Friday, March 4, 2011

ATTACK OF THE "IT"

          Apparently the first part of our multi-part series, “Southeast Raleigh’s Newest School: The High Poverty Challenge” has garnered some response, which is good.
I love a healthy debate, and invite more.
In the case of Howler001 (whoever the hell that is), I found “its” (can’t tell whether Howler is a he or she, so best to stick with “it” to be safe) commentary on the piece quite interesting, given that the whole point "it" was trying to make seemed to be that Wake County Public Schools didn’t do such a bang-up job with black students to begin with, and diversity didn’t do a whole heck of a lot to prove that it did!
If that was the point Howler001 was trying to make (and I do emphasize “trying” in an otherwise weak, snarky and unworthy diatribe), I can answer that with a flick of my finger.
But first, for those who missed it, let's hold our noses, and re-read Howler001's attempt at relevancy, shall we?:
                                ------------------------------

        Wow! Cash Roc readers felt a familiar glow; 80 percent of Wake County black kids scored at grade level on 2005 end of grade tests!

        But here’s what Michaels didn’t tell you—across the state of North Carolina, 77 percent of all black kids scored at grade level on those same tests! That’s right; Michaels devotes this entire blog posting to a three-point difference in passing rates—a three-point difference in passing rates on tests almost everyone passes!

         So you can grasp the grinding illiteracy found in Cash Michaels, let’s make sure you understand how these numbers work. For example, how well did Wake County black fifth-graders do on 2005's end of grade reading test? According to the state’s official results, 88 percent of Wake’s black students tested “proficient” on the state test. But then, 83 of black fifth graders tested “proficient” on this same test statewide! In short, the large majority of fifth-graders—black, white and brown—tested “proficient” all over the state! But you never learn that in Michaels' piece. Instead, you get a warm, fuzzy feeling about Wake’s score gains—score gains which Michaels attributes to a particular aspect of Wake’s educational program.

             Did Wake’s black passing rates doubled in the decade from 1995-2005? Almost—but then, the same thing has happened all over the state! Did 80 percent of Wake’s black kids pass in 2005? Yes—but so did black kids all over the state! In short, Michaels is the latest illiterate making a joke of our educational discourse. If we actually care about school kids, he and his editor won’t be allowed within a hundred miles of this topic again.

               Michaels' piece has an obvious sub-text. Wake County was busing to achieve economic integration during McNeal's tenure—and that was producing big score gains. But these Wake Country test scores provide little evidence of big pay-offs in minority achievement if you enact such a program. Yes, Wake had shown good score gains during McNeal's tenure (most likely on easier tests)—but so did schools all over the state! How can Wake’s program account for gains which are happening in all the state’s districts?

                 Yes, the gains were occurring all over the state. But apparently, Michaels didn’t want you to know that. As good pseudo-liberals have endlessly done, he just wanted you feeling real good about a type of program he favors. As good pseudo-liberals have shamelessly done, he wanted you thinking something bogus and cruel: When it comes to the education of poor black children, success is right there for the taking. In various ways, pseudo-liberals have pimped this feel-good pap over the past forty years.

                   THE DETAILS: As Michaels' noted, 80 percent of Wake County black kids (grades 3-8) passed the state tests in 2005 in both reading and math. But uh-oh! Statewide, 76 percent of blacks kids passed the reading test; 78 percent passed in math.

                    But then, you can do the math yourselves! North Carolina has an excellent web site which lets you check all the relevant data, county by county, back to 1994. The info is very easy to access—unless you’re a Gotham illiterate.

                    Here’s the page with the “background” information: http://report.ncsu.edu/ncpublicschools/AutoForward.do?forward=eog.pagedef. Here’s the page from which you can access all info about Wake and the state as a whole: http://report.ncsu.edu/ncpublicschools/AutoForward.do?forward=table.pagedef.

