DID WAKE CONSERVATIVES ALWAYS "CARE" ABOUT BLACK CHILDREN IN WAKE COUNTY SCHOOLS?

       On December 6th, 2011, a new Democratic majority will take back over the once Republican-dominated Wake County Board of Education. 
        In October and November of 2011, Wake County voters, having stomached two years of the Republican board's political shenanigans, agenda and propaganda, decided enough was enough, and voted five of five Democrats to the board.


       One of the tricks, misconceptions and downright blatant lies that the board Republicans, led by now outgoing Chairman Ron Margiotta, and soon to be ex-Vice Chairman John Tedesco, consistant played was the myth that Black students "never" did well in Wake Public Schools, that the schools system never did anything for them, and that all busing for socioeconomic diversity was all about was to "hide" failing black students so that no one would see just how much the school system was failing them.


        Tedesco even accused past Wake School Boards of "institutional racism."


       Of course, those were just some of the  lies that the 2009 Republicans propagated in order to sweep the 2009 school board elections that year. "Failing Black students being deliberately hidden" was one of many lies used to kill Wake's diversity policy, and bring about neighborhood schools.


     But three years earlier, neighborhood schools proponents were saying no such thing. For all of the reasons why they wanted Wake's busing for diversity (which, by the way, was only 4% of all busing in the school system) to stop, failing black students was not one of them. NEVER mentioned, primarily because from 2000-2005, 81% of black students grades 3-8 were at or above grade level in Wake County, a stat well known at the time.


    In other words, for five straight years prior, black and Hispanic students were doing very well, thank you, in Wake County Public Schools.


     So opponents of Wake's diversity policy never brought it up,  because it wasn't happening, and Wake had been busing for diversity for three decades (economic diversity since 2000).
    
     All they could say was how unfair the busing was ...period!


     Case in point (and as I find more, I'll put them on), this segment from the old NBC-17 News "At Issue" show with hostess Verna Collins, Donna Martinez of the John Locke Foundation, and yours truly (dashing in black if I do say so myself).


     It's dated December 31st, 2006. See what's different about the "neighborhood schools" argument then, versus now. Seg runs about 9 minutes.


     Watch the video and see what I mean: