{"id":8654,"date":"2011-09-15T16:59:26","date_gmt":"2011-09-15T20:59:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raleighpublicrecord.org\/?p=8654"},"modified":"2013-02-11T20:45:06","modified_gmt":"2013-02-12T01:45:06","slug":"ron-margiotta-r","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/voter-guide-2011\/2011\/09\/15\/ron-margiotta-r\/","title":{"rendered":"Ron Margiotta (R)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Age: 72
\nOccupation: Retired
\nWebsite: www.ronmargiotta.org<\/p>\n

How long have you lived in Wake County? <\/em><\/strong>11 years<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n

Do you have children in the district? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Previously a grandson<\/p>\n

Why have you decided to run for office? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[My grandson] is the reason I became inter\u00adested in the school board, because of the assignment policies that my grandson went through. I think he was reassigned three times in a four-year period. If he would\u2019ve remained in the public schools, he would\u2019ve been reassigned in middle school and high school, so my daughter pulled him out of the public school system. That\u2019s what got me involved and concerned about what I consider to be a failure of our public school system.<\/p>\n

What do you think are the best and worst decisions the current school board has made? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the problems we\u2019ve had is trying to get our accomplishments and initiatives out through the media. As an example, I have six pages, typewritten pages, of our accomplish\u00adments and initiatives that we\u2019ve brought forth. We\u2019ve accomplished more in my opinion in the past two years for the children in this county and families in this county than I\u2019ve seen in the past five, six years all combined.<\/p>\n

What do you think is the most important issue facing your district, and how do you plan to address it? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Assignment has been an important issue not just in my district but across the county. We in my district were one of the first hit because of the growth in this county. We suffered to a great extent with the implementation of man\u00addatory, year-round schools, with the assignment plans that claimed that it was just done for the sake of filling schools. But, they went far beyond just filling schools.<\/p>\n

We had a major reassign\u00adment plan four or five years ago. Only 60 percent of those students reassigned were needed to fill the opening of new schools. The other 40 percent had to do with moving kids for the sake of diversity, which is certainly something that I and the new school board are turning around right now. We\u2019re taking all necessary steps to make sure all students are going to be served well. We have an extreme emphasis on the classroom, on achieve\u00adment for every student in this county.<\/p>\n

What are your ideas for measuring and improv\u00ading teacher and student effectiveness in WCPSS? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We have me a s u r e \u00adments based upon what we see in re\u00adsults. What we\u2019re going to see in im\u00adproving the test scores. I\u2019d like to see us move beyond the state\u2019s end-of-grade test\u00ading program and get us into some national testing program like Iowa\u2019s. Let\u2019s not compare ourselves just with North Carolina, be\u00adcause I think we here in Wake County should be the best of the state, be\u00adcause of the intellectual level of the community. I\u2019d like to compare us to the rest of the country so we measure up against what might be considered some of the best across the country.<\/p>\n

Do you support merit pay for teachers? Why or why not? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I certainly do. This pi\u00adlot program that we\u2019re in\u00adstituting is performance pay … at the Renaissance schools. That\u2019s going to be a big part of increasing the performance at that school.<\/p>\n

How do you think WCPSS should attract more minority teachers? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I think our superinten\u00addent of schools has reached out. The problem is, there just isn\u2019t a great pool of them out t h e r e . But, our s u p e r \u00adi n t e n \u00addent has r e a c h e d out for the first time in a numbe r of years.<\/p>\n

How do you feel about the new student assignment plan that\u2019s shaping up? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It still needs some fine-tuning, but I feel very op\u00adtimistic that the final re\u00adsult will be one that will be acceptable. Some things are never acceptable to ev\u00aderyone. But to the great majority of school board members and the Wake County community, be\u00adcause it\u2019s going to be based primarily on proxim\u00adity, choice and, extremely important, stability. Once a child gets into a school that child is going to stay there and knows that he will not be reassigned out of that school, even if a new school opens. That new school will not be opened by assignment. It will be opened by appli\u00adcation and by choice. We have an obligation. Schools are parts of communities and communities are parts of schools, we have to make that happen.<\/p>\n