                    MORE DETAILS: this time about those ten-year gains in reading. In 1994-95, 52 percent of Wake’s black kids passed the statewide reading tests (grades 3-8). By 2005, that had jumped to 80 percent. But uh-oh! The same thing has happened all over the state! In 1994-95, 47 percent of all black kids passed the reading test statewide. By 2005, that number had jumped to 76 percent. Michaels only mentions Wake’s gains—and attributes the gains to Wake’s program.

                     How effective is this busing program? If you enact it in one district, scores rise all over the state!
                             ---------------------------
Gee, Howler001 called me “illiterate.” That means I hurt it's feelings in my piece, and the only way that could happen is if the truth was so obvious, Howler (or “it,” take your pick), felt compelled to find some way to spin it against black students.
In short, if my facts were wrong, "it" would have nailed me, but couldn't.
Boy, this person must have a lot invested in school resegregation.
Or be just a typical racist, right-wing nut (same thing).
So let’s respond, shall we?
From 2000 until now, socioeconomic diversity (SED) in Wake County Public Schools created healthy schools that allowed students from all walks of life, and every race and income level, to have access to quality teachers and instruction, in addition to adequate resources for learning in relatively safe environments.
Between 2000 and 2005, SED make Wake an extremely successful public school system, ranked by Forbes Magazine as the third best in the nation at the time. 
Apparently Howler001 and others who think like “it” aren’t impressed with the Forbes ranking. Such a pity. Thanks to Forbes, the New York Times and other national publications, thousands of families, looking for a solid public school system, DID THEIR HOMEWORK AND RESEARCH (after all, they were moving here) and THEN decided that Wake County, NOT Mecklenburg, NOT Forsyth, and NOT Guilford, but Wake, had the high caliber of education their children deserved.
I invoke the names of other counties because Howler001 seems invested in this idea that Wake really didn’t accomplish much with its black students, given that, per “it”, other counties did almost as well.
A couple of points as to why, in an effort to be disparaging, Howler001 is all too transparent in “its” zeal to throw false crap on Wake’s past accomplishments.
First, you’ll notice, H-001 doesn’t deny Wake’s achievement between 2000 - 2005 (in fact, he selectively ONLY focuses on 2005, though Wake attained 91.5% overall proficiency, and 81% for black and Hispanic students, starting in 2003 before the numbers plateaued going into 2006), just tries to diminish it by saying the state EOG tests were too easy, and many other counties did equally well.
Here’s the problem - in comparison to those other counties at the time, Wake was getting better results in terms of academic achievement, with far, far less money than Charlotte-Mecklenburg, Forsyth, or most of the other counties.
Let’s put this another way - Other counties were spending upwards of $10,000 per student more, just to come in, on average, 3-6 points behind Wake County. So Wake, whose funding in comparison was near the bottom of the list, but whose growth was exploding, was doing a much, much better job of academically educating ALL of its students, than any of the other counties, who were literally wasting dollars trying to catch up.
Hell, in 2006, Wake Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr., a conservative Republican charged with managing the Leandro case ruling, accused Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools of committing "academic genocide" against the systems black students, and threatened to close some of the CMS schools down if they didn't shape up.
CMS' budget was $60 million more than Wake's at the time. Now Howler001, want to jot down some thoughts about THAT, sweetheart?
That means between 2000-2005 when Wake’s diversity policy was full-out and winning, the school system was kicking the teeth out of big spending bullies. I don’t know about Howler001, but taxpayers absolutely LOVE it when government can deliver excellent results, especially in education, at far, far less money that other local governments.
But wait a minute, H-001 says the EOC tests at the time were “easy.”
I won’t deny that, but if that was absolutely the case (and the tests were re-normed in 2005 and 2007), then why was Wake Number One several years in a row?
Let me put this another way - if  diversity was so inconsequential, and high poverty/neighborhood schools were the most effective way to teach kids, then why couldn’t those other better funded NC school systems smoke Wake County in the statewide tests? They had the artillery to do it with!
Seems to me that David (Wake) conquered several Goliaths here - in fact the other 114 school districts - in the best way possible.
         INEXPENSIVELY compared to the competition.
         That tells me that Bill McNeal and company knew what they were doing, with less.
         Certainly more so than the other school districts. 
         Now Howler000 (had to deduct a point) has accused me of not telling everybody about other schools systems at the time, as if I were trying to deliberately hide them from everybody.
         Nonsense, and I’ll prove it.
         Quick, off the top of your head, tell me in what order of votes after “The King’s Speech” did the other nine titles nominated for Best Picture come last Sunday at the Oscars?
         We don’t know because they didn’t tell us, and they didn’t tell us because no one cares. No one else  came in Number One, no matter how close the voting was.
         In life, you focus on the winner and how he did it, NOT the losers and how close they came!
         The remarkable story of how Wake County Public Schools beat out 114 other schools systems across the state - many, if not most of whom were getting far more money per pupil than  Wake - is the story Forbes wanted to hear, is the story the NY Times wanted to hear, and most importantly, is the story tens of thousands of families since 2000 (according to the latest US Census figures) wanted to hear when they moved to Wake County because of a public school system that did its job better than  any other in the state for several years in a row.
         So pardon me and my readers, Howler, if we not only have a “familiar glow,” but are enjoying it immensely, as we recall the good old days of WCPSS high achievement.
         'Nuff said!
                        -30-




