News
WakeEd Wednesdays
WakeEd Wednesdays is a video series produced to simplify many of the complexities of North Carolina’s largest school district, the Wake County Public School System. With more than 180 schools, 160,000 students, and 11,000 teachers, WCPSS has a major impact on all Wake County residents regardless of whether they have children enrolled in the schools.
All about the Hamiltons: Drivers Education Fee Rises $10
On Tuesday evening, the WCPSS Board of Education voted to raise the fee charged to students taking Driver Education from $55 to $65. The fee offsets the cost of Driver Education, and the $10 fee adjustment is allowed by state law (Senate Bill 744). At risk in the...
Collaborative Learning Spaces
When the Facilities Committee of the Board of Education met on May 27, one of the items presented was the schematic design of Bryan Road Elementary. In particular, the committee considered a revision of the school design to include 3,600 square feet of collaborative...
Facilities Condition Index
With almost 23 million square feet of facilities to manage, WCPSS indeed has a protocol for determining which spaces receive substantial repairs, partial reconstruction, or full reconstruction. Part of the data considered is something known as the Facilities Condition...
Budget Questions Remain for WCPSS
As the fiscal year ending June 30th draws to a close, many budget questions remain for the Wake County Public School System. Local funding decisions are still in process. Wake County Manager Jim Hartmann has proposed a budget to the Wake County Commissioners. Two...
Education Dollars in the House Budget
The NC House of Representatives voted early this morning to approve a budget that includes a more than six percent increase in spending of education dollars. Some highlights include: Raise beginning teacher pay to $35,000 per year Provide 2 percent raises for all...
County Manager Proposes Budget
On Monday, Wake County Board of Commissioner's Meeting, County Manager Jim Hartmann presented his proposed 2015-2016 budget. (You can watch the video of Hartmann’s presentation, or view the slides here. During the video, the presentation begins at the 1 hour and 23...
2016-2017 Student Enrollment Conversation Begins
At the Board of Education work session on Tuesday, staff led a discussion on the student enrollment process for the 2016-2017 school year. Yes. It’s that time already. WCPSS expects to add 19,600 students between now and 2020 – that’s more than 3,200 new students...
Beyond the Bucks: What Matters Most to Teachers
We hope you’ll join us next Thursday for “Beyond the Bucks: What Matters Most to Teachers” next Thursday, May 28th at 8:00a.m., co-hosted by WakeEd Partnership and the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce. This year’s program will focus on teacher recruitment,...
Preparing for SummerSTEM
Without teachers there would be no other professions. Teachers are tasked with guiding students to see beyond their current status to future careers. The paradox for many K-12 educators is that they will prepare hundreds of students for various careers, while their...
How World Café is Changing Schools
Five months ago, more than 100 businesses and educators gathered in a cafeteria to have a conversation. The official name for the event was the STEM and Global Studies World Café, sponsored by Biogen. The partnerships that came from the event have caused educators and...
Why PwC Invests in WakeEd
I have been very fortunate to be part of the WakeEd Partnership over the past seven years, first as a volunteer and now as a member of the board. Providing opportunities in education is a true passion of mine as well as our partners and staff at PwC. In the past year,...
The Cost of Construction Growth
Johnny Carson often used a classic setup for jokes. He would open with, “Boy, was it hot today!” Then he would wait for the audience to respond with, “How hot was it?” Then he would deliver the punchline by starting with, “It was so hot…” It was a dark humor that had...
Where Are They Now? Education Bills Edition
The last week of April featured the all-important legislative crossover deadline. WakeEd has been following several bills that address drivers education funding, teacher pay, financial flexibility, and calendar flexibility. We thought a review of how these bills have...
No NC Final Exams for WCPSS
At their May 6 meeting, the North Carolina State Board of Education approved a waiver that allows WCPSS to not administer NC Final Exams at the end of this school year. NC Final Exams are administered in courses that do not have a state end-of-grade or end-of-course...
Wake County Board of Education Adopts Budget
The Wake County Board of Education adopted a budget for the 2015-2016 school year. It is the same budget as previously proposed by Supt. Merrill. The $1.4 billion budget includes a local funding request increase of $48.3 million. The increase requested funds growth...
