News-Record.com

For years I've heard the old refrain: Don't be a snitch. And I've known how much pain and violence are covered up that way. I encourage the N&R to lead a campaign against this warped sense of reality. We must turn the light on whatever darkness covers any illegal or unjust activity, starting within our school system where much such distorted learning happens.

If I was a student at a high school that had particularly ugly and racist graffiti left for staff and students to discover the next morning, would you consider me a no-good snitch for providing police or school officials information about the vandalism that might lead them to the responsibible individual(s)?

What about if I knew who was leaving notes around school threatening to take the lives of mostly black students? Would it be snitching to inform the police or school officials?

What about if I know a student has a weapon on campus? Should I remain silent or inform someone? (If I stay quiet, am I at all responsible if that weapon is used in the commission of a crime such as murder?)

What about if I know of particular students who are providing other students drugs that have the potential to kill or ruin the lives of those individuals? Should I do nothing? (If my friend ODs on drugs purchased from known dealers, should I feel any guilt?)

If students are gang members, they are no different than white students who might choose to be KKK members. (The KKK is nothing more than a gang.)

If white students do not have legitimate reasons to join the KKK, then students also have no ultimately reasonable excuse for joining gangs.

If gangs deal in violence and intimidation, then they are no different than racist "organizations" (more accurately labeled "gangs"), such as the KKK; the only difference is the racial motivation, but murder without racial motivation is no better than racially-motivated murder. Both are examples of evil that must be fought and defeated.

If it is OK to hold a "Death to the Klan" rally, it is equally acceptable to hold a "Death to the Crips and the Bloods" rally.

If you are going to show patience and understanding to gang members, be sure to include that patience and understanding when dealing with KKK members as well.

I do not want to increase the flow of students into the prison system, but I also do not want ANYONE having the right to intimidate or hurt others. If students are intimidating, threatening, or hurting others, I want something done about it. If students are dealing substances that might harm or kill others, I want them stopped.

Asking students not to snitch out people who deserve outing is like condoning police officers who turn the other way when fellow officers engage in racial profiling or other sins against citizens.

I do not know exactly how strong resistance is to the School Watch program, but opponents owe our community a very elaborate, detailed explanation.

I do think that efforts should be as proactive as possible. We need to focus on getting help for gang members and drug dealers and users. We need to do all in our power to rehabilitate these individuals. We do not need to turn our backs on them, particularly if these individuals are school-age. We need to focus less on punishment and more on getting these people the kind of help they need to keep them from being merely a menace to society. I don't think our schools or our society have as much as they should have in place to try to help people who need to change actually do so. But the idea of just ignoring the problems out there is absolutely insane.

Whites historically went along with slavery and segregation, even if they might have known that these systems were wrong. If a family member was a KKK member, you might not have particularly liked it, but hey, that person was family, and that mattered most. So you did not do anything about the fact that your family member was a KKK member. You just accepted that "slight flaw."

Today, some people have friends or family members who are gang members guilty of terrorizing our schools and communities. Instead of recognizing that these individuals are just as much sell-outs to humanity as racists have always been, these gang members are accepted as otherwise good and decent human beings, with little or no pressure placed on them to change.

At least maybe we can better understand why it took white people so long to correct one another concerning racism. It's not easy to call someone out or to snitch on him. You personally know that person's good qualities, and it's just too difficult to accept that change needs to be brought about immediately. We know the excuses and maybe even understand them.

Whites historically have had blood on their hands in this country. But today, whites are not the only ones who have such blood on their hands. Anyone who supports violent, destructive people or who condones violent, destructive activities by their silence has some personal blame to accept for anyone killed, harmed, threatened, or intimidated in the process.

(Please pardon flaws in this piece. I am posting it rather quickly, and it rambles a bit, but I think it makes important points that some day I will find the time to put together more coherently. If you have any questions about what I mean by anything I have expressed here, do not hesitate to ask, and I will try to respond and explain. Thank you for taking time to read this, and I hope it will lead to some dialogue about this extremely important school (and society)issue.)