11 comments:

  1. Gotta love it when a two-bit reporter gets his feathers ruffled because an anonymous guy on the internet dares to challenge a report that's meant to hoodwink you.

    First, what does it say when Michaels deletes the comments to one of his posts such that those comments can no longer be read in the context of the original post? I tell you what it says. It says this hack is one scared dude. Scared that you will find out the real facts.

    Gee, Cash called me an "it." He called me a "racist, right wing nut." (There's a new one, a black reporter calling someone who dares to challenge him, a racist. Pretty original Cash). What do you think that means? It means that I hurt his feelings, and that's because, wnen confronted with the facts, Michaels has no choice but to backpeddle, as in the ole "two-step" retreat. Gee, its not that Wake did so much better than other counties in NC, it's that Wake did it with so little funding. But more on that later.

    Let's focus on Michaels' response, shall we. First out of the gate is the famous 2004 ranking by Forbes magazine which rated Wake County the third best school district in the nation. But here's what Cash left out (see a pattern developing here). Wake was ranked the third best URBAN school district in the nation. You see, what these diversity supporters love to do, is classify Wake as an urban school district. That way, we can compare Wake to Cleveland, and New York, and Philadelphia, and Detroit, and, well you get it, all those poor, inner city cess pools with dilapidated buildings, high concentrations of povery and crime, a large gang presence, etc. Wake sure looks good when you call it an urban school district. But is Wake an urban school district? We've got a poverty rate of under 10%, less than 30% of our kids are on the free and reduced lunch program (compared to 75%+ in those other urban districts). And unlike those other urban districts, we've got the highest concentration of college degrees and post graduate degrees of just about anywhere in the nation. Why not compare us to suburban school districts, Cash? Afraid of the result.

    Well surely, Forbes looked at the inner workings of our school district, didn't they? Nope. Forbes rankings were based on three criteria: graduation rate, housing prices, and access to things like museums, public libraries, and universities. That's it. So we've got cheap houses and access to some very good universities. But what about those graduation rates? Ask Cash what the graduation rates were at that time for black males. 55% you say? That not very good. Oh well, at least we got cheap houses. And Go Heels, Wolfpack, and Blue Devils! Gotta love facts, Cash.

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  2. H-000 is a stoned liar! I deleted nothing, and knew nothing about "its" post until i got an email from the site. Would I reprint the email in a prominent blog post if I wanted no one to see it? So please give me a break.

