After months of protests, heated school board meetings, and threats to revoke the system’s accreditation, the Wake County Board of Education met on Oct. 4 and selected a student reassignment plan it will vote on Oct. 18.
N.C . State faculty and parents weighed in on their opinions as parents and how the plan might affect graduates of the College of Education.
Superintendent Anthony Tata has for the past eight months been working with the Wake County Board of Education to construct a plan to maximize student achievement, offer families more stability and choice in their childrens’ education, and accommodate future growth.
The Oct. 4 Board meeting selected Tata’s controlled choice plan that stands on four pillars: proximity, stability, choice and achievement. Under these goals, the new plan claims students will have a selection of schools based on their address. At this point, about 94 percent of families have indicated they wish to stay in their current school.
Achievement, one of the most highlighted problems associated with the debate, is to be dealt with using incentive pay structures and magnet schools.
Some parents still hesitate to trust that all of the county’s promises. Karey Harwood, associate professor of philosophy and religious studies, is one of these concerned parents.
“In my opinion, it’s still too early to pass the plan because the major unresolved question is how we are going to balance achievement,” Harwood said.
Harwood said while the plan’s pillars have good intentions, as of now they are just words.
”While the plan guarantees stability and proximity, it can’t guarantee choice. In reality, a lot of people aren’t going to get their first or second choice and I’m afraid there are going to be a lot of unhappy people without any recourse to challenge it,” Harwood said.
Overall, however, Harwood expressed a positive feeling toward the proposed plan, stating it is a balancing act that needs more work, but could feasibly work out well.
Calls to the superintendent’s office were not returned
While Harwood’s concerns are valid, they cannot be assumed to speak for all parents’ views of the plan. Current Wake County parent Kim Smallwood offered her opinion.
“With the resources in Wake County, all schools should be able to perform at high academic standards. By attending community based schools, our children would benefit socially, academically and financially through the support and partnership of parents and local businesses,” Smallwood said.
Smallwood focuses on how the plan may affect the schools in the community.
“Shorter commutes would decrease transportation costs, possibly allowing those finances to benefit the schools with the most need,” Smallwood said.
While the plan will have the largest impact on the students of Wake County, there is a sizeable amount of students in the College of Education who seek employment in Wake County because it is used for the majority of their student teaching, according to Carol Pope, professor of curriculum, instruction and counselor education in the College of Education.
Another $5 million was cut from the system in August. So far, the county has tried to take the cuts from programs that would not impact education, like custodial services. Nevertheless, cuts and employment freezes are currently in place for teachers.
As a former Wake County teacher at Broughton High School during integration, Pope’s main concern with the plan was it would decrease diversity in schools.
“Having diversity in the classroom opened up my world to new things. It is so critical that we maintain a diverse perspective for children because that is the society they will function in. The critical element of an informed citizen is to be able to understand each other, which we can only learn to do in a diverse environment,” Pope said.
While Pope acknowledged the positives of offering parents choices under the proposed plan, she also said these choices might not be made on a level playing field for all families.
“Some lower-income families might not have the ability to stay informed on this issue, and my biggest concern is to help those with limited resources and understanding, possibly due to speaking another language, comprehend their options very well,” Pope said.
Diversity was one of the most divisive aspects to Wake County’s discussion of reassignment. Pope says she hopes diversity is made a priority.
“This has been weighing heavy on my heart for some months,” Pope said. “As I think of the specific students I taught during Wake County’s integration, I’m convinced that their current successes are because we all thrived in a diverse community.”
