OPINION __
I . ,
The Chronicle i
Ernest H. Pitt
Publisher Emeritus
1974-2015
617 N. Liberty Street
336-722-8624 ? 42 V
www.wschronicle.com %jvea/yt ^
Elaine Pitt Business Manager
Donna Rogers Managing Editor
wali D. pitt Digital Manager
Our Mission
The Chronicle is dedicated to serving the
residents of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County
by giving voice to the voiceless, speaking truth
to power, standing for integrity and
encouraging open communication and
lively debate throughout the community.
Community
should help
Cook rise from
the bottom
The start of a new year brings excitement to all
those involved: students, parents and teachers. The
students, parents and teachers at Cook Literacy
Model School are no exception. School started a
week early, on Monday, Aug, 22, with smiling faces.
Those faces didn't show the hard work ahead of
them.
The school, as Cook Elementary School, was at
the bottom in the state's eyes. North Carolina edu
cation officials said most of the students couldn't
read. So now Cook has come to this. It has a new
name, among other things.
In February, school board members informed
parents that the school would be adopting the Restart
mqdel, which calls for an instructional overhaul and
various other changes, including scheduling.
Most of the teaching staff and principal were
replaced. Dr. Paula Wilkins is the new principal.
On Thursday, Aug.-18, Cook held a cookout to
help students, parents and teachers get acclimated to
the "new" school. Wilkins briefly spoke with The
Chronicle's editorial staff at the event. When asked
how the community can become involved, she said
she wants a- mentor for every student at the school,
all 220 or so students. She wants each mentor to
spend two hours a month with the student at the
school. The hours can be divided into half-hour
increments during the month.
It's unclear if that's what was missing with the
old Cook Elementary. Why did the students perform
so poorly on tests? Would mentors have improved
the scores? Will mentors help Cook rise from the
bottom?
Wilkins and her team have three years to rise
from the bottom. She told The Chronicle two weeks
ago that in order for things to change at Cook, the
community must be a part of the change.
"The key to this turnaround is letting the com
munity in. Tlie walls of this building don't have the
capacity to do the turnaround and impact the lives of
these children. But this community has the access to
do it.
"We have to wrap our arms around everyone who
is willing to do this work with us."
Community members need to help in any way
they can, to help young people excel and to help
Winston-Salem rise. The health of our schools
reflects the health of the city. Schools attract fami
lies, who need housing and jobs. Realtors and com
panies look at the communities they are looking to
sell houses in, or move to or expand in to ask "What
is the state of the schools?" to help them make deci
sions. The state of the schools in an area is important
to the economy of the area.
Wilkins, the head of the Cook ship, has a strategy
to succeed using mentors. Let's help her guide the
ship to success so that she and her crew won't be
thrown overboard.
IDOIIT
SEE MY
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Resignation fails
to end links
between Trump
and Putin
To the Editor:
Paul Manafort's [Donald Trump's
campaign chairman] resignation is a
clear admission that the disturbing
connections between Donald
1 rump s team ana pro-wemnn ele
ments in Russia and Ukraine are
untenable.
But this is not the end of the story.
It's just the beginning.
You can get rid of Manafort, but
that doesn't end the odd bromance
Trump has with Putlft.""""'*'
Trump still has to answer serious
questions hovering over his cam
paign given his propensity to parrot
Putin's talking points, the roster of
advisers like Carter Page and Mike
Flynn with deep ties to Russia, the
recent Russian government hacking
and disclosure of Democratic Party
records, and reports that Breitbart
published articles advocating pro
Kremlin positions on Ukraine.
It's also time for Donald Trump to
come clean on his own business deal
ings with Russian interests, given
recent news reports about his web of
deep financial connections to busi
ness groups with Kremlin ties.
Robby Mook, Campaign
Manager
Hillary For America
New York
Keep Medicare
the way it is:
Vote Burr
out of office
To The Editor:
Medicare is a popular, effective
program. Before Medicare, only half
of seniors had health coverage. Now,
nearly all do.
Since its inception, life expectan
cy after age 65 has increased 20 per
cent.
Burr
Senator Burr has written a plan to
dramatically alter the program. His
plan would raise the eligibility age
from 65 to 67 years old. It would
increase Part B premiums. The plan
would turn Medicare into a voucher
system with seniors receiving a set
amount to try and buy coverage in a
market dominated by private compa
nies.
The plan allows insurers to sell
coverage that covers fewer proce
dures and it expands "means-test
ing," all of which translates to higher
bills for seniors.
African-American seniors would
be greatly impacted by making health
care less affordable.
Let's keep Medicare guarantee of
quality, affordable coverage for sen
iors by rejecting this extreme distor
tion and voting Senator Burr out of
office this November.
Fred Terry
Winston-Salem
CBC, others
mourn death of
giant in journalism
George E. Curry
To The Editor:
The Congressional Black Caucus
(CBC) joins with members of the
press from around the country to
mourn the loss of George E. Curry, a
pioneer in Civil Rights and journal
ism.
A native of Tuscaloosa, Alabama,
Curry was an esteemed journalist
with a career that spanned decades.
He was highly regarded as the
Dean of Black Journalists for his
unique perspective and engagement
during the height of the Civil Rights
era, and his weekly commentaries
continued to enjoy wide circu|ajapn
until his untimely death.
Curry started his career in jour
nalism at Sports Illustrated and later
wrote for the St. Louis Post Dispatch
and the Chicago Tribune.
He would later serve in a series of
lead editor roles including his teniae
with Emerge Magazine and more
ButterfieTa
recently as the editor-in-chief with
the National Newspaper Publishers
Association (NNPA) and as the edi
tor and publisher. of
EmergeNewsOnline.com, which
highlighted African-American news
from around the country.
George E. Curry was a giant in
journalism and he stood on the front
lines of the Civil Rights era and used
his voice to tell our stories when oth
ers would not.
The CBC offers our sympathies
and condolences to his friends and
family, his readers from around the
country, and to the countless number
of individuals he mentored in the art
of reporting and journalistic writing
until his untimely death.
U.S. Rep. G. K. Butterfield
Chairman
Congressional Black Caucus
Washington, D.C.
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N.C. GOP emails urged boards of
elections to cut access to voting
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
RALEIGH - In a major bombshell last week, an email
from N.C. Republican Party Executive Director Dallas
Woodhouse was made public, urging Republican mem
bers of boards of elections to vote along party lines to cut
early voting days to "support Republican positions."
"This appalling email proves that Governor McCrory
and the N.C. GOP will stop at nothing to disenfranchise
voters they disagree with. The court has found that
Governor McCrory and his allies sought to intentionally
discriminate, against voters for political purposes. Now
the N.C - GOP is persisting in this effort knowing full well
that it's against the law. It's a sad fact that the right to vote
is being threatened for so many North Carolinians by
their elected leaders," said N.C. DP Executive Director
Kimberly Reynolds. (