t wait to see what my friend Billy Jones has to say about this!

E.C.

A four-person race

From the up-to-date election filings over at the Guilford Co. Board of Elections…

Greensboro resident Sandra Alexandra filed today for the GCS Board at-large race. With me filing tomorrow morning, it now sets up a four person race going into the May primary (Alexandra, Huey, Crawford and McKinney), with the top-two going to November.

Don’t forget the press conference I’m having tomorrow morning at 11:45am in front of the old county Court House on W. Market Street. All are invited.

E.C.

Pardon the Website Dust

This morning, we began making some enhancements to the main Web site, http://www.hueyforguilfordschoolboard.org. Kindly, if you will, please pardon the dust for the next couple of days as we move some things around, add some new pages, and make this experience better overall.

E.C.

Amos is in

From the up-to-date election filings over at the Guilford Co. Board of Elections…

GCS Board member Amos Quick today filed for re-election in Dist. 9 for a second term. Between now and Friday, it is uncertain whether he will have any opposition on the ballot.

E.C.

Doug Clark pays tribute to Dot Kearns

Doug Clark at the News & Record inked a column today in which he paid a sort of tribute to outgoing at-large GCS Board member Dot Kearns…and it is both igniting a crap-storm on his blog, and unfortunately reopening old wounds among many across the area who were unfairly victimized by the many rounds of busing led by Kearns.

Kearns: Tender heart, tough skin

The next school built in old High Point ought to be named for Dot Kearns.

Not in north High Point, where Kearns was hanged in effigy a few years ago. That’s not her best part of town.

But south of Oak Hollow Lake, Kearns has been associated positively with education for so long that it’s almost odd a school doesn’t already carry her name. …

T. Wingate Andrews, Laurin Welborn, William Penn and Alfred J. Griffin have met their equal.

A child who entered kindergarten in High Point the year Kearns began her service on the city school board, 1972, is likely turning 41 now and may have seen his or her own kids graduate from Guilford County Schools — with Kearns now sitting on the Board of Education.

In between, she logged two terms on the Guilford County Board of Commissioners, including a turn as chairwoman.

Altogether, she’s held public office for 34 of the last 36 years — a remarkable record that will end in December. Kearns said Monday she won’t run for re-election to the at-large seat she’s occupied since 1992.

The hangers-in-effigy may rejoice. They vilified Kearns as an architect of the “choice plan” that sought to achieve a better socioeconomic mix of students at High Point’s three high schools. The effort was meant to draw voluntary transfers for unique academic programs but failed to meet its promise and resorted to an unpopular assignment lottery. Eventually it was abandoned.

Even in the midst of that uproar in 2004, Kearns won re-election against Jim Kirkpatrick, a former colleague on the Board of Commissioners and a formidable challenger. It turned out to be the last of what Kearns tallies as her 19 campaigns. Anyone who wrote off this gentlewoman as a soft touch on Election Day made a serious mistake. Kearns almost always came up a winner.

One exception was 1990, when she lost her commissioners’ seat to fellow High Pointer Steve Arnold.

“That was about merger and Harvey Gantt,” recalled Kearns, who ran as a Democrat against the Republican Arnold. They were identified on opposite sides of two volatile issues — Guilford County school merger and the Jesse Helms-Harvey Gantt U.S. Senate race.

The defeat put Kearns out of office for two years, until she gained a seat on the newly consolidated school board. She was elected countywide but became a strong advocate for High Point.

She counts as a highlight “the development of magnet opportunities in High Point. Greensboro had 16 when we merged, High Point and the county had none. It’s wonderful the opportunities we have in High Point now,” she said Monday.

One of the most exciting is the aviation program at Andrews.

Kearns’ greatest disappointment didn’t surprise me: the resegregation of public schools. She believes passionately that children from different racial and economic backgrounds should get to know each other at an early age, and the social and academic benefits are worth busing them across a city as small as High Point.

It’s an intensely unpopular position these days, with little support from white or black communities. Kearns’ persistence in the face of hostility, ridicule and personal abuse is a testimony to her idealism and sense of hope and why I credit her with the tenderest heart and toughest hide of anyone I know in politics.

At 76, she deserves to retire from the battles and spend more time with her husband, Lyles, visiting their out-of-state children and grandchildren.

