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N.C. to release new grad rates
BYTANISHAPALVIA
STAFF WRITER
North Carolina’s first four
year cohort high-school gradu
ation rate will be released today
by the N.C. Department of Public
Instruction.
The cohort rate has been a fed
eral requirement since 2002, when
President Bush passed “No Child
Left Behind,” the elementary and
secondary education act.
“North Carolina, like many
other states in the nation when the
bill was passed five years ago, was
not in a position to report a cohort
rate, which involves following the
same students over time,” said Lou
Fabrizio, director of accountability
services division in the state super
intendent’s office.
The rate will illustrate the per
centage of ninth-graders who
entered high school in 2002 and
graduated by June 30,2006. It will
include information broken down
by gender, race, ethnicity and dis-
SEPARATED
FROM PAGE 1
orders for her deportation in 2001.
“When we found out this was a
final deportation notice, we were
panicked,” Barton said.
Barton and Wright contacted
lawyers and told Fallahi’s story to
anyone who would listen.
Fallahi’s chances improved when
Stroud found out who represented
Fallahi in her 1999 application.
Chee was disbarred and jailed
in 2005 after pleading guilty in a
U.S. District Court to conspiracy
and fraud and misuse of visas or
permits.
“When he realized (Chee) was
her previous lawyer, he realized
that maybe we did have a cause,”
Barton said.
Stroud and Jorgelina Araneda
agreed to take Fallahi’s case and
have argued that Chee failed to pro
vide Fallahi with adequate council.
Stroud said Chee never informed
Fallahi that her attendance was
required at the hearing.
“Sima had an attorney, and yet for
some' reason Sima never had a trial
on her asylum case,” Stroud said.
He also said after the appeal was
denied, Chee never informed Fallahi
of the 2001 deportation order.
Fallahi’s situation is a relative
ly common immigration prob
lem. According to a September
2005 iwpiartment of Homeland
Security report, roughly one-third
of the estimated 11 million illegal
immigrants in the U.S. entered fire
country legally, as Fallahi did. The
report estimated 3.6 million such
“overstays” remain in the country.
Neighbors lend a hand
If Fallahi was overstaying her
visit, her Carrboro hosts still were
welcoming.
Residents for the last five years,
Fallahi and her daughter were
active in the community.
“I don’t know that anyone was
aware of her legal status, so it
came as such a shock,” said Jackie
Helvey, one of Fallahi’s friends.
“Pretty much the whole town was
stunned when they found out.”
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advantaged groups.
Fabrizio said North Carolina was
using a yearly on-time graduation
rate, which determined how many
graduating seniors had completed
high school in four years or less.
The new cohort graduation
rate reflects a four-year study,
said Stephanie Knott, assistant to
the superintendent for commu
nity relations in the Chapel Hill-
Carrboro City Schools system.
“It freezes a group of students
during that group’s freshman year
of high school,” she said. “It then
takes a look four years later at
where that group of students hap
pens to be.”
The graduation rate is expected
to be anywhere from 59 percent to
71 percent, which Fabrizio said will
include only students who gradu
ate in four years or less.
The cohort rate does not count
dropouts, students who graduated
in more than four years or those
pursuing a GED as graduates.
Following Fallahi’s arrest, local
officials and town leaders made
pleas for her release.
“I think everyone I know called
me and said, ‘Help, what can you
do about this?’” said N.C. Sen. Ellie
Kinnaird, D-Orange, a former
Carrboro mayor.
Kinnaird contacted U.S. Rep.
David Price and spoke with his
staff regarding Fallahi’s situation.
It was Price who was able to
arrange for Fallahi to be held in
Charlotte, instead of Atlanta where
most detained immigrants are held.
“We wanted to make sure that
she and her daughter were still in
close proximity ... so they could
stay together as long as possible,”
said Paul Cox, Price’s spokesman.
Barton said they make the drive to
and from Charlotte every Sunday.
Carrboro also has come to
Fallahi’s aid. The Board of Aldermen
heard of her case at its Dec. 5 meet
ing, and approximately $4,000 of
private contributions have been con
tributed to Fallahi’s defense fund.
The Chapel Hill Town Council
heard a similar petition at Monday’s
meeting. The council referred the
petition, which called for clarifica
tion of police department immi
grant procedure, to town staff.
