Who couldn't see this coming? On Tuesday, Wake County schools superintendent Del Burns abruptly resigned saying he could no longer "in good conscience" work for the system he has served for decades.
What he actually meant was he could no longer work for the Wake County school board, whose new majority elected a few months ago has pretty much made his life hell by working to undo many of his initiatives and policies he's supported and that have won Wake schools national praise.
Some of those initiatives didn't sit well with some voters, especially year-round schools and policies to keep schools economically diverse. So in November, they ousted some board members and installed a new group that have steamrolled over opposition and made school board meetings a shout-fest at times. They've even made the old Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board meetings look tame by comparison.
Wake school board chair Ron Margiotta acted surprised (he's the only one) by the resignation and said he hoped Burns wasn't leaving because of the board's direction. He said he'll ask Burns, who assumed the superintendent duties in July 2006 and is under contract through June 2013, to reconsider.
Good luck. But for now the state's largest school system (CMS is second largest) has a job search ahead.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Wake schools' chief says bye, bye
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5 comments:
Whoever wrote this Daily View piece neglected to mention that, under Burns and the Wake County diversity policy, minority test scores have remained low and flat--actually lower than many CMS minority scores, with a greater achievement gap. In addition, the former school board had no compunction whatsoever about "steamrolling" over their opposition and often times parents. But this did not seem to bother the News Observer staff or the former board's supporters. Apparently these two issues don't bother our Observer editors either.
Ever since the school board election in the fall (and actually during the campaign) the editorial staff and the Raleigh establishment have been hysterically and, I think, unethically predicting gloom and doom for the system. They have especially delighted in trashing CMS--declaring that Wake will soon become "just like CMS" (one has to wonder if they've ever bothered to look at the comparison of Wake and CMS test scores--and CMS has a much higher poverty level but still compares favorably to Wake).
Judging from the spin coming from Raleigh. folks in Wake County might think we are battling in the streets here and forcing our poor kids in to miserable dilapidated schools. They've also heard that there is little public support for the school system--few civic volunteers, etc. The NAACP has joined in, threatening to sue the system (and of course not saying anything about current lack of academic progress for minorities in the system).
Would you mind telling us which editor wrote this post?
Right on Anon 6:14. But these are people who do not let facts confuse them. Ideology is paramount. I still am puzzled why these grpups (NAACP and others) are not interested in the academic success of their race. Oh silly me! The educated ones of this race know this is just more shakedown tactics by them ala Al and Jesse.
Maybe this is our chance to get rid of Petey!
It is time for Wake to leave behind the failed policies of the past, that have damaged its weakest citizens and denied its citizens their rightful place as the deciders of public policy. The changes underway now in the Wake board are long past due, but the advocates of the status quo and "the way we've always done it" will fight to the end to protect their pipeline of power and control. The people have spoken, and change is coming.
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