Numbers matter. And it’s always interesting when two groups look at numbers and draw different conclusions and observations from the same set of facts.
Take our
story this morning about Carver High School, which is on a watch list from Judge Howard Manning, who is presiding over the so-called Leandro case.By Manning’s reckoning, Carver is a failing school, and one that he is threatening with closure. He looks at the percent of students at grade level. Local school officials say the world-famous declaration yeahbut. The raw figure is less important than the trend line, which they say shows that Carver is climbing, albeit slowly, out of its hole and making improvements.
Carver will be an interesting test case if push ever comes to shove. The Leandro decision began with poor, rural schools challenging the state’s funding mechanism for schools. Then the state’s largest urban districts, such as Forsyth, joined in. There is plenty of poverty here, but there are also tremendous resources that are not available in poor, rural school districts. If Carver can’t make it, the future is pretty uncertain for schools across the state.
Quick note: Did you ever think that the words
Your host is Ken Otterbourg, the managing editor at the Winston-Salem Journal. It's a forum to discuss the media, from
Ken:
I found it interesting in reading Manning’s letter that the state spends about 13.5 million more on the 44 lowest performing schools than it does on the 44 top performing schools in the state. (Manning letter page 6)
I think that blows the financial relationship out of the water. There are far too many societal factors at play in the failure of many of our schools, and the schools cannot be expected to fix the problems.
The lottery will exacerbate the situation, with proceeds becoming a complicated political football. Already most of our poorest counties are cut out of lottery money because the funding formula only calls for money to go to counties whose tax rate is above the state average. With most of our poorest counties holding the line on taxes, such a formula defies logic, as does the way the lottery was passed and structures to begin with.
We need to get back to family and faith and not leaving it to society and the government to fix the problems that are the responsibility of each individual.
Note on Quick Note: The juxtaposition of two seemingly unrelated people or groups of people is just about the coolest thing imaginable. We are all more alike than different. YES!!! And as far as Atlanta is concerned, why would NASCAR even consider putting the Hall of Fame there? Most of the fuss about Charlotte vs. Atlanta is just silliness on the part of Charlotte, but in this case Charlotte is the best choice. Hopefully, the NASCAR Hall of Fame, in addition to being loyal to NASCAR’s roots, will bring tourist income to North Carolina.
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