Your children. Not mine.

Last week, WCPSS Chairwoman Christine Kushner wrote an article for UNC-Chapel Hill's Morehead-Cain Scholars website. (Yeah, that's a mouthful in itself.)

Her article is titled "The real crisis in public education, and how to fix it".

First of all, "The real crisis"? High and mighty much?

Anyway... I wrote a Letter to the Editor to the News & Observer in response to Ms. Kushner's ridiculous and insulting claim that it is the parents of Wake County that cause her and our school system such heartburn.

As it hasn't been published (yet), I thought I would share it with you here. Enjoy.

Submitted Nov. 7, 2015:

WCPSS Chair Christine Kushner has proudly announced that it is the parents of Wake County who are hurting the public school system. Yes, you. And me. And every other caring parent who has chosen to stay with the public school system yet stands up for their child. According to our School Board, you are a horrible person and simply messing things up.

Kushner condescendingly claims in the article that "individual choice" is the real crisis in our schools. She berates and belittles parents for basically being good parents. She hates parents who make decisions that best serve their own children without considering the "common good". Hates them.

So, it is a little surprising to find out that Ms. Kushner chose to send her child to one of the most exclusive publicly-funded high schools in NC. That's right. She made an "individual choice" for her child's education. A choice that was made, I would assume, based on what was best her family and her child - because I don't see how sending her child to a limited enrollment high school with a highly competitive admission process that is fully funded by the state (including tuition, room and board) helps the rest of us.

Apparently, the common good is your problem to solve...with your children - not hers.

What a patronizing hypocrite.

What's the question; what's the answer?

In 2009, the parents of Wake County spoke. They elected a majority on theWCPSS School Board who supported the end to the mindless reassignment of their children. These School Board members bravely broke the mold after decades of diversity busing. Busing that not only adversely affected the education of suburban students but was eventually proven by WCPSS itself to have no positive impact on the education of the poor students targeted for those long distance assignments. After a few immediate and key resignations and retirements, many doors were opened to the changes needed in our school system.

The assignment policy was amended. Diversity goals were removed. An emphasis was placed on the educational needs of students and the involvement of parents. After years of mandatory year-round assignments and families split by school calendars, choice was resurrected. The ’09 School Board members ran on a platform of providing the necessary resources to students – not busing students for diversity under the guise of a better education. Their policies promoted stability, community involvement, and predictability in assignment in their attempt to create a school system that was responsive not critical.

But that didn’t last long.

Some were outraged at the very thought of removing diversity as a goal in assignment. They did all they could to create and spread fear around our community of what could happen. They painted their own message in the media of resegregation and the isolation of minorities. In 2011, a new majority-Democratic Board was elected to save and restore diversity.

So how is it that just last week the N&O published in an article that states the number of high-poverty schools has more than doubled under the direction of the new School Board? Let that sink in….more than doubled – from 18 to 46. Twelve WCPSS schools now have populations of more than 70% low-income students. There were none under the ’09 Board.

The current School Board has had five years to undo the changes they deemed as “destructive” and “racist” and yet have chosen to do absolutely nothing. Not only have they not taken any action on the changes made back in ’09, their inaction and apathy have done more to make their fears a reality than anything else. And their friends - who raised a ruckus and feigned concern about the “loss” of diversity - are now silent and uninterested because their Democratic friends are faithfully leading the charge.

Or are they?

The N&O editorial this past weekend addresses this issue. It questions these numbers but it totally misses the mark. The question we should be asking is not “Do we pursue diversity or do we let segregation return?” That is a lazy, simple-minded question and only serves to create the same fearful rhetoric we heard years ago.

What we should be asking is “What can we do to improve education for every child in Wake County?” It’s a tough question with many answers and just as many opinions. I agree that we are at a crossroads as a county and community. But diversity is not it. There are so many others ways to improve education and address the needs of our students than assignment. There are better conversations to have. Our crossroads is ensuring we don’t go back to the way it was.

Although our current School Board has managed to create a school system that reflects exactly what they claimed they were against, we simply can’t let the diversity pendulum swing completely back.

