Tour de Neuse starts soon and given the growing excitement, we don’t want anyone to miss out on this great opportunity to get to know the Neuse! Please forward the following story to your email lists; we still have space available for legs of the paddle starting this weekend!

Despite the weather forecast—which won’t stop us even if it does rain on our parade—the Army Corps does not anticipate any high releases this weekend so it should be a smooth and beautiful ride, with temps in the mid-to-high 80s and a less than 50% chance of precipitation.

This May, the Neuse Riverkeepers will embark upon a journey down the entire length of the Neuse River. This paddle beginning at the Falls Lake Dam, will take the Neuse Riverkeepers through rapids, cypress swamps and the Neuse "Bottom Lands" before their completion in Oriental. This year, the Neuse Riverkeepers are inviting volunteers to paddle with them.

Will you join the Neuse Riverkeepers on a leg of their journey?

Paddlers from all levels of experience are invited to join us. All participants must donate or raise $200 for each leg of the trip they wish to paddle. Paddlers who raise $500 can register for as many legs as they would like. Parent/Young Children teams paddle for the price of one! Proceeds will benefit Neuse RIVERKEEPER® Foundation programs.

Participants will receive a year long membership to the Neuse RIVERKEEPER® Foundation, a commemorative Tour de Neuse t-shirt and lunch, snacks and beverages while on the paddle. A limited number of canoes and kayaks are available. Optional camping and other activities are scheduled for a number of the legs.

Registration is required and space is limited. Sign up today!

Contact: Stephanie Bishop, Development Associate 919.856.1180 stephanie@neuseriver.org

posted by Administrator  # 4:16 PM 0 Comments

SWINE FLU UPDATE

Department of Homeland Security

Updated 4/27/09 at 17:50 p.m.

On Sunday, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared a public health emergency related to the outbreak of swine flu in Mexico and the cases reported in the United States.

This is a precautionary tool that the federal government uses often to make sure that we have the resources we need for a developing situation.

This declaration will allow for resources to be provided for federal, state and local agencies to prevent and mitigate this disease as well as the expanded use of medication and diagnostic tests.

We also announced that we have 50 million treatment courses of antiviral drugs (Tamiflu and Relenza) in the Strategic National Stockpile, and that we are releasing 25 percent of those courses, making them available to all states, but prioritizing the affected states.

Seven million treatment courses of Tamiflu have been procured and strategically positioned by the U.S. Department of Defense.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is heavily involved in monitoring and testing to make sure there is no issue with our food supply. So far, no incidents have been reported. Swine flu cannot be contracted by eating pork.

DHS continues its two-fold focus: ensuring the integrity of the border and other ports of entry, and protecting our workforce.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is pre-positioning resources for every duty station and each employee, including Personal Protective Equipment, Meals Ready to Eat, water, on-hand medications and fuel.

CBP has also implemented passive surveillance protocols to screen for ill individuals that may arrive at our borders. All persons entering the United States from a location with reported human infection of swine flu will be processed through all appropriate CBP protocols.

Travelers presenting symptoms, if and when encountered, will be isolated per our established protocols. CBP will provide Personal Protective Equipment for suspected infected travelers.

If and when a situational need develops, all CBP sites can implement procedures for the arrival and deployment of additional personnel to support operations.

Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has instituted similar protocols at airports, passively looking for those exhibiting flu-like symptoms and taking the appropriate measures.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has pre-positioned millions of masks for its law enforcement and mission-critical personnel throughout the United States. In addition, 15 mobile trailers with emergency supplies have been pre-staged at various ICE field offices.

Currently, ICE has no confirmed cases within the detainee population. All ICE detention facilities have a plan addressing the management of infectious and communicable diseases, which includes coordination with public health authorities.

Individuals should take responsibility for their own health by following these steps to prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza.

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze. Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.

• Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.

• If you become ill with influenza-like symptoms, including fever, body aches, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, or vomiting or diarrhea, you may want to contact your health care provider, particularly if you are worried about your symptoms. Your health care provider will determine whether influenza testing or treatment is needed.

• If you get sick with influenza, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them. Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.

Additional Updates:

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Director John Berry distributed a memo on April 26 to federal employees providing advice for limiting the spread of flu viruses as a result of the current outbreak.

The Department of State, at the advice of health officials at the CDC, announced a travel advisory recommending citizens avoid all non-essential travel to Mexico. The travel advisory will remain in effect until public health officials determine the risk from the outbreak has subsided.

The U.S. Government has been actively and aggressively responding to the swine flu outbreak over the past several days. The World Health Organization’s (W.H.O.) recent decision to raise the pandemic alert level is a response to the ongoing outbreak for which we have already been taking action to mitigate.

For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/swineflu/

FAQ’s

Updated 04.27.09 at 7:20 p.m.