One problem I see is we now have teachers who are afraid to report incidences as they have no support system. How will you get students to tell without fear of revenge from gang members?

Also kids smoke in the bathrooms at schools - kids see it. Teachers must see it too and nothing is done. Students now drive off campus at lunch and smoke pot in their cars and return to class stoned. If that could be stopped, do you think the AYP scores would go up?

It seems to me that the school board and administration resists any kind of ideas for change that do not eminate from within. It is as if only they are smart enough to think up ideas that will "benefit" the school syatem. hmm..lets see..they sure haven't been effective at reducing school violence...the AYP problem seems to be growing..The High Point Lottery is a resounding flop..The bus hub created a huge problem...I wonder what it is going to take for the board to pay attention to their constituents?

I must be from the "old school" - when making police and other authority figures aware of illegal behavior was a good thing, and it was in the community's best interests to keep illegal behavior off the street and out of our schools. I believe that GCS should do whatever they can to make our schools safer for EVERYONE. Take a vote.
I'm very curious as to why Ms. Hayes believes this program would "....increase the flow of minority students into the prison system."

Ditto that Chuck. I have no problem with the phrase "You have the right to remain silent....." become commonplace in the halls of our schools if that is what it takes to clean them up.

Chuck & Mark,

I am all for safe public schools and I stress the word "public". I would think it has become a public safety issue from all I have read about in the papers and from some of the recent fights at school that have not made the papers.

I think that our teachers would like to see respect brought back into the classroom and to know they are supported in this.

Bruce

When are you going to report on the resignation of the Andrews High School principal?

Yes Bruce - I noticed that - HPE beat you to it this time?

Jennifer,

I just read the online article about the resignation of the Andrews principal.

This story needs in depth reporting. We both know that. Did Grier fire Whitman? Why? Why did Whitman really resign? Could it be that he was promised a golden technology magnet school, but yet got a school lacking in teachers to teach the technology courses and students who have no respect for each other, their teachers, police officers, etc. Not to mention - no support from the Gulford County Schools Administration and Board of Education. What a pity - he did a great job in Chantilly. I bet he wishes he never left Virginia.

To Gamblin Man:

Do you have kids at Andrews? I suspect you do not or you would not have made the disparaging remarks you did about the students at Andrews. It shows you obviously do not have any idea what the kids or teachers are like at Andrews.
I liked Mr. Wittman and feel he was doing alot of good for our school, i.e. recruiting good teachers, active in our PTA. etc. We parents at Andrews are working to become part of the solution at Andrews. Why don't you join us instead of putting us down?

Gamblin Man,

I spoke with both Dr. Grier and Mr. Wittmann late this afternoon. Grier said he had not even spoken to Wittmann yet about his resignation.

Wittmann insists that he is leaving because he needs to finish his doctoral degree and he felt like he couldn't do both - run the school effectively and successfully finish his degree. Apparently he has spent five years pursuing his doctorate and must take the last steps (writing and defending his dissertation) by the end of March.

Wittmann also said he was unprepared for the long hours that it takes to run a high school. The academy that he ran in Virginia was more like Weaver Education Center, not a traditional comprehensive high school.

I don't have a doctorate, nor am I a principal, so I don't know how difficult it is to get that degree and run a high school. I know other principals have done it. I'm sure still others are in the process right now.

But everyone always says that not all students are alike. I would think that applies to adult students as well.

Was Wittmann pushed out by Grier or other higher ups? Wittmann says no.

What do you think? Why did you think Grier had fired Wittmann?

Sandy, I am sorry that you disagree with Gamblin Man, but he makes valid points that are clearly hard to argue with.

The simple answer to why I don't join you in being part of the solution at Andrews is because I do not want my daughter to be part of any experiments at Andrews. I do not feel that I am putting you, the students, or anyone down by saying that.

