Since the release of the News & Observer article stating Wake schools grew by only 42 students this school year — not the 1,898 newcomers projected, we at WakeUP have been on the issue as of why? The outlook now seems to point that Wake’s enrollment will start shrinking starting in 2025.
On March 28th, 2019, WakeUP organized a public forum that would discuss the importance of a public education to a free society. The importance of public education goes beyond test scores — it’s an investment to our democracy.
We spent the evening discussing the multiple investments that a public education gives to our society: economic productivity, healthy personal relationships, personal fulfillment, and democratic competence.
Our keynote speaker for the night, Dr. Helen F. Ladd, co-author of “Educational Goods: Values, Evidence, and Decision-Making” discussed how schools can make stronger decisions and her views on how myopic raising student achievements can be. She made it clear that schools should teach more than how to fill out bubbles on standardized tests. Dr. Ladd enforced her “educational goods” by saying that schools should focus on skills that promote personal autonomy, democratic competence, healthy personal relationships, treating others with dignity, and respect and personal fulfillment. “Good decision-making should be driven by values, but informed by evidence,” Dr. Ladd said to a room of our members.
Followed by Dr. Helen F. Ladd we hosted a panel of educational specialist that included: Wake County Superintendent Cathy Moore, President of WakeEd Partnership Steve Parrrott, and Assistant Professor of General Internal Medicine Keisha L. Bently-Edwards, PhD. They answered publicly submitted questions that ranged from getting rid of A-F grading scale, local calendar flexibility and to reinvigorating appeal to issues regarding public education.
We also awarded the Southeast Raleigh Elementary School, Southeast Raleigh YMCA and DHIC, and Southeast Raleigh Promise the Thomas Crowder Visionary Award. Every year WakeUP presents the award for advocacy, innovation and vision.
WakeUP wants to give a huge thanks to our sponsors for the night; WakeEd Partnership, El Pueblo, Brewery Bhavana, The Wine Feed, and Irregardless Cafe & Catering for making this night possible. We also want to give a huge thanks to Gerald Owens of WRAL for moderating our public education forum.
