Attorney Donald Buie
ends appeals court run
BY TODD LUCK
Local Attorney Donald
Buie is ending his unaffili
ated run for the N.C. Court
of Appeals seat of Judge
Martha Geer, who stepped
down in May.
In an email to The
Chronicle, he said he has
suspended his campaign
"due to unforeseen person
al and family issues."
Voters will still see Buie's
name on the ballot and
even in their mailbox, since
his departure comes after
the ballots have been print
ed and after information
about judicial candidates
was mailed out by the N.C.
Board of Elections.
Two candidates remain
who are vying for Geer's
old seat. One is Democrat
Margaret Eagles, who has
served as a district court
judge in Wake County
since 2009 and has been
endorsed by Geer. The
other is Republican Hunter
Murphy, a trial attorney in
Waynesville who has been
endorsed by former N.C.
Supreme Court Justice
Robert Orr.
City of W-S Univ. applications accepted
SPECIAL TO
THE CHRONICLE
The city' is accepting
applications for the next
class of "City of Winston
Salem University," to be
held for 12 weeks starting
Feb. 2,2017.
City of Winston-Salem
University gives citizens a
better understanding of
city government, including
the responsibilities of vari
ous city departments and
its role in the community.
Classes meet Thursday
evenings for three hours.
Class size is limited to 20
participants. City of
Winston-Salem University
is free; however, partici
pants have the option of
earning continuing educa
tion credit through
Winston-Salem State
University for a nominal
fee of $25. Applications
must be received by 5 p.m.
Dec. 30 and are available
at the Marketing &
Communications
Department in City Hall,
101 N. Main St. Suite 336,
or by calling CityLink 311.
The application is also
posted online at
www.CityofWS.org/CWS
U and can be printed and
mailed in, or filled out and
submitted online.
For more information,
call CityLink 311.
History
from page AI
tire," meaning that without
strict accountability and
transparency, any conces
sions at this point will fall
way short of their goal, he
says.
"They have an African
American infusion in the
WS/FCPSS already,"
Rasheed continued. "The
teachers have an option of
whether they want to teach
[black history] or not, so
it's really not being taught.
There is a multi-cultural
education department, and
there's only one person in
that department, ... and
they also have an African
American elective [in the
high schools], but 17 stu
dents have to sign up for
that class per school. If
there aren't 17 students,
that class is not taught."
One of the concessions
from the school system,
Rasheed says, was that it
would be mandated that
teachers teach the black
history course already in
the infusion, and Dr.
Willette Nash, program
manager of the multi-cul
tural education department
for WS/FCPSS, and her
assistant would also be
tasked with training them.
Nash currently teaches
multicultural education and
diversity in the school sys
tem.
But who will hold the
instructors accountable to
make sure that black histo
ry is actually being taught
effectively? If they don't,
what happens, and how is
all of this going to be
implemented? Rasheed
asks. He adds that the easi
est thing for the school sys
tem to do is make the black
history infusion mandatory
for all students [k-12], but
he's certain white parents
would balk if their children
were forced to take it in
order to graduate.
Rasheed and the LOC,
which was bom out of the
last Million Man March,
feel it is vital that the
African-American commu
nity be made aware of their
efforts to establish a
mandatory black history
course in WS/FCPSS, and
support the cause. Petitions
have been circulated, and
"tons of research" done to
prove that it can be done,
says Rasheed.
'There is so much work
that needs to be done for
our children," the activist
laments, citing high pover
ty/low performing schools
in the system where black
children are failing, and
young blacks males "being
killed in the streets."
"There are so .many
groups here who are trying
to do the same thing. What
we should do is come
together [to address the
problems], but we don't."
Not surprisingly, what
is playing out now between
members of the black com
munity and the local school
system is part of the history
of the Philadelphia Public
School system. Prior to
that system formally adopt
ing African-American his
tory as a mandated course
of study for graduation in
the high school grades,
Philadelphia's black com
munity demanded black
studies for almost 40 years
before it was finally
approved in 2005.
Through demonstra
tions, and sometimes vio
lent protests and confronta
tions in the streets with the
police, the black communi
ty kept up the pressure,
making Philly the first
school system in the nation
to mandate black history
courses.
As expected, right
wing , white politicians
fought the change, saying
American history held out
greater value for all stu
dents. But activists and
educators countered that
black history was
American history, and not
only gave African
American students a
greater sense of pride, but
allowed white students to
also learn more about their
classmates of color, beyond
Black History month.
In the 10 years hence,
even though the
Philadelphia Public School
System has its challenges,
there is little controversy
about the black history
course mandate.
Dr. Kenneth Simington
is the assistant superintend
ent for student services and
chief academic officer for
the WS/FCPSS, where
there are 29 low-perform
ing schools [five high
schools and six middle
schools], many of which
have large black' student
populations from impover
ished communities, the
very students who need a
greater understanding and
awareness of self the most,
the LOC says.
Simington told The
Chronicle that system offi
cials were "very open to
having a discussion with
[Ken Rasheed and the
LOC] to determine what
their interests were. He
noted that "required cours
es typically come from the
state Department of Public
Instruction ... [in addition
to] local courses that are
approved for graduation,"
of which he added there are
generally few of those in
number.
