Sunday, September 26, 2010

NAACP takes Wake to feds

Via the News and Observer we read:
"The complaint, filed late Friday, is part of an effort to block the new school board majority from moving forward with assigning students under a neighborhood zone system that would replace a diversity-based plan. Joining the NAACP as parties in the complaint were the youth group N.C. HEAT (Heroes Emerging Among Teens) and Quinton White, a high school senior who was reassigned by the school board this year.

The complaint cites student reassignment changes made this year by the new board, the new assignment plan under development, and disproportionately harsh discipline of minority students.

It claims the Wake school system has violated Title VI of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prohibits groups that receive federal dollars from engaging in discrimination. The Wake school system received nearly $78 million in federal funds last fiscal year.

The federal government rarely declares that groups are violating Title VI, said Wendy Parker, a Wake Forest University School of Law professor and expert on civil rights law. But judging by the national attention the Wake fight has received, Parker said it's likely that officials will investigate and put more of a spotlight on the situation."



Source:
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/26/703383/naacp-takes-wake-to-feds.html

My Take:

As I have previously stated, this is yet more Leftist bullying and scare tactics designed to get the board to back down and stop their role in fixing the mess that our schools have become since liberals and their quislings have been running things. If they cannot get you to stop and obey them one way (like holding protests at your meetings) then they try another way (bringing in an out of area group that just happens to have the power to yank accreditation) or they go crying to the Feds, in this case the NAACP along with two quisling members of the board.
It is all the more interesting to note once again that leftists only care about the people's will when it suits them. Also, the complaint about "disproportionately harsh discipline of minority students" is more stupidity because some of the worst disciplinary problems stem from Black youth and their entitlement-driven parents. One last thing: Do you think they would be doing all this try and stop what the people have ordained, voted for and demanded if it wasn't a fair solution? Making students earn their grades and diplomas is what school is supposed to be about, not making them into good green citizens so geographically challenged that finding their own state on the map is impossible. And basing students closer to their homes will help parents whenever there are after school events or, in some case, detention so that they don't have to go halfway across town to fetch the student, burning gas and making more pollution. You'd think that the liberals would like that.
That is all and my following of this Wake County School Board mess continues.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Organization threatens to strip Wake schools' accreditation

Via WRAL we read:

"Kenneth Bergman, general counsel for AdvancED, responded in a Sept. 17 letter that the organization had not reached any conclusions about the shift in student assignment criteria.

"We do have sufficient concerns that the actions of the board may negatively impact the educational opportunities for students of the schools that we accredit in Wake County," Bergman wrote.

The board's actions have created "substantive change" in area schools, he wrote, so AdvancED needs to review them.

"Unfortunately, the openly defiant nature of your correspondence makes engaging in the collegial process of accreditation services difficult," he wrote. "The board's refusal to comply with our requests is in direct violation of the AdvancED Policies and Procedures for Accredited Schools and constitutes grounds for dropping the accreditation of the Wake County schools."

If any of Wake County's 24 high schools were to lose their accreditation, it could reflect poorly on graduates who apply for higher education.

AdvancED gave the school board an Oct. 1 deadline to set up a meeting and turn over requested information.

"It is our hope that the board and district will take advantage of this extension and fully engage our organization in meeting the difficult challenges facing your schools," Bergman wrote."

Folks, this is nothing less than an ultimatum against Wake County and the will of the people. I noted yesterday that this is nothing more than bullying, but now it has morphed into nothing less than outright blackmail and intimidation. What the Left was not able to achieve with protests, disruptions, and other nonsense they are trying to achieve with this outright thuggery. The "defiant stance" of the board is correct in that here is an out of state group trying to re-impose the failed system that was in place. I say bring it on because Wake county will continue to fight for the children and the parents. And this particular fight is not the only one going on because we have school districts all over the country fighting against Leftists who see nothing wrong with indoctrinating our children with Islam or suspending a child for having candy. This is far from over.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Wake schools lawyer questions accreditation review

Via WRAL:

"RALEIGH, N.C. — The Wake County Board of Education questioned the motives behind of a district-wide review by AdvancED, a national organization that accredits high schools.

AdvancED asked the school board to identify a time when the organization could send a special review team to review recent changes in the school system.

In a response to that request sent Sept. 8, Ann Majestic, legal counsel for Wake schools, asked for clarification of questions AdvancED has and what a review would entail. The school board “has serious concerns about the basis, purpose and scope” of the visit, she wrote.

Specifically, she asked Mark Elgart, AdvancED CEO, how the board’s move to adopt a student assignment policy based on community schools is connected to accreditation."

More here:
http://www.wral.com/news/education/wake_county_schools/story/8333528/

Like I thought and wrote about earlier, this is just more leftist intimidation of our school board. Remember, this fight is not just taking place here but everywhere else that there are so-called liberal elites who think of us as unintelligent cattle who need to be manipulated and led around. They don't want real freedom and equality all they want is for us to shut and comply. Well, we in Wake County are fed up with it and are doing something about it. All we have to do is look over to our neighbours in Durham and how they are suffering under liberal policies and know that we don't want to be like them, a sanctuary city where damn near every day there is a violent crime of some sort. This is about bullying us into backing down and we won't.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Raleigh Chamber requests new school assignment plan

Via the News and Observer we read:

"BY THOMAS GOLDSMITH AND T. KEUNG HUI - STAFF WRITER
RALEIGH -- Massachusetts educational consultant Michael Alves, who studied Wake County's assignment system earlier this year, will develop an assignment plan based on student achievement, proximity, choice and stability at the request of the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce and the Wake Education Partnership, officials announced today.

The move can be seen as the nonprofits' response to the Wake County school board's developing 16-zone plan, which does not take diversity into consideration. The use of student achievement could mean that zones will be more diverse racially and economically because members of minority groups tend to score lower on standardized tests.

Alves is known for developing "controlled choice" plans, which typically have fewer zones than the number being developed by the school board"

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/09/16/684733/raleigh-chamber-requests-new-school.html#ixzz0zifiF85d

This is nothing less than intimidation from a different vector, this time by an outside "expert" claiming to know more about Wake County than the residents themselves! This one more example of the liberal's "I know better than you" attitude. We don't need someone from outside who doesn't know crap about our schools coming in and getting involved in something that is a local thing. More intimidation, more leftist dirty tricks masquerading as an impartial source. Pack your things and go the heck back up north, let us handle the mess created by people like you in the first place.