    Second, I stated that in 2004, Forbes Magazine ranked Wake Number 3 in the nation. Forbes chose the criteria, not me. So if H-000 has a problem, I suggest "it" contacts Forbes magazine. Contact the NY Times too, while you're at it, and every public education periodical at the time that also ranked Wake (and Montgomery County in Md. - which also successfully uses socioeconomic diversity) among the ten best in the nation.

    Finally, and there is no disputing this truthfully, over the past decade, according to the US census, the two most populated spots in NC have been Wake and Charlotte-Meck. CM is the banking capital of the southeast, but many of the people who moved there have gone PRIVATE SCHOOLS (I know because I've interviewed a prominent real estate agent
    there). CM's schools are NOT known nationally for academic excellence.
    Wake, on the other, has experienced explosive growth in the past decade, more so than any other in the state for sure. WCPSS has been growing at 5000-6000 students per year, and continues too.
    I suggest H-000 give "its" good friend John Tedesco a call, or even the charming Chris Malone. If they can tell the truth, they'll say the same.

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  3. In the interest of fairness, and because H-000 is apparently as dumb as nails because the poor "it" has tried for two days to post, and doesn't know how ( poor thing), here is part one of "its" latest, part two (and three) will follow, then I'll respond afterwards:
    ----------------------

    On Friday morning, that blog entry had 1 comment – mine. Now it has 0 comments. You be the judge.

    Anyway let's continue. You see, Cash has no response to the fact that the criteria selected by Forbes has very little to do with what goes on in schools. The best he can come up with is "Hey I did not select the criteria." Cash doesn't dispute that the ranking was based on graduation rates (54% black male graduation rate in Wake at the time), housing prices, and nearby libraries, museums, and universities. Is that how you rate a good school system Cash?

    And Cash doesn't dispute that the Forbes article ranked only URBAN school districts. And Cash doesn't disagree that Wake schools were compared to schools in Philadelphia, Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, i.e. cities that have far more poverty and challenges than Wake.

    Next, Michaels focuses on the growth rate in Wake County, as if people flocked here just to go to public school. Do you think the availability of high paying jobs in the ever-growing RTP had anything to do with the growth in Wake County? Of course it did. What Michaels doesn't tell you is that nearby Chatham counties and Johnston counties, also accessible to RTP, grew at nearly the same rate as Wake during McNeal's tenure. And Mecklenberg County, that county that was committing academic genocide in their public schools? Why it grew by 32% during that time, not quite the level of Wake, but pretty close. Seems that NC is a popular destination, no matter the local school system. (see part 2)

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  4. This is part 2 of H-000's diatribe. Have to help an "it" out when you can, know what I mean?
    ------------------------------
    Next, Michaels talks about spending, and makes the ridiculous claim that other counties were spending $10,000 per student more than Wake. Let's check that. In 2004-2005, Wake spent $7240 per student, 74th in the state. No district spent $10,000 more than Wake. Michaels flat out lied to you. In fact, an increase of just $2,000 more would have propelled Wake to the top 10 in the state.

    Michaels then shocks you with the fact that CMS' budget was $60 million higher than Wake at the time. Once again, the real story lies in what Michaels doesn't tell you. First, that amounts to just $400 per student, and second, most of that amount went towards transportation. You see, CMS had an extremely inefficient busing system at that time. Their per student busing costs were hundreds of dollars higher than Wake. When it came to actual classroom spending, CMS and Wake were nearly identical.

    Finally Michaels wants to discuss those test results. Instead of some silly comparison to the Oscars and who came in second, let's look at a more appropriate analogy: If you had a contest to see who could jump the highest, and you set the bar at just 6 inches off the ground, are you actually measuring the best jumpers? Of course not. If 95% of group A can jump over a 6 inch height, and 92% of group B can jump over a 6 inch height, are Group A better jumpers than group B. Well it depends. Why not set the bar a little higher and see what happens. And that's exactly what the NC Department of Public Instruction did when it renormalized testing in 2005. And guess what? It seems that several counties in NC perform better than Wake when it comes to minorities and economically disadvantaged students. And those counties don't try and balance their classrooms by race, income, or any other measure. One of those counties that beat wake -- Mecklenberg. That's right, the county that was committing academic genocide now gets better test results from their minorities and poor students than Wake.

