Openness, Unity, and Community
October 29, 2001 -- "Pennies for Patriotism and Pride," our system-wide fundraiser for The September 11th Fund, was a phenomenal example of how much we can accomplish by working together as partners. The Wake County Public School System and the Wake County PTA Council collaborated to raise $89,416.53 for those touched by the terrorist attacks. Many schools already had their own drives underway as well. Adding it all together, the combined charitable response of Wake County's 122 public schools has been over $197,000 to date -- and we're still counting pennies.
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Students present the check from the Pennies for Patriotism and Pride campaign. Click here for more information about their hard work. |
When I think of the way our community has pulled together in times of crisis, I see us modeling behavior that we should be demonstrating all the time. We should build from this experience, and continue the efforts begun in recent years to further bring the public into the Wake County public education. Just as we gave every child a chance to participate in "Pennies," so should we give every citizen a chance to participate in their public school system. A fundamental change is occurring in the way the Wake County Board of Education and the Wake County Public School System do business. In the last year we have brought citizen involvement in decision making to its highest level in recent history, and we're not done yet.
This is more than a change in "bureaucratic process." This is recognition that public participation and deliberation lead to better decisions and broader community support. As the stewards of the county's public schools, we hold the final responsibility for the decisions made on our children's behalf, but we are aware of the consequences of making them in isolation. Laying down the welcome mat reinforces the truth that these are the public's schools.
The Board of Education has been responsive in the past, but wanted to take public involvement to the next level. Beginning last year with the Finance Committee and expanding to the other committees this year, the Board of Education now includes citizen volunteers on its committees. As an example of the tangible results of citizen input, volunteers from the Finance Committee validated the results of the Arthur Andersen employee compensation study last year. They also prompted the Board to allow critical, chronically unfilled positions to be given "emergency" status, allowing WCPSS to provide market-competitive compensation to prospective employees.
This year public input has figured prominently in crafting a student assignment plan and determining the school calendar for 2002-2003. In addition to welcoming community members to each of its standing committees, the Board of Education has rejuvenated the regional Board Advisory Councils. Citizens will be joining the Board in exploring the issues and needs of the future -- acting proactively and thoughtfully, with a diversity of experiences to guide them.
This new level of public involvement does not even count the many individual schools that have established alliances with local businesses to provide consultation on their School Improvement Plans, and our schools' continuing involvement with their individual PTA chapters. The doors are open; the welcome mat is out.
The adoption of Goal 2003 in 1998 came as a direct result of the Wake Education Summit, which brought many members of our community together -- businesspeople, educators, and community leaders. That public buy-in has been the engine driving our gains in academic achievement since then. It's a model that our school system must continue to follow.
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We are greatly improving our accountability and accessibility to the public, and I am sure this type of engagement will become the rule. It must, because as former secretary of health, education and welfare David Mathews wrote, strong communities are "an essential source of 'social capital,' a necessary form of reinforcement from outside the school that encourages students to learn." How else can we close the achievement gap, and prepare our students for adult citizenship in this great country, if we do not open the doors further to public participation? We are recognizing, more and more, our responsibility to open our doors to our community. The result will be a stronger, safer, better community and a wiser, more trusted public school system. As your Superintendent of Schools, I am committed to making this happen.
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