Snow Job

Spring Break is gone. Well, most of it. Families were blindsided by WCPSS with a complete reversal decision announcement on Saturday about the winter weather make up days.

Parents are angry. So far, over 7,500 parents, teachers, and students have signed a petition to show how angry they are. Many families have long-standing nonrefundable travel plans. Many were looking forward to this one of very few opportunities to be together for the week.

I understand their anger. And their frustration. But let's make sure we understand what we really should be angry about. It's not about Spring Break. It's about why and how we lost Spring Break.

In a nutshell, this is the epitome of bad governance.

Let's begin by understanding that the 2014-2015 school calendar has built-in make up days. According to the WCPSS website: March 23, June 9, June 10, and June 11 are the Teacher Work Days "Available for Weather Make up".

Board Chair Christine Kushner and Supt. Merrill first told us that June wouldn't be used and our children would be attending school on Good Friday and two Saturdays in order to provide "quality instructional time".

What a load. Last Friday was originally planned as an early-release day. It was extended 2 1/2 hours to a full day to make up for one of the missed snow days. But then... it was delayed 2 hours again due to ice that didn't happen. Where did that "quality instruction time" go?

And what about the day WCPSS waited to cancel school until after a few buses hit the road? That "quality instruction" isn't being made up at all.

Enough of that, let's talk about the governance issue.

On Tuesday, March 3rd's work session, WCPSS staff recommended using Good Friday and two Saturdays. Go to 46:55 mark of their work session.

At the 55:25 mark of the Board work session, Supt. Merrill clearly supports use of this option as a way to protect Spring Break for families.

At the 58:00 mark, Cathy Moore asks for support of this staff recommendation and Chair Kushner responds "You have consensus support of that recommendation."

YOU HAVE CONSENSUS SUPPORT OF THAT RECOMMENDATION.

Even the so loved WCPSS Twitter account tweeted:

(They're not so sassy anymore, are they?)


So, what could possibly have happened between Tuesday and Saturday? That's the big question.

An even bigger and more concerning question is... why the quiet announcement on a Saturday? Since the Board wasn't scheduled to meet, who made this decision to use Spring Break days?

What's the point of having a public discussion and "consensus approval" from the Board about the make up days if they're not going to follow it?

Why include input from staff and communicate this to the public if they are just going to run roughshod and make up their own rules without any transparent discussion?

I understand staff met again on Friday and Saturday to discuss this. What influenced them to convene again to discuss a different option? Who was at that meeting? Was the Board involved? If so, how? I've asked for minutes from this meeting but there are no minutes taken at staff meetings.

Did WCPSS violate the public records law by deleting records from Twitter and Facebook about previous discussions and decisions?

And where in the world is Supt. Merrill? Mr. Mustache didn't even show up to defend this decision in today's press conference. Instead, he sent Deputy Superintendent Cathy Moore to do his dirty work. Coward.

So many questions...

But, again, this isn't really about Spring Break. Losing Spring Break is simply the result of bad governance, a lack of transparency, and a Board that does what it wants to do, regardless of policy.

I'm just hoping those 7,500 people will remember this next election.




 

Tomorrow is Yesterday

Well, well, well.  It really is true.

The Democratic-led WCPSS School Board is clearly rebranding the vision of the '09 Republican-led School Board and calling it their own.

You read that right.

The Democrats have not brought back diversity busing as their supporters elected them to do. In fact, according to WCPSS staff, they have no intention of using diversity assignments anymore.

Yes, yes. I know. Even after all those protests, disruptions, and arrests back in 2010; even after all the media play over how removing the long-standing diversity policy would destroy our school system and our community; even after watching Rev. Barber and his uber-liberal GSIW crew disrupt meeting after meeting with dancing, praying, singing, and name-calling over the end to diversity busing. Yup, even after all that, the Democratic Board isn't going to do it.

Instead, they are continuing the vision of the Margiotta-led Board and the work by Supt. Tata.

But, how can that be? How can Susan Evans, Jim Martin, Christine Kushner, the 3 current Board members who were part of the GSIW leadership team and who have stood side-by-side with Rev. Barber at protests and Moral Mondays, now see things MY way?

Bizarro world, indeed.