    So what we have here is another typical Michaels response - long on rhetoric and short on facts and explanations. But then that's the only way he can sell you on a busing system that was a complete and utter academic failure.
    --------------------
    THE END (Thankfully) Now my answer below

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  5. The only reason I take some time to answer H-000’s bilge is because I want to fully expose “its” (that’s what we gleefully call the former Howler001 before “it” lost a point for ignorance) motive here - namely to falsely charge that, in “its” own words, Wake’s “…..busing system that was a complete and utter academic failure.”
    In my stories I focused specifically on the success of WCPSS from 2000 - 2005, and I do so for a reason. That period revealed WCPSS at its best before reality caught up - reality in that because of Wake’s stellar academic success, families moved here by the truckloads, and the growth eventually overwhelmed the system because it was not getting the requisite resources to keep up.
    Now all of the above are documented facts that any truthful Google or N&O search will reveal. In my case, as a reporter, I covered WCPSS’ struggles to get huge bond issues passed in order to build new schools; going to mandatory year-round to make best use of facilities and campuses in the face of growth; the explosion of Hispanic students in the system needing English as Second Language instruction, etc.
    I’m not suggesting that during that extraordinary period, that WCPSS was perfect. It still had many problems, the least of which was an arrogance on the part of the school system that made it extremely unpopular in some quarters in both the white and black communities.
    But whatever success Wake achieved, it did so apples-to-apples.
    Now to H-000’s points (if that’s what you want to call them):
    POSTING COMMENT - It is clear that H-000 thought “it” posted a comment, but either the Google engine malfunctioned, or “it” just doesn’t know what “its” doing. To suggest that I deleted a comment, only to repost more prominently as a post before I know there was a problem, is ridiculous, given that as a young blog, I want this debate. I want to engage supporters of the conservative-led Wake School Board to expose them for what they are.
    H-000 is the perfect example of what I’m talking about. H-000 is the gift that keeps on giving by way of desperate ignorance, in their attempts to disprove something that has long been codified - namely that WCPSS was once a stellar school system. H-000, living beings like “it,” and the cold-blooded conservatives on the Wake School Board, desperately want that truth erased.
    Problem is, it’s not going happen.
    FORBES RANKING - H-000 keeps harping my not challenging the Forbes ranking. But “it” doesn’t address what I actually wrote, which was that Forbes wasn’t the only national entity to hail Wake’s success. Beyond the NY Times, there were a fair number of educational journals, educational experts, etc., who closely examined WCPSS, and came away impressed and convinced that what was being done was working.
    But H-000 forgets that I added that thousands of families did their own research on WCPSS, and had determined that it (meaning the school system, not H-000) provided the quality and caliber of instruction they were looking for. That’s why the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce had, and still has, so much invested in WCPSS at the time. Why Enloe High was a top magnet in the nation.
    None of this can be disputed without out-and-out lying. The record is clear on that.
    And yes, WCPSS, the 18th LARGEST SCHOOL SYSTEM IN THE NATION - can be compared to the 17 before it in terms of effectiveness, because it is considered a top school system, regardless of urban or suburban. Gee, we compare WCPSS with Charlotte-Meck all the time (H-000 does for sure). Is CMS considered a suburban school system when over 50 percent of its student population is F&R? So give me a break with your crap, H-000. [END OF PART 1 - GO TO PART 2]