At the meeting, the council also
was asked to contribute to Fallahi’s
legal costs, a resolution which also
was referred to town staff.
Her lawyers estimate legal costs
totaling as much as $15,000, and
even more if her custody hearing is
successful, allowing her to resubmit
her application for asylum.
“Basically we’ve got some pret
ty steep legal bills,” Wright said.
“There’s still a lot of legal cost
involved.”
Hoping for compassion
Since the arrest, Sima and Leila
have met only on Sundays and for
30 minutes at a time.
“They were both very teary-eyed.
It was kind of a shock (for Leila)
to see her mother like that, in jail,”
Barton said, describing Leila’s first
visit to see her mother. “We were
only allowed to see... through the
glass partition. And that’s hard for
“It’s a very conservative gradu
ation rate,” said June Atkinson,
N.C. state superintendent of public
instruction.
The Chapel Hill-Carrboro school
system also will release the rates of
its first cohort study today.
“Our goal has always been to
achieve a 100 percent graduation
rate,” Knott said. “That is some
thing that the district continues to
strive towards.”
Atkinson said that while the
state has not established a specific
goal for the cohort rate, the study
should motivate public schools and
encourage graduation.
“The high-school diploma is
part of a gateway for students to
have options after they finish high
school,” she said.
“At the end of the year, there real
ly is no other compelling measure
than this for our high schools.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
a family that’s so close.”
Leila said it is hard only being
able to speak with her mother
through the glass.
“Sometimes it’s hard to hear,
and you have to go like this,” Leila
said, cupping her hands around
her ears. “And sometimes they
make us leave early.”
Friends have been waiting for
her release since she signed papers
in January with Immigration and
Customs Enforcement that could
have allowed for her temporary
release due to jail overcrow'ding.
“We had our hopes so up, just
thinking ‘Any day now, any day
now,’ ... but unfortunately they
have not called,” Barton said.
ICE assigned anew case officer
to work with Fallahi, and Barton
said they were told the new assign
ment could delay her release.
But today’s decision is just one
step in the process, and Wright
said the issue of her deportation
still will have to be dealt with.
Fallahi’s lawyers have requested
a flat cancellation of the deporta
tion order, what Barton says is “the
decision we are praying for.”
If that cancellation is granted,
Fallahi then will have to resubmit
an application for political asylum.
Only if that request is granted will
she be allowed to stay in the U.S.
Otherwise, Fallahi will be deport
ed to Iran, where her friends say her
life could be in danger.
American-born Leila will remain
in the U.S. and will live with her
mother’s brother, Behrooz, in
Illinois. Leila will move in with
Behrooz at the end of the school
year if her mother is still in jail.
Burton said she will stay optimis
tic about Fallahi’s fate, though.
“We’re pretty hopefiil that things
will go well, but it’s not a sure thing,”
she said. “We’re just praying for a
compassionate, moral judge."
And while Leila is excited about
the prospects of her contact visit
Sunday, she’d prefer to have her
mother with her.
“They should let my mom out of
jail so she can come home.”
Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
News
CAA
FROM PAGE 1
in some duties and from students
in others.
Allred and Curtis named
other organizations, such as the
Residence Hall Association, senior
class officers and the executive
branch of student government that
operate under similar principles.
But those opposing the amend-
BLACK FACULTY
FROM PAGE 1
total enrollment, leading some to
call for more black faculty to mir
ror the student breakdown.
Daye also led the Chancellor’s
Minority Affairs Review Committee,
which submitted a report in 2000
that recommended a campuswide
assessment of minorities and the
development of a diversity plan. He
said that diversity is not the end by
itself but a tool used to expand the
educational experience.
“I think students are impressed
by what they observe,” he said. “If
we’re going to talk about a society
where everyone is valued, it won’t
do unless we create an institution
where our values are evidenced.”
Napoleon Byars, who graduated
from the School of Journalism in
1976 and returned 21 years later to
teach, said he has noticed substantial
BUDGET
FROM PAGE 1
hospitals. Officials worry that the cap
will place strain on area emergency
rooms that are not equipped to treat
psychiatric cases.
Rep. Verla Insko, D-Orange, is
the chairwoman of the N.C. House’s
Mental Health Reform committee
and said she’d like to see more funds
going to the mental health system.