And think about it. Putting an end to diversity assignments back in '09 was an outrage. The liberals lashed out and decried the policy change as "resegregation" and said we were heading back to the days of Jim Crow. They then caused enough ruckus and created enough fear across our county to regain control in the next election.

Geez, guys. What was the big deal?

This School Board is doing exactly what the Margiotta-led Board was trying to do: End the long bus rides for poor and minority students and bring the resources to the students and schools that need them the most.

Did anyone hear that message back then?

When Supt. Tata was leading the charge, it was called Managed Performance Empowerment (MPE) and was part of his 2012 strategic plan. High-needs schools were identified and given more funding to improve academics. I blogged about the ending of this program - the Renaissance schools - and their funding back in June.

And, yet, lo and behold, the WCPSS staff announced last week that, rather than busing, they too will be using the MPE model and provide extra resources to high-needs schools.

Hmm, oddly familiar and eerily quiet.

I was hesitant to believe that Supt. Merrill and this Board were going to simply repackage Tata's work and the vision of the '09 Board when they came out with a new academic formula earlier this year - one that didn't place a priority on diversity assignments.

Today, I'm glad to see things playing out as they should have in 2009.

And without all the noise.

Irrational Numbers

A research paper about WCPSS was released this past June. It's titled "Middle School Math Acceleration and Equitable Access to 8th Grade Algebra: Evidence from the Wake County Public School System" and speaks very highly of WCPSS' math placement policy. And yet it has received no media attention, no mention of it by the School Board, and not a peep about it from Supt. Merrill.

But, why? Why would such an important document - one that shows that a simple change in policy has resulted in academic success for many minority and low-income students - not be lauded by the Wake County Public School System?

Let's go back to 2009 so you understand the whole story.

In 2009, a scathing report was released by SAS that accused WCPSS and their data reporting of "hiding an inequitable situation for students in schools serving more FRPL [free reduced price lunch] students." Under the leadership of then-Supt. Burns (the coward that left when he couldn't stand the heat), WCPSS had been purposefully withholding minority and economically-disadvantaged (ED) students from being placed in Algebra 1, even though they were academically ready.

Shameful, right? Even worse, Supt. Burns had the nerve to suppress this report for months - with no intention of releasing it to the public. No wonder he hightailed it out of town.

Fortunately, the then-School Board (you know, the ones that were painted as evil and racist) immediately worked to address this educationally-damaging practice that was restricting access to Hispanic and Black middle school students. Yes, that's right. They focused on academics; not diversity.

But this wasn't without strong opposition from the "diversity lover" Democrats.

School Board member Kevin Hill and newly-elected Jim Martin fought against allowing access to these children. Even though Hill acknowledged that some students had been wrongly held back, the Democratic Board members still believed that these minority children weren't capable of achieving.

Ironic, isn't it? The very people that were supported by the NAACP and Rev. Barber, the very people who stood arm in arm at protests and candlelight vigils, the very people who were elected to "protect diversity" were completely against implementing a policy that provided minority students opportunities to succeed.

Passing this policy was a huge step forward. Enforcing this new policy and unwinding years of a culture of low expectations was daunting. As the paper points out, "..compliance with the policy appeared more modest in its first few years." However, after a "powerful directive" from Supt. Tata, "...compliance with the policy became stronger over time".

The result? Enrollment in Algebra 1 nearly doubled from 2009 to 2011.

(Side note: let's not forget that Kevin Hill and his fellow Board members hated Tata's leadership style. Maybe because Tata demanded and expected results. Unlike Supt. Merrill, who does...what?)

And it wasn't just enrollment that increased. After the policy had been in effect for a full year and thousands of students were added to Algebra 1, much to the dismay of the Democrat School Board members, overall performance for all students in Algebra I went up 1.1%. 

So, read the paper. It's a lot to digest but here are some important facts about the policy change:

• We know from the End-of-Course (EOC) data that >95% of students placed are successful.

• The inclusion of ED and minority students in 8th grade Algebra I has significantly increased.

• Providing access to higher-level math exposed ED and minority students to teachers who were of average or greater than average effectiveness. Historically, these children have not had access to highly-effective teachers.

