According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the DeKalb County School Board, in its first meeting staffed by six new members, voted unanimously to remove the school district as a plaintiff in a lawsuit filed against the state by the six board members ousted by the governor.
Continue reading...The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that a federal court has refused to prevent the replacement of six DeKalb County school board members who lost their seats over a threatened loss of accreditation, and now Governor Nathan Deal must find appointees to mend the torn district.
Continue reading...According to the Newport News Daily Press, new achievement objectives for Virginia’s Standards of Learning have upset the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, which called them “insulting and narrow minded” in a letter to Governor Bob McDonnell.
Continue reading...The Courthouse News Service reports that St. Louis County Judge David Lee Vincent has ruled against students from the unaccredited St. Louis school system seeking to transfer to schools in the neighboring Clayton School District.
Continue reading...The News & Observer reports that the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP is calling on the Wake County school board to delay its scheduled vote on the new student assignment plan until at least after the November 2011 runoff election.
Continue reading...The New York Times reports that the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce (GRCC) has proposed a student assignment plan for Wake County Public Schools (WCPS) that would base student assignment on student academic performance. Specifically, under the plan, no school would have an overwhelming number of failing students. Instead a school might have 70% of students who have scored at a proficient level on state tests and 30% who are below grade level. GRCC proposed the plan in an attempt to end the dispute between the Wake County School Board, which in a 5-4 vote scrapped WCPS’s widely acclaimed student assignment plan based on socio-economic factors in favor of assigning students to neighborhood schools, and groups, such as the NAACP, representing the minority community in Wake County.
Continue reading...The Wake County School Board (WCSB), reversing course, has agreed to cooperate with AdvancED’s review of the system’s high schools, says a report from the News & Observer in Education Week. The decision ends a political standoff that could have endangered college and scholarship prospects for students. But schools officials warned that the vote to proceed doesn’t guarantee that Wake will get a full stamp of approval from the accrediting firm. WCSB Chairman Ron Margiotta anticipates keeping accreditation but also expects receiving sanctions from AdvancED. AdvancED’s review was sparked by a complaint last year by the NAACP, which accused the board of failing to follow its own policies and failing to act in the best interest of the community when making changes, including discarding Wake County’s socioeconomic diversity policy.
Continue reading...U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, in a letter provided to the Washington Post and Associated Press (AP), criticized the Wake County School Board’s (WCSB) decision to eliminate its “busing for diversity” student assignment system, reports the AP in Education Week. Duncan said, “America’s strength has always been a function of its diversity, so it is troubling to see North Carolina’s Wake County school board take steps to reverse a long-standing policy to promote racial diversity in its schools.”
Continue reading...The Wake County School Board (WCSB) is considering dropping accreditation for the system’s high schools rather than go along with an accrediting agency’s probe, reports the News & Observer. If the board votes to forgo accreditation, it could result in lowering the value of diplomas for public high school students in the county. WCSB’s leadership has been resisting elements of the review by the agency, AdvancED, since the investigation was announced in fall 2010. The board has asked the agency to put off its visit while members considered whether to give up accreditation rather than cooperate.
Continue reading...Wake County’s public high schools are at risk of losing their accreditation unless the school board majority can justify all the major decisions it’s made since December, says a News & Observer report in Education Week. Advancing Excellence in Education Worldwide (AdvancED) will be conducting a sweeping review of the school system this fall in response to a complaint filed by the North Carolina chapter of the NAACP.
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