News-Record.com

I'm not sure of the intent of Nancy's message.

I find the term "white flight" rather insulting. If parents are able to afford private schools, I am sure it is to avoid busing, especially to schools which are not their choice, whether the parents are black or white. Again, we leave those who cannot afford their school of choice with no affordable options.

I can't believe the NAACP hasn't been up in arms. This is clearly a policy which says schools with too many minority or economically advantaged students can't succeed; but if you bus in students who are white and whose parents have more money, education will benefit. Bah, Hum Bug.

Perhaps this is a way for the board to solve the overcrowding issues of schools.

Tax payers all over Guilford County need to be beating on the doors of the board members who voted for busing. Their names are on the GCS school website. I was told that the only way the issue can be changed is for one of those six who voted for it to bring it up. If the "High Point" busing plan goes into effect, it will cost us all.

Please take the time to contact all board members and let them know we will not stand for this gross misuse of money and disruption of the educational process.

"White Flight" was a VERY POOR choice of words because it harks back to racism and this is not a racist issue. This is parents wanting the best education for their children and who have seen that bussing all over thge county doesn't work as well as the Neighborhood Schools where parents tend to be more involved. Affluent Flight is far more accurate. Affluent Blacks, Whites and Purples!

Carol, the busing is insane. The field trips are resticted to only a few due to fuel costs yet the county has no problem wasting the gas on busing.

And the Guilford County school administrators are wanting a new building? I say it's time we hired a superintendent who would move the entire administration into trailers and they would stay there until every last classroom trailer has been eliminated.

If they accomplish that I'm all for rewarding them with a new admin building. Until then THEY are the problem.

Hugh, love the trailer idea. We could teach a lot of kids in the old admin buildings; we still have all the buildings we had before merger; one in HP and 2 in GB. Do you remember how merger was going to save us money, cut down of staff, yadda, yadda, yadda. This was the spin used by Greensboro who wanted merger...probably something to do with real estate values. Ain't that all busing is about anyway???

White flight is a bit tacky for the letter writer to use and even more so for the title. However you can be sure that it thrilled the N&R editorial folks. It was just another excuse for them go "diggin up bones" on their favorite subject, racism, or anything that even hints of and they didn't even have to make up the story to go with it or drag one up from umpteen years ago.

Carol,

The NAACP up in arms? Guess what? The High Point NCAAP was in favor of it and supported the busing plan, along with Deena Hayes and Walter Childs. Childs is, of course, the board representative for the Andrews area. Don't ask me why they supported this busing plan when it puts many black people back to 30 years ago riding buses to achieve racial balance, because that is what it is. And, this plan hurts those people the worst because there is no public transportation from Parkview to Southwest, so how are those parents supposed to get to Southwest to be involved? I really don't think that anyone, including the NAACP, cared to ask them. It didn't fit into their political agenda.

I see that many of you objected to Nancy's use of white flight, and you are right that is not an accurate term for what is happening. Actually, those parents are abandoning the GC public school system because it has abandoned them. Terry Grier and the school board has not listened to them for the past two years on this matter. They've, indeed, been called racists for opposing the school lottery and unnecessary redistricting by many in Greensboro. The editors of this very newspaper has referred to them as whiney, wealthy white people. I guess they are entitled to call their actions white flight.

ORR, I was teaching at SW when the plan went into effect. Thank goodness I only had to endure the abuse (from the press and Terry Grier) for 2 months. As I have written before, Grier told the SW faculty that if the lottery failed it was OUR fault because of our attitudes.

As with all things, when spin is put on a subject, common sense goes out the window. You would think that SW was all white and all rich if you read the press. It was actually 38% minority before the plan. It was a very diverse school, economically as well. Very few rich, most were middle class, few were poor.

Busing was the issue at all times from most parents. They wanted neighborhood schools, as do the parents of Parkview students.

Maybe I am wrong, but I thought it was deemed illegal to bus for integration, even if you call it economic diversity.

Nancy,
Maybe the "white" folks should try to solve the problem rather than whining about solutions they don't agree with?
If your goal is to move your children to "white" schools when things don't go your way, then NO ONE can convince you otherwise---you are the epitome of ignorance and I am sad for you and those you come into contact with on a daily basis.

As for you other armchair quarterbacks (all teachers excluded)we have some of the most dedicated teachers in Guilford County. You spend your time blasting the main stream media when it reports news on White House but you rely on it when it comes to reporting educational news. As for the "ANCIENT" posters here, who haven't had children in school since Johnson was President---things are NOT as bad as you think they are. Yes, there are problems, but by and large, children are learning and teachers are teaching. Too many administrators? Damn straight!
If those "White" parents are so concerned about their schools, get involved and make them better for ALL children. Help a teacher by volunteering. Tutor a child.
It will make you a better person and you will be contributing to our community.