“It’s very skimpy, and I hope we
can get additional funding,” she
said. “The governor has clearly
focused on education.”
Easley’s budget, which still has
to undergo scrutiny in both cham
bers of the N.C. General Assembly,
includes an 11.3 percent increase in
funding for the university system,
the largest increase in recent years.
It also calls for a 5 percent aver
age pay increase for teacher’s salaries
statewide and funds the governor’s
Learn and Earn program, which
aims to make higher education more
attainable and affordable.
But even within education
issues, many legislators debate the
governor’s redistribution of lottery
revenue from school construction
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2007
ment argued that CAA has too
strongly refused students’ author
ity to be accepted as part of student
government and that the amend
ment wasn’t in compliance with
the Court’s ruling.
Allred strongly criticized Congress’
actions drawing harsh responses
from several Congress members.
“I think it’s important that the
student body understand that
Congress has undertaken a con-
improvement in student and faculty
diversity since he was a student
Byars said faculty diversity should
be achieved not for diversity’s sake
but for the good of society.
“There’s a responsibility we owe
to the residents of this state to reflect
the state’s population,” he said.
Coming from the University of
California at Los Angeles to UNC,
Geography professor Jim Johnson
said he saw a similarity between
the importance university leaders
placed on diversity at both cam
puses. At UNC, Johnson said he
was impressed by the camaraderie
that exists among the faculty.
Faculty said that they believe
that UNC values a diverse faculty
but that more can be done.
“Competition for African-
American talent is becoming more
fierce. We have to understand that
reality and become more competi
tive,” Johnson said. “The commit
to winnings. The extra revenue
would go toward increasing the
percentage of winning scratch-off
tickets, currently at 50 percent.
Rep. Bill Owens, D-Pasquotank,
who sponsored the original lottery
bill, said he does not support that
item in the budget.
“Property taxes alone can’t keep
up with school construction.”
Rep. William Current, R-Gaston,
said that those who would benefit
from Easley’s proposed elimina
tion and reduction of income taxes
for almost 1.2 million low-income
North Carolinians, are the same
people who play the lottery the
most.
“It looks to me like you’re freeing
up money... so that people can play
the lottery,” he said.
For Sen. Kay Hagan, D-Guilford,
the governor’s priorities are right
on target, despite the changes the
budget needs to undergo in the
House and Senate.
“I believe education is the most
important thing the state govern
ment can do.”
Contact the State & National
Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.
certed campaign to consolidate
power and gain control over virtu
ally all other branches of student
government,” Allred said.
He cited quotes from Farley
and Congress’ lack of participation
on boards such as the Student
Ticket Review Board to back up
his claim.
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
ment exists on this campus.”
Johnson said UNC should look
in nontraditional places to get
more talented black professors.
“We have to have people who
believe it’s important, and we have
to have incentives,” Daye said, sug
gesting awards for departments
that achieve diversity.
Byars said increasing mentoring
opportunities for minority students
is needed to engage students early
on and encourage graduate work.
Joe Templeton, chairman of
the faculty, said he hasn’t received
any race-related complaints since
he has represented the faculty and
said UNC encourages diversity.
“The University is proactive in
trying to identify a diverse pool of
applicants,” Templeton said. “It’s
not just reactive but proactive.”
Contact the University Editor
at udesk@unc.edu.
LYRICS
FROM PAGE 1
before announcing the five winners
March 17.
Sugarfix then will collaborate
with Risk to set the winning poems
to music. All five songs will be post
ed by April 10, at which point view -
ers of Sugarfix’s blog can vote on
which song is the overall winner.
Sugarfix said he and Risk have a
very open process for creating.
“We’ll look at the lyrics, figure out
who’s going to do what,” he said.
The contest already has drawm
entrants from as far away as
England, Sugarfix said, adding that
multiple entries are allowed.
Sugarfix said he definitely hopes
to do it again.
“It brings something fresh into
my musical world,” he said.
As for the question regarding how
much attention and fame the con
test will bring to Carrboro, Sugarfix
said the town is sitting pretty.
“I think we’ve already put
Carrboro on the map.”
aj Contact the City Editor
at citydesk@unc.edu.
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