But not quite yet. Kearns will stick around long enough to help choose the next superintendent.

Terry Grier detractors may forget that Kearns voted against hiring him eight years ago. She’ll be just as choosy this time. But, any decision gives naysayers a chance to toss more bricks.

No problem. In a lifetime of public service, Kearns has caught enough bricks to build a school. It ought to have her name on it.

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E.C.

Media Advisory: Huey to file Friday

Elect Erik “E.C.” Huey, 2008 Guilford Co. Board of Education (at-large) Candidate PUTTING GUILFORD COUNTY’S CHILDREN FIRST!

M E D I A  A D V I S O R Y

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SCHOOL BOARD CANDIDATE E.C. HUEY

OFFICIALLY FILES FOR AT-LARGE RACE

JAMESTOWN/ADAMS FARM (27 February 2008) – Guilford County 2008 School Board at-large candidate Erik “E.C.” Huey will convene a brief press conference this Friday, Feb. 29, to announce the official filing of his 2008 school board campaign.

The press event will convene at 11:45am on the sidewalk in front of the old Guilford County Court House at 301 W. Market Street in downtown Greensboro .

Mr. Huey will submit his filing inside at the Guilford County Board of Elections at 11:30am, after which he will make a brief public statement and will take questions from the news media at 11:45am.

The candidate will briefly discuss major highlights from his campaign and will address recent newsworthy events from school discipline to this year’s superintendent search.

Huey said today: “The campaign for putting our children first begins in earnest on Friday. With two challengers in the race so far, I’m looking forward to a spirited debate and a worthwhile campaign.”

Supporters of Huey’s grass-roots candidacy, including concerned parents, students, teachers, administrators, any current school board members and community leaders are invited to attend. Press coverage is welcomed and encouraged.

E.C. Huey is an unofficial candidate for the 2008 at-large position on the Guilford County Board of Education and will officially file for the position this Friday, Feb. 29, 2008. More information about his candidacy, positions, published statements and blog can be found on his official campaign website: www.hueyforguilfordschoolboard.org.

A damning report yields an urgent response

I can’t say there were a lot of surprises in last night’s unveiling of the GCS School Climate Task Force report. But it brought some urgent issues to the forefront. (full coverage from today’s News and Record here)

1. The report continues to shine light that we have principals and teachers that are afraid to talk. Last week’s CBS-2 report was only the beginning.

Board member Garth Hebert read a litany of e-mails last night from teachers who are threatened by principals for talking openly and candidly. Board members Hebert, Jeff Belton and Darlene Garrett have said previously that this culture of fear must stop and that teachers must feel as though they can talk to a Board member. I was heartened to see Chairman Alan Duncan also say publicly that this has to end…but with respect to Duncan, he’s been on the Board for a while, so he’s had a chance to right the wrongs and create a whistleblowing policy that has teeth…he hasn’t.

I will.

2. The money aspect. Outgoing Board member Anita Sharpe questioned the amount of money that would be spent on such initiatives such as creating a teen mediation center, adding social workers and creating a new cadre of non-sworn security staff at middle and high schools.

Personally, I have some of the same questions, but let’s put it in context…this board is willing to ask us for half-a-billion dollars of our money into another construction debacle black-hole.

3. The ongoing factor of race. Board member Sharpe said she was “offended” at the contents of the report.

I was offended at the report’s reaction, especially from Deena Hayes. And yes, she was fired up again, as usual, playing the victimization card, woe-is-me, it’s everyone-elses fault. I didn’t have high hopes for this report, and this was one reason why. This doesn’t have anything to do with racism or perceived racism; this has everything to do with the utter lack of resources in our schools and the lack of Board oversight.

4. Board member Amos Quick gets in a dig. Quick said last night that in his nearly four years on the Board, nothing has changed. Not to worry, Mr. Quick, others have been on the Board a lot longer, and they too have not gotten the job done. And if we don’t get serious about the problems in our schools, we’re going to keep talking about this issue until something bad happens. The time for GCS to stop playing defense is now!

5. ISS needs fixing. SCALES needs fixing.

Why was the Board surprised last night that many of our in-school suspension programs are in need of an overhaul? I’ve been preaching this since I started campaigning two years ago. This highlights the real fact that some of our Board members are not getting the true tours of our schools and they’re seeing only what they are told to see.

