News-Record.com

Morgan,

Welcome to the Den of Complainers, them being the North High Point parents who're reportedly vacating the public school system for the comforts of the lilly white "Christian" exclusionist schools.

Lord Hear Our Prayers.

WELCOME!

Don't pay any mind to Bubba. Forgive him for he know not what he speaketh of. We just ignore him.

What is the meeting at Smith about?

What time is the meeting.

Sorry for the duplication. Still trying to figure out blog. The meeting tonight is at 5 p.m. with the Guilford County Association of Educators.

Morgan,

Welcome aboard. My guess is that you're stepping up from the Gaston Gazette. If so, you're probably well acquainted with small-town politics by now, so you'll fit in just fine.

In my mind, Morgan conjures up the images of both Morgan Freeman and Morgan Fairchild. Could you help us out with a little bit more about your, uhh, background?

Morgan Freeman,

I believe Morgan J did give some, albeit it limited, background on his professional pedigree, and not on the personal of which he might want to keep personal, and if he does, well that's ok, after all us Southerners don't like to pry.

Morgan, welcome to you and I wish you luck. You can start by investigating school Board member Deena Hayes suspect "conflict of interests".
The public need an answer. With no public statement/explanation by the board or Deena then suspicions will only grow.

Welcome!
It will be good to have a new set of eyes on the education process and the powers that be!

Hi Morgan,

Yes, the Deena subject would be a good one. Take a look at the story printed in the Rhino ( another local rag) and then read the Guilford County schools conflict of interest policy.
Its very incriminating!
She needs to go!

Welcome, Morgan!

Wish I'd read this earlier. I was at the meeting. By 6 pm I'd had enough of the standard bs from our fearless leader.

by the way, as a new comer, did you think he was actually HEARING anything anyone said, or just figuring out his counterpoints to all ideas and suggestions and complaints?

Best wishes for a bright future!

Well hey there Bubba, I thought you would be done preaching your drivel.

Morgan, I'm one of those exclusionists Bubba is talking about. And there was no "reportedly" vacating the public school system. We vacated late last July, still comment since I still pay taxes.

You do need to look into Deena Hayes by the way. She's Skip Alston in drag.

Please sign this petition via the link below!
We need grier outta here!

http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?mark0112&1

Nothing like jumping right in! Welcome to the craziness, Morgan.

I would like to invite everyone to the meeting of the Community Education Organization. This is yet another parent group that is trying to advocate for the children in Guilford County schools that are not having their needs met. I also have to add, that if you have been watching the national news media the past weeks, the issue of failing high schools in particular is a NATIONAL problem.

Grab a copy of this week's TIME magazine to see the special report titled, Dropout Nation.

Each community in this country has to step up and start to change the way we educate our children in public schools. We are failing them and in the end, we will all fail.

The local news today includes more business closings here in our area. We need to get our collective heads out of the sand and start to make the necessary changes to prepare our kids for the future.

The Community Education Organization is a faith based,(all faiths) group led by the Pulpit Forum's education committee. Right now it is mostly African American parents, students, and community leaders, but everyone who cares about educating our children is encouraged to attend.

We will meet at the New Light Missionary Baptist Church at 6:30pm. The church is located right across the parking lot from Dudley High school.

Please invite anyone you know who is interested in the education issues in our county.

You can visit the group's yahoo site by going to www.yahoogroups.com and doing a search for Community Education Organization.

Hope to see you there.

And thanks, Morgan for agreeing to come!

Morgan,

I was at the meeting tonight, but I didn't get a chance to meet you. My husband spoke to you briefly though and said you were excited about being here. I'm glad you were able to go to the meeting and be introduced to Guilford politics. Things are pretty crazy right now with the "Mission Possible" plan being decided on along with budget decisiosn being made, but it also means you'll never run out of things to write about! Good luck and welcome!

Andi

I have heard (from a trusted source) that Deena is under increasing scrutiny from some members of the school Board.
Will she get forced out?

Morgan,

While you are investigating the Deena Hayes activities, I would suggest that you also take a look at what Terry Grier's role in this has been. Deena Hayes, as a board member, couldn't have engineered all of this business going to her significant other without his agreement and support. Let us know what you learn.