This is all great news but, under our current leadership, some very important questions and concerns remain:

• Has inclusion remained a goal of the system?

• Do students stay on an accelerated track once in high school?

• As the paper points out, this policy had to be mandated by Supt. Tata. What is Supt. Merrill's mandate? 

The math placement guidelines may be the same in writing as they were in 2010 but compliance to the policy is now unknown. Transparency is something this Board has lacked since day one. Are all qualified children, regardless of socioeconomic status or race, still given access to the proper math class? Supt. Tata demanded that the data regarding placement be transparent. Supt Merrill? Not so much.

So, now you know. Acknowledgement of this success by the Tata-hating School Board would be extolling the virtues of Tata's leadership and decisions. That will simply never happen.

And, considering Board members haven't changed their opinion on the capabilities of poor and minority children, don't hold your breath on any mention of this paper any time soon.

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/08/19/1422077/hell-be-a-teacher-at-131000-a.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://blogs.newsobserver.com/wakeed/sas-and-wakes-achievement-gap#new#storylink=cpy

The Suburban Imbeciles

I just watched the WCPSS Strategic Plan meeting...aka #wakevision.

(If you want to waste 2 hours of your time, you can watch it here.)

This meeting was held at Memorial Hall on May 30th to kickoff the development "of a five-year strategic plan that will guide the school system moving forward." (BTW, this meeting cost you at least $2,422.85.) (And...the last five year strategic plan was done just two years ago. But, whatever.)

The speaker hired by WCPSS, some guy who calls himself a futurist, was actually okay.  Engaging, sounded pretty knowledgeable, had some interesting ideas. A little nutty but tolerable, I guess. In a nutshell, his message was that we need to be teaching for our kids' future, and not from our own past. And how important this is - now more than ever - because the world is changing at a faster rate than it ever has. 

Good message. But, considering this crowd and that School Board members and Supt. Merrill were in the room, it probably floated over their heads and right out the door.

But, the absolute best part of this meeting (and well worth watching at 1:51:55) was when one parent, Becky, stood up to ask a question. Little ol' Becky was pretty confident in her question...as if she already knew the answer. Here's what she said:

"I am the parent of two students at Martin Middle School. One of the stronger points of the Wake County Public School System has been the long-time commitment to having diverse schools. What do you say to parents, and I think this is part of the visioning process, guys - who are so adamant that the worst thing that can happen to their kid is that they could be reassigned to a different school the next year?"

Good grief. 

Could Becky possibly be any more condescending while gnashing her teeth?

Uh, yes, she could. And she was:

"I'm sorry - but if my child is going to have 5 to 10 different careers, God forbid that they should have to go to 4 or 5 elementary schools. I mean, it seems like preparation for living to me."

OMG. 4 or 5 elementary schools?! 

Becky is either the worst kind of parent or she represents the epitome of a smug, patronizing, and arrogant magnet parent who thinks us "suburban" parents are idiots. 

Maybe that choice is one and the same. :)

And Becky didn't stop there:

"We don't close our schools because the population shifts; we shift the kids around. And it has worked really well - except that parents get so irate because their children, in spite of the fact that they are all digitally connected, that they are losing that connection."

Fortunately, the futurist stopped Becky from babbling and making herself look even more foolish. His response, however, was brilliant. 

He said:

"I will say that if all the schools in the district are equal quality, there shouldn't be a problem. So, that's the first thing. If the school system can stand up and say "You're gonna get the same education", that's a true statement."

And we all know WCPSS isn't about educational equality. If it was, Becky and her buddies would be very upset over losing their magnet goodies and sharing them with the rest of us imbeciles in the suburbs.

And then the futurist said something incredible:

"The other thing is... the word 'diversity'... Diversity is a loaded, social, emotional word of about 50 years standing that, if you want diversity, you have to let go of the legacy thinking of what the word diversity means and create what is diversity in this school district in 2014. Whatever that is... face that diversity, rather than some formulaic thing. But, the first thing is to make all schools good. Then, it doesn't matter."

So, was it worth the $2300 for the venue and god-knows-how-much for Mr. Futurist to tell the irate parents of Wake County what we already know?  

