Sep

20

Wake County School Board Elections: 3 Critical Issues

Written by W.R. Davie and filed under Education 

Greetings from RFP’s newest contributor. I’ll be writing about, well, whatever I’m told to write about, or, to the contrary, whatever strikes my typing fancy. This time I’d like to talk about the impending school board elections (to be held on 9 October), and issues I see impacting the elections, especially as five out of the nine board seats are up for grabs next month. I’d rather focus on issues rather than particular candidates, in the interests of neutrality and scope. As the election is weeks away, I see the primary issues with which candidates will most need to deal are:

  • responding to the recent curriculum audit,
  • addressing annual issues of overcrowding and growth, and
  • negotiating the board’s increasingly tenuous relationship with the county commissioners.

The recent curriculum audit, performed by educational research firm Kappa Delta Pi, offered dozens of criticisms and suggestions for how Wake schools could improve— from curricular changes to leadership to streamlining staff development, et cetera. The school board candidates will need to offer viable and practical means for the implementation of these solutions, especially those that would require board-approved policy shifts. Further, potential new board members should articulate specific plans on prioritizing the suggestions to be implemented; addressing the dual audit criticisms of Wake’s methods of teacher evaluation and the authority of principals to determine school policy should be paramount among the recommendations to be first considered.

How Wake schools respond to the annually surmounting issues of overcrowding and population growth is, and will continue to be, many parents’ primary means by which to judge—fairly and with an informed view, or not—the school district in general and the board in specific. It is crucial that board candidates express specific plans and solutions for what is sure to be a persistent problem. (It is also crucial that prospective board members understand that they are guaranteed to anger a small, but vocal, subset of parents no matter their opinion on overcrowding issues). Candidates ought to articulate ideas that will serve the district at large—and not simply their electoral district—for the foreseeable future…or until magazines stop listing Wake County as the “best place in the Milky Way to raise your kids”. Careful attention to this issue is a must for candidates.

A third specific that potential school board candidates would do well to address relates to the issues surrounding the Wake school board’s increasingly contentious relationship with the Wake county commissioners. While it is evident that the commissioners (chairman Gurley in particular) are at fault for inciting the bulk of the verbal acrimony, candidates for school board would be wise to communicate a clear plan for streamlining communication with the commissioners. Particularly during the annual wrangling for funds, wherein the school leadership presents its budget for the commissioners to parse at their whim, it is necessary to have school board leadership able to navigate what has become an uneasy relationship with the county government with discretion and tact. This will be necessary, that is, until NC gets on board with the 20th century and hands the school system’s purse strings over to…well…the school system.

Ok, then, there you have it—three particular issues that I see as fundamental for potential candidates for the Wake County board of Education to consider and specifically address in the weeks prior to the election. There are certainly other valid and significant matters that a potential candidate would do well to consider, but these seem to be the most pressing and in the forefront of the minds of a many voters this fall.

Share your thoughts with our newest author below, or start a new conversation about the upcoming elections in the RFP forums.

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Comments

4 Responses to “Wake County School Board Elections: 3 Critical Issues”

  1. Jimmy on September 20th, 2007 8:48 am

    Wake County is the best place in the Milky Way to raise your kids???

    I always figured it was floating deep in outer space somewhere where you can’t hear them complaining. Plus, no issues of overcrowding out there! ;)

  2. G Mac on September 20th, 2007 9:57 am

    The Wake County school system is a joke. Private schools are the only reasonable option if you care about your kids future.

  3. WRD on September 20th, 2007 2:25 pm

    “Private schools are the only reasonable option if you care about your kids future.”

    well, if your conscience is assuaged regarding the quality of your parenting by writing a check to an elitist school, then swing for the fence.

    just don’t pretend that they’re getting any sort of superiour education, or that your parenting job is done…or even well done.

    thanks for contributing so thoughtfully.

  4. S. Beaumont on September 20th, 2007 6:04 pm

    WRD, most of our readers are very intelligent. G Mac is not one of them.

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