How do charter schools fit in to your conception of a healthy school district? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is one of the prob\u00adlems I\u2019ve had here in Wake County for many years \u2014 not specifically charter schools, but with the mar\u00adket share that we in Wake County have lost. Even with this present economy, the percentage of children outside the public school system is between 17 and 18 percent. We are los\u00ading in many cases the best and the brightest from our school system. What we have to do is make this school system so acces\u00adsible that we bring back these students to our pub\u00adlic school system or we\u2019re going to be in big trouble here in Wake County in the next 10 years. Try to get in to a charter school. You get in by a lottery sys\u00adtem. They all have waiting lists 3- and 4,000 on their waiting list. That\u2019s a sad commentary on our public school system. The biggest part of people wanting to leave this school system has been the assignment policy over these past number of years, because you never know where you\u2019re going to school. But, I welcome competition. Having com\u00adpetition makes you better.<\/p>\n

How would you address the issue of student discipline? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Although we are lessen\u00ading the suspension rates, we will still have to be careful that we are main\u00adtaining discipline within our schools, because that would only work against us if that didn\u2019t happen. We can do both. We can maintain discipline, but at the same time if we push a child out of school for an entire year, that child is usually gone forever.<\/p>\n

What would you do to ensure that WCPSS has the funding to educate its students adequately? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve said for many years, the state of North Caroli\u00adna is not the greatest fund\u00ading mechanism for pub\u00adlic schools, when you look around at other parts of the country. I come from the Northeast; that part of the country probably spends double per pupil. At the present time, we\u2019re going through a very diffi\u00adcult economy. At the pres\u00adent time, I think we have an obligation to play the cards you\u2019re dealt. In this present budget year, we had a shortfall of approxi\u00admately $64 million.<\/p>\n

What was your favorite subject in school? <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

History<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

How long have you lived in Wake County? 11 years <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Do you have children in the district? <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Previously a grandson <\/span><\/p>\n

Why have you decided to run for office? <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

[My grandson] is the reason I became inter\u00adested in the school board, because of the assignment policies that my grandson went through. I think he was reassigned three times in a four-year period. If he would\u2019ve remained in the public schools, he would\u2019ve been reassigned in middle school and high school, so my daughter pulled him out of the public school system. That\u2019s what got me involved and concerned about what I consider to be a failure of our public school system. <\/span><\/p>\n

What do you think are the best and worst decisions the current school board has made? <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the problems we\u2019ve had is trying to get our accomplishments and initiatives out through the media. As an example, I have six pages, typewritten pages, of our accomplish\u00adments and initiatives that we\u2019ve brought forth. We\u2019ve accomplished more in my opinion in the past two years for the children in this county and families in this county than I\u2019ve seen in the past five, six years all combined. <\/span><\/p>\n

What do you think is the most important issue facing your district, and how do you plan to address it? <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Assignment has been an important issue not just in my district but across the county. We in my district were one of the first hit because of the growth in this county. We suffered to a great extent with the implementation of man\u00addatory, year-round schools, with the assignment plans that claimed that it was just done for the sake of filling schools. But, they went far beyond just filling schools. <\/span><\/p>\n

We had a major reassign\u00adment plan four or five years ago. Only 60 percent of those students reassigned were needed to fill the opening of new schools. The other 40 percent had to do with moving kids for the sake of diversity, which is certainly something that I and the new school board are turning around right now. We\u2019re taking all necessary steps to make sure all students are going to be served well. We have an extreme emphasis on the classroom, on achieve\u00adment for every student in this county. <\/span><\/p>\n

