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Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Education / Woods Dean Takes 'Very Comfortable' Position on Rezoning

Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Oct 1, 2008 at 9:13 AM

The headline in the City Paper this morning reads, "School rezoning plan will save less than anticipated." Actually, as the story eventually explains, the plan won't save money at all, once you factor in the additional spending the school board has promised. It's been known all along that the plan carries a net cost. Yet board members have continued to insist savings is their goal. Here's the plan's godmother, Marsha Warden, defending it in the Scene: “We can pay for bricks and mortar and transportation, or we can pay for kids’ education." If the plan will add cost, then why do it? Ask that question and board members start gushing about the wonders of neighborhood schools. Translation: We don't want our white kids going to school with those black kids from the projects. The plan's only plausible rationale is the one Pedro Garcia gives in his famous memos: It's racially motivated. The board's new meetings on the plan are making that more apparent. But it's not clear who's going to care. Even the city's white liberals have been keeping quiet on this one. We tried to pin down Mayor Karl Dean on this issue yesterday. It didn't work, as you can see for yourself after the jump. Excerpts from Pith's interview with the mayor: Q: What about the school rezoning issue? Dean: I think I’ve spoken on that. Q: What did you say? I missed it. Dean: The rezoning issue is a complex issue. ... I’ve said that I certainly support the school board revisiting this issue, that this issue should not be a divisive issue in our community when we have so much work to do on schools. If we need to go back and look at it again, we need to do it. ... The rezoning issue should not divide us. So if the board wants to revisit it, I’m all for it. If they want to delay part of it, that’s fine with me. I don’t think it should be divisive. I’ve tried in a quiet way to bring people together to talk about it. If they do go forward with the plan, I think we need to make sure that in the areas where this plan is most sensitive, we need to make sure we’re putting adequate funding there, capital dollars and operational dollars too. Q: That’s not exactly taking a stand, mayor. You say, it would be OK with me if they revisit the issue. Which way are they supposed to vote if they revisit it? Dean: Ninety percent of this plan there is broad agreement on. On the areas if you can’t get agreement, then I would move slowly and not go ahead. I don’t think you can put race relations in the rearview mirror, and it’s important not to do something divisive. Q: So you’re against stopping the busing of these children to Hillwood? Dean: No, I’ll also say the folks who did the plan worked hard on it. They had public hearings over and over again. There has been ample opportunity for people to weigh in. ... I think they did it with the best of intentions. I don’t think they’re trying to resegregate the schools. But if people are so uncomfortable with the result that there is a division in the community, then that needs to be addressed. Q: I’m confused. Are you for it or against it? Dean: That is for the board to decide. Again, I don’t think I should weigh in and say do this and do that. What I’m saying is that in response to this plan, there was an adverse public reaction that bothered me, that people felt their voices were not heard and that we moved forward in a way that may be detrimental to the city. And I saw it as detrimental that people were divided. So I’m saying let’s get together. There’s got to be a broad consensus before we move forward. And that’s what I think they’re working on. … I feel very comfortable where I am on that. I think that’s the right place to be.

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Yawn.

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Posted by runsatthepool on 10/01/2008 at 11:16 AM

What do you want the "white liberals" to do? Make a suggestion.

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Posted by sueyyyy on 10/01/2008 at 12:22 PM

You seem to have mistaken Mayor Dean for a vertebrate.

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Posted by Tom Riddle on 10/01/2008 at 12:29 PM

What do you want the "white liberals" to do? Make a suggestion.
Speak out against it. Call it wrong. That would be a good place to start.

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Posted by Woods on 10/01/2008 at 2:44 PM

I'm white. I'm liberal. I'm yawning at you beating this to death. Next subject....

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Posted by runsatthepool on 10/01/2008 at 3:27 PM

You must be running at the pool at the Hillwood Country Club.

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Posted by Woods on 10/01/2008 at 3:44 PM

Advantage: Woods.

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Posted by mr. pink on 10/01/2008 at 5:48 PM

This article is simply outrageous. The author make a baseless assertion rooted in nothing more than cynical conjecture and insists this is the "plan's only plausible rationale".
Really? Did you ponder this all of two minutes before deciding that and committing it to publication?
How about this? Neighborhood schools benefit students and parents. Parents (especially low income parents who may not drive) are closer to their child's school and can be more involved. Students don't have to ride a bus up to 40 minutes in the morning and afternoon, giving them more time to sleep and study.
But no. None of those are plausible reasons are they? It's just racism.
Turd!

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Posted by Global Citizen on 10/03/2008 at 9:32 AM

If you think the kids coming out of the low-income areas arent bringing their problems with them, you're not accepting reality. Concentrate on bettering the low-income areas instead of subjecting unassuming middle class kids to the many social epidemics that bussing brings out of the ghetto. Not to mention fuel costs. Calling the re-zoning 'racist' is a lazy excuse. It's more about economics than skin color.

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Posted by burrito on 10/03/2008 at 10:49 AM
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