Former Gov. Jim Hunt says neighborhood schools don't work.
Hunt, who has been dubbed "the education governor," condemned policies that drop diversity as a consideration when assigning students to schools. He did not specifically mention the Wake County School Board and the pitched battle over diversity in the state's largest school district. But his forceful comments drew applause at the N.C. Chamber-sponsored Education Summit today in Durham.
He urged the business community to support the concept that all of the state's public schools should succeed and all students should succeed.
"Here's one thing that won't work -- packing certain schools full of low-income, poor, low-achieving students," Hunt said. "That will not work. We do need to have reasonable diversity. I understand about wanting students to go to school pretty close to home. I think there's a way to work this out fairly if we work at it. But we can't ignore it and say it doesn't make any difference who is in these schools. It does make a difference."
Then the former governor posed a hypothetical question. If you were a teacher, he asked the audience, would you rather work in a poor school with no parent involvement or a rich school with parent support?
"Which school would you choose? You know the answer."
Comments
Jim Hunt and his diversity comments
August 6, 2010 - 9:28am — chuckitWhat a blowhard. Can you explain why this version removed the comment concerning the problem of parent participation that was in this mornings paper? He said neighborhood schools won't work, yadda, yadda. I would certainly hope that the parents that cannot get to Cary or North Raleigh where their kids have been bused to can walk to the neighborhood school they'll be attending once the new plan is implemented. If the parents don't care why should I? This isn't about bringing up scores, it is about parents extolling the value of an education, even one as weak as we provide in the U. S.
Hey Jimbo. Go away.
August 5, 2010 - 10:53pm — BigMonsterYou where worthless as a gov. You don't live in wake county. So shut up.
Go help the sleasleys, and pool boy who is going to sing like a bird.
When are parents going to get the actual scores of their children instead of indexed false scores of 1 - 4.
Smokin' Something?
August 5, 2010 - 10:37pm — kttechwriterSlimjim,
Boy, you are the kind of guy that the liberals just L-O-V-E! P.T. Barnum must have meant you when he said a sucker was born every minute, bless your heart.
Upstanding citizen? So glad you have a fond memory of Hunt, but he did all of those things, not for the common good, but to advance himself in poltics. Sorry to ruin your fun.
"The education governor?"
August 5, 2010 - 10:33pm — cityofoaksboyLet's see, the Democrats, of which Mr. Hunt is one, have been running the public school system in North Carolina for 135 years and in that time we've made it all the way up to 47th in the nation in education. Look out West Virginia, here we come!
Hunt stay out of it
August 5, 2010 - 10:32pm — kttechwriterHunt, stay in Wilson County and out of Wake County politics. Do you think your little voice still matters after your sixteen years as Governor, plus the time we suffered under you as lite Governor.
Your opinions DO NOT matter in this case, Jim dear, so stay home with Carolyn and the horses and clean those stalls.
Cheerio!
Thank you Mr. Hunt but noboday asked for your opinion...
August 5, 2010 - 9:52pm — category6If I may quote our "beloved" President...."elections matter."
Rude little people
August 5, 2010 - 9:43pm — slimjimYou serve the state of North Carolina. You bring jobs, build roads and you give up a whole bunch for your fellow citizens and this is how our people treat you...?
I grew up while Gov. Hunt was in office and I have always found him to be a solid citizen who worked to make North Carolina a great place to live. Gov. Hunt does not just comment on our state schools. I remember him teaching a class at Broughton for the same students he is defending in his comments.
You people should show some respect to our state leaders and listen to what they have to say. Gov. Hunt invested his life into our state and we are a better state for it...
You people are just rude little people using bad grammar..... You people need to grow up and show respect to the native citizens who have given so much to our state...
Jesse Helms said,
August 5, 2010 - 9:05pm — fds4444"Mercy percy. Here is the man who let PCB's lay on the side of the road three years talking about my environmental record."
The same can be said about his education programs in NC. Where did they get us? 48th out of 50?
Go back to farming Jim. Clean up some mountain oysters.
Get on back to the cow farm, Jim Hunt! NOW!
August 5, 2010 - 7:13pm — BitterEXdemocratLucama is calling for you to sit yourself down and STOP your finger pointing!
Get OUT OF OUR FACES JIM HUNT!!!!
JIM Hunt is our embarrassment in NC!!!
August 5, 2010 - 7:12pm — BitterEXdemocratrace to the top $$$ is a shoe in, right Jim and Bev?
YOU PEOPLE are sickening! November IS coming! 2010 and 2012!
trolling for minority votes?
