The first of what will be an annual study conducted by the Department of the Air Force has revealed that of the 154 school districts that serve the children of airmen across the nation, Wayne County Public Schools is among the worst — particularly in the “most important area,” academic performance.
The results of the assessment will, according to the USAF, “now be one of several factors considered in future basing decisions.”
Seymour Johnson Air Force Base’s annual economic impact on Wayne County is nearly $800 million. The county has worked diligently for decades to position itself to be safe from the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process.
There were three categories researched for the “Public Education” section using data through 2019 — academic performance, school climate and service offerings. Each received one of three “scores” — green is the highest mark a school system could receive, yellow indicates work to do and red is the worst.
Here is where WCPS stands:
Academic Performance (RED) — “The most important area, this measures student learning and successful program completion.”
• Graduation rate, Yellow
• Student learning rate, Red
School Climate (YELLOW) — “Captures whether the schools provide an environment supportive of academic learning.”
• Chronic absenteeism rate, Green
• Suspension rate, Red
Service offerings (YELLOW) — “Includes programs and staff designed to ease transitions and provide emotional and academic support to students.”
• Pre-kindergarten availability, Yellow
• Student to counselor ratio, Green
• Student to mental health support ratio, Yellow
• Student to nurse ratio, Yellow
• Student to teacher ratio, Green
The other section of the report, “Licensure Portability,” rated North Carolina, along with 44 other states, in the yellow and was included because “military families report that the decision to continue military service is influenced by the ability of their spouses to sustain careers.”
The release of the Air Force’s findings comes as WCPS’ interim superintendent prepares to deliver a budget proposal to the Wayne County Board of Education Monday that is certain to include staff cuts — a result of a multi-million-dollar budget deficit some members of the board have blamed on hiring far more teachers than the state allotment pays for.
Whether or not the cuts, which could take the form of everything from layoffs and reductions in teachers’ stipends to making the district’s hiring freeze permanent, will impact next year’s study remains to be seen. However, making up for the deficit by not replacing the positions of those who have resigned or retired would almost certainly impact one of WCPS’ three “green” areas, student to teacher ratio.
In recent days, Rep. John Bell, the State House’s majority whip, and 4th Fighter Wing Commander Col. Kurt Helphinstine, at separate community meetings, noted a need to “fix” the local school system, but did not directly mention the report.
At the Chamber of Commerce’s annual Legislative Breakfast Sept. 25, Bell said one of the most important tasks necessary to move the county forward was to “fix its K-12 education system.” Earlier this week, Helphinstine echoed his sentiments at the Chamber’s State of the Military event — saying he was committed to working with the next superintendent to provide all the support he could, including getting his airmen and leadership team more involved and more visible in classrooms and school buildings across the district.
We have reached out to local and state leaders about the Air Force’s findings and we will share their analysis and thoughts in the coming days.
Why does it always start from the bottom when there is a budget problem? Maybe start finding money from the top down…just a thought.
I love how some school board members blame it on hiring too many teachers. How about That $5 million Dunsmore and his buddies made off with?
Once again… everything goes back to the teachers. Now after everything you have put on them this year you want to take away their stipends. Why not take away some of the money from the overpaid folks at the county office?
The continuing issue is people in this county do not trust the school board or central office administration with tax dollars to address these deficits. With school bonds and tax increases continually being voted down, it should become obvious that until the school leadership and board show a committed interest in reducing the costs of county administration (read: fire some folks in those Royall Avenue offices) and in changing the way the school board conducts business, as a community we cannot improve schools and education outcomes. Reduce staff where it does the most good–a $125,000 Asst. Superintendent in an office isn’t worth 2 excellent teachers in the classroom. Of course we need county administrators. But we have done much better as a system with much less “leadership” and more students to serve. And if we fill our school board with educators with real experience in OUR schools, we will start heading in the right direction.
Fair is fair. If Wayne County Schools plan to reduce or eliminate teacher supplements, then central office staff should also see a reduction of elimination of their supplements. Teachers supplement money represent about 2% of their salary, whereas, central office staff receive upwards of 20% – 50% of their salaries. Previous articles written by Newoldnorth illustrated the unusually high amounts of supplement monies not going to the teachers, but to overpriced central office positions. Wayne County Public Schools is a disgrace to the citizens of Wayne county.
This is clearly an issue of leadership. We know about the lack thereof at every level in WCPS: Board members, Central Office staff, and school leadership. But when John Bell and his republican cronies at the state and local levels continue to cut funding, deny teachers professional-level salaries, fail to demand higher standards for teachers and leadership, and fail to provide funding or guidance for appropriate professional development needed at all of these levels, that is where the root of the problem is – downtown Raleigh. Funding is sucked away from our traditional public classrooms and granted to corporate-run charter schools who have no better results, and now our taxpayer money is going to private and parochial schools. This is the insanity of our system. Lack of faith in schooling, division between those thinking they are upper class and those who are of a lower SES, racist beliefs and desire for segregation, all of which create these conflicting goals & ideologies.
Maybe it’s time we take educational leadership away from politicians and manage schools through professionally-managed standards and leadership the way the medical and legal professions do. Give the power to the PEOPLE who have a clue – and leave losers like Berger, Moore, Johnson, and Bell out of the equation.
John Bell and his cronies are to blame…? Johnson isn’t a name we’ve heard around here since Billy Strickland ran for Senate…surprised to see it come back up when his wife and the school board have failed and are being called out by a entity with no ties to the local school system. The public school system in Wayne County has been a failure at the hands of the locals, not the state. Funding for education has increased and makes up more than half of our state’s budget. The local choice for excessive central staff and deep budgetary holes our school board have put us in are pitiful to start. Putting faith in the parents of students of where there child should be educated is key to student success. Not a one-fits-all model that has failed before, and seemingly will fail again. Should we entrust our schools with the same medical standards that have failed our local hospitals and the legal standards that have led to local attorneys to use their law office to campaign for State Senate?
Easy to see ,, what side of the road publius is on ,,, you sound like a central office employee to me,,until you bunch of idiots can show responsibility in managing money ,, no more for you losers!!!&!&!
Easy to see ,, what side of the road publius is on ,,, you sound like a central office employee to me,,until you bunch of idiots can show responsibility in managing money ,, no more for you losers!!!&!&! Oh and be sure and call everybody racist ,, you are the one that actually sounds like a racist
Big Earl, don’t trust your instincts, you’re about as wrong as you can be. I am a veteran classroom teacher. And please learn how to properly use commas, and ampersands.
And Mr Publican (Publian is not a word), just to cast some light on your woeful ignorance, Mr Johnson is the State Superintendent of Public Schools – yet another ignorant conservative who has risen to the level of his incompetence. I cannot actually argue with you about the mismanagement at the local level (that’s exactly what I said, had you taken the time to accurately comprehended my comments). In my experience, however, most parents have no clue about what their children need academically. And look who’s on the BOE, uneducated parents (Ms Burden excepted). Cheerio boys!!