For those last two minutes, yes. Yes, it was.

Do you think Becky, her magnet friends, and the WCPSS School Board actually listened to those comments? 

Not in a million years. 

Understanding this simple concept would require parents like Becky to change. Parents like Becky have it too good in the magnet system. Parents like Becky have absolutely no understanding of the effect of reassignment on a child - not to mention 4 or 5 of them. Parents like Becky may understand that the reassignment of our children allows her magnet children to remain safe, secure, and untouched at their school. Parents like Becky are ignorant and offensive. Sadly, there are plenty of them in Wake County.

Even worse, they are also on our School Board.

Repackaging Tata's vision

What we are witnessing today on the Wake County School Board is politics at its best.

In 2009, the School Board removed quotas for diversity in the WCPSS assignment policy. After all, there was decades of data that showed the busing scheme in Wake County - that is, using the assignment of poor children to fill quotas at each school - did not work. It did not improve academic outcomes.

However, as a result of that simple change, the liberals went wild. 

They packed the Board meetings, protested anywhere they could, chanted and sang, encouraged students to get arrested, and proudly crossed the security barriers to physically take over the School Board seats. C'mon, we all remember it. Overly-dramatic candlelight vigils. Yelling, singing, and praying during Board meetings. Years of hateful statements, speeches, and name-calling.

Fast forward to this past week...

New Superintendent Merrill and WCPSS staff presented a new academic formula to the School Board. This formula could be used to better identify the needs of struggling schools - how to place resources properly - rather than simply using diversity busing to address educational problems. Sadly, it does include the ability to reassign students to "improve" performance. But, it's no longer the be-all and end-all as this Board and their liberal friends so desired.

This new formula is divided into 5 areas - yet "diversity" is no longer the most important factor. In fact, "demographics" (which it is named under this formula) is similarly weighted to 3 of the other 5 factors.

And, shockingly, the left remains silent. No outrage. Silence. Crickets.

Let's not forget... the end result of all that hubbub from the liberals was the buyout of the contract of a very effective and very successful superintendent. With the support of the 2009 Board, Tata managed to change the conversation in Wake County. Not an easy feat.

So, I can only believe that either Merrill is treading on very thin ice with this Board by basically dismissing diversity busing as a solution in education. Or this School Board is filled with a bunch of liars and hypocrites.

In a nutshell...

A vision and leadership from a superintendent hired by a Republican-majority board?
Bad, bad, bad.

The same vision from a superintendent hired by a Democratic-majority board?
Hmmm... seems OK.

Now, don't get me wrong. This isn't set in stone. The Board has to approve this new formula that puts little emphasis on diversity busing. And, in the long shot that they will vote in favor of it, I wonder if the outrage will return.
 
I'm not betting on it.

Did she really say that?

What does Zora Felton have to say? 

Here are some of the most ridiculous quotes from her campaign:


When speaking at the League of Womens Voters (GSIW) forum about busing:

"People are bused -- but that's a mode of transportation." 
"Busing is a mode of transportation."

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When speaking about ways to address student discipline:

"I have a little philosophy. I think that children around the age of 12 need to either work in a factory or the farm."

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In her Indy Weekly questionnaire, Zora clearly supports assignments based on how much money you make - and the reassignment of your children if "imbalance" occurs at your school - or another school, or another school, or another school...

"I support policies that lead to diverse student populations in terms of family income." 

"While sometimes a (low-income) percentage can be arbitrary, nonetheless, it is good to be vigilant in making sure that adjustments are made when the school's ability to help every child becomes overwhelming"

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

When asked about her support for year-round schools:

"Folks, it's just not that much fun to find something to do in August...or July. OK? It's hot." 

(I'm surprised she didn't just throw out the insulting "It's so much cheaper to travel during track out.")

 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

But - here's my favorite from Zora... and the one that should give you pause...

"I wish I had enough name recognition and enough money to run for the Legislature. Ok? But, I don't."

Clearly, Zora has bigger ideas for her political career. 
And the School Board is just a stepping-stone to her aspirations for higher office.