How will the U.S government respond to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) decision to raise the alert level?

For the last several days, the federal government has already been taking actions consistent with what the WHO recommends for phase 4, such as increased surveillance and heightened communications designed to reduce the risk of exposure.

Will the United States Government issue a travel advisory to avoid travel to Mexico?

After consultation with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the State Department issued a travel advisory on Monday recommending citizens avoid non-essential travel to Mexico. The travel advisory will remain in effect until public health officials determine the risk from the outbreak has subsided.

The State Department will continue to keep American citizens currently in Mexico and those considering travel to Mexico informed through the Warden Message system. This information is available at state.gov, travel.state.gov and through the U.S. Embassy in Mexico at http://mexico.usembassy.gov/eng/eacs_public_announcement.html

DHS along with federal partners continue to consult with CDC to determine appropriate public health measures. In addition to he measures we are currently taking, the U.S. is considering many of the relevant actions recommended, including implementing layered screening measures. The measures we are currently undertaking are fully consistent with the U.S. Pandemic Influenza Implementation Plan, which we operate as an obligation under the International Health Regulations.

Who has the authority to order quarantines?

Local, state, and federal public health officials can issue quarantines under each jurisdiction’s legal authority. At the state and local level, each state has varying laws for implementing quarantines. Most, however, allow for local and state public health agencies to issue quarantine orders supported by local law enforcement.

At the federal level, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has established legal federal authorities pertaining to the implementation of a quarantine and enforcement. Under approval from HHS, the Surgeon General has the authority to issue quarantines necessary to prevent the introduction, transmission or spread of communicable diseases.

In addition, U.S. Customs and Coast Guard Officers assist in the enforcement of quarantine orders. Other DOJ law enforcement agencies including the U.S. Marshals, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) may also enforce quarantines. Military personnel are not authorized to engage in enforcement.

Is the National Pandemic Strategy and Implementation Plan in effect?

Yes.

What role, if any, does the FEMA administrator play in the ongoing response, as principal domestic emergency management advisor to the president?

Absent a Stafford Act Declaration, FEMA is monitoring the current outbreak and is ready to position assets to assist state and local jurisdictions as the need arises.

Is there a pre-designated pandemic national Principal Federal Official (PFO)? Who is it?

As announced by the White House on April 26, Secretary Napolitano is the national principal federal official.

Are there regional PFOs and Federal Coordinating Officers for pandemic, and who are they?

Yes, there are five regional PFO positions and 10 deputy PFO’s. Each team also includes a Federal Coordinating Official from FEMA. Currently, the department is reviewing staffing requirements should PFO teams need to be deployed.

Have there been national pandemic exercises, how many and when?

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Health and Human Services (HHS), CDC, and other federal departments and agencies have participated in numerous regional and national-level exercises over the past four years. In addition, the Federal Government has ensured that states have finalized and exercised plans.

Are there current plans to shut down the border?

No. DHS is consulting closely with the CDC to determine appropriate public health measures. The CDC does not recommend closing the border as an effective public health measure at this time.

What steps are you taking to prevent those with flu-like symptoms from crossing the border?

As part of Customs and Border Protection’s (CBP) routine procedures, if someone crossing the border appears ill, the person is referred to a CDC quarantine station or a local public health official for evaluation. There is no mandatory quarantining at this time. If a person tests positive for influenza, a sample is sent to the CDC for confirmation.

Who is taking the lead on behalf of the federal government?

Secretary Napolitano and the Department of Homeland Security have the overall lead for coordinating the federal response to the current swine influenza outbreak in the United States. The Department is closely coordinating with HHS and CDC.

posted by Administrator  # 8:00 PM 0 Comments

Lessons Learned?

By Stan Norwalk

April 22, 2009

Introduction

The October 2009 election for the WCPSS Board of Education (BOE) will be fiercely contested. Three PAC’s are supporting candidates who have “sworn in blood” to support neighborhood schools and thus roll back the present diversity policy. Frustrations over frequent reassignments, mandatory year round schools, some long bus rides and declines in academic performance have led to the current situation.

The officially non-partisan race has become highly politicized. Changing the means by which the BOE is elected, favoring more Republican leaning suburbs, has become a political football. The head of the Wake Republican Party is promoting candidates who will support “parental choice” and “strengthened” magnet schools. Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s schools (CMS) are offered as a model to reduce busing, allow neighborhood schools and still achieve performance comparable to WCPSS.

