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It is becoming increasingly obvious that major changes are needed. This is something that the current BOE generally avoids.

What happened to Walter Childs? Was he not in attendance? I see in this thread that he is not mentioned.

He did not make it.

I'm following Amos where he says we need task forces to adress suspensions and increasing graduation rates for minority students. Then he slips in the part about increasing minority participation in "contracts". Amos, you lost me. Please, can you tell me how this has the faintest thing to do with education of kids in guilford Co?

Amos, we know you are new to politics and that's a good thing. If I can make a humble suggestion; if you (and hopefully, you are not) are trying to funnel taxpayer money to cronies, peers, associates and constituents, or acting in other ways to serve self-interest a la Dot Kearns-as has been done by most politicians from time immemorial of whatever color, you don't come right out and announce it. You need to develop cover stories etc. ("I'm doing it for migrant peanut farmers from Georgia" etc.like in Dot's pre-choice-plan-vote speech)

It's obvious that for minorities to advance they must develop equity, own businesses etc. this is a given-but not the province of a schoolboard.

When you are a schoolboard member, you have to at least pretend that you have an interest in fuduciary responsibility to spend the taxpayers'(no matter what their color) money, money raised through bond issues etc, in the most effective way posssible. This means using contractors, of whatever color, who give the most value for the money. END OF STORY!!!

Mr. Gehris,

Serious question--Will you please run for the School Board?

There was one other comment from the forum that didn't really fit into the story, but I wanted to share it.

One lady who lives near Dudley High School said that one bus picks up two children, then drives down her street past a large group of kids who must walk to school. Those kids don't get a bus ride because they are deemed as living too close to the school, even though the bus is virtually empty. She said she's seen those students slogging to school in rain and cold weather and wonders why the bus can't stop and pick them up.

I'm not trying to beat up the GCS transportation department. Overall, I think they do a wonderful job - they transport more than 30,000 students every day and their driver safety record is unmatched in Guilford County. But this lady does make a reasonable point.

Funny you should mention living too close to a school to ride a bus Bruce. My daughter and her friends would have gladly continued to walk to school. But you already know the rest of that story.

As we this strand is discussing the impact of special interests on our public schools and the education of children by them, I noted a new book about education and how we are "Cheating our Kids". Simply, the book details how adults and special interests are ruining our schools and our childrens' educations. Here's a brief review by a NY Daily News reporter:

A call for rescuing our kids & schools

Book urges shift in control

BY JOE WILLIAMS
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

In his upcoming book Cheating Our Kids: How Politics and Greed Ruin Education (Palgrave Macmillan Books), Daily News staff writer Joe Williams shows how parents can put children first and shine light on the special interests controlling our schools, where politics and pork infuse everything and our children's education is compromised.

He argues that increased accountability and choice are necessary and shows how the people can take back the education system. The solution is a new brand of hardball politics that demands competence from school leaders and shifts the power away from bureaucrats and union leaders to the people who have the greatest reason to put kids first: concerned parents.

In March 2000, a suburban Florida woman named Carol Goings complained to Seminole County school officials that a special education teacher had walloped her disabled daughter on the head. The mom sent a four-page letter detailing her complaints of child abuse to the school principal and began discussing her concerns with other parents and administrators.

Faster than you can say "cease and desist," Goings was forced to back off after she was threatened with legal action by the state teachers union, which decided the mother was out of bounds. Union lawyer Pamela Cooper fired off a letter to Goings threatening to take legal action for harming the teacher's reputation. The letter ended with a stern warning in all capital letters: "PLEASE GOVERN YOURSELF ACCORDINGLY."

Goings quietly withdrew her allegations because she wasn't prepared to wage a legal battle with one of the most powerful special interests in the state. The world likely would have never learned about the allegations had the teacher not landed on the front pages of Florida's newspapers four years later, accused by authorities of beating and humiliating other autistic students. Authorities accused the teacher of sitting on some students, knocking out one child's teeth by smashing his head into a desk, and pushing another's face into vomit.

