Vicki Hyatt, editor of The Mountaineer in Haywood County, has penned a wonderful description of what is happening specifically in Haywood County. The Haywood County Board of Education is faced with shutting down Central Elementary School, near downtown Waynesville, in the wake of the opening of Shining Rock Classical Academy, a Challenge Foundation charter school.
In A maze of facts muddies the education funding issue, Ms. Hyatt clearly establishes as best she can the facts of school funding here, playing referee between Rep. Michelle Presnell (R-Yancey), and Haywood County Schools Assistant Superintendent Dr. Bill Nolte.
But in a great bit of reporting, Ms. Hyatt drills down to the real reason middle class parents here in our small town are pulling their children out of "horrible" public schools in favor of taxpayer funded charter schools:
Some parents seek out charter schools for reasons other than educational quality. At a school foundation board meeting, a member shared a conversation she overheard at a swimming pool this summer. Two mothers, whose children were in the Riverbend school district, (the one ranked in the top 1 percent in the nation) were discussing the new charter school. One said she was opting for the charter school because she didn't want her children attending classes with "those country kids."
"We are better than those people" seems to be the refrain, even in a county with less than 5% African-American population. There's always someone to put down, to lord over, to look down one's noses at.
Comments
National Blue Ribbon School
In 2011, Riverbend Elementary School in Haywood County was named a National Blue Ribbon School. But one mom didn't want her children attending classes with those country kids...
______________________________________________________________________
The measure of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. - FDR
Billy Ball of NC Policy Watch
Here's his take
______________________________________________________________________
The measure of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. - FDR
HCBOE voted last night
Vote was 7-2 to close Central Elementary. Two "no" votes were essentially protest votes, although the outcome was never in doubt, and most here know that the board had no choice in the end.
______________________________________________________________________
The measure of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. - FDR
The new segregation academies
One said she was opting for the charter school because she didn't want her children attending classes with "those country kids."
The new segregation academies, funded by taxpayer dollars, run by out of state corporations and foundations.
______________________________________________________________________
The measure of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little. - FDR
Major WUNC radio fail
I just listened to the hourly news roundup, and the summary of the school board vote contained nothing about the charter school. Not one word. Just a "voted to close the school because of a drop in student enrollment."
I don't blame the (female) reading the blurb, just the copy person who wrote it. But I have serious doubts that Laura Leslie would have read that without mentioning the reason for the drop in attendance.