not racist, just ill informed. the issue you're concerned about only effects a small percentage of students. you also mention a false dilemma, choosing between paying teachers well or an extra cost for school buses.

1/17/2011 1:52:00 PM

Quote :

"I'm for neighborhood schools because I don't want my kids sent across the county to go to school with a bunch of Cary kids. Am I racist for that? Why don't we spend the money it take to bus these kids and give teachers better incentives to teach at these schools. I know plenty of jobless teachers that would jump on the opportunity to make good money teaching kids. "

You're not racist, you're just thinking about yourself, which is fine. Not everyone is able to look at the broader picture.

When you consider that only around 5% of people are being bussed, and the vast majority (90%+) of parents are fine with their school assignment, AND it allows the kids in lower income neighborhoods to have better schools, the bigger picture trumps your personal desires.

It's perfectly fine, and even commendable, for you to look out for your family first, but you can't expect this to trump a system that pushes for the broader success of our society.

1/17/2011 2:26:00 PM

Well, the upside is, we were the subject of "The Word" segment on Colbert Report tonight.

The downside is it's because of this bullshit.

1/19/2011 1:14:33 AM

Here is said clip:

1/19/2011 6:46:47 AM

Congratulations Wake County on becoming a laughing-stock on a national stage.

1/19/2011 8:36:36 AM

^^ I clicked on the wral article this morning. It had 0 comments from the golo things at the bottom. hour and half later it's at 193 comments. GG wake county.

[Edited on January 19, 2011 at 9:26 AM. Reason : s]

1/19/2011 9:26:14 AM

Wake county didn't put this on a national stage.

People who didn't get their way did...

It's like a mad ex gf that you broke up with telling every girl you date that you have the herp.

1/19/2011 1:30:48 PM

oh wow, this is fantastic. It's true, at this point I'd have a hard time actually commenting on this topic without being sarcastic.

Isn't the 'problem' really that we have a school board elected by extremists when 4% of the electorate turned out to vote? If you had an election right now, we wouldn't have this outcome, right? right? Please tell me I'm right.

1/19/2011 1:31:39 PM

I think the high satisfaction led to the poor turnout, it's usually people angry about something that come out to vote.

1/19/2011 1:53:38 PM

I voted, and not for Debra Goldman, fat lot of good that did. I'm sure more people will turn out next year, though.

1/19/2011 3:10:36 PM

errr, in 2013.

1/19/2011 4:28:22 PM

I know people who are really sensitive about this. Because Wake county is being made fun of on a national scale.

I say self pwn because somehow the board got elected in the first place. Either you voted stupidly or you're lazy (or you are one of a noble few who voted against this). Now your children must suffer.

Well, not so much your children, but the future of those brought up in Wake county.

1/19/2011 7:17:42 PM

Quote :

"Either you voted stupidly or you're lazy (or you are one of a noble few who voted against this). Now your children must suffer."

that is simply not true... board seats are not elected all at once, and only certain districts can vote for certain seats. The year this group decided to go into office many people were not allowed to vote because the seats are not in their district.

1/19/2011 11:17:35 PM

ok, so either

a) some districts did not get a vote because they already voted for a member who was already in the middle of serving their term or
b) they just plain didn't have representation in the school board for the area in which their kids go to school (but possibly for a limited time)

You can't tell me that there isn't someone to blame here. If the rules were F-ed up and the tea party used the opportunity for surprise action, then someone got those rules F-ed up in the first place. And someone else let them.

So who do I blame?

1/20/2011 9:14:10 AM

^The old system for not producing the results it needed to produce for it to not be a waste of money.

[Edited on January 20, 2011 at 9:43 AM. Reason : ^]

1/20/2011 9:42:22 AM

Quote :

"So who do I blame?"

Selfish parents


Normally, I'm all for democracy. But there comes a time when people should know when to defer judgment to actual experts and professionals. Just because you got drunk and forgot to wear a condom doesn't give you the right to vote on an issue that can drastically alter the landscape of the education system that affects thousands of students.

[Edited on January 20, 2011 at 10:38 AM. Reason : ]

1/20/2011 10:28:41 AM

Quote :

"Selfish parents Normally, I'm all for democracy. But there comes a time when people should know when to defer judgment to actual experts and professionals. Just because you got drunk and forgot to wear a condom doesn't give you the right to vote on an issue that can drastically alter the landscape of the education system that affects thousands of students."

I just want you to know that you don't make any sense.