The case, and the attention it gathered, brought out of the woodwork a long list of parents and students who had quietly complained to school officials over the years of the teacher's actions. It also shed light on one of the dirtiest little secrets in public education today: Parents who assert themselves in order to protect the interests of their children often are treated like the ones who are doing something wrong.

The expectations of parents are often sharply defined within the school system: Buy supplies for your child's class, raise money, bake cookies for fund-raisers and keep your mouth shut - unless, of course, we need you to pressure elected officials to give us more money, at which time we'll tell you where to send your letters and what telephone number to call.

As longtime Harlem school activist Babette Edwards told me, "They make you feel like you are the problem. It's all right if you have cake sales and all that, but when you ask why the reading scores haven't gone up in three years, or God forbid about something even more serious, then you have to be shut up."

Our once-heralded system of education in America has lost its way. Almost everyone agrees that the education system should exist to help children, but it has been captured by groups - teachers and other employees, politicians, philanthropists, higher education institutions, vendors, consultants, etc. - whose interests are protected and advanced through competent and powerful organizations, including unions, lobbying firms and even the major political parties themselves.

The public has just about exhausted its patience with school reform efforts that never seem to bear fruit, while the adults who feed off the system continue to make better lives for themselves along the way. Far more radical changes are needed to put real power in the hands of parent-consumers than most modern Democrats and Republicans have the guts to support.

The public can take back its runaway public school systems, but only if it is willing to help parents wrestle power away from the special interests. The system itself has proved that as long as it has no reason to put kids first, it will never, ever do so.

Parents, with help from the public, must provide a reason for the system to change, even if it involves scaring the daylights out of those with power. Unfortunately, nice parents usually play by a more genteel set of rules than the special interest groups inside the system, and their children pay the price.

This disconnect between the political parties and parents, particularly low-income and minority parents who, unlike many elected officials, can't send their kids to private schools, is a political time bomb waiting to explode.

Public education is either going to be about serving children or continuing to serve grownups. It is only a matter of time before frustrated parents start asking politicians and school leaders the question posed in the old labor song: Which side are you on?

Bravo, Stormy!!!!

Hey Bruce, how bout the N&R sponser Mr. Willaims to speak at a forum???? Just imagine!!!! This guy would be to Terry Grier as Van Helsing was to Dracula!!!

I just read today's N & R editorial about alternatives to suspensions. It wasn't quite clear how to comment on that site so I am commenting here (all school issues anyway). Deena was quoted as saying "kids are being mistreated in elementary schools."

I can honestly say in the schoolS that I have subbed in, I have found the exact opposite to be true. I have seen special teachers take certain children under their wings and look out for them and give then extra attention. Most people who teach are not in this for the money (it isn't there), they are in it because they like kids and want to make a difference. I wholeheartedly agree with the principal who commented to quit beating up on the educators. Teachers are tired of being blamed for every problem that comes down the pike.

I can think of two former teachers that were mean but they are this way to ALL kids. One that left was a black teacher; she continually picked on one particular child who was black but other children as well. She had this type of bullying personality when dealing with adults as well. She has long been gone.

The other was a white teacher who was short with ALL the kids. (I jumped when she yelled.)When we were in elementary school there were mean teachers then too. There are some people who shouldn't be in this profession but it is how they tend to treat all children. The same holds for TA's too.

What I HAVE seen are situations where you feel very sad for a child's home life. I can still remember when my daughter was in second grade (we had just moved here) and a parent dropped off a kid. The parent was threatening the child of what was to come at home if they got in trouble at school that day. I think we need to look at the source and quit blaming our teachers for every problem in society. For many children school is their daily refuge. 5th graders cry when they "graduate" from Florence (and we do too). It is such a nurturing environment.

Look at the child abuse and neglect stories you read about in the newspapers. These problems are social problems and it is in ALL races. It will take awareness, education, accountability by a society that truly does put "children first" and not last. And that goes for ALL CHILDREN. It takes everyone working together to look out for those who may be too little to help themselves.