We need commitment. Not a GSIW-backed politician wannabe.

Vote for Prickett on October 8th.




 

The Rat in the Hat

 
Look at me! Look at me! Look at me now!
It is fun to have fun but you have to know how.


Very fitting for Bill Fletcher. Full of trickery and lies.
(Yes, that's his goofy picture on the left.)

Back in 1993, when Fletcher first ran for School Board, he ran as a critic of diversity busing. Like any sane person, he was against the reassignment of children over and over again simply to meet a diversity quota.

Well, that was his first (and probably most damaging) trick on the citizens of Wake County. Once in office, Fletcher's true intent became very clear. He voted in favor of EVERY SINGLE REASSIGNMENT PLAN from 1993 to 2005. Twelve years of deeply-entrenched diversity busing plans - and Fletcher voted for every one of them.

Is it any wonder that Fletcher came in 3rd place the last time he ran in 2005?  Yup, didn't even make it into a runoff. The citizens of Cary were sick and tired of him, his lies, and being yanked around and ignored by a system that Fletcher happily created. (Then, like a knife in the back, the current majority appointed him back to the School Board this year.)

So, why does Fletcher think he can fool us again? Well, you can thank his cousin, Jim Goodmon. Goodmon is a mouthpiece in Wake County (He is the CEO of Capital Broadcasting) and has the media at his fingertips. He is active with Great Schools in Wake and has very deep pockets. There is no way that Fletcher will vote against anything his cousin wants. Goodmon has funded and continues to fund all the 'pro-diversity' candidates because, well, busing the poor out of Raleigh makes Jim happy. And Fletcher will use his cousin's influence and money to continue to lie and hope you don't remember the truth.

Another little tidbit about Fletcher. He used to sit as a member of the Board for Big Brothers Big Sisters - the place John Tedesco used to work. Fletcher, as this article implies, was instrumental in pushing Tedesco out of his job. Of course, Fletcher won't tell you the truth about that - but it certainly explains why Tedesco voted for a member of GSIW rather than Fletcher when filling this School Board seat. 

And this mess is so big
And so deep and so tall,
We cannot pick it up
There is no way at all!

Yup, pretty much sums up what Fletcher will do to this county and our children.

Vote for Caggia on October 8th.

A Thousand Words

Hi. My name is Susan Evans - School Board member for District 8. I'm the one on the right. I'm with my fellow Board member, Christine Kushner. She's the one on the left. 

Who is that in the middle, you ask? That's one of the leaders from Great Schools in Wake (GSIW), Adrienne Lumpkin. This picture of us was taken at the last Moral Monday protest. If you have Facebook, you can see some of my other friends and GSIW members here.

You might remember that Christine and I were accused of being involved with GSIW after taking our Board seats. You see, being actively involved with such a political group would be against the WCPSS Code of Ethics. So, Christine and I just denied everything. Denied, denied, denied. But, c'mon, did you really believe us? ;)

Not only do we work closely with their leaders, we love going to their organized protests and bad mouthing people who don't agree with us. We wear stickers and hold protest signs during the day - and then pretend we're listening to all sides when we sit in our Board seats at night. It's so much fun!

So, to date, we've checked off the following on our GSIW to-do list:

1. We ended the Choice Plan. Too many of our magnet friends were upset. I don't really understand why the suburbs are so angry. Whatever.

2. We fired Supt. Tata. Honestly, the guy is smart. Had to go. Buh-bye.

3. We hired a new superintendent. He's an old school guy . Our previous Board chair, Kevin Hill, really likes to live in the past. You know, like 30 years ago. This Merrill guy will fit right in.

4. Our latest accomplishment was getting approval to go back to using F&R data to assign students. What? You don't remember the Board discussing that in public? LOL. That's because we didn't. Of course, Adrienne knew all about it. 

It really amazes me how easy it's been to keep up this guise. I guess it helps that the media is on our side. 

Anyway, I hope you like the picture.





 

Downhill

Think what you may - but Kevin Hill really is a smart guy. Evil and a complete jerk...but smart.