Welcome Morgan,

One Suggestion,,,,,,Purchase a Nice Pair of Hip Waders and wear them at all School Board Functions,,,,sometimes they may not be enough protection against the amount of B.S. that is produced at the meetings...

One other Suggestion,,,be careful of Dr. Griefs' Handshake.......

Welcome Morgan!

Caution: this county is run by a few select groups. You met one of them this evening. He heads up the white Hell Point entourage, Jim Morgan (can you say Guilford Education Alliance) Margaret Arbuckle acts as the public mouthpiece. The black group in Hell Point is led by Rev. Fails with Vickie and Joe Alston as the talking heads.

The Greensboro white group is led by the Bryan Foundation's Jim Melvin. Alan Duncan is the educational mouthpiece for this group ... not vocally but observe how he manipulates the meeting from the chairman's poition! You won't hear your newspaper's management say a bad word about him. He is the paper's attorney to protect them from libel/slander suits. The black Greensboro group is led by Skip Alston. Deena Hayes is his educational underling that apparently is just like her mentor, scamming the system in the name of equal rights and racism.

Good luck in staying out of the webs they spin! If these groups ever got together they could be a dynamic force for positive change. Unfortunately, they're all power hungry and look only to build their own kingdoms.

Then there's Grier. He's working all of them against each other for the benefit of his resume'. NEVER for the benefit of the kids.

Get used to his need to do things last minute. Most of the "programs" that aren't worth diidly but cost a fortune are passed this way!

Again, welcome! You have plenty of job security here.

Morgan,

What'd I tell you?

Biggest bunch of complainers you'll ever meet.

Some of these cats will even see a conspiracy heating up when one of the movers & shakers at the GBOE sits a certain way during Board meetings.

If Ms Hayes happened to use bad judgement/lack of discretion in a gov't transactional process at most she'll probably just get a reprimand from her colleagues or privilege taken away to select the next council meetings choice of lunch, and her election numbers will increase even more the next time around.

Let's concentrate on local educational affairs of greater importance, like how to retain and reward quality teachers, instead of the trivial matter of who was right or wrong when awarded a contract to purchase colored copier or toilet paper.

Lord Hear Our Prayers.

Bubba,

When black people commit a crime, why is it considered lack of discretion/bad judgement? Diverting taxpayer dollars for personal gain is a crime. One which the GCBOE won't pursue because of the bad publicity. Look also at her ties with the Crossroads Ministries people. Does she receive any money from them? Not directly due to GCBOE contract but as a consultant or staff member? Was the money diverted to her through NCCCJ, a local organization that Ms. Hayes receives $$ from that helps with "racial healing".

Bubba, in this case you are just plain wrong! Time and further investigation will prove it. Just a question whether it will be the DA or the Rhino. Most likely the Rhino!

Speaking of her election #'s, if she's not indicted or forced to resign, they will go up. She's unopposed!!!!!

Notta Fan,

So your an avid reader of:

************* THE RHINO TIMES *****************
NEWSPAPER OF CHOICE FOR THE RIGHT WING NUT JOBS

You're basing your opinion that Deena committed a "crime" on the article in the Rhino Times/Rumor? You're basing your lynching of Ms. Hayes on such comments by the Rhino as...."Some report that CoMor..", who is the SOME the Rhino refers to?...."There is a RUMOR that..Sheila..quit..to.." Exactly what the Rhino prides itself on, rumors.

There's nothing in the article by Ms. Benscoter that's gonna hang Ms. Hayes. The Rhino is just conjecturing, and doing a poor job as well.

You're just a part of the Good Old Boys network who are ticked off that Blacks are now getting an equitable opportunity to get some public contracts at the expense of the Goold Old Boys (Lilly White contractors) who've primarily had the bidding process proceeds for themselves.

Deena Hayes is interceding for her constituency just as any politician is gonna do. She's especially trying to loosen the stranglehold on the contract process by endeavoring to champion minority participation in the process.

Perhaps she has been a tad overly ambitious in certain matters, but her efforts and desires to see that the dispossessed (less than Lilly White people) get a fair opportunity to eat at the table of plenty is commendable.