Deena's comment: "Kids are being mistreated in elementary school" is hilarious. I'll tell you which kids are being mistreated!--it's the nice, quiet kids who sit still and do what they're told. THESE kids are the buffers and the babysitters for the kids that are out of control!! Ask any nice, quiet child who sits next to them and they'll tell you, while rolling their eyes--it's the trouble-makers!!

I personally am sick to death of annoying children being strategically placed next to "good" children. Imagine the responsibility that child feels? Imagine the DISTRACTION that child feels? I can assure you this is happening even MORE since the brilliant decision to do away with MANY teaching assistant positions.

These trouble-makers shouldn't even be in the classroom!! If they were suspended in 1st grade--POSSIBLY- JUST POSSIBLY --there could be some sort of intervention with the child and his parents. Imagine correcting the behavior BEFORE the child continues being a menace in Middle and High School!

Yea, I'm mad! My child is a "buffer" and it's getting a little old..especially since this same "menace" sat next to her LAST year too!

Deena needs to quit worrying about black contractors and go spend some time with the elementary teachers. She is on the SCHOOL board isn't she?

Buffy's mom:

It is the SCHOOL board. It is not the BUILDERS REFERRAL NETWORK board.

Buffy's Mom and Biff's Mom,

Refer to my post about the book "Cheating our Kids". Special interest groups have taken over our public schools. It's not about the kids and their educaton anymore. And, we've known for a long time that the school board isn't about education. Deena Hayes is living proof that the school board isn't about education, but rather special interests. Very few of them really care about the kids and their education, although a couple may be exceptions. And, it is very clear that our good superintendent is only about special interests, at least to the extent that he can profit from them. As the book says, it is, indeed, time for parents to take back the schools, but why won't Guilford County parents get concerned enough to do something about it? They are much too passive and accepting of what is dished out to their children that passses for education.

Stormy,

I just put that book on the TOP of my Christmas Wish List. Thanks for the heads up.

I think that Mr. Quick might be onto something with his "summit" idea. I hope he plans to request the names of all students who have been suspended 5 or more times and personally request that these students and their parents (guardians, cargivers, etc.) be in attendance. These students, and their caregivers, are responsible for their behavior.
It might be nice to hear from students who are victims of school crime as well. Oh, and let's not forget those students who are in school to learn and have that experience continually interrupted by students who refuse to follow common rules and choose to disrupt classroom learning time.
Maybe this would be a prime opportunity to hear from teachers, administrators and staff who have been negatively impacted by disruptive students as well.
I wonder if the general consensus will be to consistently follow the disciplinary actions outlined in the GCS handbook. Then, at some point, students who have been suspended too many times will be educated in a different environment as suggested at the forum.
If Hayes' quote is correct: "We're not going to continue blaming kids," then "we" must blame their caregivers. Those are the only two choices.

Cheryl,
I agree with you about caregivers, expectations and proper behavior; however I think that you will find that Deena thinks that the 'system' is flawed in it's approach to minority discipline. Hince over 1/2 million spent on racial healing, diversity training etc. All this and as the paper quotes today.. crime is up! The statistics are not divided into racial groups. I for one think that we should look at the students as 'students' not a color or a statistic. Rules should be enforced consistantly (this is one of her complaints)without race as a consideration. Black students should not be held to a higher or a lower standard than white, or mixed or hispanic. Each school should have the same standards (they don't)-- ask anyone that has moved from one school to another (not just through the choice plan, but everywhere.

Cheryl and Deb,

Great points by both! I have said it before and I will say it again:

WHY DO WE HAVE A GCS HANDBOOK IF WE ARE NOT GOING TO ENFORCE THE RULES???

Either enforce the rules for all kids - toss race, sex, income status aside - or
throw away the handbook for all kids so they can all"nonconform" and just have a free-for-all.

You cannot have it both ways.

The summit IS a super idea as Cheryl said but all parties must be invited so there can be true open dialogue. We need to hear what everyone has to say. And definitely the parents need to accompany their children.