N&R excerpt:

Recommendations included reducing the number of students in elementary, middle and high schools; adding social workers; restructuring in-school suspension programs; and establishing a centralized mediation center to handle student disputes.

Other recommendations included adding security staff to schools; using standard modes of dress districtwide and reducing class sizes in traditional schools to 17 students.

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E.C.

Dot’s retirement and my thoughts on a Huey versus McKinney versus Crawford matchup

Just because you hand-pick someone for your seat does not guarantee victory.

Dot Kearns announced yesterday she will not seek another term as the at-large GCS Board member (see today’s coverage from the High Point Enterprise here). I applaud Ms. Kearns’ decision to retire and I wish her the best. It is time for new leadership for the GCS Board, and as I’ve been saying all along, it is time for younger  better yet, smarter leadership among our elected boards.

But this is not a beauty contest or a prom or homecoming king/queen competition. The best candidate will be victorious and victory is not guaranteed.

That said, here are some thoughts:

Last night’s meeting of the School Climate Task Force proves new leadership is needed on this Board. Thankfully, with the exit of three Board members, the entire dynamic will change.

There will be a May primary for the at-large race. There are two candidates in the race so far.

I would have liked to see more candidates file for the Childs seat and see some competition for the Cooke seat. Of course, it is only Tuesday.

I will be filing before week’s end, and when I do, I will announce a major endorsement. That announcement will come this Friday.

Despite this being a three-person race going into the May primary, and soon to be a two candidate race going into November, some strategies will change.

I’m not as concerned about David Crawford as I am about Michael McKinney. A potential Huey versus McKinney matchup would set up an interesting race. If McKinney is Dot’s so-called hand-picked candidate, he would still have to go before the voters.

It is not a beauty contest, no one is guaranteed victory here.

But the race will be about endorsements, and the issues. Mainly the issues.

We will have to raise money. We will begin doing so after Friday.

We have a lot of advantages going into the election. Timing…I announced my intentions in late November, 2006. This website opened December of 2006. We just passed the 32,000 visitor mark. We have a lot of parents and teachers already on board. We have some student support. A number of you have expressed that you’re ready to hit the ground running to help in whatever way possible.

The race will be exciting.

E.C.

Dot to Retire?

BREAKING NEWS…

Doug Clark at the News & Record is reporting that at-Large GCS Board member Dot Kearns will step down and retire off the Board at the conclusion of her term.

This is big.

Clark:

Like many High Pointers, I’ve known Dot Kearns for a very long time as a lady with a tender heart and tough hide. Except for a couple of years, she’s held public office since 1972 — on the High Point Board of Education, Guilford County Board of Commissioners and consolidated Guilford County Board of Education.

Kearns is announcing today she won’t run for another term this year. At 76, she’s ready to slow down and devote more time to visiting her out-of-state grandchildren.

This news will prompt celebrations among her critics, but not me. Although I’ve disagreed with her about a number of issues, I’ve always admired her honesty, her courage and her devotion to the causes she values. After all these years, it’s time for someone else to take her place on the school board, but I’ll rank her as one of the most dedicated elected officials I’ve ever encountered.

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This changes very little. I’m still going to file before the end of the week, if not before. My strategy may change somewhat, now that it is an open seat, but I’m looking forward to the race.

Ms. Kearns has served the citizens of Guilford County for a number of years. I wish her the best. I think she made the right call in stepping aside and making way for new (hopefully younger) leadership on the Board. It’s the right time.

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UPDATE…

This staff report in today’s N&R:

Dot Kearns not seeking another term on school board

Dot Kearns has decided not to seek another term as an at-large member of the Guilford County Board of Education, according to an e-mail sent to friends and the media today.

Kearns, 76, has been on the 11-member board since its 1992 inception. Prior to that, she served for 10 years on the High Point school board and eight years on the county’s Board of Commissioners.

“In truth, I had not planned to run the last two times,” Kearns said Monday. “But I wanted to be sure there were others (planning to run) who had some of the same hopes and aspirations for the school system that I do.”

Kearns said there are candidates running for the seat who fit that description – “one in particular” – and that made her decision easier. She would not name her choice, but said “perhaps we could revisit that later.”