What’s NOT in the Superintendent’s Proposed Budget
Much has been made over what items are included in the Superintendent’s proposed budget. Little has been made over items not included. Some of these items can be found on page 14 of the budget document titled “Deferred Needs.” They include items like, “Technology...
Growing Pains or Growing Opportunities?
At a Facilities Committee meeting on April 15, Joe Desormeaux, Assistant Superintendent for Facilities, identified $348 million per year in new schools, major renovations, life cycle replacements, and land acquisition over the next six years. This keeps pace with the...
Making Weather Make-Up Days (Relatively) Easier
You could say that making up days missed by inclement weather this spring has been problematic. You’d also be understating the issue. A bit. School board members heard recommendations from staff on inclement weather make-up days for the 2015-2016 school calendars...
Thirteen WCPSS High Schools Among Nation’s Most Challenging
The Washington Post has released its annual list of the nation’s most challenging high schools. Thirteen WCPSS high schools are on the list. Rank School Index Excellence and Equity Percent Subsidized Lunch Percent 275 Enloe 4.123 45.00 35.90 616 Green Hope 3.032...
A Brand On The Move
A little more than a month ago, Wake Education Partnership officially rebranded as “WakeEd Partnership.” We’ve updated collateral, printed new business cards, and have even installed new signs in our office. (You really should drop by to see them.) All of these...
Teacher Innovation Grants Are More than Money
Schools need money. As a 30-year veteran of the Wake County Public School System, I know that far better than most. In the last 7 years, spending on students in North Carolina has dropped by 13 percent per student, according to the Center on Budget and Policy...
Wake 2015-2016 Budget Proposed
At Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, Supt. Merrill released his proposed 2015-2016 budget for the Wake County Public School System. The $1.4 billion budget includes a local funding request increase of just over $48 million. This results in a total local funding...
Non-Funding of Student Growth?
The superintendent’s proposed budget assumes that the state will fully fund student growth. In prior years, student enrollment growth was automatically included in annual budget formation. That is no longer the case. A state budget must be adopted before districts...
New Wake Commissioner Districts Are Law
I watched my fair share of Schoolhouse Rock as a kid. Remember How a Bill Becomes a Law? Poor Bill…he languished in committee and waited in line to be signed. I’m not so sure that Bill would even recognize this bill’s journey. Introduced on March 4, made law on...
2015-2016 Bell Schedule Changes Proposed
At the Board of Education work session on Tuesday, staff presented proposed bell schedule changes for the 2015-2016 school year. Bell schedules were proposed for the three new schools. Abbotts Creek Elementary and Scotts Ridge Elementary will both operate on the...
Academic Standards Review Commission – They Need to Hear from You
On Monday, the Academic Standards Review Commission met to hear testimony from two well-known, outspoken critics of the Common Core, Dr. Sandra Stotsky and Dr. James Milgram. Testimony given by the two did not differ from what they’ve issued before. Both take issue...
Focus on East Wake Schools Moves Forward
As a former educator, there is nothing quieter to me than a school hallway at night. Maybe it’s the contrast to the volume of life and activity found there during the day. Wednesday night, the hallways at East Wake High were just that quiet. But behind the door to...
The End of EOGs and EOCs?
The NC State Board of Education’s Task Force on Summative Assessment met on March 13, 2015. At this meeting, the task force presented a draft framework of assessment that included two models. The first model, for grades three through eight, eliminates NC End-of-Grade...
WCPSS Meets with Wake Commissioners on Budget Priorities
On Monday, a county commissioner work session on budget priorities featured Supt. Jim Merrill and Chief Business Officer David Neter, and school board chair Christine Kushner. They shared information on priorities the school board and school system are considering for...
Wake Education Partnership Announces Rebrand As WakeEd
Media Contacts: Amanda Romano MMI (919) 233-6600 amanda@mmipublicrelations.com http://mmipublicrelations.com http://twitter.com/MMIPR Wake Education Partnership Announces Rebrand As WakeEd New brand enhances mission for educational excellence in Wake County public...
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Raleigh, NC 27609 | (919) 821-7609
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WakeEd Partnership
3101 Industrial Drive, Suite 100
Raleigh, NC 27609 | (919) 821-7609