{"id":5564,"date":"2011-03-04T11:59:11","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T16:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=5564"},"modified":"2012-09-26T07:26:45","modified_gmt":"2012-09-26T11:26:45","slug":"tata-makes-his-case-in-east-raleigh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/news\/2011\/03\/04\/tata-makes-his-case-in-east-raleigh\/","title":{"rendered":"Tata makes his case in East Raleigh"},"content":{"rendered":"

New Wake County Public School System<\/a> Superintendent Anthony Tata sought to paint himself as a friend to parents and students disgruntled over the district\u2019s reassignment changes in a public forum Thursday night.<\/p>\n

The dialogue at Martin Street Baptist Church<\/a> in East Raleigh afforded Tata the opportunity to directly respond to about 160 members of a community still assessing what kind of leader he will be.<\/p>\n

[pullquote]”I challenge anyone to show me where I said that neighborhood schools are the answer.”[\/pullquote]<\/p>\n

The event came during a time when Tata is determining how to proceed on revising the district\u2019s student assignment plan, which the school board dropped last spring. The school board majority came into office on a plan to return all students to schools in their neighborhoods. The district has used reassignment to maintain socioeconomic diversity since 2000.<\/p>\n

Reassignment detractors were vindicated earlier this week when a memo surfaced from the U.S. Department of Agriculture<\/a>. This memo made it clear that reassigning students based on eligibility for free or reduced-price lunches, a proxy for socioeconomic status, violates student privacy.<\/p>\n

The latest proposal for student assignment is the Wake School Choice Plan<\/a>, or Alves Plan, which features a mix of \u201cbase schools\u201d and magnet schools and would pursue diversity in student achievement. Tata has formed a task force to examine this and other options, with a deadline in late March.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

Staking Out his Territory<\/strong><\/p>\n

Echoing the language and emphasis of the Alves Plan, Tata redirected the host of questions about diversity back to achievement.<\/p>\n

He held that refrain when answering a query about the controversial Walnut Creek Elementary School<\/a>, which will open next year with 80 percent of its students qualifying for subsidized lunches.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe project a mid-50 percent student achievement rating [at Walnut Creek],\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m more concerned about student achievement numbers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tata did not confine his focus on achievement to students.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing where effective teachers are is key,\u201d he said. \u201cKnowing where the low achievers are is key.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s all about human capital,\u201d he elaborated later. \u201cThe No. 1 statistic to me is to have highly effective teachers link up with low-performing students. Research shows that if we put the top 25 percent of teachers with the bottom 25 percent of students, we\u2019ll see student achievement grow exponentially by the second and third years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Throughout the evening, Tata did not shy away from affirming his commitment to diversity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have lived a life of diversity,\u201d he said. \u201cThe U.S. military was one of the first institutions to be integrated.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tata served 28 years in the U.S. Army before becoming chief operating officer of Washington, D.C. public schools.<\/p>\n

Despite his brief tenure as Wake County\u2019s district chief, Tata is already defending his record here. A speaker claimed Tata was contradicting himself by advocating diversity in East Raleigh after telling parents in North Raleigh he supports neighborhood schools; Tata denied the accusation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI challenge anyone to show me where I said that neighborhood schools are the answer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

WCPSS Superintendent Anthony Tata speaks with community members.<\/p><\/div><\/center><\/p>\n

Nor were Tata\u2019s appearances on Fox News and other networks off limits.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was 100 percent about book promotion,\u201d he said. \u201cThey didn\u2019t pay me anything. I had no alignment. Ninety-nine percent of what I did was objective analysis of foreign policy. Some things have been taken out of context, some in context.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tata also spent time connecting his military past to his present as an educational leader. His time as a unit commander and brigadier general, he said, kept him familiar with a younger generation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have dealt with mostly public high school graduates, 18, 19, 20 years old. I have a good feel for the discipline issues among 16- and 17-year-olds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Audience members seemed cautiously optimistic about Tata.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis answers were very detailed,\u201d said Rukiya Dillahunt, one of the event\u2019s organizers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI appreciate how Mr. Tata took the time to come here as he said he would,\u201d said Carly Campbell, an adult staff member of NC H.E.A.T<\/a>., a student organization and co-sponsor of the forum.<\/p>\n

But she cast doubt on his approach to the struggles the district faces.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s been in war trenches, not in classroom trenches,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat really worries me is I don\u2019t want him treating students like soldiers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps Tata himself summed up the situation best during the Q-and-A session.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can stand here and talk all night, but in the end each of you will judge me based on my actions going forward,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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