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Hmmmm…wonder who that could be…

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Further, from Doug Clark:

She issued this statement a little later this afternoon:

Many of you with whom I’ve worked over the years:

This message is to share with you my intentions not to file for another term on the Guilford County Board of Education.

Over the last weeks I have been in conversation with several potential candidates whom I find to hold similar beliefs about the imperative power of public education in a democracy and who hold similar hopes for building a strong effective Guilford County School System as I hold. With that knowledge, I am comfortable to leave the At-Large Seat in new and vigorous hands.

I am indebted to the citizens of High Point, Greensboro and all of Guilford County for allowing me to serve as their representative on a Board of Education and the County Commission for many years.

We have an especially wonderful county. Nonetheless, there are on-going challenges – many of which can be best met by the continuing development of a vibrant public school system – designed and implemented to meet the needs of all our diverse student and family populations.

My hope is that county wide, citizens will give the new At-Large School Board member feedback and positive support as so many have given to me.

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It’s going to be one heck of a race!

E.C.

Michael McKinney files for at-large

From the up-to-date election filings over at the Guilford Co. Board of Elections…

High Point resident Michael McKinney filed today as a candidate for the at-large seat on the GCS Board. The seat is currently held by Dot Kearns, who still hasn’t announced whether she will run again or not.

Greensboro resident David Crawford filed for the at-large race two weeks ago. If one or more persons file in this race (me? Kearns?), there will be a May primary.

McKinney, currently, is listed as a sitting member of the Guilford County Planning Board.

E.C.

Bond recap stories from the Enterprise

Here are links to some good recap stories the High Point Enterprise inked both yesterday and today:

Bond talks wrought with political wrangling (today)

BOND$ (yesterday)

Earlier bond issues helped ease growing pains (yesterday)

E.C.

Less time for arts is detrimental to students (N&R)

Yesterday’s Guilford Record, inside most of Sunday’s N&R editions, featured this op-ed from Guilford Education Alliance executive director Margaret Arbuckle.

She’s spot-on here.

Less time for arts is detrimental to students

By Margaret Arbuckle
Contributing Writer

Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008 3:00 am

The discussion regarding the importance of arts education in our public schools has been heightened recently. Teachers, parents, students, arts faculty from our colleges and universities and arts advocates have all spoken before the Board of Education. The basic premise is that lessening time for arts education has a tremendous negative impact on students’ academic success, their comprehensive education and their potential to be creative responsible citizens as adults.

This conversation is a reaction to the decrease of time for arts education in a number of elementary schools as a result of two decisions:

• The Board of Education provided a daily planning period for every teacher in elementary schools for the 2007-08 school year. Teachers indicated that this was needed to collaborate with each other and to lessen the pressure to “get it all done” in the course of the school day. To provide the planning period, another class taught by another teacher had to be included in the day.

• Including another instructional period achieved another school board goal: providing foreign language instruction so that students graduate with knowledge of a second language. Spanish was re-introduced into the elementary grades.

The impact of these two changes resulted in an unintentional reduction of arts education.

The requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act complicate things. Although art and music are core subjects listed in the law, they are not tested. In Guilford County they are categorized as “encore” subjects taught by specialists, not classroom teachers.

Across the country, time devoted to arts education has been decreased as the pressures have mounted to meet the proficiency levels in math and reading as measured through No Child Left Behind. Schools whose students do not meet proficiency levels in these subjects are sanctioned.

According to one study, there has been a 16 percent decline in time devoted to social studies and arts, and increased time devoted to reading and math, sometimes equal to doubling the time for reading and math during a school day.

The impact of less time devoted to arts education is clear. Last month, Education Week reported:

• Youth are disengaged from society, leading to increased youth violence, gang activity and sense of hopelessness. Arts education is not the only means of addressing this but with arts education comes collaboration, increased respect for cultural differences and a greater sense of positive self-esteem.

• The arts are a universal language, deepening understanding and communication in our global economy.

• Arts education provides opportunities for innovation and creativity, the hallmarks of our economic success.

• Arts education provides the opportunity for students to seek deeper meaning in their work, enhancing their spiritual development and leading them to defining values that connect them to humankind.

