RALEIGH -- John Tedesco unfurled his collaborative vision Wednesday for closing the achievement gap between Wake County students from low- and higher-income families, but had to face tough questions from a veteran educator on how well the plan will serve students from minority groups.
It's time, school board member Tedesco said at the first meeting of the Economically Disadvantaged Students Committee, for Wake County to take "heroic measures" to close the achievement gap.
As chairman, Tedesco welcomed about two dozen educators, civic leaders, parents, community members and others to the committee, which met before an audience of about 20 at Barwell Road Elementary School.
Among the audience was retired educator Marvin Pittman, who has held a variety of education posts including director of the Division of School Improvement for the state Department of Public Instruction. Before he gets involved and asks colleagues to do the same, Pittman said, he wants to make sure that the committee would be willing to take bold steps to address racial and ethnic differences in student performance, not just economic factors.
"The research shows that you can take minority children at the same economic level and still have disparity," Pittman said. An effort solely based on economic status could falsely reassure middle-class black and Hispanic parents about their children's performance, he said.
"Let's really put the issues on the table, John. Let's discuss it," Pittman continued.
Tedesco agreed. "Community-centered schools are not just what they sound like. It's far different and above and beyond that," he said.
He showed the committee a video about John A. Johnson Achievement Plus Elementary School, a St. Paul, Minn., school that offers an enriched curriculum as well as a clearinghouse for many community services. Located in a low-income neighborhood, it is attached to aYMCA.
"It's about collaboration and doing things differently," Tedesco said.
Wide-ranging ideas
Members of the task force and audience from all over an ideological spectrum offered ideas on how to solve the decades-old problem. The issue has special resonance now that the school board majority has embraced a model for student assignment that will likely concentrate high numbers of poor and minority students in neighborhood schools close to their homes.
"I see kindergartners when they come in, they are excited about learning, they have their hand up," said Don McQueen, executive director of the Torchlight Academy charter school. "After a while they become disinterested in school. It is our responsibility to bring out the light."
The Rev. Abel Grande, a pastor at First Baptist Church of Garner, said part of the solution has to be getting parents more involved. "Parents are more busy working and they don't give enough time for the children. Anything that we can do to connect the family together ... that's going to help," he said.