Lord Hear Our Prayers.

Bubba,

Yes, I hope that the lord hears our prayers and acts on them. That's getting Grier across the county line and not allowing him to return, and have him take Deena Hayes with him. The facts that have been reported about Deena's Hayes involvement alone show that she has violated the board's conflict of interest policy. Speculation on it is not needed as to the depth of her problems. Read the board's policy, and any reasonable, unbiased person would acknowledge that she violated the policy.

And, why has the News-Record been so silent on this matter? Are they protecting Deena Hayes?

Of someone is protecting someone. Its a bloody violation and is down right abuse of power. Mrs WouldbeGreen is a theif!

Bubba Luvs,

From the examples you cite about the shortcomings of the Rhino's skewering of Deena Hayes, it almost sounds like you might be a HoggsBlog reader. Be careful... pretty soon people will accuse you of being my alter ego.

Oh, I almost forgot the comment I was going to make in the first place.

Welcome, Morgan, happy to have you.

The only short coming I see is that Bubba and the Hogg fail to articulate what the shortcomings of the Rhino article about the Black Widow are.

I would be glad to hear what they believe these shortcomings are, but I doubt they have the skillsets to answer the challenge.

Bubba/David, with all due respect.
1) Deena harped on and on about Minority contractors time after time.
2)Her live in lover is a major part of a minority contractor that has made a lot of money from us, the tax payers (through the improved levels of non bidding that she supported).
3)read the conflict of interest policy. I like the parts below:

"In addition to conflicts arising out of personal or pecuniary interests, Board members may have family or business relations that could create the perception of a conflict of interest. In such event, where State and federal laws do not require any action, the Board member shall disclose the interest, shall abstain from voting and avoid the appearance of impropriety".

And:

"In all matters that may have the appearance of impropriety, in addition to disclosing the interest and abstaining from taking any formal action, the Board member shall not attempt to influence the decisions of staff or other Board members on the issue".

Now.
Tell me why she is not guilty of a conflict of interest.

D Hoggard,

Forgive me for I have sinned.

You are correct. I did read your comments and observations about the Rhino BUTCHER JOB on Ms. Hayes at your blog and agreed completely with your conclusions that the Rhino is a periodical dealing with rumors, and is more typical of tabloid trash (my conclusions).

My sincere apologies for failing to give credit to whom it was due.

I, in the sight of almighty God, promise to you and the world, including my fellow Chalkboardians, that my willful and intentional transgression will never happen again, until the next time.

Lord Hear My Prayers.

Bubba said that Deena is "interceding for her constituency just as any politician is gonna do. She's especially trying to loosen the stranglehold on the contract process by endeavoring to champion minority participation in the process."

Just as any politician is gonna do? How about acknowledging what any live-in lover is gonna do? Deena doesn't seem to be concerned with her constituents so much as her "man". I bet there has been plenty of pillow talk about how to increase the household income.

She needs to STEP DOWN before the attorneys for the contractors that have been cheated STEP UP!

Truth,

Ms. Hayes did recuse herself from voting on contract matters related to her companion's company. It's pretty obvious, the Board is fully aware of the relationship of Ms Hayes and companion, no surprise there.

There might be a conflict of interest that has occurred, though I don't think it's an egregious one. However, I see this matter as being the results of an over zealous minority woman pursuing equitable treatment in the obtaining of gov't. contracts for her people who've been denied this avenue of monetary gain for too long.

Her well intentioned goals might have cut some corners, but her cause is noble and not unlike anyone else's who had been denied opportunities that the majority had usurped for so long such as the types who've enriched themselves at the public trough and have vacated the public school system and enrolled their kids in the exclusionist lilly white "Christian" schools such as HPCA.

At worst, Ms. Hayes will get a mild rebuke from the Board and a commendation for the work she is doing to bring minority contractors into the bidding competition and a level playing field.

Lord Hear Our Prayers.

Morgan Josey doesn't say much, does he.

Musta already packed up and gone back to Gaston.

Knock.....Knock, is there anybody out there?

Morgan is a "she" not a "he" and give her a break. She just got here. I met her tonight at the CEO meeting. Let's give her a chance to get her bearrings.