Demon, the problem is not white folks, it is 6 school board members who voted to bus children from Parkview in High Point to Florence which is on Penny Road (now in the city but an old county school miles from High Point).

This was done in the name of diversity. What is accomplished by bringing more diversity into schools which are already diverse. How much diversity is enough? Why are Southeast, Northwest, and Dudley not considered when diversity is mentioned? They are all happy with their neighborhood schools and no school board members real estate is affected.

If you watched the news and read the papers, the blacks in High Point don't want to be bused either. Most parents want their children in neighborhood schools. They are more likely to be involved and present when needed.

Dr. Childs lives in the Andrews area. He is obviously not poor. Again, the poor are the losers.

Demon Deacon,

As usual, you don't know what your talking about. the people that you disparage as "armchair quaterbacks" are nothing such. They are very much in the game. They don't rely on the media, because they are there at school board meetings and communicating with school board members and school staff. They know more about what's going on than the media does. Certainly the media doesn't even report everything that it does know. If we had to rely on the media, then there wouldn't be any evidence of a problem.

Perhaps you should take some of your own advice. Maybe you should go yourself and see what's happening in our schools. There's a lot of non-educating going on in our schools, and it's not the teachers fault. As a matter of fact, the teachers are very frustrated about not being able to teach. Go talk offline to some teachers. You'll be amazed what is actually happening in our schools, because the media never reports it.

ORR,
Calm down, I really am on your side here. I can assure you I have attended my share of Guilford County School Board meetings. I can also assure you I have attended more than my share of County commissioner's meetings. Until the High Point/Southwest group can calm down and appear civilized, it will not gain ANY respect from the public or the board. The way to win is through the ballot box and by avoiding the appearance of "Who's ox is being gored" syndrome.

My main point is to those who would lump GCS into a pile of poor performers. We have very good teachers and very good students. We also have disciplinary problems and we have underachievers. Too many read the paper and assume the baby has gone out with the bathwater and it just 'ain't' so.

White Flight -- what an appropriate name. Reminds me of the 60's and early 70's when they integrated the schools...there was 'white flight' when all those christian schools were formed to avoid associating with those who were not 'white'.

I agree with Carol that neighborhood schools are what most parents want and frankly are what make the most sense. (i also think hughs trailer idea is a nice one) If a family lives and works near their school, the parents will have more of an opportunity to stay involved. How much sense does it make to bus children to a school where the parents cant get there b/c there is no public transportation? That doesnt help the working poor, that hurts them! If a child has to ride a bus for an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening, how much enthusiasm is that child going to have for doing their school work and homework? An adult gets stressed out over a long commute, dont they think a five year old will, on a bus with no heat or air? The problem is all of these things make sense to parents and teachers, but to administrators, who have spent little time in an actuall classroom these things are apparently hard to understand. I do not appreciate the lte's tone. Although I do think that some people, who may not admit it, are angry at the idea that they would be coupled with poor or minority children, I do not think they are the majority and to insinuate that the busing issue is that black and white (literally and figuratively) is insulting. There should be no good schools and bad schools, there should only be good schools. once the administrators figure out that sending kids to their neighborhood schools, paying teachers what they are worth, rewarding teachers who do teach at the schools that are struggling,paying teachers who teach math and science more (not that those subjects or more or less important, but we are struggling to fill those posititions), administrators support the teaching staff, administrators support parents and creating an environment that demands cooperation from not only parents and teachers, but the community as well. These are all things that can be fixed. We have so many great teachers and amazing students, yet so much time is wasted on things that dont matter. But rest assured, all the teachers I know, myself included, do the best we can and then some despite the administrative set backs. More parental involvement is needed, because the administrators certainly do not listen to the teachers. So glad that parents are speaking out now.

It is not white flight anymore. It is I can afford better and want better for my children flight. Many leaving believe in integrated schools. They just want them to be quality educations. I do not know any racists that can afford $35,000 to $60,000 a child for skin color. People that are willing to spend this much money recognize the need for quality education and someone has convinced them that public schools for their neighborhoods fail to provide this. The race card has a hard time playing in an educated society. Instead, many areas now are judged by the quality of private schools offered. As far as I can tell, only a couple of private schools offer better than national average results in the Triad. Unfortunately, many perceive this to be far better than public school results, and they are right overall.

So we must quit yelling race and get in there and fix the real problems, which are not race.

Garth,
You really are naive if you think all racists are poor. You are also naive if you think for one minute people who spend their own money to send kids to a private or religious school are doing so just for the "better education".