Summary

CMS and WCPSS have been intensively studied regarding diversity, re-segregation and neighborhood schools. (References are below.) The results show that parental choice and neighborhood schools are an “I win-you lose” proposition. They are a major step backward for low income students. They will lead to racial re-segregation. Neighborhood schools with or without “Choice” are likely to precipitate “middle-class flight” either to higher income areas or out of public schools. Middle class flight is likely to reduce demand and the value of homes and economic development in the lower income areas of Wake County – mostly SE Raleigh and the Eastern half of the County. Neighborhood schools will reduce teacher working conditions and increase teacher turnover. It will tear apart the community fabric of Wake County. It will ill-prepare students for careers in an increasingly diversified and globalized world. The major challenges facing WCPSS are managing growth and insufficient funding of education. Neighborhood schools and choice will concentrate growth in the higher income areas of Wake County. Based on CMS experience, neighborhood schools and choice will increase pressure on raising Wake’s property tax by roughly 20% to accommodate the inherent inefficiencies of a two-class school system…without advancing education for ALL…and without paying for growth.

Discussion

• The major indicators of educational success are the socio-economic status (SES) of individual students’ families and the overall SES of the school, (hereafter called “healthy” schools). Healthy schools have a balanced population regarding SES and race. Healthy schools attract experienced, well trained teachers. The combined effect of teachers, parents and peers serves to increase the academic performance of all children regardless of race or economic status (see Kahlenberg).
• Numerous studies have proven the converse, i.e. high concentrations of needy children (often, but not always, minorities) lead to failed schools, sub-par education for all students in those schools and low graduation rates. Such schools are deemed “unhealthy”. Common sense tells us that most teachers can not give individual attention to twenty-two needy kids. Most experienced teachers seek to avoid unhealthy schools.
• Regardless of skin color, parents concerned about their children’s education, will not willingly enroll their children in unhealthy schools. In CMS, such schools are mostly in the inner city.
• Given “parental choice”, parents whose neighborhood base school is unhealthy, will attempt to enroll their children in healthy schools. Such schools are typically in more well-to-do suburbs.
• In Wake County, middle class neighborhoods are found mostly in Western Wake. Low income neighborhoods are mostly found in SE Raleigh and Eastern Wake. WCPSS attempts to balance SES by controlling assignment and busing. (Note that busing is used to relieve overcrowding resulting from insufficient permanent capacity and aging in and out of neighborhoods. Busing allows larger, less costly schools and makes greater use of existing capacity. See Salvesen et al))
• Assignment by neighborhood rather than assignment by socio-economic status, is an “I win-you lose” policy.
• The movement over several years of children and families from low income areas to high income areas is hereafter called “middle class flight”. (Called “white flight” by others.) In CMS, the bricks and mortar capacity limitations of healthy schools, along with first priority for the base nodes, led to “parental choice” being an ineffective illusion. Healthy schools became grossly overcrowded, and ultimately capped, while there were empty seats in low income areas just a few miles away. Busing mileage actually went up under “choice”. Lotteries were used to admit students into healthy schools and parents shuttled students through the system looking for a limited number of seats in healthy schools. (See Mikelson et al.)
• In CMS, middle class flight along with the limited availability of capacity in healthy schools, caused parents to move their children to private schools. Mecklenburg has over 19,500 students enrolled in private schools, roughly double the state average based on population, and one-third more than Wake. See (NCDPI data for Private Schools.)
• CMS lost market share, particularly among white middle class and affluent families. As a result, low income minorities are highly over-represented in CMS and are concentrated in the inner city. (see the US Census and School Data Direct). Five high schools there, where poverty and race are highly concentrated, were accused of committing “academic genocide” in a landmark court decision. (See Wikipedia.)
• In contrast, WCPSS has maintained market share in eight years. Although disaffected parents remove their children from the system, a like number return from private and charter schools. (per WCPSS data.) WCPSS is far more balanced than CMS along socio-economic and racial lines. (See Census and School Data Direct)
• “Choice” tore Mecklenburg apart along racial and neighborhood lines. After a failed secession effort by suburban areas and a failed bond issue, business and African American leaders forged a compromise that established the present neighborhood based “Equity” system. “Choice” was officially abandoned in CMS in 2004. “Equity” gave substantial additional resources to unhealthy schools including: more teaches for smaller classes, signing bonuses to attract quality teachers and principals and intensive pre-school education. Additional schools were built in suburban areas despite the availability of empty seats in the total system. (See Mikelson et al.)
• CMS has 40 magnet schools to serve 9,000 fewer students than Wake’s 35 magnets. Along the way the original intent of magnet schools to foster diversity has been abandoned in CMS. (CMS data).
• Parents whose frustrations led to “Choice” remain unhappy with “Equity”. They resent the costly and unequal distribution of resources and claim that the system is ineffective.
• The implications of “parental choice” and neighborhood schools are ominous for SE Raleigh and other low income areas in Eastern Wake County. Who would want to buy a home in a low income neighborhood whose neighborhood school was unhealthy? What would happen to economic development and housing values?
• CMS has 172 schools for 130 K students. WCPSS, serving 9,000 more students has 156 schools, 16 less than CMS. For WCPSS to build that many additional schools would require additional debt of very roughly $500 million and a property tax increase of roughly 4.5 cents. Note that this increase would only cover the inefficiencies in the use of capacity resulting from a two-class school system. Additional growth + inflation for the entire system would add further tax increases.
• In 2007, CMS spent $63 million more on education than Wake, largely to facilitate “Equity”. A similar level of expenditures would require a 6 cent increase in property taxes for WCPSS…again, regardless of growth or inflation. Coupled with less efficient use of capacity, a 20% increase in the property tax rate is indicated.