Sure, we caught him scheduling and attending secret meetings. And, we all now know that he has been secretly collaborating his School Board business with members of Great Schools in Wake. And he had the audacity to call parents "selfish and anti-social" in response to a parent's question. But, honestly, so what? He still sits in that Board chair - arrogantly and unaffected. Spouting lies and expecting us to believe them.

Hill was Chairman back in 2012 when he led the charge to fire Supt. Tony Tata.  Hill came up with numerous unsubstantiated excuses when Tata was let go without cause. But, we all know Hill's a liar and Tata's firing was the most partisan move in WCPSS.

My last public information request - the one which has numerous emails from Hill BCC'd to members of GSIW - also contained an interesting email from Hill to Tata.

In this email, Hill thanks Tata for "your letter" and then proceeds to seemingly clarify his opinions on Tata's military background. This email strongly suggests that Hill criticized Tata's military background and service to our country. So much so that Tata felt it necessary to write a letter to Hill. Could Tata's years of service to our country be the reason he was fired?

I asked for a copy of that letter from WCPSS. I was told: "Mr. Hill did not keep a copy".

That's it. Plain and simple -- he doesn't have it. No concern that this is a public document and falls with the General Assembly's definition of "public record". No concern for the contents of this letter and the possible exposure of why Tata was really fired by Hill, Sutton, Evans, Martin and Kushner. 

All Hill had to do was say "I don't have it" and we're all supposed to move along. 

Like I said, smart guy. 

Blind stupidity

I just received some emails from a public information request. If you didn't know, you can ask for emails sent by Board members as they are all public record. The problem, however, is that it takes months to receive them and, by then, the issue you are trying to address has faded away or changed altogether.

This last request, however, was well worth the wait.

The first 2 emails in my request were from Kevin Hill - dated Dec. 2011 - just before he was elected as Board chair while Margiotta was still in office as Chairman of the Board.

What was shocking about these emails is that they are not only blindcopied to Susan Evans, Christine Kushner and Jim Martin (who had been elected but had not taken office yet - and were active members/leaders in GSIW) but the BCC also includes Yevonne Brannon - the de facto leader of Great Schools in Wake (GSIW). 

Now, why would the leaders of GSIW be secretly copied in any email to other Board members and the superintendent?

We all knew that the new majority quietly and illegally collaborated behind the scenes - counting their votes for a new chair and new vice-chair upon their swearing-in back in 2011. What we couldn't confirm was that that leaders of GSIW have been intimately and inappropriately involved in these decisions all along.

Now remember... the Wake County Taxpayer's Association (WCTA) accused Hill and the Board majority of being directed and heavily influenced by GSIW in their complaint to AdvancED. WCPSS's response flatly denied this.

And yet we now have evidence (see emails to the left) that Hill has been purposefully yet secretly copying in leaders of GSIW in emails sent to Board Members and to then-Supt. Tata.

Further, many of the emails Hill sent over the past few years are BCC'd to his own personal email. Hmmm..? It seems, at some point, Hill smartened up and chose to forward the information to GSIW from his private email rather than a capturable blind copy. Where did he send them from there? That information was not provided in my request but I'm sure I could guess correctly.

So, what have we learned here?

1. Hill is a liar.

2. GSIW are liars.

3. GSIW is actively involved in decisions affecting your family - and that should be of great concern to you.

4. The only thing wrong in the WCTA complaint to AdvancED is that they didn't implicate Kevin Hill as yet another GSIW collaborator.

5. If Hill is BCC'ing emails to GSIW, Evans, Kushner & Martin are too.

6. All decisions from the Democrats on this School Board - including the firing of Supt. Tata - have been political. The liberals of Wake County say when and these Board members jump at the chance to please.

7. You should write the Board with your concerns.


GSIW is now attacking the General Assembly and bills S325 and S236 - which would change School Board elections and oversight for school construction. But, don't be fooled. They don't care how these bills affect education. They are throwing their predictable tantrums and making noise because, with the Republicans in control, they are slowly losing their stranglehold on Wake County.

**As a side note, none of my other public information requests have ever shown BCCs. But, after receiving many email requests that contained threads of emails that did not have any WCPSS email attached, I wondered if BCCs were involved. Lo and behold, if you specifically ask for BCCs, they will be revealed.