Why was nothing in the N & R about the meeting at Smith HS last night in today's paper?

The HPE had three school related articles today.
One was about MORE funds being transferred from the Jamestown Middle pot of money.

Did you and Jen go on a sabatical?

Bubba aka David H:

what is it with you and your problem with Christian schools?

if you "love Jesus" as you say why do you hate Christians schools?

"Feeding at the public trough"??? "cut some corners"?? Check out the logal county officials. Does the Homestead project ring a bell among other things?

Your deck of cards has run out of "race" cards.

I apologize for my lack of activity on the blog yesterday. I intended to post something about the Smith, Dudley and High Point audit but got caught up in some other job orientation things. We did run a story on the Smith HS meeting in Thursday's paper, but I think it was in the Greensboro edition and online. My first article on the audit recommendations ran today. I should have some other posts later today.

Pick Up,

I have nothing but admiration for Christian institutions that accept committed students for the sole purpose of providing an education and not to be used as an option for those parents who don't want their kids to associate with poor as well as minority students or who might be inconvenienced as a result of the challenges that society sometimes throws at us.

I speak mainly to such "Christian" schools as HPCA and others in the greater Guilford county area who've seen a spike in enrollment and interest as a result of the efforts to make education in our community more equitable for everyone. Their gain is not as a result of parents wanting their kids to get a religious education, but is because the parents demand segregation of their kids from the less than Lilly White and diverse community that they abhor and refuse to be assimilated into. This isn't practicing Christian principles, this is segregation cloaked under the guise of religion which makes it pathetic.

Lord Hear Our Prayers.

Are the parents that send their kids to the "lilly white" Christian schools by choice any different from the black parents that send their kids to Dudley by choice?

Dear Bubba Loves Jesus,
I don't profess to know the Bible very well, but isn't there something about "Judge and ye shall be judged?"

Each parent has to do what they think is best for their child. No one has to agree with that decision. This forum would be more productive we if actually discussed education and how to make public education better for EVERY student, color, sex and age not a factor.

Just my .02 worth

Ok, then Debora, what's on your mind about education in Guilford county? Do you have an educational topic, besides about Dr. Grier, you'd like to discuss?

Sure,
I can think of many. What about teacher assistants, the new proposed Mission Possible, the new budget proposals- who will take Eric Hokstra's place when he retires.How will that change things/ How can we cut fuel costs, how do we raise the bar in middle schools? They are struggling to make growth. Why do the top 5% of students get no additional help to reach their potential? I am sure you can think of many others.. how about how do we afford enough busses so that the kids don't have to sit in the floor? How do you keep kids in control on a bus, I have heard of a few kids getting banned from busses for having sex ON THE BUS! Is it fair to spend more per student for the Bennett Middle College than other middle colleges when only 20% pass EOG's Is it fair to pay for the lunches of the Greensboro middle college students? I believe they are proposing that and lunch for another middle college?

Take your pick, that is just some of the ones that come quickly to mind

Am I the only one that notices that Bubba changes the topic when faced with troublesome facts?

A combination of what Bubba and Debora have said formulates why are daughter is no longer in the public school system. I never became actively involved in our daughter's schooling until public knowledge of the HP Choice Plan back in early 2004.

And that's a big shame on me. The more I explored things, the greater my concern became that our daughter would not adequately be prepared for college, regardless of the public high school in High Point school she attended. This concern grew as I talked to various parents and teachers in the public school system.

My apprehension was compounded by reading the weekly police report for where calls were made. Why expose your child to undo risk if you don't have to?

In a nutshell I felt our daughter would need an environment that the public school system was unable to provide from a teaching and safety standpoint. When I learned of the programs at Wesleyan and HPCA that's where we turned about this time last year. The Wesleyan waiting list never shrank so HPCA here we come.

Based on the programs our daughter is interested in the natural fits for her are UNCG, Appalachian, and UNC-Asheville. The last I checked these are all public institutions with a very diverse student population.

HPCA offers a curriculum taught to the admission guidelines for all NC Universities, so I am comfortable with our daughter there. No where in our search for a school was I looking for an exclusionary school. The fact that they require a Bible class each school year seems like a good thing as well.