To begin with, I have never forgotten to wear a condom and, owing to this fact, I do not have children. Yet I still had a right to vote in the school board elections and I pay taxes for the school system. Talking about people gaining or not gaining a right to vote because they irresponsibly had children is hog farm quality intellectual dribble.

I won't ask you to consider the prior evidence because my hopes for you are not that lofty. But I will quote it anyway for my own satisfaction.

Quote :

"that is simply not true... board seats are not elected all at once, and only certain districts can vote for certain seats. The year this group decided to go into office many people were not allowed to vote because the seats are not in their district."

Somehow the board decided to go into effect without all districts being granted a fair vote. I don't know if this is true or untrue. Either way, deference of judgment to actual experts and professionals is irrelevant at best in this case because we are discussing elected positions. The entire point is that we elect knowledgeable representatives that serve our collective interests the best. The real reasons that this process has produced a result that is apparently not serving our collective interests is a subject that I doubt will actually be discussed here.

1/20/2011 11:51:57 AM

You do realize the condom thing was a dry joke and directed not at you, but to humanity at large, right? I don't even fucking know you. And the rest of my post was just me directing a general disdain for an electorate that votes for the best interests of their own children often at the direct expense of the poor kids down the street, even against the expertise of educated professionals.


I'm glad to know you wear a jimmy-hat, though.

[Edited on January 20, 2011 at 12:07 PM. Reason : ]

1/20/2011 12:04:23 PM

It would have been nice if the poor kids down the streets' parents would have voted then right?

1/20/2011 12:07:26 PM

uh, yeah i guess. i'm not trying to remove blame here. i'm just simply stating that parents might have a little too much say in how public education operates, especially on matters that they aren't qualified to sound off on.

1/20/2011 12:17:37 PM

Quote :

"mrfrog: I know people who are really sensitive about this. Because Wake county is being made fun of on a national scale."

I'm not sensitive or embarrassed. We're one of the few school systems that still sincerely attempts diversity--a lot of places eliminated their diversity policies once the Supreme Court banned race-based busing. So most of the people laughing at us cause we're turning the clock back probably live in an area that abandoned diversity years ago or never even tried in the first place.

1/20/2011 1:31:04 PM

Quote :

"JesusHChrist Veteran 176 Posts user info edit post uh, yeah i guess. i'm not trying to remove blame here. i'm just simply stating that parents might have a little too much say in how public education operates, especially on matters that they aren't qualified to sound off on. 1/20/2011 12:17:37 PM "

What about people that have no dog in the fight (no kids in school)? Why are they even speaking their
opinions? Because the NAACP told them to?

I think it should be a discussion between the board, parents with school aged children, and the teachers. you know, the people that this really makes a difference to on a day to day basis.

Because really, it doesn't take much "qualification" to see that your kids are negatively/positively affected when they go to school.

[Edited on January 20, 2011 at 1:47 PM. Reason : .]

1/20/2011 1:44:19 PM

Quote :

" What about people that have no dog in the fight (no kids in school)? Why are they even speaking their opinions? Because the NAACP told them to?"

the board members don't even all have kids in school, why is this a criteria for having an opinion?

1/20/2011 1:51:50 PM

Personally, I think it can become a problem when parents are given the opportunity to do what's best for their kid, as opposed to doing what's best for most kids.

Quote :

"Because really, it doesn't take much "qualification" to see that your kids are negatively/positively affected when they go to school."

You're right on this. However, it takes a good bit of "qualification" to understand the larger implications and the big picture. A parents opinion will always revolve around the interests of their child, and not the child down the way

[Edited on January 20, 2011 at 2:00 PM. Reason : ]

1/20/2011 1:54:45 PM

Sorry Jesus, I found myself being unusually sour.

Indeed, I find this issue most important to the area and the future of the area. I have been convinced that the system in Wake county has performed rather well (by the existence of a book about it and other evidence), especially when compared to the bar set by the rest of the nation.

I don't quite understand why the best schools around here are in the lower income areas, but I understand its a part of the planning started over 2 decades ago, and the aim is to have a fairly egalitarian and effective education system. The quality of education that HS grads are walking out of school with really does matter for the competitiveness of the area. The influx of (obviously affluent) families moved here by their company also helps a lot too.