There is consensus that the positive impact of the No Child Left Behind legislation is full disclosure of the performance of our public schools. However, most agree that to meet the expectations of the law, we are teaching “to the test,” limiting our students’ development of critical thinking skills, and are basing our education system on theories that related to the Industrial Age, not the 21st-century global economy.

We are challenged to educate our students to achieve proficiency on tests but also develop the capacity to think creatively. Arts education is one means of achieving this.

The facts of the current status of arts education appear to be evidence both locally and nationally that meeting the measurement expectations of the law has resulted in decreasing the opportunities to teach our students through the arts.

The goals of creating a truly educated public have been lost in the demand to reach some level of proficiency on required testing, and we have sacrificed arts education in the process.

A re-examination of our total curriculum is necessary.

The Guilford County Board of Education is examining alternative scheduling proposals to identify ways to provide a more comprehensive curriculum for our children’s education.

Let’s hope that is achieved.

Margaret Bourdeaux Arbuckle is executive director of Guilford Education Alliance.

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E.C.

School Violence Task Force Reports Tonight

How timely is this report, coming on the heels of last week’s CBS-2 report, and GCS’ pitiful response to it.

Don’t forget that this evening at 6pm, the GCS Board will hear from the School Climate Task Force and their final report and recommendations. I can’t wait.

E.C.

Paul Daniels files for District 5; Huey to file next week

From the up-to-date election filings over at the Guilford Co. Board of Elections…

Southeast Greensboro resident Paul Daniels filed today as a candidate for the GCS Board in District 5 for the seat to be vacated by Anita Sharpe.

A downtown Greensboro lawyer and local political newcomer, Daniels has children in the GCS system.

I actually had the pleasure of meeting Daniels a few months ago at a school board meeting. Our meeting was cordial and positive. Daniels cares deeply about both his children and about the lives of other children in the GCS system and he had actually wanted to get involved from a Board standpoint for quite a while.

Now is his opportunity.

He will have my support.

As for my intentions, I will be filing next week. It may be early next week or the middle of next week…or 30 minutes before closing. Stay tuned.

E.C.

It’s your turn on the Bonds

Now it’s your turn to sound off on both the Eastern Guilford H.S. Bond and the big mega-Bond. They both will be on the May 6 ballot.

Whether it is a “yes” or a “no” vote, I will respect the decision of the citizens. I do support the EGHS bond, but I will not actively work to defeat the mega-bond. If it goes down in defeat, it will do so on its own merits (or lack of).

From today’s N&R:

GREENSBORO — Scores of public school boosters helped convince county commissioners to put three education-related bond packages on the ballot this May.

If Thursday night’s county commissioners’ meeting was any indication, voters should expect to hear this spring from passionate parents and community leaders who want real schools, not trailers.

Boosters and detractors spoke out about the spending packages before commissioners agreed to place a total of five bonds on the May 6 ballot.

Here’s a look at what people said and how the commissioners voted.

Guilford County Schools, $412.3 million

For four new schools, 13 renovation and addition projects and upgraded athletic facilities to eight high schools.

What they said: This bond boasted the most supporters. Sharon Shepherd of Jamestown said her research has shown that one in four students in Guilford County learns in trailers. Brick-and-mortar schools are a much better investment, she said, because they last longer.

Clarence Davis of High Point said Andrews High School desperately needs new air conditioning, something the bonds could supply.

Said Margaret Arbuckle, executive director of the Guilford Education Alliance: “The need of 10 years ago is even greater today.”

Only one person, Leon Nutes of Greensboro, spoke against putting the bond on the ballot, saying he wanted more information on how the money would be spent.

How they voted: 9-1 in favor. Commissioner Steve Arnold voted against it. Commissioner Melvin “Skip” Alston was absent for all the bond votes Thursday night.

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E.C.

School Crime: GCS to “investigate”

I said this story wasn’t over…

Turns out, GCS is playing defense again and plans to launch an investigation into how school crime numbers are filed and reported as a result of the CBS-2 report shown Monday.

This from CBS-2 WFMY:

Greensboro, NC — Guilford County Schools has launched an investigation into its school crime reporting practices.

It’s a reponse to a 2 Wants to Know Investigation that found nearly 100 crimes the district failed to report to the state.

