Saving our Schools, a Report

The first Saving our Schools forum was held Nov. 13 at Southern Durham H.S. from 7:00 - 9:00. The event was sponsored and planned by the Young Democrats of NC, and major congratulations are due to Zack Hawkins and Melissa Price.
State Senator Floyd McKissick moderated the event for panelists Dr. June Atikinson, Superintendant of Public Instruction, Donald Berringer, Durham County NCAE, and Durham County School Board members Minnie Forte and Steve Schewel. The attendance was probably less then hoped for, but about 25-30 people were there to soak up the comments from the panelists and to ask them a few questions at the end of the procedings.
I was quite impressed with the knowledge, caring and committment levels of all the panelists. After a couple years of negative news concerning the Durham Bd. of Ed., Forte and Schewel were a breath of fresh air. I was further impressed with the level of funding the schools in Durham obviously enjoy, at least compared to my home, Person Co. One of the Durham folks commented that they were able to put an "extra" nurse in place at Southern H.S.; we have two nurses for the whole of Person County.
Some quick takes:
Frequent high stakes testing was viewed by all panelists as a bad thing, though assessment in general was viewed as necessary.
Statewide drop out rate was a major concern. Dr. Atkinson spoke of instilling the college dream in children as early as possible.
Durham county seemed to have very good programs worked out in collaboration with Duke and NCCU. They also had, or would soon have, "academies" for the construction and medical science professions.
Dr. Atkinson viewed technology as useful especially as regards connecting with today's students, e.g. having teachers give lectures as podcasts or in some other downloadable format.
Training new teachers and retaining the ones we have were mentioned as priorities on a couple of occasions. Improving teacher pay was mentioned as well.
Mr. Berringer stressed reducing class size and allowing elementary teachers some quality planning time.
Dr. Atkinson, Ms. Forte and Mr. Schewel all made mention of forming partnerships with parents and the greater community. Durham Co. has a full time parent liason, and they send a bus out to collect parents on conference days. The idea of a parent getting on a bus to go to a school conference still brings a smile to my face. No excuses!
The Manning decision was mentioned along with school accountability. Forte and Schewel were positive about it since being on Judge Manning's radar was the impetous for much of the improvements they have made in Durham recently.

I am glad I attended. Being around people who care about schools and our future, the children, is refreshing, as is having close contact with state and community leaders who are working to improve our schools. I am doubly pleased the the YDs are the ones getting these discussions going. If I recall correctly, YDs are planning six or so more of these Saving our Schools forums in various locations across NC. Please keep your eyes and ears open and attend one of these events when convenient; providning young people with an education is a necessity, making that a quality education takes commitment from the whole community.

Thanks for reading.

Mike