Crowded schools

Many thanks to Mayor Nancy McFarlane of Raleigh for getting involved in our school system and questioning our new student assignment plan’s impact on attracting families and businesses to Wake County. I am finding that many people are very confused as to what is going on with the assignment plan. Just look at the data that show the current magnitudes of over- and under-capacities of our schools. This points to the new plan’s failure.

We are not making optimal use of the facilities we have. We are making costly mistakes not only in terms of wise use of available resources but also with regard to our children’s quality of education. Overcrowded schools do not function well. Teachers become more stressed and students become more stressed. These schools become environments where bullies thrive. Families who complain are being ignored. Struggling students are being ignored for political gain.

We need to invest in making all the schools better rather than designing a system where we profess that everyone can get their children into a few of our good schools. This approach will be doomed to failure. There is not enough capacity at these schools to make everyone happy and this is the snake oil that we are now selling. We don’t buy!

Erica Kirchner-Dean

Fuquay-Varina