Our investigation discovered the numbers don’t add up.

We found cases of sexual assault, robbery even bomb threats police reported, but the system did not.

The district’s school safety officer hopes to find out why.

Tony Scales says he’s requested the dates, times and locations for sexual assaults and robberies that occurred on school grounds.

If it turns out police recorded a larger number of offenses, Scales says he’ll ask principals why the numbers don’t add up.

Here is a statement from a school spokesperson about the district’s investigation.

“The GCS School Safety office has requested information on certain reported crimes from Greensboro and High Point Police Departments and the Guilford County Sheriff’s Department to determine if crimes have been committed on the district’s campuses that GCS was not aware of, and subsequently, not reported. GCS has requested dates, times, exact locations and any victim information that can be legally released. We will report our findings to the community and Board of Education once our analysis has concluded. Meanwhile, the district is developing a set of procedural action items for principals to follow to ensure accuracy and completeness of reporting.”

Source: WFMY News2

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E.C.

GCS opens Super-Search feedback link

From today’s N&R:

 GREENSBORO — Guilford County Schools is seeking public input in its search for a new superintendent.

People who want to comment on the characteristics the Board of Education should look for in its next leader can do so at this link.

Superintendent Terry Grier is leaving the district on March 14 after eight years to become superintendent of the San Diego (Calif.) Unified School District. The district’s interim leaders will be Eric Becoats, chief of staff, and Sharon Ozment, chief finance officer.

Guilford County Schools, with 119 schools and 71,000 students, is the state’s third largest school system.

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E.C.

Kiser Middle to host multicultural night tonight

From the N&R:

GREENSBORO – The Kiser Middle School PTA will host a multicultural fair for students, teachers and the community on Thursday (tonight) from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

The event will serve as a social studies lesson for students and will feature teams of teachers and their students competing to represent a different country, incorporating food, dancing, art and decorations. Students and their families will receive a passport upon arrival that will be stamped as they travel around the school.

The parent-teacher association will pay for the event through a $1,000 parent involvement grant from the North Carolina PTA. Kiser was one of 10 schools statewide to receive a grant.

For more information, contact Assistant Principal Jessica Bohn at 370-8240.

E.C.

Dot’s little party was a flop

So GCS Board member Dot Kearns…well, not Dot herself, but the GCS Board’s Legislative Committee (of which Dot plays a major part)…the Committee hosted a luncheon yesterday for Raleigh’s Guilford delegation…mainly to gather steam and traction in an effort to pass HB1740–the Taxing Authority bill. (more previous coverage found here)

But the party poopers were the guests themselves…apparently, most of our delegation is not fully on board in support of this bill. Not to mention many on our County Board are not in support of the Bill either.

Two sets of votes were cast Tuesday night, one to get the GCS Board to support 1740; that vote actually failed. Then a second vote was cast to support the “concept” of taxing authority. That vote passed with two dissensions (Amos and Deena).

Both Dot (I don’t know if I’m going to run for re-election or not) Kearns and Kris Cooke had choice words for both the Board and the County Commissioners. See, they think having taxing authority takes the Co-Co’s out of the equation entirely, but it doesn’t. They’re bad mouthing the ones who continue to hold the purse strings for the time being.

The saga continues.

E.C.

Public hearing on the Bonds…tonight

This ought to be an interesting hearing.

From an Action Greensboro e-mail a couple of days ago in my inbox:

The Guilford County Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing to receive feedback from the community on the upcoming bonds on Thursday, February 21 at 5:30pm at Old Guilford County Courthouse, Second Floor (301 West Market Street).

 Guilford County citizens will have an opportunity on May 6, 2008 to vote on $457 million in school construction bonds.  The Guilford County School system expects to continue to add between 1,200 and 1,500 students on average each year, and currently has 622 mobile classrooms.  Many school facilities are more than 30 years old. The bond package, which contains a prioritized list of 27 renovation and new construction projects, will have a significant impact on Guilford County Schools’ ability to provide students with adequate space and to provide necessary renovations/repairs to aging facilities.

Your opinions about our schools are important!  Please make them known at this public hearing on February 21.

E.C.