Once our daughter landed there, it turns out I came accross several other parents I had not seen in several years who I used to work with or went to college with, who enrolled their children at HPCA for the same education and safety issues. Some of these parents were from as far away as Greensboro and Thomasville.

Bottomline these parents have given up on the public school system in Guilford County. You reach a point where your first responsibility is to your child and providing for your own child's future. Your child's future becomes more important than the social issues at hand concerning how to fix the broken school system. That fix is going to take longer than the remaining years our daughter has in high school. Granted it's a problem, but until you replace the majority of the sitting School Board, etc. etc.; the fix is never at hand.

Could Deena Hayes be described as a "Priviledged Black" Person??????

It seems that she sure is taking advantage of the System in a way NO White Person could.....

Deena knows that she lives in a city where she can extort the public,, under the Guise that Society OWES her due to the past... Greensboro is being held Hostage by Hayes,,Alston,,Jones,,,Etc.....

Deena,,,Nobody Owes you anything,,,People are getting tired of your B.S.

You need to get on board with Bill Cosby and quit Whining.....

Debora,

I see you raised some points of concern so what's your solution, and please spare me the old worn out refrain, blame it all on Terry and fire him?

What do you propose to do to increase the amount of bus transportation and how are we gonna pay for it? Want to reinstall more teacher assistants then how do you pay for them? Do we take FRL from kids who qualify according to state standards and instead buy more buses, yet let the kids go without lunches? Do we provide security on high incident buses, then if so, how do we pay for it? How do we keep well qualified teachers and better yet how do we entice them to go into the poor schools and teach kids that probably already have two strikes against them (no fault of theirs) as a result of what they were born into?

Simple: RAISE PROPERTY TAXES. Then we can pay for more buses, more teachers, better schools, incentives to improve, FREE LUNCHES for all, etc. etc. We can look like 90210. But of course, this ain't gonna happen in a big enough way to address all the issues that demand financial attention.

My point is, running such a large corporation with a vast shareholder group, which includes you and me, is extremely difficult and there are gonna be failures and victories, budget fights, disagreements on names of schools, and a host of other things too many to mention.

You have raised many points, though I think some are not that great of an issue, but I believe you are sincere in your concerns as I too am regarding our education system. And I trust that like me and the overwhelming majority of Guilfordians who have kept their children in the school system, you won't take your kids out of the system and hide them in the exclusionist environments that comprise the typical "Christian" private schools as Buckmtn and a minority of his kind did.

Lord Hear Our Prayers.

Bubba,

I've read your many posts calling names of good parents who have chosen to send their children to private school. Good for them. In this democratic country, we still have that right. And you know what, it doesn't matter to you or to me for what reason these parents have chosen. It is their right as U.S. citizens and God Bless America.

Quest, I'm unaware of any parent that I've sullied by namecalling. I do recall the time when Barbara Ann did refer to me at one point as something akin to a donkey's hindquarters which struck deep into my innermost, and Stormy one time referred to me as something that's unmentionable.

However, if I have hurt anyone's feelings by name calling, please accept my sincere apologies....and always remember, that in these times.....It Takes A Village.

Some solutions to the money crunch:
stop new unproved programs-try one new thing, evaluate and then proceed-stop providing transportation for magnet programs, they are a privilege and with that privelege should come some responsibility of the parents to get their children to that school.Most are located within the cities so distance is not that great a problem. Also traditionally magnets are placed in high poverty schools to intice the more affluent to that school. Currently we only transport about 1/2 of those students, think how much we would have to pay if they all relied on buses. We spend much more on the individuals at magnet schools than regular neighborhood schools- is that equitable or fair? Give each FRL child a share of the pie, not just if they are at highly impacted schools, the money should follow the child, not the school. Don't transport athletes home after practices (this was a new one to me)

Here are some proposals, but I didn't notice that you had any suggestions. There are many hard choices to be made. Do I blame Dr. Grier, not JUST him. He is the leader so he must set the tone. If we aren't happy with him, then we have to vote for new BOE. No one wants to run in 4 of 5 openings this year. Why? It is a thankless job.