My general understanding is that eliminating the policies that made the system successful is likely to make a lot of 'junk' schools that offer little educational value and become a money hole that sucks the rest of the system dry - which is the situation other places are in. Since we all had the option of public education for ourselves in our youth, I think it makes sense that it's a democratic decision (in theory) because it is about the future of our nation. People shouldn't need a personal reason to care about those things. They should just care. This probably should have been common knowledge, but I said it anyway.

1/20/2011 2:30:20 PM

Quote :

"What about people that have no dog in the fight (no kids in school)? Why are they even speaking their opinions? Because the NAACP told them to? "

If we are paying taxes we have a say in it. I have no snot nosed little bastards myself. However, I am paying just as much for snot nosed little bastard education as people who own snot nosed little bastards therefore I have a "dog in the fight".

1/20/2011 4:32:43 PM

in 20 years those snot nose bastards could be working for you.

Or you could be working for them.

1/20/2011 8:01:30 PM

Quote :

"1. After the November 2009 elections, the Wake County school board dismantled socio-economic diverse schools and began to implement a neighborhood schools plan that would resegregate schools. 2. Resegregation in schools would be a disaster. It would turn back the clock fifty years with the creation of high poverty, racially isolated schools. The integration plan destroyed by Koch-supported board of education members was used as a model for high achieving, diverse schools throughout the country. 3. This October 2011, Wake Country elections will decide if schools become resegregated. Koch-supported candidates are still pushing for neighborhood schools and to end diversity. 4. The Koch brothers free market, libertarian ideology rests on privatization in society, especially the privatization of education. 5. The Kochs founded Americans for Prosperity in 2004, and AFP indirectly poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into the Wake County school board elections and helped jeopardize the diversity policy. "

http://kochbrothersexposed.com/education/

[Edited on August 14, 2011 at 10:27 PM. Reason : more]

8/14/2011 10:24:51 PM

AHA, holy crap, I can't believe how crazed I was about this.

I mean, I still am crazed.

But this thread has me reminiscing. I was so consumed...I thought about it and ranted about it all day for weeks practically.

8/14/2011 11:47:03 PM

BridgetSPK hates niggers.

8/16/2011 1:58:55 AM

8/16/2011 7:47:33 AM

Quote :

"This October 2011, Wake Country elections will decide if schools become resegregated. "

yep. the voters are really gonna say "all darkies over here!!!!" your blatant hysteria is getting old, prydoucheri

8/16/2011 4:42:47 PM

10/10/2011 8:26:58 PM

go vote...support neighborhood schools

10/11/2011 10:57:59 AM

10/11/2011 11:14:42 AM

LOL @ equating neighborhood schools to segregation

10/11/2011 11:29:31 AM

10/11/2011 11:39:27 AM

many of you are no different than the politicians you claim to hate because they play politics. you are doing the exact same thing they do. exaggerate, bullshit, lie, confuse, name call, misrepresent the other side, misrepresent facts, etc.

10/11/2011 11:44:23 AM

10/11/2011 12:05:01 PM

The racists have been defeated!

10/11/2011 9:26:47 PM

Quote :

"LOL @ equating neighborhood schools to segregation"

10/11/2011 9:32:18 PM

Higher Wake County graduation rates were just voted down.

10/11/2011 9:36:20 PM

Too late, you lose. Start warming up those buses!

So are you guys going to stage a sit-in and sing "We shall overcome" or what? The neighborhood schools crowd is too pussy to actually get arrested.

[Edited on October 11, 2011 at 9:39 PM. Reason : .]

10/11/2011 9:36:51 PM

sit in = not pussy?

10/11/2011 9:43:57 PM

WOOOOOOT WOOOOOOOT!





Unfortunately, the real celebration will have to wait until Thursday.

And then I'll have another one following the run-off for Kevin Hill.

THAT'S TWO CELEBRATIONS! TWO!

10/11/2011 9:45:01 PM

so when do we start shipping students all over the county in an effort to achieve a fake goal?

10/11/2011 10:00:00 PM

can't have those black kids stuck with all those black kids

10/11/2011 10:01:41 PM

remember. if you ship this black guy over to the white school, then his failing grades don't actually mean he failed, and if you ship this white guy over to the black school, then his good grades means that all the kids at that school with failing grades didn't fail.

10/11/2011 10:02:55 PM

^
^^
^^^ Racists.

Anyone else want a caret?

[Edited on October 11, 2011 at 10:04 PM. Reason : .]

10/11/2011 10:03:17 PM

when you have no argument, just call the other side a name!

10/11/2011 10:05:09 PM