Conclusions:

The 2009 election for the BOE will be far more than a referendum on neighborhood schools. It will test the cohesiveness of the Wake Community. It will be a test of the leadership of all stakeholders, including the business community, the educational establishment and elected officials to sort through the issue of diversity vis-à-vis parental dissatisfaction with the current system. If neighborhood schools are chosen by voters, the stage will be set for future tax increases to fund an inherently less efficient two class school system. It will determine the burden on our community of poorly trained, low-income children. It will determine how we prepare the coming generation for their working careers in an increasingly diversified and globalized workforce. It could set the stage for “middle class flight” out of public schools to private schools. That “flight” could in turn impact housing values and economic development in SE Raleigh and the Eastern half of the County.

Clearly there are challenges involving WCPSS, the State and the County (and most NC schools).

• The academic bar needs to be raised for ALL children.
• The curriculum must be upgraded to reflect the needs of a globalized world in the 21^st Century
• Graduation rates need to be steadily increased.
• Greater choice of specialized programs is needed for both students not seeking higher education and academically advanced students.
• Funding from both the State and the County for advancing classroom education and permanent seating capacity must be consistent, reflecting both growth and inflation and be less dependent on the year-to-year whim of politics. Relying solely on raising the county’s property tax or existing state revenue sources is unlikely to meet the above goals.
• Per DPI statistics, combined state and county support in WCPSS for classroom education is only 85^th (of 115 school districts) in the state. Per School Data Direct, NC’s total support for K-12 is 43^rd in the nation. WCPSS total funding level is roughly $30,000 per classroom per year short of the national average. Lack of county support for school construction has resulted in 26,000 temporary seats, the highest number in the state. In turn, this has lead to over crowding core facilities and over crowded campuses with as many as forty trailers. Underfunding-overcrowding leads to longer bus rides and year round schools.
• An emphasis on supporting and upgrading teacher quality is of prime importance in raising academic performance for ALL students.
• Less frequent reassignments and reducing the length of the longest bus rides are needed.
• Growth and new school capacity must be tightly linked as is done elsewhere in NC and the nation, i.e. Adequate Public Facility Ordinances.
• Maintaining a balance between SES and community support.
• Concerns of parents with children on more than one calendar need to be addressed by increasing the capacity of standard calendar schools.
• Improved communications by the BOE.

All these goals can be implemented in-time with additional funding used for ALL students. None require abandoning assignment by socio-economic status. None require adoption of a system that has proven to be a major step backwards for Mecklenburg County.

Special Note:

The above reflects my personal analysis and viewpoints. I am not speaking for the Wake Board of Commissioners or anyone on the Board of Education.

I am indebted to Dr. Stephanie Southworth of UNC–Charlotte for her review of my remarks and her encouragement.

References:

• Presentation of Richard Kahlenberg, Century Foundation, April ’09 http://wakeedpartnership.org/publications/d/kahlenberg%2004.01.09.pdf
• Resegregation, Achievement, and the Chimera of Choice in Post-Unitary Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, May 2009, Mickelson, Smith and Southworth,
• Wake County Schools: A Question of Balance, Silberman http://www.tcf.org/Publications/Education/silberman.pdf
• School Data Direct data base. http://www.schooldatadirect.org/
• DPI, 2007 Annual Statistical Profile of Public and Private Schools
• Unpublished dissertation, Dr. Stephanie Southworth, UNC - Charlotte
• Reading, Writing and Race, Davidson. (a study of racial integration in CMS)
• School Resegregation, Must the South Turn Back, Boger et al
• US Census – estimated data for 2007
• Report from CMS https://extranet.cms.k12.nc.us/news/stories/newsletters/pdf/1A30A200990827AM.pdf
• Good Schools – Good Neighborhoods, 2003 (focuses on busing), Salvesen and Hervey
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlotte-Mecklenburg_Schools
• Making the grade despite white flight http://people.uncw.edu/smithrw/200/BussingCharlotteWhiteFlight04.doc

posted by Administrator  # 8:20 PM 0 Comments