"We fully support the
interest of the [LOC]
around increasing achieve
ment for African-American
students," the assistant
superintendent said regard
ing their previous meet
ings. "How we get there ...
I'll say we had some com
mon interests, but some
that were not the same," the
inference being the school
system would prefer to take
baby steps toward the goal.
"In the context of the
diversity course, maybe we
weren't exactly clear about
that," Simington continued.
He referred to Dr. Willette
Nash as being in charge of
"cultural learning" for the
school system, where stu
dents are taught about the
challenges of racism and
prejudice, and are helped to
develop awareness skills
"related to various groups
of people."
Simington said the
school system wants to
provide "a curriculum in
the multicultural piece
through our social studies
curriculum," and make
available professional
development for teachers
to instruct in multicultural
education through Dr.
Nash's office.
"Our position at present
is that we would like to
accomplish [the LOC's]
request through our multi
cultural education [pro
gramming]," Simington
said, effectively not mak
ing black history studies a
stand-alone course, but
integrating it as part of the
school system's social
studies curriculum with
established strict standards.
But Simington warned
that, in his and other educa
tors' opinion, singling out
black history, instead of
making it a part of an over
all social studies curricu
lum, "minimizes it" by sep
arating it from the fabric of
American history.
He acknowledged that,
given the laige percentage
of African-American stu
dents in the WS/FCPSS,
school officials have tradi
tionally underestimated the
?value of multicultural edu
cation.
The next step for the
"short term," Simington
says, is to have Nash's
office work with social
studies and American his
tory high school teachers
on professional develop
ment for the course, the
course standards, and "the
emphasis that has been
brought to us."
The long term objective
is having elementary
school students under
standing the importance of
African-American history
as well," Simington said,
indicating that k-12 plan
ning is in the cards.
As far as accountability
and transparency is con
cerned, Simington said
there would be reviews of
lesson plans, curriculum
documents, classroom
walk-throughs, learning
walks - "all of these places
we can look at to see how
we're doing."
Simington expects the
changes to kick off later
this school year, with a plan
expected from Nash by the
end of this first quarter.
"We're open to work
together [with the LOC],"
Simington said.
When The Chronicle
spoke with Ken Rasheed
and members of the LOC
again Monday evening,
and shared with them some
of Simington's thoughts,
they were cautious. Many
said much of what they
were hearing now had gone
farther than what had been
previously expressed in
their meetings with school
officials, which was good,
though they still had many
questions. They'still main
tained, however, that while
this may bring them closer
to their goal, accountability
and transparency to the
community were extremely
important on the part of the
school system for any
effort to successfully go
forward.
"These are our chil
dren," Ken Rasheed said,
"and we want the best for
them."
W^AnMK I m m. I ? A '
PUT DOWN
mmmm
24 th Annual
Community Roots Pay
Saturday, Oct. 15,2016
9 am.-noon
miiui ran rwyxiHUPci
Check-in at Smith Farm Elementary School,
4250 Johnny Knoll, Winston-Salem
First 250 volunteers receive free T-shirts
and hats, lunch provided for all.
information and Sign-up:
www.KWSB.CltyofWS.org
or call City Link 311.
^ J) I
RR ? \ ? L f / , i ^
I M 19 I k / % II
<#
City of Winston-Salem
UNIVERSITY
NOW ACCEPTING
APPLICATIONS
Classes meet Thursdays
6-9 p.m. for 12 weeks
starting Feb. 2, 2017
Graduation April 17
Call CityLink 311 for an application or
apply online at www.CityofWS.org/CWSU.
Applications due Dec. 31.
"CWSUprovided me the opportunity to see
firsthand what our city governance provides
for me as a citizen... It's the best
knowledge-basedprogram I've experienced."
? CARMINA EDER, CWSU CLASS OF 2016
'
I SMALL BUSINESS TRAINING
Business Mom ? Bookkeeping ? legal MuHoif ? Marketing ? Mere
J ree 8-Week Courset
6-8 p.m. Tuesdays, Oct. 25 - Dec. 8
CLASSES MEET AT THE EMTEfffMK CUTEI.
11221MMTM LUTHE1 K1N6 JR. Ml
rTViipnriBPI
Sponsored by Community and Busbten Development
LEAF COLLECTION STARTS OCT. 31 ^
Go online to find out when the rrm
leaf truck will be in your area, ' mt
CltyofWS.org/LMfRoutes Jl
.fiSoo
citylink@citgofuis.org
4 4
Mayor: Alan Joines City Council: Vivian H,
II. ,.... n,? T ,,,? ,, ?i?
Dwwi, fv< ?'y i ernpofR rvoumtaSl fwrnw,
Denis# D. Adams. North Ward; Dan Bessa,
Southwest Ward; Robert C Clark, West
Ward; Moly Laight. South Ward; Jeff
Macintosh. Northwest Ward; Darwin L.
Montgomery, East Ward; Jamas Taylor, Jr.,
Southeast Ward City Manager; Lea Garrity
FIND US ON com ?id
1*