News-Record.com

Please help me understand the difference in Ollie North speak at the BSA and you speaking at Dudley. Who is more agenda driven than you? This is taxpayers property, so why should you be allowed to speak? Where Ed Cone at now?
Now in real life, I could care less that you speak at Dudley,hope they enjoy you.

Allen,

I enjoyed the article in today's N&R regarding the outpouring of support from Dudley alumni to assist their alma mater. They should be commended for their support and dedication and pride for their school.

This is a true example of a community school and the community is ready to step up when the going gets tough.

Why do you think the same is NOT being done at Smith, Andrews, and Central?

Hopefully you will tell them knowledge is power. Tell them it will enable them to think for themselves. Tell them they will likely be faced with, sometime in their life, some self-interested politician or other, along with their media lackeys, who will try to tell them how they should live and how they should raise their children and that in order to help "others", ("others" usually meaning either the politicians themselves or an interest group that elected them)they may have to "sacrifice". When this happens, tell them how they should listen to their gut feelings telling them that the warm stream dripping down their back is not really rain like the pols are telling them.

Teach them that oppression can arise from both ends of the political spectrum and that most roads leading to hell are paved with the good intentions of half-wits with half-baked political ideas they won't hesitate to force on someone else, and that Hitler thought he was helping the German people and that Milsoevic thought he was helping the Serbs.

Good luck.

Numbersgame:
Part of Dudley's power is its history and its deep community roots.
I would imagine that the case is similar at a school like Central.
I am not sure what's happening at the other schools, but if alumni aren't coming forward, it'd be wonderful if they did.

The alumni didn't have to step in to help in High Point. Our school board decided it would be a better idea to bring in really smart, white kids from across town.

Allen, you have activeLy campaigned to DESTROY "community roots" -the only true way a school can sustain itself, at somebody else's school. The people on the schoolboard you have supported have now removed the core areas-the areas that fed the first students into SW High 25 years ago (The Blairwood and Oak Hollow Estates areas) from the school completely. Please let's get consistent with your feelings and philosophies.

ps We will all be rooting along with you at the boardmeeting tonight, as we all anticipate the board will be taking additional steps to diversify the downtown Greensboro schools, NOT!!!

Allen,

Surely even you can see the contradiction here. Dudley has a "history" and "deep community roots" and rightfully so.

So, which is it - deep community roots or busing for the sake of diversity without community buy-in?

Perhaps that's the real difference between Dudley and Andrews.

Oh, I don't know about that. I didn't live in Dudley's neighborhood even when I was a student there.

Allen,

Out of curiosity - which high school was closest to your home when you attended Dudley?

Page.

Congratulations on the invite, Allen. We certainly have our differences, but I sincerely wish you well and I hope those students take something valuable from whatever you have to say. A good friend once advised me not to let intelligence substitute for reason. That might be some good advice.

Allen,
I fully expect you to stand up and tell those students that they need diversity.

It just would not be honest to say anything else, would it?

Thanks, Sam. That is good advice.

Truth:
Oh, I have no problem with that. Diversity is not some embarrassing cousin you hide in a closet somewhere. It's a good thing.

Congratulations on the invitation. You could, with no sense of irony intended, talk about the value and power of debate in public life. On every end of the political spectrum there seems to be polarization and the idea that there are absolutes that everyone should believe in. The only problem being that different groups define the list of absolutes differently. We used to argue those points and now we use this belief in political and social absolutism to demonize each other. I'm sure you'll come up with something. It's an interesting world we live in.

Allen,

are you going to tell them that their school has been failing the last five years because it has no diversity or not?

I think you will live it in the closet with its embarrased cousin your courage.

No, I'm not, because I don't believe that, nor have I ever said that.
I have said that diversity can help. There is no one solution; there are many.
Truth, one thing that is useful in student achievement is to pay attention.
Either you're not doing that or you're intentionally misrepresenting what I've written.

Allen, wanted to drop in and console you. Once again, the schoolboard has failed to deliver the diversity for G-Boro. They have semingly done an about-face on it. I don't understand it.
Try not to lose heart. Remember, there may not be many of us that believe in diversity, I mean, really believe. Let's see, there's you and...ah, me, (and I'm just making a pathetic attempt at being funny.)but this doesn't mean we should give up hope. Maybe in the future, they will just out of the blue, diversify the schools in G-Boro with no warning. They have been known to do stuff like this. Anyway, there's always next meeting.

Your pal,

Dudley:
I agree. One of the more interesting features of "The Daily Show" is a bit in which kids read the transcripts of cable TV talk shows, to reflect how childish and shallow the banter typically is.
It's a hoot, in a sad, pathetic kind of way.

