- - T" ?
Kaplan, Plyler see things quite differently
; At large race for County Commissioner is one of the most hotly-contested
BY LAYLA FARMER
vX? CHRONICLE
Schools and funding for
rhi- Downtown Health Plaza
[have become hot-button issues
?in the at large County
Commissioner race.
Republican incumbent
? Da?e Plyler is trying to fight
? ba?k a challenge from
ilJttiocrat Ted Kaplan, whose
[faftily owns a mega school
[supply business.
' "We have had 12 years of
[declining performance." said
'.Kajlan, who served 16 years
state legislator. "We have
lAclully neglected our
JgSools and the current
IBfciniy Commissioners have
So step up to the plate,
j^yivler - whose smooth
[voice has earned him a long
[and distinguished career in
liroadcasting - has been a
icounty commissioner for the
Ipast 12 years. He defends the
[job he has done in terms of
[education.
; "1 have voted for every
^school bond issue and I have
voted for every budget that the
?schools have ever asked for,"
?Plyler commented. "As a
[result, we've ended up with
Kaplan
something in the neighbor
hood of $10S million worth of
new and improved schools."
Plyler said as a commis
sioner its' is not his job to
micromanage the school sys
tem.
"The fact is the school sys
tem has an elected school
board. They're the ones who
make the policy. They're the
ones who ... carry out those
policies," he said.
But Kaplan says commis
sioners have left school offi
cials empty-handed in terms
of funding, forcing school
officials to use money that
would normally be set aside
for teacher salaries and small
Plyler
er class sizes for the purchase
of trailers for the growing stu
dent population. As a result,
ftaplan said, the local school
system has earned a dubious
reputation.
"It is, without a doubt, one
of the worst school systems in
North Carolina for the number
of people that we have in our
system, which is about
50,000," he commented. "We
have more trailers than any
other system, we've got a
higher teacher turnover rate
than systems that are our
size
Plyler counters that educa
tion is always high on the
commissioners' agenda.
"One-third of the entire
county budget goes to the
school*. Over that figure, we
provide $11 million in teacher
supplement money to make
sure that teachers get salaries
commensurate with the
national average," said Plyler,
who has two daughters that
teach in the school system.
Kaplan is also concerned
about funding of the
Downtown Health Plaza.
Commissioners provided no
funding for the plaza, which
treats mostly low-income
patients, this past budget year.
Kaplan called commission
ers decision not to fund the
plaza "spiteful".
"The Downtown Health
Plaza and other facilities like
that play a great role in this
community. It should be sup
ported," he remarked, adding
that the facility would be a
priority for him if elected.
Plyler, who sits on the
board of the Downtown
Health Plaza, repudiates
Kaplan's claim that he "voted
against the Downtown Health
Plaza."
"I voted for every budget
thai contained funding for the
Downtown Health Plaza,
every budget. When it came
to approving the final budget,
1 voted for the budget, but I
did iK>t vote against the
Downtown Health Plaza,"
Plyier commented. "If I had
said, 'I'm not going to vote for
the budget' and voted against
the entire $350 million budget
over $300,000, what sense
would that make?"
Plyier says he has worked
to And other ways to fund the
health plaza.
"I also am on the Novant
board ... in that capacity, I was
able to persuade Forsyth
Medical Center to open the
Community Care Center to
600 women for prenatal care,"
he explained. "That will
reduce the need for ... referrals
from the Community Care
Center to the Downtown
Health Plaz?, thereby saving
the Downtown Health Plaza ...
$2 million, and this is just the
first year."
Plyier said he would also
fight for the commissioners to
once again provide funding
for the health plaza.
WSSU will begin
enforcement on MLK
SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
The Winston-Salem State
University Police Department
has begun radar speed enforce
ment on MLK Drive in the area
of the WSSU campus. Officers
will issue warnings for the fust
week, but beginning Nov. 6,
officers will issue North
Carolina Uniform Citations.
WSSU is taking this step
because the expansion of the
campus has resulted in resident
and classroom facilities being
located on both sides of MLK
Drive, forcing increases in
pedestrian traffic on campus.
More than 800 faculty and staff,
and nearly a 6,000-per$on stu
dent population cross MLK
Drive several time? a day. The
high volume of pedestrians cou
pled with speeding vehicular
traffic has resulted in pedestri
an/vehicular accidents, near
misses and pedestrians being
trapped in the middle of the
road.
"Our officers have moni
tored vehicular speeds on MLK
Drive periodically over the last
month and they have frequently
averaged in the 45-50 mph
range. The posted speed limits is
35 mph," said WSSU Police
Chief Willie Bell.
Lil
Photos by Kevin Walker
\Members of the Big Four Choir make their way into the sanctuary.