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  6. [PART 2]
    SPENDING - WCPSS’ own records, which I have a copy of, show that at its height, CMS was bleeding thousands of dollars more per student than Wake, BECAUSE OF ITS LARGE HIGH POVERTY STUDENT POULATION.
    From the N&O, Nov. 20, 2010:
    “Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education Chairman Eric Davis, Superintendent Peter Gorman and others have argued that they're closing buildings to protect academic gains in a shrinking budget. The district has spent millions putting extra teachers, technology and other aid into schools serving the neediest students, most of whom are black, Hispanic and impoverished.”
    THAT’S WHY CMS IS NOW HAVING TO CLOSE 10 SCHOOLS! They were pouring money into their high poverty schools, and not just in transportation cost. H-000 acts like transportation costs can be separated from per pupil spending. Strange, when folks in Wake bellowed about ending busing for diversity, they touted how much money they system would save, how it would lower costs overall.
    Not in H-000’s world, apparently.
    Also it’s weird that CMS’ transportation costs got out of hand AFTER they went to neighborhood schools. How did THAT happen, H-000?
    TEST RESULTS - In order to make “its” CMS beat Wake” when it came to EOG test scores, it was important for H-000 to play fast and loose with the dates, so let’s straighten that out.
    In 2009 and 2010, CMS’ black students did outpoint Wake’s African-American students, no argument. And let’s be frank, if a Wake Superior Court judge told the world in 2006 that CMS was committing academic genocide against those same black students, it should surprise no one that the system, in the interest of placating its business community, would spend like drunken sailors to fix the problem, which has now gotten them into trouble.
    But I was focusing on 2000 - 2005, when WCPSS was kicking CMS’ ass in all subgroups, including black and ED.
    From that same N&O Nov. 20, 2010 article:
    “Just a few years ago, such comparisons were embarrassing for CMS. Minority and low-income students trailed state averages on most measures, especially in high schools. Wake outperformed CMS by large margins.”
    HEY H-000, WANT THE N&O’S ADDRESS SO YOU CAN TELL THEM THEY’RE WRONG?
    Even after Wake started to slide from 2006 on, and black student scores froze, then began to sink, Wake still beat CMS until 2009. So the CMS achievements are only two years old, and in 2010, WCPSS black students began gaining on CMS.
    So, in closing, because correcting the record on H-000 is too damn easy, all I’ve written is the truth, which can be verified by the public record. Is there a mistake here and there? Not to my knowledge, but if there is, its an honest one, and I’ll own up to it. That’s what good reporters do.
    But make no mistake, supporters of the current Wake School Board hate comparisons to the successes of past Wake School Boards, because it makes it harder for them to rewrite history, which, as H-000 has proven, they desperately need to do.
    I won’t let them, which is why H-000 and others engage in vicious attacks.
    H-000’s total argument about WCPSS prior success is no big deal, fraudulent and trumped up. Anyone who goes to those lengths to literally cite WCPSS as, in H-000’s own words, “an academic failure” has an agenda. My job is to expose that agenda.
    No doubt that around midnight tonite, H-000 will cozy up to “its” computer again, take an hour to figure where the on button is, come to this blog salivating that I think “its” views are worthy of response (not realizing that I’m actually using “its” BS for target practice), write something snarky in response, and then complain again that it can’t be posted.
    And the world turns round and round…

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  7. Part 2...

    Michaels focuses on the fact that thousands of families moved to Wake County, and the fact that they moved here somehow proves that Wake is one of the best school districts in the nation. But again, he does not challenge my assertion that people moved here because of the high paying jobs in RTP. And he fails to note that Johnston County and Chatham County (both accessible to RTP) grew at the same rate (approximately 40% during 2000-2005) that Wake did. People came here for the jobs but were willing to accept the Wake, Johnston, and Chatham county school systems at the same rate.