I think working in a high impact school should be rewarded ONLY if the teacher gets 1.5 years growth.That would be better than average. One years growth is expected so that would be a "c" if they Those elementary schools already get more money per student, smaller class rooms and that doesn't seem to help. We need to make the schools friendlier to parents and welcome the communities to help with tutoring, big brother/big sister mentoring, etc.

Looking forward to hearing others opinions.

High,
I agree that Deena is a "black privileged" person. In her warped mind though she probably thinks herself justified. She has been raped and pillaged now for many years now. White men in suits have insulted her. You name it she has received it.

It is her right to go and "arrange" this money exchange with no conscience whatsoever.

Oh Lord, please prey for us.

Questins for Bubba

Why are private schools full of white students? Is it because black people can't afford it? Is it because black people don't care about the education of their kids? Is it because public schools are good enough for black people? Is it because people like Deena have convinced them all to sit back and wait for a "gift"?

Also, what about churches? Most churches are either mostly black or mostly white. Look at Dot's big ole church. Full of rich white people. Why doesn't Dot go across town to a black church if she expects kids to travel across town to balance the schools?

Truth,

Thanks for posting the excerpts from the GCS policy, I should have looked them up myself.

After reading them, I would have to agree that if the few verifiable facts in the Rhino article are true, then Hayes, at the least, has presented an "appearance of impropriety".

But, if, as has been reported, she has recused herself from voting on matters relating to her boyfriend's business, I don't think she has violated the Board's conflict of interest policy.

However, after reading what you posted, I must admit my knee is twitching a little more than it was before... but I'm still not ready to join the call for her ouster.

David,
I believe the real question might be has Deena's continual fighting for raising limit of the 'no-bid' process had a direct positive effect on her partner's business.

Now here are some interesting thoughts. Her partner in life isn't an owner, just an employee (as I understand the issue), does that make a difference? Also could it be that no other companies are doing good enough work. I for one, call the same workers that have done good work for me before. That is always my starting point.

I believe I have seen Deena recuse herself in a few votes, but I had no idea why. But the 'perception' of undue influence is definitely an issue.

Lot o' stuff here. None of it on the meeting at Smith. None of it on the arguments with the teacher association over taking from the supplement to pay for "Mission Possible".

Di anyone propose to Dr. Grier that perhaps the money should come out of ADMINISTRATORS' and BOE members' pay raises (I think the latter got an 80% one last year), rather than the measly less-than COLA 2% given teachers?

I couldn't get to Smith, but I'll be there Monday night for my three minutes of infamy.

I think the proposal is for a 5% raise this year. Here are some thoughts. Should all teachers get the same raise? Dr. Grier said if the teachers at highly impacted schools showed negative growth in their value added scores for 2 years, they couldn't teach at that school any longer. I say fire them. In no other business would we tolerate a person going backward for two years. If the teacher can not take 25 kids and show any growth for two years, they aren't a teacher, just a warm body. They should not be teaching unless they have some major help in how to teach. They have degrees, peer mentoring etc. It must not be working.
Should some subjects get more money? Maybe, probably but morale will be bad for a while. The free market place should play an important part in this decision. If the teaching profession as a whole was better rewarded then more people might choose the profession. I think Dr. Grier should have said the suppliment for teachers at non impacted schools would be x and impacted schools would be y, not we will pay teachers at impacted schools x-b=y. They should not be connected, so if he had said it differently it would be better, even if it isn't different.

I hear don't "take away my money", but you can't take it away if you don't have it yet. Bad wording, bad timing.

How can a board member who earns 12K a year drive a Lexus?
Did she buy it herself or was it a present?

Deena has a 'real' job, but not sure exactly what it is.

It is true teachers have not received their raises, of course. They have been "promised" mainly by politicians, which means they have no currency, anyway. But the local supplemental pay has NOT been pitched to rise more than 2% or so. The STATE has made noise about throwing in about $750 a year, but that isn't tied to the local supplement. The latter is one of the tools each county or district uses to cajole teachers to sign up to teach in their zip codes. Guilford's offer falls somewhere around seventh among the state's districts, but thew county is the third largest district and has one of the higher overall tax bases. Irving Park is THE most highly valued subdivision in the state, albeit many of the tax assessed values lag ridiculously under anything reflecting real value.

