Friday Report – July 21, 2017

The Friday Report

July 21, 2017

Fewer Kids in NC are Attending Traditional Public Schools. What Does That Mean?

North Carolina has welcomed more than 116,000 new students so far this decade, but most of these newcomers aren’t going to traditional public schools.

Enrollment dropped by 5,562 students this year in the state’s traditional public schools. Meanwhile, charter schools, home schools and private schools gained 23,880 students, according to state data released this week.

Supporters of school choice say families are benefiting from expanded options provided by state lawmakers, including through the use of vouchers for private schools. But some critics say it’s part of a push to privatize education in North Carolina at the expense of public schools.

“You’re not going to tell families in North Carolina, ‘Public schools only,’ ” said Darrell Allison, president of Parents For Educational Freedom in North Carolina. “You’re not going to tell families that regardless of the school’s letter grade or how safe or not you are, you have no choice.”

But Keith Poston, president and executive director of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, says the expanded choice is part of a concerted political strategy to paint the public schools as failing. As an example, he cited the state’s school performance grades – A through F – that are largely based on the passing rates of students on state exams.

“It’s not an accident that we’re seeing an increase in scrutiny of public schools through testing and grades, which tell us nothing more than the socioeconomic status of the students at the school, and those same test grades are being used to justify providing more private options,” Poston said.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Hui, T. “Fewer kids in NC are attending traditional public schools. What does that mean?” The News & Observer. 7/20/17.

Forum News

This Week on Education Matters: Encore Showing of Race: Are We So Different?

This week’s show will feature an encore episode of Education Matters that aired April 22, 2017. The topic is Race: Are We So Different?

The show looks at the exhibition currently at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences on race and the story of Joe Holt Jr. In 1956, Joe Holt Sr. and Elwyna Holt became the first black family to apply to an all-white Raleigh school.

Guests include:

• Emelia Cowans-Taylor, Assistant Head, Communications, NC Museum of Natural Sciences
• James White, Executive Vice President, Organizational Relations, YMCA
• Joe Holt Jr.
• Zack Boone, Exploris Middle School, Raleigh
• Lev Cohen, Exploris Middle School, Raleigh

State News

Court: Judges Can’t Force State to Transfer Money to Schools

North Carolina legislators violated the state constitution by diverting traffic fine revenues to pay for jails instead of schools, but a state appeals court ruled Tuesday that judges can’t make officials cough up the money that should have helped educate students.

The judges ruled unanimously that the Richmond County school system is owed $272,300, reversing a trial judge’s order last November commanding various state officials to immediately pay the school district or risk being thrown in jail.

The state constitution says the “clear proceeds” of all fines, penalties and forfeitures collected for breaking the law belong to counties and must be used only for maintaining public schools.

“The state violated the North Carolina Constitution when it moved money otherwise destined for the Richmond County schools to a separate State fund,” Judge Richard Dietz wrote for the three-judge panel. But “when the courts enter a judgment against the state, and no funds already are available to satisfy that judgment, the judicial branch has no power to order state officials to draw money from the state treasury to satisfy it.”

Eliminating Pre-K Waiting Lists Proves a Knotty Problem 

Photo credit: Shanna Trim, Flicker Creative Commons

In each version of the North Carolina budget presented this year, from Gov. Roy Cooper to leaders of the Senate and the House of Representatives, lawmakers crowed about how they were chipping away at waiting lists for the state’s subsidized NC Pre-K program.

“Over the next two years, we’re adding $27 million to create an addition 3,525 new Pre-K slots,” said House Appropriations chair Rep. Nelson Dollar (R-Cary) during a press conference to announce the final compromise budget between the two chambers of the legislature.

“This will eliminate 75 percent of the current waitlist for at-risk children. And we certainly hope to continue to work on that, but this… this is the largest single investment I can remember addressing Pre-K children.”

But solving the waiting list problem for NC Pre-K may not be so straightforward. In conversations and emails exchanges with managers in more than a dozen of North Carolina’s largest counties, NC Health News found that different counties tabulate their waiting lists differently, so the same county may have a waiting list for part of the year but not the rest of the year and some counties simply turn people away without placing them on waiting lists.

It’s not just funds for Pre-K that keeps kids away. Long travel times and transportation issues limit access in some places. And the availability of the program can depend on whether more of a county’s programs are privately run or housed in elementary schools.

It’s hard to know exactly how big the waiting list for NC Pre-K actually is at any given time and whether the additional state dollars will solve the problem of 4 year olds missing their one shot at Pre-K because there’s no space for them.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from: 

Asmelash, L. “Eliminating pre-k waiting lists proves a knotty problem.” North Carolina Health News.  7/18/17.