Happy Holidays! You don't matter.

WCPSS just responded in writing to a complaint filed with AdvancED - the organization that accredits our high schools. In the original complaint, the Wake County Taxpayers' Association asserted that the liberal group Great Schools in Wake (GSIW) is basically pulling the strings on the School Board. Considering 3 of our current Board members are members of GSIW, it's not really a hard puzzle to put together.

GSIW wanted to end the choice plan. Done.  
GSIW wanted to go back to base assignments. Done.
GSIW hated Tata and wanted him fired. Done.
GSIW wants diversity quotas in assignment. Coming in the 2014-15 assignment plan. 

Not surprisingly, WCPSS claims in their response that the Choice plan was not dropped due to "extreme influence" from GSIW but due to the "...many complaints they received from constituents...". That's quite an ironic statement since the overwhelming majority of people who spoke out against the Choice plan wanted MORE choice and better defined neighborhood schools. Instead, the Dems on the school board voted to end choice and move backwards for a "do over" of past assignment plans. 

So, did the Democrats on the School Board really vote to drop the Choice plan because people complained? C'mon. Parents complained for years under the old assignment plan about reassignment, lack of stability, odious options and mandatory year-round to no avail. Maybe it's who you are - not what you're complaining about. Or maybe the Democrats on the School Board don't give a damn about what parents want - just what they (and GSIW) want.

Take, for instance, a reply from Kevin Hill - who was the Board Chair that led the charge to fire Supt. Tata without cause. In an email reply to a constituent in regards to Tata's firing, Hill said:

"My main and overarching concern is the institutional culture of the WCPSS.. I have 30+ years being part of that culture and I cannot let it erode further."

Protecting the institutional culture of WCPSS? I thought Hill was elected to serve the people of Wake County -- to listen to the people; to represent the people - not the school system.

Add this to Hill's email in which he calls parents selfish and arrogant, and it's very clear that you don't matter - you never did and you never will. Hill's head is buried in 30+ years of a culture that treats parents like the enemy and our children as pawns in a science experiment gone wrong. And he is making policy decisions to protect that culture - with complete disregard for what parents want. That makes GSIW very, very happy.

But let's not stop there.  

Back in April 2012, Jim Martin sent an email to all Board members discussing the parent survey about the Choice plan. (Yes, there was supposed to be a survey.) Once again, in true fashion, Kevin Hill replied - but only to Martin:

To: James Martin/Superintendent/WCPSS@Staff
From: Kevin Hill/Superintendent/WCPSS
Date: 04/30/2012 03:08PM

Subject: Re: Assignment Plan Survey

Jim,

I do not believe we need to survey parents at this time . . . . We can talk.

Kevin L. Hill, Chairman
Wake County Board of Education
District 3
Email: KLHill@wcpss.net
Vmail: 919.850.8867
Fax: 919.841.4377 

 

"We can talk" for Kevin Hill is code for "Quit sending me stuff in writing. Let's just deal with this privately." Martin concurred and Hill sent back this warning in his reply:

From: "Kevin Hill" <klhill@wcpss.net>
To: "James Martin" <jmartin4@wcpss.net>
Date: 5/1/2012 8:36:47 AM
Subject: Re: Assignment Plan Survey

At this point, I believe the oft repeated phrase "Just say no," would be appropriate. We will waste money and the 95% (?) who did not participate will say they love the plan. The survey would simply become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Kevin L. Hill, Chairman
Wake County Board of Education
District 3
Email: KLHill@wcpss.net
Vmail: 919.850.8867
Fax: 919.841.4377  

The Board Chair was so convinced that parents would say "they love the plan" that he refused to survey them. That's right. He refused to ask parents of Wake County about the Choice plan because he already knew the answer - and he didn't like it.

Now, go back to the beginning of this post - where the Board majority tries to convince the public that the Choice plan was dropped due to complaints from parents and GSIW has no influence on their decision. It's getting harder to believe, isn't it?

Bottom line - the Democrats on the School Board believe your opinion about choice, stability and the school assignment for your child is irrelevant. 

But, you've already learned that. I hope.