A Response To "Friends of Wake County" Member

This is a very slightly edited version of my response to a Wake Co. PTA Council posting

 

From: Louise C. Lee [mailto:louise@nc.rr.com]
Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 12:30 PM
To: 'Virginia Parker'; 'wakeptacouncil@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [SPAM] RE: [wakeptacouncil] The Bond and Year Round Schools.....

While I understand that your focus is the raising of money, I hope you understand that how that money will be spent is, and should be, the focus of the voters. Parents, teachers, and other citizens can't just look at this bond from a money standpoint only. They have to make decisions based on the educational pros and cons, the impact on their families, professional repercussions, etc., etc. That's why the bond and mandatory year-round school plans can't be separated.

You wrote that," If folks don't like the building program, then those arguments should have been heard long ago." Yes, those arguments should have been heard, because they were presented months, and even years ago! One School Board member lamented recently --- Oh, if only parents had shown this energy and passion earlier...it's too late to do anything now...  Well, the truth of the matter is, thousands of citizens - and not just parents - spoke out loud and clear as early as last April. An online anti-mandatory year-round schools petition that I set up and never publicized in public, gathered 550 signatures in just a few days. Twelve days later, on April 14, that number had doubled to 1,100. By April 26, 1,500 names were present, increasing to well over 2,000 by May 12. Hundreds of comments accompanied these signatures, and I personally made sure that School Board members were kept up-to-date with the petition's progress. Besides emailing comments to them, I even made hard copies and gave them out at board meetings.

Soooo - the people of Wake County did share their concerns with School Board members and Administrators early on, in a very reasonable and rational way. To this day, in spite of my persistent questions and reminders, the names (which are approaching 3,000 in number) and comments of these citizens have, to my knowledge, never been publicly acknowledged! By ignoring them, the School Board and Administration have sent this message to these people - you don't matter, you are nothing. So now, over the past few months, these folks and others have turned to other means in order to be recognized and heard. This is just tragic to me, because the level of anger, resentment, and mistrust out there now, could more than likely have been greatly minimized.

I share all of this just to point out only one example of why thousands of concerned citizens are so upset. Bond supporters have been alienated.

They hear me asking the School Board and Administration over and over, "Is it really true, as several have alleged, that you are hearing from close to the same number of  MYR supporters as those who oppose MYR? Are you counting these petition signers? Are you counting folks you've heard from all along, or just those who have responded to your publicized public comment opportunities over the past few weeks?" I have yet to have these questions answered.

I had hoped that things wouldn't come to this. I am sickened that the citizens of Wake County are being torn apart. I am concerned that bond money for vital school construction and renovations might be lost. I am disappointed that thousands of citizens have been made to feel like they don't even exist. And I am sorry that people's trust for our education leaders is being chipped away, bit by bit. In my opinion, it doesn't have to be this way. I'm glad I believe in miracles...

Louise  Lee

PTA Member

Leesville Road Middle School 

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From: Virginia Parker [mailto:parkervg@earthlink.net]
Sent: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 7:16 AM
To: 'Louise C. Lee'; wakeptacouncil@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [SPAM] RE: [wakeptacouncil] The Bond and Year Round Schools.....

Louise,

Thanks for your thoughts and your response.  I know how much this issue means to you personally - and how much time you have devoted to understanding it thoroughly.  And - as you know - I respect your opinion. 

In response specifically to your comment regarding the failure of bond proponents to point out that all but two of the new schools in the building plan will be mandatory year round - I would suggest that it is not intentional - nor did we think it was necessary. 

Whether schools are year round or not was decided long ago by the county commissioners and the school board when they agreed on the building plan.  The number of year rounds was a key factor in determining the amount of the building program.   All the specifics of the building plan were made public all throughout that process - never hidden or made secret. 

Bond proponents are focused now on how to provide the funding for that building program in the most economical, efficient, equitable and accountable manner possible - and that's through a public approved bond.  That's our focus - and what we are trying to educate the voters about.  The bond - not the building program that was decided on months ago.

If folks don't like the building program, then those arguments should have been heard long ago.  As I've said before, the bond is not the vehicle to make that particular voice heard.

And thank you for hearing me out.  As you and I both know - we respectively disagree - and the key word there is respectively.

Virginia Parker

PTA Member

Carroll MS; Sanderson HS

Member of  Friends of Wake County