Drew Elliot Named Communications Director for NC Department of Public Instruction

The North Carolina State Board of Education is pleased to announce the selection of Drew Elliot as the director of Communication and Information Services for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.

“Drew brings a wealth of communications experience, including state government, to the department that will serve him well as Communications director,” said State Board of Education Chair Bill Cobey. “We are fortunate to have him in this position, and I look forward to working with him in this role.”

Elliot is currently the opinion editor for North State Journal, North Carolina’s only statewide newspaper. He also served as a reporter and editor for JonesandBlount.com, a news website covering state government and politics; and director of Communications for the NC Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

He received a bachelor’s degree in History/English in 2001 and a master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communications in 2007 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Reprinted from:
NCDPI. “Elliot Named Communications Director for NC Dept. of Public Instruction.” 7/19/17.

Highlights: Summer Meal Champions

“We have children on Monday tell us they haven’t eaten since Friday afternoon,” said Meredith Honeycutt, the School Nutrition administrative assistant for Rowan-Salisbury Schools.

Last summer, Honeycutt and her team worked to bring nutritious summer meals to thousands of students across their district through mobile meals sites, breaking down the transportation barrier and filling the crucial nutrition gap that occurs when school is no longer in session.

This summer, they added a new pilot program: weekend backpacks filled with food to make sure students have enough to eat on the weekends when summer meals are not served.

Rowan-Salisbury Schools: Addressing Transportation Barriers and Weekend Food

With six trucks, four vans, four buses, two cars and a large catering truck, Rowan-Salisbury School Nutrition Services brings hot meals directly to the communities that need them most. On the first day of summer meals programming, 24,000 lunches were served from all of these vehicles combined, breaking down the transportation barrier one bite at a time.

To emphasize support from local school officials, teachers, principals, and other school staff members will be following these mobile food trucks around to connect with the children on-site. Honeycutt believes that when school employees interact with the children, encourage them in their studies and show a vested interest in their well being, student outcomes will improve during the school year.

“The more buy-in you have from your system, the better your programs will be,” Honeycutt said.

Beyond mobile meals sites, Rowan-Salisbury Schools has launched a pilot program this summer at four sites to provide food to students on the weekends when summer meals sites are not operating.

After identifying four sites across the school district, students already participating in the school lunch program were given information about the weekend bags. Seventy-five students responded indicating a desire to receive them. With the help of nonprofit partners that are providing funding and volunteers for this program, the students will be handed a bag of healthy food to eat over the weekend each Friday at their summer meals site while they are eating lunch.

Although the weekend bags are only a pilot program this summer, Honeycutt is optimistic about the potential of these efforts to expand in the future.

Lexington City Schools Board to Question Legislators on Legality of School District

The Lexington City Schools Board of Education announced during its regular meeting on Tuesday that it will be sending a letter to local and state leaders questioning the constitutionality of elected districts for the school board.

In an 7 to 1 vote, with board member Angela McDuffie dissenting, the board decided to instruct Lexington City Schools Attorney David Inabinett to draft a letter that will be sent to North Carolina legislators Sen. Cathy Dunn, R-33; Rep. Larry Potts, R-81; and Rep. Sam Watford, R-8; and the Lexington City Council. School Board member Brian Lancaster was absent from the meeting.

Inabinett said that the fact the board will be elected from this point is not the issue, it is a matter of making sure everyone in each district has been treated fairly. “It’s about equal representation,” Inabinett said. “There is a question of constitutionally of how the districts are currently drawn. We will send this letter and ask (legislators) to take a look and respond to our questions.”

In June, legislators passed HB 447, making the Lexington City Schools Board of Education a seven-member elected board based on the City of Lexington’s six electoral wards and one member representing Davidson County residents living outside the city limits, but inside the school district.

According to several school board members, the issue is that there are some school districts that have populations outside the city limits but attend city schools. During a municipal election, households in those wards that have children attending county schools would be subtracted from the entire voting population creating an imbalance in the number of voters eligible to vote for the school board representative for that ward.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Myers, S. “Board to question legislators on legality of school districts.” The Dispatch. 7/18/17.

Wake School Budget Cuts Might Delay Raises for Coaches, Halt Plans to Hire Counselors

Garner High School baseball coach Derik Goffena talks to Garrett Capaforte. 

Photo credit: Johnny Johnson, The News & Observer

Wake County school athletic coaches might not get pay raises and nearly 150 new counselors and social workers who would help struggling students might not be hired due to a nearly $29 million budget gap.

School administrators said Tuesday that $28.8 million has to be trimmed, largely because the district got less than half of the $45.2 million increase it wanted from the Wake County Board of Commissioners. School officials said eliminating some or all of a $10 million plan to hire more counselors and social workers this year and delaying a $2.6 million increase in extra-duty pay are possible budget options.

School leaders will now try to arrange a small-group meeting of members of both the school board and commissioners to see if any additional local funding could be provided this year. In the meantime, the school board will work through August to balance the budget.

“As you all know, I was an optimist thinking that we were going to get what we asked for,” school board Chairwoman Monika Johnson-Hostler said in an interview. “So now I’m a realist that we didn’t get that.

“Do I think we’re going to go in this room and get everything that we asked for? Probably not.”

National groups recommend having one counselor and one social worker for every 250 students. The ratio in Wake is one social worker for every 1,860 students and one counselor for every 630 elementary school students, 372 middle school students and 393 high school students.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Hui, K. “Wake school budget cuts might delay raises for coaches, halt plans to hire counselors.” The News & Observer. 7/18/17.

July 27 is Deadline to Comment on ESSA Draft Plan

Educators, parents, students and other stakeholders of North Carolina’s public schools are reminded that July 27 is the last day to comment on the draft North Carolina Consolidated State Plan for the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA State Plan).

This document serves as the most recent draft of the state’s application for funds authorized under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) as reauthorized under the ESSA in accordance with the requirements of the template issued by the U.S. Department of Education.

All stakeholders and the public are invited to review the draft plan and provide any comments via email to NCDPI Federal Policy Director Lou Fabrizio or Federal Program Monitoring and Support Division Director Donna Brown.

National News

How Severe, Ongoing Stress Can Affect A Child’s Brain

Amy Band teaches children how to handle confrontations at the Verner Center in Asheville, NC.

Photo Credit: Chuck Burton, The Philadelphia Tribune 

A quiet, unsmiling little girl with big brown eyes crawls inside a carpeted cubicle, hugs a stuffed teddy bear tight, and turns her head away from the noisy classroom.

The safe spaces, quiet times and breathing exercises for her and the other preschoolers at the Verner Center for Early Learning are designed to help kids cope with intense stress so they can learn. But experts hope there’s an even bigger benefit — protecting young bodies and brains from stress so persistent that it becomes toxic.

It’s no secret that growing up in tough circumstances can be hard on kids and lead to behavior and learning problems. But researchers are discovering something different. Many believe that ongoing stress during early childhood — from grinding poverty, neglect, parents’ substance abuse and other adversity — can smolder beneath the skin, harming kids’ brains and other body systems. And research suggests that can lead to some of the major causes of death and disease in adulthood, including heart attacks and diabetes.

“The damage that happens to kids from the infectious disease of toxic stress is as severe as the damage from meningitis or polio or pertussis,” says Dr. Tina Hahn, a pediatrician in rural Caro, Michigan. She says her No. 1 goal as a physician is to prevent toxic stress. Hahn routinely questions families about stresses at home, educates them about the risks and helps them find ways to manage.

Mounting research on potential biological dangers of toxic stress is prompting a new public health approach to identifying and treating the effects of poverty, neglect, abuse and other adversity. While some in the medical community dispute that research, pediatricians, mental health specialists, educators and community leaders are increasingly adopting what is called “trauma-informed” care.

The approach starts with the premise that extreme stress or trauma can cause brain changes that may interfere with learning, explain troubling behavior, and endanger health. The goal is to identify affected children and families and provide services to treat or prevent continued stress. This can include parenting classes, addiction treatment for parents, school and police-based programs and psychotherapy.

Many preschoolers who mental health specialist Laura Martin works with at the Verner Center have been in and out of foster homes or they live with parents struggling to make ends meet or dealing with drug and alcohol problems, depression or domestic violence.

They come to school in “fight or flight” mode, unfocused and withdrawn or aggressive, sometimes kicking and screaming at their classmates. Instead of adding to that stress with aggressive discipline, the goal is to take stress away.

“We know that if they don’t feel safe then they can’t learn,” Martin said. By creating a safe space, one goal of programs like Verner’s is to make kids’ bodies more resilient to biological damage from toxic stress, she said.

Why Americans Think So Poorly of the Country’s Schools

Each year, parents responding to the Phi Delta Kappan poll report high levels of satisfaction with their kids’ education. Asked to assign letter grades to their children’s schools, the vast majority of parents—generally around 70 percent—issue As and Bs. If those ratings were compiled the way a student’s grade point average is calculated, the public schools would collectively get a B.

