IN OUR SCHOOLS
i X PI LSIONS:
Arc Black Students Tamctcd?
v.
WANTED
A Black Male Teachers
In High Demand
By RICHARD L. WILLIAMS
Chronicle Managing Editor
Although black students' com
prise 36 percent of the Winston
Salem/Forsyth County School sys
tem, black teachers represent only
21 percent of their total number.
Of the 37,891 students in the
school system, 13,793 are black. But
among the 2,320 teachers in the
schools here, only 498 are black.
"That's not unsual," said Engin
Kornac, chief consultant of the
Information Center for the state
Department of Public Insruction.
"Most (black) kids who go to col
lege ? if they are going to go
through the trouble ? they are
going to get better paying jobs.
There are better opportunities out
there for them than being a teacher."
Across the state, the numbers
gel worse. Of the 64,838 teachers
statewide, only 10,321, or 16 per
cent, are black.
"What can you do? You can't
go out there and say we are going to
pay more to a minority teacher,"
Kornac said.
Schools Superintendent Larry
Coble says he sees the need for
more black men as teachers.
"The black male teachef is a
teacher in high demand," he said.
"Just staying even is harder
work," he said. "The talent pool is
shrinking. We ought to just literally
go into some of the inner cities and
just buy black male teachers.
"I think that so much of what
we're seeing in the school as it
relates to suspension and expulsion
can be tied to the lack of excellent
black role models in the schools and
in the community," Coble said.
He also sees where black men
are difficult to recruit as teachers.
"There are certainly more opp
portunities in the private sector than
there are in education," he said. "But
that doesn't lessen the need at all.
"Schools systems like Charlotte
and Wake (County) are able to
know on the basis of growth how
many new students they are going to
have," he said. "They can go into
colleges and universities and and
hire the cream of the crop and give
them an early contract before these
students graduate. They have a full
time recruiter. Places like Forsyth
typically have to wait until the
spring when we get resignations.
Our new teachers are basically
replacing ones who resign. "We're
punching away at that," Coble said.
"We've already gotten more aggres
sive in our recruiting."
He said recruiters are increasing
visits to historically black colleges,
are attending job fairs and are mar
keting the district outside the imme
diate area.
Reba J. Smith, president of the
DWINDLING NUMBERS?
A Blacks Are 30% of
Forsyth Principals
By RICHARD L WILLIAMS
Chronicle Managing Editor _
Of the 57 principals in the Win
ston-Salem/Forsyth County School
District, 17 are black.
"I'm biased, but I think that's
very good,'' Schools Superintendent
Larry CoJ>le said. .
"In li^ht of what that percentage
has been in the past I'd say we're
making great strides," said Lalor A.
Smith, principal at Brunson Elemen
tary School.
Statewide, there are 1,937 prin
cipals, of which 404, or 20 percent,
are black and 23 are other minori
ties
?? "Thirty years ago, this wasn't
the case," said Engin Kornac of the
state Department of Public Instruc
tion. "Even 10 years ago we had a
lot of principals who were black.
But that principal had 25 years of
experience. And he went to school
in the 1950s and '60s. To him. to be
a principal or a teacher was a good
job. The real problem is in the
future. Whose going to replace these
when they retire? <
Rose J. Stowe, principal of
Hall-Woodward Elementary School,
said several of the current principals
replaced several principals who
retired some years ago.
"I think that the numbers that
are here now will be here for a
while." Stowe said. "I would think
that down the road that may be a
problem."
She also said a lot older blacks
are becoming disillusioned in corpo
rate jobs and seeking jobs in the
education field.
"I think a lot of people are find
ing that the jobs just aren't there" she
said.
Listed are the black principals
in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth
County School District:
?Vincent Parker
Clemmons Elementary'
?Fran Douthit
South Fork Elementary
?Lalor Smith
Brunson Elementary
?Norman King
Easton Elementary
?Herman Lane
Forest Park Elementary
?Rose Stowe
Hall-Woodward Elementary
?Larry Fields
Latham Elementary
?Faye Chavious
Sedge Gardens Elementary
?Peyton Hairston
Union Cross Elementary
?John Beaty
Ashley Middle School ?
?Curtis Little
Hill Middle School
?Ben Henderson
Petree Middle School
?William Peay
Philo Middle School
Hunt Speaks to NAACP
About Equal Education
FA YETTEVILLE (AP)?
Equal opportunities in education
must begin at the bottom because
children must be given an equal
chance. Gov. Jim Hunt told regional
delegates of the NAACP.
"Why are we not doing bet
ter?" Hunt said. "I've concluded that
one of the problems is that a lot of
children are being ignored, neglected
and sometimes abused in these first
five years of life.
"This is the one organization
that has fought the longest, hardest
and most successfully with win
equal rights for black Americans,"
he told the gathering. "As governor
of this state. I stand 100 percent
behind your fight for equal rights
and equal opportunities."
More than f.000 members of
the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People
from North Carolina. South Car
olina, Mississippi, Alabama, Geor
gia. Florida and Tennessee attended
the 41st Annual Southeast Leader
ship Development Training Institute.
The southeast region is the
largest in the national NAACP orga
nization, with approximately 600
branches and 200 youth and college
chapters. ?
Hunt told delegates from the
regional conference he will release
details next week for a public-private
partnership to provide an early child
hood development program that
would provide access to good health
care and proper nutrition for every
child from birth to age 5.
Children of poor families
could attend the program for free and
the cost for "the working poor"
would be subsidized. Hunt said. Par
ents would be required to attend
classes to learn how to be good par
ents.
He said that he wants a pilot
program to begin in July in 12 coun
ties that would involve 1 2 percent to
20 percent of the children in the
state. Within five years, he said, the
program would be statewide.
The program would need
approval from the state legislature.
Hunt said he has strong legislative
support.
Hunt said he will ask for S20
million in next year's state budget
and S40 million the following year to
pay for the program. He declined to
say how much private money he
hopes to raise for the program.
He said a state board would be
appointed to develop the program
with members including corporate,
business and education leaders. The
program will use existing day-care
centers, help to build others and
encourage work places to offer day
care, he said.
Eventually, every county will
create its own board to supervise the
program and draw on local resources
in each community.
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TEACHER MAKEUP
% of black and white
teachers in N.C. and Forsyth
FORSYTH
84%
White
N.C.
White
Source irnton- Salem /Forsyth Count\ SchooK Office of Pupil Auifnmcni
Forsyth Association of Classroom are accepting more high-paying jobs "Money motivates us all," she
Teachers, agreed that most blacks after they leave college. said.
PRINCIPAL MAKEUP Where Are Black Principals
% of black and white
principals in N.C. and Forsyth
FORSYTH
70%
Whife
Schools
N.C.
White
Source Wirnion-SaJem/For*vth Countv School* Office of Pupil Amgnment
?Adolphus Coplin
Glen High School
?Dan Piggott
Independence High School
?Jim Brandon
Parkland High School
?Sam Puryear
South Park High School
FINLANDIA
VODKA OF FINLAND
APRIL ...
YOUR LO
" *tqre
HANNAH & DUNN, INC., GREENVILLE, N.C.