Yup, John. It's just you and me. And maybe one or two others out there.

Well, gee, let's see ... for one thing I wasn't involved in the Iran-Contra arms deal.
But, actually, I don't see your point. I never said Oliie shouldn't speak here.

Allen, you are already starting to talk out of both sides of your mouth in your response to"Truth". You stated emphatically in an editorialthat the schoolboard did the right thing in diversifying the HP schools as a remedialeducation measure. Dudley and Smith apparently aren't doing well, but no plans to diversify them is in sight. This would cause any reasonable person that cared about either of these institutions to ride the schoolboard hard to do the same there. We don't see you doing this. This leads us to conclude:you either don't care as much as you appear to, or you know the HP thing was b.s. politics. Do you think we are being unreasonable in questioning you? Until you either hammer the board or admit Hp was b.s. you're going to be waffling until the end. give it up.

One or two more out there Allen? Who? (Or is it top secret and you would have to kill me)

Here is what I wrote, John:

"Some argue that such an appeal for diversity is a brand of bigotry in itself — that it suggests a belief that merely seating white students next to black ones in our classrooms will make black students smarter.

"So far as I'm aware, nobody's suggesting such foolishness, here or elsewhere.

"The notion of Enlightenment by Osmosis is beyond ignorant and mean-spirited. I can only shudder to think what message it sends to black children.

"More classroom diversity does, however, make all kids smarter because it exposes them to the world as it is, not to racially segregated enclaves that ignore reality in a country that is fast becoming 'majority minority.'

"Further, racial and socioeconomic desegregation in and of itself is not the answer. Other things have to happen as well to create equal educational opportunity, among them attracting the best teachers to the neediest schools; creating smaller classes and specialized learning environments; and challenging all students with high expectations and rigorous course work."

You say I haven't spoke forcefully about this issue, but I've been writing about it since 1999, before there was a High Point plan.

That's why I ran a series of reprints on this blog, to document those previous pieces.

Allen, for the last time. I'm not questioning your belief in diversity. I know you believe in it. It's "you and me against the world...sometimes I feel like you and me against the world":...sorry, had an Anne Murray moment. Anyway, the schoolboard doesn't beleive in it, except when it suits them for political NOT educational purposes. So you need to hammer 'em and hammer 'em hard. If it is a remedial measure or any worth at all, and they beleive in it hard enough to rip Hp in half, how can they spare it at these schools?

On that point, John, you and I agree. We'll keep the dialogie going on this issue.

Gracias.

Allen, in my previous posts to you about Dudley I have asked you to support Amos Quick and his encouragement of its children as they are in their neighborhood school. If you don't understand his reasoning it is that he is not giving or allowing any excuses for failure.You see, once people start these types of conversations about not enough diversity it allows and creates room for excuses and enhances failure. The whole community needs to unify and support Amos and board members that follow his reasoning.
Your refusal to support him is helping to perpetuate this cycle of failure.

Your consistent harping on about diversity implies that these kids cannot succeed in their current situation. Look at some of your quotes below and reflect on the message that you are giving to the children of Dudley.

"I don't know that a carbon copy of the High Point plan would be practical for the rest of the county. But I do agree that some type of plan is in order".
"As for what WOULD work, I don't doubt that busing would have to be involved".
"Before you can solve a problem, you have to agree that it exists".
"I believe diverse schools are better schools."
"Ignore the issue of diversifying Dudley? Have you not read any of the comments and past columns I've posted about Dudley"?

I don't think you will have the guts to stand up in front of those children and give them these messages. In fact I hope you stand up in front of them and tell them that they can and will succeed in their current environment and then put the diversity issue to bed.
This should be the start of a new theme for you. No more excuses for Grier, get the job done as we are.

Allen, I know this is not strictly "on thread", but what did you think of Dr. Grier telling folks in charlotte his specialty is turning around troubled high schools. I'm trying to see where any evidence exists at all from our experience here in GC and I'm coming up blank, but I can see myriad examples of deterioration. Can this man have lost total contact with reality?

Yup John,
that is an out and out lie. Big Time.

Dudley, Central, Smith and Andrews are scoring worse than when he came five years ago.
Andrews has bombed.

How could Charlotte consider highering him? How can we consider keeping him after listening to all his lies?

What about his statement when questioned on the Grier magnets. He said he had been blamed for the GC Boards redistricting plans.
A real leader would take responsability for all results.
Surely everyone can relate to that!

Allen,

there are some questions here for you to answer....................................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!