When asked to rate the nation’s schools, however, respondents are far less sanguine. Reflecting on public schools in general, a similar share of respondents—roughly 70 percent—confer a C or D. Again calculated as a GPA, America’s schools get a C or C-.

So which is it? Are public schools generally meeting Americans’ expectations? Or are they teetering on the brink of failure?

This may seem like an academic exercise. After all, school quality is what it is, regardless of perception. But, as it turns out, this gap in perceptions is a matter of tremendous importance.

Consider the impact on policy. If the nation’s schools are generally doing well, it doesn’t make much sense to disrupt them. But if they are in a state of decline, disruption takes on an entirely new meaning. Seizing on the presumed failures of the education system, reform advocates have pushed hard for contentious policies—expansion of charter schools, for instance, or the use of value-added measures of teacher effectiveness—that might have less traction in a more positive policy climate.

Perception also shapes the decisions people make about where to enroll their children. If the quality of public education is generally poor, then parents must compete for a small number of adequate schools—a competition that will be won by those with the greatest access to resources. As research reveals, residential segregation by income has increased in the past 20 years—driven chiefly by families with children seeking home in “good” school districts. If the average public school is of C or C- quality, this is rational behavior. But if most schools are good, segregation is being exacerbated by misperception.

So which picture is right? One way to decide is to consider the knowledge base that structures each set of perceptions. Are Americans more likely to be well-informed about the quality of their own children’s schools or to be well-informed about the quality of all 100,000 public schools in the U.S.? The answer seems self-evident.

The question, then, is why Americans maintain pessimistic views of the nation’s schools, even when their own experiences are largely positive.

One obvious factor is the rise of a national politics of education. Beginning with the launch of Sputnik in 1957, leaders in Washington have argued with increasing regularity that the country’s schools are in crisis. From the National Defense Education Act of 1958 through the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015, the failing-schools narrative has been quite effective in generating political will for federal involvement in education.

Another factor is the unintended impact of civil-rights advocacy. As part of the broader push for social justice, activists in the 1960s and ‘70s worked to demonstrate the ravages of segregation and unequal funding. But the public has not always been careful to distinguish between inequity and ineptitude. As a consequence, many observers have simply concluded that the public-education system is collapsing, and that their local school is simply an exception to the rule.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Schneider, J. “Why Americans Think So Poorly of the Country’s Schools.” The Atlantic. 7/17/17.

As Trump and DeVos Push for Private School Choice, Opponents Highlight Vouchers’ Racist Past

Today, school vouchers—giving students public money to use toward tuition at private schools—are often reserved for needy students: those with disabilities or from disadvantaged backgrounds.

But vouchers were once deployed during the Jim Crow era to perpetuate segregated school systems post Brown v. Board of Education as detailed in a new policy brief from the Center for American Progress, a progressive public-policy research and advocacy organization.

Understanding how private school vouchers contributed to racial segregation in the nation’s schools is crucial, argue the report’s authors, as the Trump administration and the Department of Education under Secretary Betsy DeVos push for expanding voucher programs.

How Were Vouchers Used to Segregate Schools?

The report highlights a case in Prince Edward County, Va., during the late 1950s and early ’60s when public officials effectively cut off funding for public schools, forcing them to close. Under a new school voucher system, white families could use public money to send their children to all-white private schools. (A later Supreme Court ruling made it illegal for private schools to discriminate based on race and keep their tax-exempt status.)

Prince Edward County became something of a model for other states, write the brief’s authors. “By 1969, more than 200 private segregation academies were set up in states across the South. Seven of those states—Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana—maintained tuition-grant programs that offered vouchers to students in an effort to incentivize white students to leave desegregated public school districts.” (The report provides more details on each of those programs.)

The federal government did eventually step in and force Prince Edward County to start funding its public schools, but traces of that discriminatory system are still seen today in the disproportionately large proportion of black students in the public schools and white students in private schools.

Opportunities

Friday Institute Offers Professional Learning on Personalized and Digital Learning

NC Science and Engineering Fair Teacher Workshop Opportunities

The Friday Report is published weekly by the Public School Forum of NC and is distributed to Forum members, policymakers, donors, media, and Forum subscribers. Archived editions can be found at www.ncforum.org.

©2017 Public School Forum of North Carolina. All Rights Reserved.

Public School Forum of North Carolina

919-781-6833

Follow us at @theNCForum

ncforum.local

Donate to the Forum!