What are your ideas for measuring and improv\u00ading teacher and student effectiveness in WCPSS? <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We have me a s u r e \u00adments based upon what we see in re\u00adsults. What we\u2019re going to see in im\u00adproving the test scores. I\u2019d like to see us move beyond the state\u2019s end-of-grade test\u00ading program and get us into some national testing program like Iowa\u2019s. Let\u2019s not compare ourselves just with North Carolina, be\u00adcause I think we here in Wake County should be the best of the state, be\u00adcause of the intellectual level of the community. I\u2019d like to compare us to the rest of the country so we measure up against what might be considered some of the best across the country. <\/span><\/p>\n

Do you support merit pay for teachers? Why or why not? <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I certainly do. This pi\u00adlot program that we\u2019re in\u00adstituting is performance pay … at the Renaissance schools. That\u2019s going to be a big part of increasing the performance at that school. <\/span><\/p>\n

How do you think WCPSS should attract more minority teachers? <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I think our superinten\u00addent of schools has reached out. The problem is, there just isn\u2019t a great pool of them out t h e r e . But, our s u p e r \u00adi n t e n \u00addent has r e a c h e d out for the first time in a numbe r of years. <\/span><\/p>\n

How do you feel about the new student assignment plan that\u2019s shaping up? <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It still needs some fine-tuning, but I feel very op\u00adtimistic that the final re\u00adsult will be one that will be acceptable. Some things are never acceptable to ev\u00aderyone. But to the great majority of school board members and the Wake County community, be\u00adcause it\u2019s going to be based primarily on proxim\u00adity, choice and, extremely important, stability. Once a child gets into a school that child is going to stay there and knows that he will not be reassigned out of that school, even if a new school opens. That new school will not be opened by assignment. It will be opened by appli\u00adcation and by choice. We have an obligation. Schools are parts of communities and communities are parts of schools, we have to make that happen. <\/span><\/p>\n

How do charter schools fit in to your conception of a healthy school district? <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is one of the prob\u00adlems I\u2019ve had here in Wake County for many years \u2014 not specifically charter schools, but with the mar\u00adket share that we in Wake County have lost. Even with this present economy, the percentage of children outside the public school system is between 17 and 18 percent. We are los\u00ading in many cases the best and the brightest from our school system. What we have to do is make this school system so acces\u00adsible that we bring back these students to our pub\u00adlic school system or we\u2019re going to be in big trouble here in Wake County in the next 10 years. Try to get in to a charter school. You get in by a lottery sys\u00adtem. They all have waiting lists 3- and 4,000 on their waiting list. That\u2019s a sad commentary on our public school system. The biggest part of people wanting to leave this school system has been the assignment policy over these past number of years, because you never know where you\u2019re going to school. But, I welcome competition. Having com\u00adpetition makes you better. <\/span><\/p>\n

How would you address the issue of student discipline? <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Although we are lessen\u00ading the suspension rates, we will still have to be careful that we are main\u00adtaining discipline within our schools, because that would only work against us if that didn\u2019t happen. We can do both. We can maintain discipline, but at the same time if we push a child out of school for an entire year, that child is usually gone forever. <\/span><\/p>\n

What would you do to ensure that WCPSS has the funding to educate its students adequately? <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve said for many years, the state of North Caroli\u00adna is not the greatest fund\u00ading mechanism for pub\u00adlic schools, when you look around at other parts of the country. I come from the Northeast; that part of the country probably spends double per pupil. At the present time, we\u2019re going through a very diffi\u00adcult economy. At the pres\u00adent time, I think we have an obligation to play the cards you\u2019re dealt. In this present budget year, we had a shortfall of approxi\u00admately $64 million. <\/span><\/p>\n

What was your favorite subject in school? <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Age: 72 Occupation: Retired Website: www.ronmargiotta.org How long have you lived in Wake County? 11 years Do you have children in the district? Previously a grandson Why have you decided to run for office? [My grandson] is the reason I became inter\u00adested in the school board, because of the assignment policies that my grandson went […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24024,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[378],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8654"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24024"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8654"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8654\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8654"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8654"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theraleighcommons.org\/raleighpublicrecord\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8654"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}