Angelou
from page Al
harder she used to say to me,
"Sister, Momma is gonna step
out on the word of God."
? I would look at that tall black
woman and imagine her step
ping up into the sky, nothing
solid beneath her, but suns and
moons and stars swirling all
around her head, and novas and
comets swishing past her body,
her faith allowing her to step out
on the word of God. 1 wrote a
song about Momma because she
planted both my soul and my
feet in confidence in God.
You said to call on your name
and I'm calling;
You said to trust in your word
and I'm trusting;
You said to lean on your arm
and I'm leaning;
I'm steppin ' out on your worfJ.
You said, you would be my
protection,
Honor and glory, my Savior,
Beautiful Rose of Sharon,
I'm steppin ' out on your word.
You said you would be my
protection,
Honor and glory, my Savior,
Beautiful Rose of Sharon,
I'm steppin ' out on your word.
I'm steppin 'vut on your worfl,
I'm steppin ' out on your word,
- Steppin ' out on your word.
I wish all young people
could have grandparents or par
ents or relatives who could pre
pare them for this journey called
life, the twisting rocky roads, the
steep hills, and the low valleys.
I hope the readers will be
reminded of their own
Grandmothers and
Grandfathers.
World-renowned poet and
author Dr. Maya Angelou, the
city's most famous resident, is
the Reynolds professor of
American studies at Wake Forest
University.
;Big Four
Hi "f'AI
? uttered by the crowd. The
I choir was directed by local
Imusic legend Eddie Bines, a
I member of the last graduating
Jclass of Atkins High.
"This was easy because
everyone likes each other,"
Bines said of fusing together
the more than four dozen voic
lec.
! There was a time when the
Jschools were extremely com
Jpetitive among one another,
'especially on the football field
tand basketball court. But out
!side of sports. Big Four stu
Idents always got along. Bines
! said . It is a lesson that he
JbeJieves young people today
[should be exposed to.
r "(Young people today)
Ueem to be missing a lot of
j things we had back then." he
jsaid.
[ Foster said part of the rea
?son the reunion was created
i was to try to instill some of
i those "Big Four values" in
.today's students.
J "We saw all of these trou
bles in the schools." he said.
|"One of messages that we want
>to send is that we were disci
plined in school and we sur
vived."
J The reunion does give
[back Scholarships have been
ki.iiir
? I
Ralph Meadows, left, with Choir Director Eddie Bines.
presented as well as donations
to schools and youth organiza
tions.
The most memorable por
tion of the worship service was
also the most heart-wrenching.
Four popular Big Four alums
who passed away since the '05
reunion were remembered dur
ing a candle-lighting service.
The sanctuary went flack for
several minutes, the only light
coming from four candles near
the pulpit and smaller candles
Ijeld by members of the choir.
In the dark and silence, the
crowd reflected on the many
contributions of their departed
friends: Anderson alum Donald
Campbell; Atkins' Caroline
Shelton; Paisley's Cornetta
Archie Hunt and James "Bro"
Smith, also a Paisley grad.
"It was really emotional for
a lot of us," Hampton said. "It
seems like we just saw them ...
now they are gone."
Bishop Edwin Allen Sr., a
former Paisley football star
who pastors a church in
Thomasville, delivered the ser
mon at the service. The other
members of the committee that
organized the service are
Doretha Crosby, Odessa
Gaither, Robert Noble, Cheryl.
Philson , Wanda Reader, Clevell
Roseboro, Donald Scales,
Georgia Smith and Steve
Tillman.
Senator Linda Garrou
North Carolina State Senate
Thank you for allowing me to
serve you in the State Senate.
Please don t forget to vote on
November 7th and I hope you
will support our outstanding
Democratic Candidates.
32nd District
P.O. Box 11843
Winston-Salem, NC 27116
Tel: (336) 922-6142
lgarrou@lindagarrou.com
Serving You is My Business
Paid for by the Committee to Elect Linda Garrou
We're Going In The Wrong Direction
Forsyth County Can Do Better
In the last 12 years property taxes on an average home in Forsyth County have gone up
30%. We've put thousands more of our school children in trailers. And government
spending in Forsyth County has increased 41 %. We're going in the wrong direction. But by
changing our priorities we can invest more in education. Make sure our poorest citizens
have access to healthcare. Recruit good paying jobs. And get our county going in the
right direction again. Vote for change on November 7th because Forsyth County
can do better by electing Ted Kaplan as our commissioner.
See Ted Kaplan's plan for education on our Web site
ForsythCanDoBetter.com
Kaplan
For County Comwhriwur
Paid for by the Ted Kaplan for County Commissioner Campaign