I also still don't understand why administrators and BOE members, with their massive raise from last year, aren't kicking in for this proposal, if it's such a great idea? Is Dr. Grier planning to? No one's proposed scaling the needed re-direct of funds from EVERYONE in the system, based on a percent of pay or perhaps on a sliding scale.

Nope, just withhold $250 a year that would have been going to them from each and every non-high-impacted-school (sounds like constipation) English or math teacher. Now THAT'S a great way to lure new teachers and keep 'em happy here. Oh, and then give the super a super raise...which you gotta guess is in the works.

As for firing teachers: sure, if they truly are incompetent. Good principals are partly paid for making those very judgments. But, if many students have heart-wrenching, mind-boggling backgrounds (that would surely stun most of those lucky enough to have been born into middle-class or higher security and comfort) and are facing issues that put learning nearly at the bottom of their (survival) priorities.... and the following batch when the next year rolls around happen to have even worse problems...all through nothing but "luck of the draw" for that teacher... aren't you just bound to hand the whole mess to another unfortunate soul?

And replacing teachers is no easy matter: they need 10,000 a year just to keep up with normal attrition. The colleges in NC graduate 3,000. I know Yankees are flocking here in droves, but a lot of them are decidedly NOT interested in teaching, period, and less in teaching highly-impacted, often troubled populations in occasionally dangerous neighborhoods. $15,000 incentive carrots or no. 15 grand is peanuts if you've sold a house in NY or CT and garnered a half-million dollar profit. The Yankees are here to golf, not run interference between knife-wielding or simply bored and overwrought children and the finer points of grammar or long division.

So a child with a mind boggling, heart wrenching background can't learn? Freddy, it looks like you qualify to be on the school board. We should never write children off! Discipline is one reason that can disrupt a classroom and stop learning but we must all agree on the basic principle that all children can learn.

Buckmtn,

That was an awesome, sincere post. I can tell from your postings that you are a caring, loving parent. You don't owe anyone an explanation, especially BubbaLJ, as to why you daughter is in a private Christian school. If you are "hiding" (Bubba's words) your child from the abusive language, disrespect, fights, potential stabbings, razor cuts, blatent public displays of affections by Lesbians at football games on school property then hide away! You, as a parent, have a God given responsbility to do what is best for YOUR child. She is your precious gift. That will be the only person you have to answer to at the end of the day. What kind of parent were you on this earth? As someone said,

THIS IS AMERICA!

Knowing the fine young lady you are raising your daughter to be I know that she would not be associating with people outside of school who behave so badly in school.

People just don't get it. Sadly, the "real world" may be public school. Smart children with positive values see what else is out there and make a wise decision that they never want to be this way. That would be one push to succeed for public schools to know they never want to end up like this.

Thank you for being a great parent!

I hope Morgan will get a little travel money and venture outside of Guilford County. There are some systems that are doing great things with less money than we have. The current BOE seems to have no interest in what is working at other places. If it is not invented here, they are not interested. Have you ever seen the Board ask Terry Grier about what they did at other systems he worked with.

Joe,

Your question was too good to not respond. Of course the Board has never asked Terry Grier "what they did at other systems he worked with". We all know the answer to that question. All the other systems he worked with fired him or chose NOT to ever renew a single contract.

Everyone of his previous districts were displeased with his performance. He was not effective previously and he's not effective today.

Children beset with life-threatening issues at home, or extreme poverty, drugs, abuse..etc., have a heckuva time learning compared to those lucky enough to be born into relative wealth and security. That's pretty clear. I NEVER intimated the COULD NOT learn; of course they can learn, and often desperately wish to...BUT the degree and speed will almost certainly be affected.

I am not "writing them off"! To the contrary, I want them to get every chance we can afford them...but conversely, how can they be expected to always, year in and out, show exceptional progress on the (ridiculously over-estimated) standardized tests? In fact, the sheer law of averages dictates that (if they weren't constantly re-apprised and dumbed-down) any grade level will have a significant number of years when the students' scores will drop. If they continually rise year after year, defying the "reversion to the mean", I am always suspect.

This ain't Lake Wobegon, people.