I understand completely. Actually, I have been working on a "video documentary" - tentatively titled "The Average Student's Day in a Guilford County High School". Initial plans were to have it completed by October 2005, but now it's looking more like early Spring 2006. Nothing new, nothing that school surveillance cameras don't pick up on a daily basis - just going into high schools & videoing students' behavior. CP classrooms are particularly interesting (appalling), as well as lunch period, class changes and parking lots after school. Pictures don't lie. It is what it is. And, so far, "it" is unbelievable.
Again, most kids are wonderful, there is just that handful at every school which seem to cause disciplinary problems on a regular basis.
I hope is that the board will do more "doing" than "talking" about this issue. It is my belief that once these concerns are put to rest, Grier can be confident about his salary increase - because academic performance will improve once discipline is under control in our schools.

I noticed in the local alternative newspaper today that Terry Grier said that they were going to spend $250,000 on consultants to develop a disparity report. As I understand it, this study or report will determine the disparity that exists in Guilford County with other counties in how much business is given to minority subcontrators on school projects. If we have $250,000 lying around to use in this manner, why are we having to lay-off teachers assistants? All that I ever hear is that the schools are desperately short of funds, but it always seems that loose change like 1/2 of one millions dollars can be found when needed. Mr. Williams is right. Special interests benefit from our schools, not students.

Also, Terry Grier wants the law changed so that they can award projects up to $75,000 without going through the bidding process. So, who benefits from that change? Certainly not the taxpayers as more funds wil be spent on projects given to contractors who are not the low bidders. Sounds like that is ripe for sweetheart deals to special interests.

And what is Deena Hayes' special interests? She was quoted as saying: "Hayes said a "radical and aggressive plan" must be made to change the trend of minority contractors not obtaining renenue from construction projects. She added that the discusion of MWBE's plays a role in education because it is a socioeconomic issue in the community which affects students." Again, Deena Hayes is one of GCS' leading special interests. She feels that directing revenue to minority contratractors is actually part of her role in education. Please, when will these people ever really care about education. They are the special interest problem in our schools.

Does anyone out there really care enough to demand that education return to the forefront in GCS? Why do we keep re-electing these people?

CHERYL:

I heard you were a consultant on "The Blair Witch Project" documentary. Great job.

I am positive this will prove much scarier by far.

Can't wait for those reviews in the education journals.

Boo

Stormy, I just read the article in Rhino. Not to worry. Deena threatened at the last school board meeting about not getting the minority votes for future bond refs. She referenced that minorities voted for the last bond ref but they were getting too small a percentage of the building contracts. (Interestingly, she didn't vote for the last bond ref.) (I read Walter had mentioned that the people in High Point weren't getting enough of the bond money.) Deena won't have to threaten not getting the minority votes because it will be very hard to get another bond ref passed if GCS keep throwing away money on such nonsense studies.

It is interesting to note in the article that past
disparity studies where done in the 90's by the city of Greensboro and the county. Now comes good cop/bad cop.

Grier mentions it has to be a different consulting firm doing the study. (WHY???)
Duncan mentions the school board is not a "funding" body and can be included on the NEXT study conducted by the county.
Grier is not elected. (He is paid to take the heat.)
Duncan is elected.

I hope Duncan is sincere in stating that GCS can wait for the next study. You can pay enough for a "consultant" and get the results you want to make your case. I have heard similar past statements by the administration. Different studies say different things. And who will this "new consultant" be?

Another difference (Stormy you will appreciate this having retired from the real busines world.)

In private business it is the stockholders who make money.
In public/government it is the voters who make money. In this case, the "voters" who will be HANDED lucrative contracts without having to bid like everyone else. Just give away the taxpayers money. Throw competition out the window. Build a final product that costs thousands or even millions more than it should.

I wonder who came up with the idea of having to have a "green" school? This could be a good research project for The Storm Man.

After reading this article, there is one best word:

UNBELIEVABLE!