The lowdown on this week’s Board meeting

Click here for a quick rundown on Tuesday’s GCS Board meeting, courtesy of Wednesday’s N&R…of interest, the Board will interview firms to gather information and rates on assisting the Gang of 11 with conducting a new superintendent search. They may hire a firm, they may not. In addition, about 8 or 9 community meetings are also planned.

E.C.

School Crime: Someone’s not telling the truth

CBS-2 works for you…unless you’re a GCS Central Office staffer. Because some of our downtown elite want to crush the CBS eye, such as in this graphic.

Apparently, Monday’s CBS-2 (WFMY) report on school crime ruffled a lot of feathers downtown, to the point where both school safety officer Tony Scales and San Diego Schools Supt. Terry Grier are criticizing CBS-2 of “sensationalising” the issue for “Sweeps” time.

But tonight, CBS-2 ran a follow-up, in which GCS Board member Garth Hebert was interviewed:

Board member Garth Hébert says he did speak to six principals. He says two told him they felt intimidated not to report incidents. The other four said they didn’t really think there was intimidation.

“I’ve actively sought out to see if it is happening. Yes, it is happening,” he told WFMY News 2’s Erich Spivey. “But, it is not a plague. It is there, it needs to be dealt with, ’cause I don’t believe it is intentionally happening. I think it is just something that has been bred into the system by accident. It can be purged easily, if we’re willing to be honest and say we won’t tolerate this sort of thing.”

I smell a rat, folks. This story is not over.

BTW, more Tony Scales reaction in Wednesday’s N&R.

E.C.

Walt’s done

The News & Record Chalkboard reports that GCS Board member Walter Childs will not run for re-election.

He will actively support Carl Chavis YMCA executive director Carlvena Foster, who filed earlier this week to run for Childs’ Dist. 1 seat.

E.C.

School Crime Reporting Leaves Out Dozens of Violent Crimes (CBS-2)

Here’s the text of the CBS-2 story that aired at 11pm Monday night. Personally, I’m puzzled…and troubled at some of the stats in the report (click here for companion coverage over on the N&R Chalkboard):

Greensboro, NC — The fire that ravaged Eastern Guilford High School did enough damage that day.

Yet according to school system crime reports, it never happened.

2 Wants to Know compared law enforcement records (Guilford County Sheriff’s Department, Greensboro Police Department and High Point Police Department) with the school system’s reports to the Department of Public Instruction.

And we uncovered 90 violent offenses the district left out.

Police reported 24 sexual assaults, including rapes.

The system only recorded three.

Where law enforcement reported 18 robberies.

The district had four.

And authorities recorded eight cases of school arson.

The school system recorded zero.

Sonya Conway with Guilford County Schools explained the omission of the Eastern Guilford arson.

“The current principal, it’s his understanding that if a student was not attributed to the incident that it wasn’t to be recorded in the report.”

But state law requires principals immediately report any criminal act that occurs on school property.

Failure to do so amounts to a misdemeanor offense.

Sheriff BJ Barnes said, “I’ve had principals tell me they don’t feel the need to report certain things that are going in there because it reflects poorly on the school and on the system.”

And that makes it impossible to gauge the security in our schools.

When crimes get ignored, Barnes says it can lead to other major crimes such as school shootings.

Part of the problem is the district can’t guarantee the accuracy of its crime reporting.

“Unfortunately I don’t think Guilford County Schools has a mechanism in place to verify that the information reported at the school level is factual,” Conway said.

The system depends on the state to catch inaccuracies.

But the state trusts district’s to tell the truth.

The Department of Public Instruction does not compare school records with those of law enforcement.

When judging the validity Guilford County Schools’ report all the sheriff needs to do is consider a glaring omission.

Barnes said, “It says Eastern Guilford didn’t happen. They need $60 million plus for something. I suspect that’s just plain wrong.”

The following data is based on a comparison of the report Guilford County Schools made to DPI and our local law enforcement.

