Friday, September 21, 2007

A parting shot

I guess Orange County Board of Education member Liz Brown's tendency to ignore her responsibilities to the Board didn't escape Orange County School Superintendent Shirley Carraway's attention either.

In the Durham Herald Sun's "Peeling the Orange" section, comes this little tidbit:

"The Orange County school board meeting Monday was Shirley Carraway's last as district superintendent. Chairman Dennis Whitling thanked Carraway for her years of service and noted that it was her last official meeting of the board.

That's when Carraway chimed in, 'And I didn't miss a single meeting,' she said, adding that she should receive a perfect attendance award."

Too bad our elected officials aren't as omnipresent as Dr. Carraway. We can only hope that Liz Brown will be "retiring" from her role in our schools soon too.

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just want to point out that Dr. Carraway told this as an innocent joke. It appeared that everyone, including Liz, took it in stride. I don't think she said it to make a point or as a parting shot. If anything, it was just a goofy comment that should not be taken out of context.

Anonymous said...

The News of Orange needs an editor. Casey Ferrell failed to mention any of Liz's racial ranting at the last board meeting. No wonder the public is clueless about our Board when we have a lazy editor who won't report the truth. Where is the objectivity?

Of course, we have to remember the Board likes the fact that they have someone who is not smart enough to see through their act and someone that is as lazy as Casey is.

Anonymous said...

I agree, Casey is very lazy. It's common knowledge that the people at the News of Orange have left the paper because of Casey's lack of leadership. He'll be gone in 6 months. Look how thin the paper has been recently (lazy).

Anonymous said...

Why are people in Orange County and Hillsborough in particular afraid to point to the obvious fact that the parents at CES had as much chance to engage in the HES registration process as everyone else? It's obvious that they either chose not to or were incapable of getting to the post office in time. (The post office being very close, this would seem to not be the problem).

As for test scores being low compared to HES, that's a PARENTING problem, not a system defect. All the time and money invested in this black hole of a process could have paid for lots of tutoring, doncha think?

Anonymous said...

Well to be fair, the parents at CES didn't want to be year round - for a variety of reasons. Of course they can get to the P.O., but they don't want to be at HES. [Sept. 30 is the last day to opt out from CES to HES]

Remember the BOE has said that the scores aren't the issue anymore. The issue is that CES has a high concentration of Free and Reduced Lunch. Liz/Dennis/Debbie/Susan/Ted have decided that it can not have 70% FRL 300 yards from 15% FRL. Liz Brown keeps bringing race into the issue, but the FRL population is black AND white. If she would just look at the Data people would hate her less (probably).

Anyway, educating the poor is a nationwide problem that has been studied ad nauseam. To say it is a parenting issue is really oversimplifying (and mean spirited). The working poor in our nation are struggling to get by and need our help, not condemnation.

Having said that, I hope that the new superintendent will bring some stability to our district. Although the BOE seemed to love what Dr. Carraway did, her vindictive personality was not helping the principals. Trickle down frustration can bring a district down. Besides that, she fired key people and retained dead weight - very confusing to say the least. We need a change and to get on a Carraway Recovery Action Plan (CRAP). Should the BOE continue status quo, they need to be impeached ASAP. We can not afford another month or this insane game playing. Dennis said "rest assured that things will change". I can not wait to vote these idiots out. Get the schools up to par and stop worrying about a merger that makes no sense.

Didn't mean to ramble, but please be aware that CES parents are doing their best.

Anonymous said...

"As for test scores being low compared to HES, that's a PARENTING problem, not a system defect." -- I bet whoever said that has a house in an afluent neighborhood glad they don't have to live with them undesirables. Do you know how stupid you sound? What planet are you from??? The days of segregtation is over!!!

Anonymous said...

The News of Orange is a typical small-town newspaper. The staff always rotates in and out as the business seems to be an incubator for many young folks who are just getting started in the business. Casey is just the latest editor.

The changeover in news reporters is more of a reflection on the industry or how the businesss is run as opposed to Casey. The Womack family (who owns the paper) is notorious for not paying well.

Let's see.. Jim Mulig, Andrew deGrandPre, Jonathan Coleman, and now Casey Ferrel. I may have missed a few interim editors and that list is just the past 4 years.

Anonymous said...

Do you know how stupid you sound? What planet are you from??? The days of segregtation is over!!!

September 24, 2007 5:43 PM



They is?



And what did you mean by your term "undesirables"?

Anonymous said...

To the 5:43pm poster;

What's your problem here? HES parents have NOTHING to do with who applies there..... No one has said they wanted segregated schools.

People want to continiue to make this about race.... IT IS NOT ABOUT RACE!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

I don't have a problem with the small town articles of the News of Orange, my problem is with the fact that Casey is not objective at all. He has lunch with Central Office people all of the time and has formed friendships that preclude him from writing the truth.

Regardless of high low he is paid, it seems to me he should stop acting like a Central Office employee.

Anonymous said...

It is about race!! Do you not hear Liz Brown state her moral conscience?---(Sarcasm)

Seriously, it about the Board trying to make it about race. The Board needs to address the problems with CES and ECES and not place blame on a school that is high performing.

However, there is still a sickening silence concerning ECES. When will their problems be addressed? Everyone on the Board, except Al, has failed to address the issues on hand.

Anonymous said...

YOu should change the name of this blog to the "Vote for Al" blog as that is what it has become.