    Michaels takes issue with my claim that comparing Wake only to urban school systems is not very meaningful. Is he proud that the Wake school system is better than those in Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Chicago? Apparently so. As for me, I prefer to set the bar a little higher. I want to know how we compare to Fairfax County, Virginia, or Gwinnett County, Georgia. I'll let the reader decide who he/she would rather stack up against, confident that no one takes a lot of pride in having a school system that outperforms Cleveland

    Next Michaels throws out Enloe High School, that top magnet school in the nation. Once again, Michaels doesn't tell you that Enloe has the worst graduation rate for black males of any high school in all of Wake County. You see, Enloe is two schools in one. One for wealthy whites and Asians, who get all the advanced course selections, and one for poor neighborhood blacks, who continue to struggle in what is supposed to be a top school.

    Onto Michels claims that other school districts spend $10,000 more per student than Wake County. First notice how Michaels backed off that initial claim, and instead makes a separate claim that CMS spend thousands of dollars more per student than Wake. He claims to have the data, but I'll provide you a link to the data. Here's the link to how much each district in NC spent per student in the 2004-2005 school year: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/fbs/resources/data/financialdata/2004-05data.pdf. Look at Table 4, "Per Pupil Expenditures." Note that Wake spent $7,239.87 per student, and CMS spent $7,520.59 per student, a difference of $280.72 per student. In 2008-2009, the difference was about $337 as shown here: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/docs/fbs/resources/data/financialdata/2008-09data.pdf. Thousands??? I don't think so. Michaels says good reporters own up to their mistakes. Let's see.

    Finally, Michaels makes the point that CMS trailed Wake in test scores back in 2000-2005, and has only recently moved ahead. That's true, but let's not forget that CMS moved ahead, without having to rely on busing students by race, diversity, or any other measure. They focused on the achievement gap,and got the job done. Perhaps if Wake would take some of that money spent on diversity busing, which has been proven to be an academic failure, and instead focused on the needs of struggling students, they could get the same results of CMS.

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  8. Congratulations, H-000. You successfully posted PART2 of your misdirected nonsense ALL BY YOURSELF! That's the good news!

    The bad news is this computer "genius" failed to post "its" part 1, clear evidence that I've had NOTHING to do with 'its' incompetence to post anything. Thus, the false accusation that I've deleted "its" posts.

    And if I'm a little hard on H-000, maybe it's because this thing called me a liar, based on the crap "it" wants to sell. So yes, when you come to MY house, and call me "liar," you don't get the best china. You have to pay for your disrespect when you come here. You get to do it behind an alias, and you still get sensitive. Please with the baby stuff.

    Re-read "it's" last crap, folks. H-000 is upset that I won't jump through hoops it sets.

    Forbes is free to set any criteria it wants. My point, my intelligent can figure out, is that WCPSS got its reputation bsed on much, much more than what Forbes said. And the ultimate judges were the Families who researched the school system, and decided to come, made their decisions on more than the Forbes ranking for sure. THAT'S THE ANSWER! It's Not what I think, but what those thousands of families decided!

    If H-000 wants to compare Wake to other schools systems nationally, be my guest! I don't need to do that because none of that was my point.

    Next, we all know about Enloe being a "school within a school." But the fact remains, Enloe has a national rep as being one of the top magnets in the nation. PERIOD! End of discussion!

    Apparently "it"can't get it through "it's" head that if CMS was spending, at most, just a few hundred dollars more per student, it wouldn't have gone into the hole to close 10 schools as it has. The bill for that was tens of millions (I stand on $60 million, and I stand on $10,000 more per).

    And yes, CMS was forced by a Superior court judge to SPEND THAT MONEY to improve the education of the students it was abusing, starting in 2006.

    Now follow this closely - CMS install improvements in 2007, just as WCPSS is headed down. Common sense tells you at some point, unless wake rights the ship immediately, that CMS, under the threat of state takeover, is going to pass Wake with black students, and it did finally in 2009.

    So H-000's point is moot, if not ignorant. It's like bragging about being able to beat Muhammad Ali NOW, when you couldn't do it 30 years ago!