• GCS reported 3 incidents of sexual assault, law enforcement reported 7.
• GCS reported 0 incidents of sexual offense, law enforcement reported 17.
• GCS reported 1 incident of a bomb threat, law enforcement reported 8.
• GCS reported 0 incidents of burning of a school building, law enforcement reported 8.
• GCS reported 0 incidents of assault involving a weapon, law enforcement reported 12.
• GCS reported 7 incidents of possession of a firearm, law enforcement reported 0.
• GCS reported 4 incidents of robbery without a dangerous weapon, law enforcement reported 18.
• GCS reported 243 incidents of possession of a weapon, law enforcement reported 140.
• GCS reported 116 incidents of possession of a controlled substance, law enforcement reported 145.
• GCS reported 27 incidents of possession of alcohol, law enforcement reported 11.
• GCS reported 58 incidents of assault on school personnel, law enforcement reported 11.
• GCS reported 23 incidents of assault resulting in injury, law enforcement reported 21.

In addition, law enforcment reported more than 1200 incidents at Guilford County Schools. DPI did not require these to be reported to the state including burglaries, various assaults and drug sales.Click here to see state law requiring principals to report campus crime:

http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_115C/GS_115C-288.html

Click here to view Guilford County Schools Annual Report on School Crime and Violence from the Department of Public Instruction.

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/research/discipline/reports/

Source: WFMY News2

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E.C.

GSO Mayor Johnson sounds off on youth, schools

 UPDATE BELOW…

I’ve met Greensboro Mayor Yvonne Johnson only a couple of times, and this was going back a few years ago while she was still on the City Council. At the time, I really didn’t formulate an opinion other than she seemed to be a nice lady.

When she was voted in recently as the first black mayor of North Carolina’s third largest city, I was hoping it would signal an era of change and transition, not withstanding “Mitch-Gate” and the mountain of corruption currently plaguing City Hall.

So you can imagine my sense of confusion when I opened up the N&R Monday and saw this article. Now, everyone lately has something to say about the state of Guilford County’s youth, especially our youth of color…about how we need more programs, this program, that program, that other program.

The confusing part were these series of quotes:

“Many of our youth start out with dreams of the future… then life happens,” she said. One, positive adult in that child’s life can change that, she said.

Okay.

After the speech Johnson answered questions provided by the audience. Many of the queries focused on concerns about the school system, ranging from her opinion on what the new superintendent should do once hired to how the city can curb violence at Dudley and Smith high schools.

Um…okay.

Johnson noted the City Council has little direct impact on schools issues but did weigh in, saying the police department is making more of an effort to work with groups at Dudley and Smith.

O…kay.

Johnson said she would like to see the new superintendent implement sensitivity and racism awareness training and again urged parents, churches and other civic groups to help by getting involved.

“I think we all bear some responsibility,” she said.

Uh…oh.

Sensitivity and racism awareness training…I’m sorry, I thought we’ve all been healed already, this is 2008. What Mayor Johnson doesn’t know is that…sshhhhh…this training already exists, through the so-called GCS Diversity Office. I said so-called, because we did a pretty good report on the GCS Diversity Office back in the fall and uncovered some troubling information.

SSHHHHH…don’t tell Mayor Johnson this either, but the previous “anti-racism training” GCS had accused white teachers of being racist by nature, and that GCS Board member Deena Hayes was, in fact, a “trainer” with one of the agencies conducting these workshops.

Probably what Johnson should have said…was this:

“…the new Superintendent should have rather thick skin because he/she is coming into a county where the color of one’s skin continues to be a stronger focus than the content of one’s character.”

Programs are good…stronger parenting is better.

To close, Johnson cited a need for “economic opportunity” for today’s youth.

You know what, Madam Mayor, our citizens NEED jobs! From our high school-aged kids, to our college-age young people, and even young professionals in their 30s like me…we need jobs, good jobs; not $9 an hour part-time service jobs…we need companies to come in, set up shop and put our citizens to work. And it’s sad that our so-called “economic development professionals” continue to be blind-sided at the continuing brain-drain that’s literally sucking the intellectual wind out of Guilford County.

Getting off the soap box…

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UPDATE…

I thought about this a little more…and the more I think about it, the more I’m troubled at one other quote she used above.  Johnson said: “Many of our youth start out with dreams of the future… then life happens,” she said.

What does the mayor mean by that?

Yes, life happens…but that can be a good thing, it doesn’t have to be bad. Just because many of our youth are differently-advantaged, does that mean they don’t have a chance to succeed in life? No…absolutely not.

But I fear she may be using victimization here. I could be wrong, but the context is puzzling.

E.C.