Unbelieveable,

No research needed. It was undoubtedly someone that falls under the special interests umbrella. Follow the money. Make no mistake, someone made money off that one at the taxpayers' expense. As Mr. Williams says, it's all about special interests in public schools. It's not about children and their education anymore, if it ever was. The sooner that parents and taxpayers wise-up to what is going on and demand a change, the better off their children will be. Until that happens, the special interests will continue to live well and be prosperous.

I am a teacher for GCS and I wanted to add to the prior posts concerning discipline. I completely sympathize with the parents who have good kids that must put up with the interruptions and conflicts caused by students with behavior problems. It is frustrating for me as well. My job is to educate ALL of my students (good behavior or not) and it is often difficult to do that when students disrupt the class. As much as possible, I try to work with the child and the parents because ultimately I want to reach out to that child. However, this does not always happen and the students that do come to school to learn suffer as a result. This is part of going to a public school. I used to blame the administration, but I've learned from working with administators that they often have their hands tied due to pressure from "downtown" to make numbers look good and to keep as many kids as possible in school. Until there are stricter rules and policies and better intervention programs, students will continue to get in trouble only to be sent back to the classroom to disrupt it once again.

My wife is a teacher within the school system. She is a special ed (EC as GCS calls it) and there fore has to deal with kids that are, for one reason or another, at a lower level then the rest of their classmates. She sees a combination of problems within the schools.

One is the trend of kids that are in high school, but have 7th grade and lower skill levels. Instead of helping the kids with their current level my wife and her fellow teachers spend more time trying to cram 2 or more grade levels into a school year. These kids become frustrated and this comes out as behavior problems. Also the kids realize that 9 times out of 10 they will be promoted so it doesn't matter what they do or how they act in class.

Another problem she sees is the lack of maturity the kids have when they come to school. One on one you may not know it, but in a class of 30 it shows. They feed of each others’ actions and emotions. She and other teachers notice a difference in the kid’s maturity when the parents take an active role in communicating with their child’s teacher to those that don’t. I’m not saying that kids without parental involvement are brats, but having the parents involved helps with the kid’s behavior.

Some other problems she sees are too many kids in a class. GCS will shuffle kids who are removed/kicked out of one school and sent to another. When this happens and most of the time the new teachers have no idea why this kid is here. She understands that it’s good for a kid to come in with a clean slate, but if a kid was removed for fighting to another violent action the teacher should be made aware of it. There are a few other things that she sees as problems, but they are more too many meetings, paperwork, benchmark tests and other meaningless time consuming activities that take time away from being able to teach.

One of the things I don’t understand and she’s tried to explain this to me, but why do we even classify kids as black, white or whatever color? If we keep referring kids by race how does that help? Why not address the kids and their issues as individuals and not as a race. I dunno maybe it’s just a stupid idea. Sorry this is so long.

Bruce,

Excellent points. I have oftened wondered that myself. Why DO students have to be classified by race? Can't we just educate the individual child and quit categorizing everyone?

One reason is government statistics and I guess now we have the $121,000 stat person studying the "GAP". (but now we are told it is an income gap and not a racial gap?) Not to mention outside stat consultant following groups of kids for several years and they are categorized and identified for several years. Of course, now you know, this won't help with the "minority" building contractor situation currently being discussed.

I do know many Caucasian kids now who just put "mixed" or "multi" or whatever category that is and will not put Caucasian. They logic that their parents/grandparents/great-grandparents may be from several different European countries so they are a mixture.

You can also be penalized for certain scholarships too by putting race.

I am so sick of discussing all this. We discuss and we discuss, send e-mails to County commisioners/ SB members / write of the CB.
Nothing ever changes.

We only have one true choice.

MOVE!

What move and miss all this fun!

I AM A TEACHER WITH GCS.....

Each student is responsible for his/her own actions. If misbehavior occurs, I must deal with it. Sometimes that means suspension. I don't care what race they are. I know that African-Americans are overly represented in the "suspended population", but there's nothing I can do about that.

IT'S NOT A CONSPIRACY!!! African-Americans are more likely to be poor, come from single parent homes, be illigitimate etc. It's not a racial issue- it has more to with morals and socioeconomics.....

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