chaboard
04-20-2009, 06:40 AM
Worth noting this morning is that one of the head honchos of the School Board Removal movement had a long Point Of View article published in this morning's N&O. (http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/columns/story/1490182.html) Even more worth noting is that THIS is his an argument he puts front & center in the first three paragraphs of the piece, :
There are, however, other controversial Wake school system policies. For example, mandatory year-round schools were sold by the board as the "silver bullet" to increase classroom space. In 2007 the board proceeded with the conversion of 22 schools to mandatory year-round status, without funding approval from the county commissioners and despite widespread outrage from parents whose families would be fractured by having their children on different school calendars. The system spent $4.7 million to convert these schools.
The results? Enrollment at these schools has actually decreased while class sizes have increased; of 134 class-size waivers requested by Wake County schools last year, 78 were for mandatory year-round schools.
Read that again. Notice anything? In that first paragraph the author goes out of his way to choose words to leave the impression that MANDATORY Year Round is a done deal. He uses past tense to say that not 1, not 2 but 22 schools (ooh, how could such a very specific number be wrong - it MUST be a fact!) have already been converted - note the past tense - to MYR. He tells us that the system has already spent - note the past tense - money ""to convert" schools when the only precedent in his article for "to convert" is "Mandatory Year Round" schools.
Then in the second paragraph he tries to not only reinforce the idea that this conversion has already happened - he tries to tell us the results are even known!!! He tells us the results (implied preceding object being MYR) are that enrollment has decreased - note the past tense again - and that most of the waivers were for
- note the past tense again - MANDATORY year round schools".
There is simply no other way to read those two paragraphs than as an argument that not only has MANDATORY year round already been implemented but we even know the results of the it as policy.
And yet.....we all know that out here in the real world not one single MANDATORY Year Round public school exists now in Wake county or [/b]has ever existed in Wake County[/b]. Not one! Ever! We also KNOW that those empty seats in those 122 schools that the author is trying to imply to be a failure of school board policy are, in fact, a DIRECT result of lawsuits filed and supported by the author and the other OPPONENTS of the policy!!!
Folks, those two paragraphs constitute a clear LIE. There is no way to charitably read them in any other way...they were written for the express purpose of getting people to believe that MYR schools exist in Wake county and that the result of MYR policies are empty seats in those very schools. Two things that are clearly, indisputably and inarguably not true as statements of objective fact.
You can support or not support MYR in good faith. You can support or not support the current school board in good faith. But when your leadoff agument in the battle for the board made by one of your frontline leaders is an intentional and willful LIE like that....you clearly have crossed the bounds of legitimate debate and have shown that you don't even have any faith that the facts support your position.
It's gonna be a long 5 months if mud like this is gonna be the standard fare.
There are, however, other controversial Wake school system policies. For example, mandatory year-round schools were sold by the board as the "silver bullet" to increase classroom space. In 2007 the board proceeded with the conversion of 22 schools to mandatory year-round status, without funding approval from the county commissioners and despite widespread outrage from parents whose families would be fractured by having their children on different school calendars. The system spent $4.7 million to convert these schools.
The results? Enrollment at these schools has actually decreased while class sizes have increased; of 134 class-size waivers requested by Wake County schools last year, 78 were for mandatory year-round schools.
Read that again. Notice anything? In that first paragraph the author goes out of his way to choose words to leave the impression that MANDATORY Year Round is a done deal. He uses past tense to say that not 1, not 2 but 22 schools (ooh, how could such a very specific number be wrong - it MUST be a fact!) have already been converted - note the past tense - to MYR. He tells us that the system has already spent - note the past tense - money ""to convert" schools when the only precedent in his article for "to convert" is "Mandatory Year Round" schools.
Then in the second paragraph he tries to not only reinforce the idea that this conversion has already happened - he tries to tell us the results are even known!!! He tells us the results (implied preceding object being MYR) are that enrollment has decreased - note the past tense again - and that most of the waivers were for
- note the past tense again - MANDATORY year round schools".
There is simply no other way to read those two paragraphs than as an argument that not only has MANDATORY year round already been implemented but we even know the results of the it as policy.
And yet.....we all know that out here in the real world not one single MANDATORY Year Round public school exists now in Wake county or [/b]has ever existed in Wake County[/b]. Not one! Ever! We also KNOW that those empty seats in those 122 schools that the author is trying to imply to be a failure of school board policy are, in fact, a DIRECT result of lawsuits filed and supported by the author and the other OPPONENTS of the policy!!!
Folks, those two paragraphs constitute a clear LIE. There is no way to charitably read them in any other way...they were written for the express purpose of getting people to believe that MYR schools exist in Wake county and that the result of MYR policies are empty seats in those very schools. Two things that are clearly, indisputably and inarguably not true as statements of objective fact.
You can support or not support MYR in good faith. You can support or not support the current school board in good faith. But when your leadoff agument in the battle for the board made by one of your frontline leaders is an intentional and willful LIE like that....you clearly have crossed the bounds of legitimate debate and have shown that you don't even have any faith that the facts support your position.
It's gonna be a long 5 months if mud like this is gonna be the standard fare.