I have to tell you that the biggest joke is this Choice Plan application that we just received in the mail today. It makes reference to a 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice. You have to list a 2nd and 3rd choice in order for the application to be valid. What a joke, we may put Andrews down as a 2nd choice, but it is only to meet an application requirement. God forbid it is where our daughters winds up and Dr. Grier boldly announces to keep your chin up because you got your 2nd choice.

Jennifer, thank you as always for your prompt responses.

Andrews is supposed to be the Techology Magnet and the actions that have taken place and the answers given out of the Central Office DO NOT COMPUTE, (GET IT).

In my line of work we always say it is "how you dress up the pig). Well in this case someone is trying to put some fancy booties on that pig.

Sandy,

I find it interesting that you do not have a regular e-mail address when you hit your name. Who are you really? A parent at Andrews? I think not. Maybe just want to hide your identity - that is your right.

As to other parents helping in the solution - last year several parents from Southwest and some who did not even have kids in high school yet called Andrews to tutor or help out in the classrooms. They not only called once but several times and the door was shut in their face.

Parents at the SW forum met some of the nicest, involved parents from Andrews at that forum. (You know the one where over 800 people came to speak out agains the "Choice" plan and were not heard apparently.) Some of these same Andrews parents have been involved with SWH to make the schools better for all students.

There are many, many parents from all 3 schools who have worked together to make our schools better for all kids. You must have not found the right group yet but parents have connected for the good of all.

Jennifer,

Thank you for the update on Mr W. I was wondering about this and perhaps you can enlighten us. We read a few weeks ago in N & R that Cassandra Barr was coming back from Texas to work here in a GCS central office position; that she had been on maternity leave. I was wondering why she is not being considered to go back to Andrews as she had mentioned in the newspaper she had never wanted to leave, that she liked Andrews.

If she is indeed going to have the central office position here as the newspaper mentioned a few weeks ago, will she just be working out of Texas as a consultant for GCS or moving back here with her family? Or is she not coming back as an employee with GCS?

Why doesn't Whitman just get one of those fancy PhD certificates from Grier's Nova University?

You know - Grier's other job?

Fedup,

Mr. Wittman wanted his doctoral degree from a real university; one that is respected in the academic world, not from a diploma mill. You have to respect the man for having the good sense to understand that.

Jennifer & Bruce:

I wish you would do a larger body of work on Mr. Wittmann's resignation, perhaps not as large as the Violence in the Schools work you did a couple of months ago, but I think Andrews certainly merits a follow-up.

In my mind this man's hiring and resignation does not add up. If he knew he needed to complete his PhD work by the end of March why did he take this job? Was he promised an easier job where he could work on his personal educational needs on the Guilford County nickel?

If Mr. Wittman was a national leader in this type of a program, why wasn't he offered a 1 month leave of absence to finish his PhD program? I think spring break takes place in the latter part of March anyway.

Dr. Grier, Ms. Kearns and Ms. Mendenhall promised to deliver the goods a year ago and now the cupboard is completely empty. How ironic that the HP Controled Choice applications are now in everyone's hands. How does anyone pick Andrews now?

The leaders of the Guilford County School system were promising the very best for the children. It appears that some unfortunate children will now have to accept second best.

Teddy Ballgame:

Are you familiar with the phrase "A fish stinks from the head down?"

If so can you please apply this logic to the recent personnel activity at Andrews. By the way there is a bigger fish than Mr. Wittman, I think he lost in a game of food chain.

Barbara Ann,

You asked for an update on Cassandra Barker-Carr, former Andrews principal. I spoke today with Mike Harris, chief of human resources, and he said that she will not be coming back from her maternity leave. She has resigned. That should come up at Thursday's board meeting. The personnel report on the district's Web site is not currently a clickable link, but once it becomes one we should be able to see that information.

This just in from News 2 at 5:00

After one semester, the 3 schools in the High Point Choice Plan have greater numbers of students failing courses and lower attendance numbers for ALL 3 SCHOOLS compared to first semester last year (without the lottery).

I'm a gamlin man - I wouldn't place a bet on the success of this plan.