That there still exist parents who have not yet extricated their children from Wake County's public schools is a marvel. Between its politically-correct school assignment system and its complete disregard for parental preferences, it's Example A of social engineering in action. (For background, just type "Wake County" into our website's nifty search engine--and weep.) In the latest chapter, thousands of parents have no idea whether their progeny will attend class on a year-round or traditional schedule. "We'll have to deal with it the best we can," said John Bailey, the PTA president of Knightdale Elementary School. "With Wake County, things are always uncertain." Year-round schedules allow school buildings to be used more efficiently and to serve more students and/or serve them more completely. Thus their implementation in Wake, where the population is booming. But if the district's student-growth projections are exaggerated, as they seem to be, it may convert some year-round schools back to traditional schedules. It seems no one is sure which schools or how many will convert. Some parents may find themselves with one child on a year-round schedule and the other its more traditional counterpart. Busy parents want answers, but the school board is reluctant to make any 2009 scheduling determinations just yet, in part because it's waiting on the North Carolina Supreme Court to rule on whether it can even compel pupils to attend year-round schools in the first place. (Note the word "compel.") What a mess. Would that half this effort was used to give Wake County's students some educational choices.
"School years up in the air," by T. Keung Hui, Raleigh News & Observer, September 22, 2008