    So H-000, what you don't like is that no matter howe hard you try, you can't overcome common sense with dastardly false claims and slander. Could carte less about your politics or degrees. When you come to MY HOUSE with a fight, better bring considerably more than your impotent opinion of yourself!

    Toodles!

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  9. Cash accuses me of not posting Part I, but he knows that I did, because he responds to points that I only made in Part I, namely that I had considerable computer experience, and that I took issue with his name calling.

    So we know that you have access to Part I, Cash, so please do us all a favor and post it.

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  10. Actually, H-000, I've been more than generous in posting your crap when your "considerable computer experience" couldn't help you. You do it, if you can. I've run out of courtesy for someone who accuses me of being a liar without even thinking about it. If you can get it on, do so. You've lost your favors with me.

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  11. Comment: 3rd attempt at getting this response to stick.

    OK folks, you see the real Cash Michaels in all its ugliness.

    Michaels claims that I did not post Part 1 of my response, but now he admits that I did. You see he can't deny it because he referenced so much of it in his response to Part 2. At first, he didn't tell you that he actually read Part I, did he? But Michaels got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, and now he gets ugly. Even though he's got a copy of Part I, he's refusing to post it.

    Michaels is apparently very upset because I said he lied. He says I did it woithout thinking about it. But look at it from my point of view. Michaels obviously read my very first comment because he copied it in his response. But my first comment is no longer there! It's gone! If you read the original blog to which I responded, you will see that it shows 0 comments. So I concluded that Cash deleted it, then lied when he said he didn't. That's a reasonable conclusion, though a bit presumptuous.

    I'm clearly having some difficulty posting responses to Michaels. I post a response, it's there for all to read, then a few minutes later, it's gone. This happens repeatedly. After doing a little research, I discovered that thousands of people are having similar difficulties posting comments on blogs maintained by blogspot.com (as this one is). Now I see that I was mistaken about Cash deleting my first comment, so I will apologize to Cash for saying that he lied.

    There's a problem with blogspot folks. Sometimes comments disappear, but not before the blogger is sent a copy of the response. I'll go out of my way to try and get my comments to "stick," but I won't look for Michaels to do me any favors. After all, he's being soundly whipped with facts and figures, and needs any advantage he can get. If that means refusing to extend the simplest of courtesies, so be it.

    So don't do me any favors, Cash. And keep those insults and name-calling coming. All it does is show how a typical person reacts when his claims are refuted with hard data, data that comes from official sources like the NC Department of Public Instruction.

    Take Michaels' claim that CMS spends thousands of dollars more per student than Wake. I provided the link to the official NC DPI figures showing that CMS outspent Wake by just $281 in 2005, and just $337 in 2009. But Michaels refuses to accept these figures. Where is his proof? What source did he give for his claim of thousands of dollars more? "Well why else would CMS be closing 10 schools next year," he asks. Most 6 year olds would recognize that as a weak, desperate plea to hang onto something that even Cash now realizes can't possibly be true. Cash continues to hold onto his claim of $60 million total, and $10,000 more per student. Here's a little excercise Cash. Take out your calculator, and divide $60 million by 120,000 (the number of students in CMS in 2005). What do you get? About $500 per student. While that's a little more than the $281 spending difference documented at the NC DPI, it's drastically short of the $10,000 claim. Even Cash's own numbers don't show a difference of $10,000 per student.

    Come on Cash, give me one source that documents a $10,000 per student spending difference between Wake and CMS. But I guarantee you folks, that he won't. He can't.

    I'm sure Cash will respond shortly, with yet another excuse why he won't acknowledge his mistake. If you're following along, look for the proof. Look for the link to the data that Michaels is using to make his claims. You seek folks, Cash is a man of many words, a lot of which are very colorful. But the sum total of those words amounts to very little.

    I'll continue to try and post Part I of my earlier response. Hopefully I can get it to "stick."

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