August 5, 2010 - 5:23pm — kejohns2wow, can't believe I got suckered into responding to this drivel. But I'm curious how this is trolling for minority votes? I'm hardly a minority voter [well, apparently living in Wake County 40 years puts you in a minority, but somehow I don't think that's the minority you're referencing?] but I'm not a fan of "neighborhood schools." Why does this have to be about minorities? Or even liberals --as I've seen a lot in the comments sections. What's liberal about thinking it can't be good for a school to have high rates of poverty? What's liberal to believe we don't have a right to convenience? Or that people shouldn't sacrifice something for a greater good--for the sake of the community? I can well tell you my relatives who fought in WWII, Korea, Vietnam and now Iraq and Afghanistan would believe that.
But regardless, it's a great system where a few [and 20,000 in a county of 800,000 is very few] can change an entire system and where the vast majority of voters don't even get to participate in the election. And then those elected can consider that a mandate for throwing everything out. It's a shame.
Hunt went to a neighborhood school himself.
August 5, 2010 - 5:11pm — taxpayer2009Being a former governor is a negative by the way. How's that Global Transpark working out so far? It made national attention as well - as a blundering fiasco! LOL
so sayeth the gentleman with
August 5, 2010 - 4:55pm — cruedaddyso sayeth the gentleman with mule-lips from rock ridge community schools....
Politicians?
August 5, 2010 - 4:36pm — jap1212If you are so trusting of politicians (like you seem to be of Jim Hunt), respect the elected school board. I'm waiting to see what the school board decides before I decide. I just find it interesting that "outsiders"--meaning people who don't live in Wake County--are the ones complaining and getting arrested. Democrats call this "astroturfing" if done by Republicans, but it is "patriotic dissent" if done by their allies.
5 term governor
August 5, 2010 - 4:17pm — NotaliberalJim Hunt is now half way through his fifth term. He is running the state by proxy. Bev does nothing with Norris Tolson's blessing who gets his marching orders from Jim Hunt.
what in the hell does a
August 5, 2010 - 4:04pm — JoeTarheelwhat in the hell does a union have to do with anything? And no, we don't want unions here. You yanks can have them. We see how much benefit they've provided the north over the last 3 decades......hence the reason you jacknuts moved down here.
Original Crook
August 5, 2010 - 4:03pm — outhousecatJim Hunt may have been a four-time governor, but he was just as slick as any of them. I was too young to vote against him the first time he ran, but you can bet I tried to keep him out of office every chance I had after that. He didn't do this state any favors.
And JoeTarheel, I don't know if you had a chance to attend college yourself, but the phrase "2 be exact" should be written as "to be exact." Did you go to a high school that specialized in diversity?
RE: WHO CARES WHAT HUNT THINKS
August 5, 2010 - 4:01pm — beachbum3Jim hunt has done enough damage to the state of north carolina while he was governor . he is indirectly responsibly for the culture that has created the business first or nothing atmosphere that exist today in north carolina because of his realationships to big coporate instrest across this state an country while he was governor an it is still being carried out by his former cronies even to this day . an the results being that north carolina will continue to be a low wage non-unionazied state an the people of this stae will continue to toil in the worst of economic conditions because of his interventions in the behalfs of the coporate instrest thank you
Global Trans Park ?
August 5, 2010 - 4:07pm — AgentPierceDid Jim say anything about The Global Trans Park? Gee, I wonder why not.
Still trolling for those minority votes aren't you Jim. Hard to break old habits, isn't it? Ol' Jim was like Governor Forever, right? And public education in NC has been declining in the measurable categories for a very long time, right? So this myth that Ol' Jim was such a great "Education Governor" ??? How did that get into the public mindset ..... because "he said so" ???
So this WONDERFUL Utopia that Ol' Jim put in place during his eternity in office ... has been destroyed in six months by two "yankees". .... ??? Right? .... And those two evil yankees haven't even put anything IN PLACE yet ... but they have destroyed Ol' Jim's Utopia ???
Is Monty Python writing all this ?
No, just a former 4-time
August 5, 2010 - 3:55pm — JoeTarheelNo, just a former 4-time Governor of the State of North Carolina who has be appluaded nationally for his role in promoting education of "all children".
Another difference between him and two of the morons on the school board. He IS from North Carolina and he does actually have an education from a real university, 2 to be exact.
Wilson County is moving to neighborhood schools?
August 5, 2010 - 3:47pm — jap1212Another non-Wake County citizen commenting. Nancy Pelosi would call him "Astroturf".