Officials say a charter school at Fort Bragg could happen by summer of next year

[Pete]

Officials say a charter school at Fort Bragg could happen by summer of next year

http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/...1?sac=fo.local

"A charter school on Fort Bragg could open in August 2013 with as many as 800 high school students, officials said Friday.

Charter schools get public money but have more flexibility than traditional public schools. State lawmakers lifted a cap on charter schools in June.

Preliminary plans for the Fort Bragg school call for military students on post to have first preference. Military students off post would get next priority before enrollment is open to other students...................."

I would say this is very good news for Fort Bragg High School Students. Now they go to E E Smith.

Of course at the bottom of the story is...

"..........Fort Bragg officials said a potential agreement with Cumberland County schools is still on the table but will be shelved if the charter application is approved by the state. Under the agreement, the Army would provide the land, a congressional earmark would pay for construction, and the Cumberland County school system would run the school.

"It's not like we're unhappy with the county schools," said Doug Earle, deputy garrison commander. "We're not."

One parent said Friday she has issues with E.E. Smith High School, where Fort Bragg students are assigned, while Sicinski said his daughter has had a good experience at the school.

Carrie Sutton, a former school board chairwoman, said she thinks Fort Bragg wants to build a charter school because officers' wives don't want their children to attend E.E. Smith. She said she thinks charter schools can lead to segregation.

Earle called Sutton's statement "very unfortunate."

"I'm not going to say any more, but that's very unfortunate," he said...."

[Marauder06]

Originally Posted by Pete

....

I would say this is very good news for Fort Bragg High School Students. Now they go to E E Smith.

Of course at the bottom of the story is...


One parent said Friday she has issues with E.E. Smith High School, where Fort Bragg students are assigned, while Sicinski said his daughter has had a good experience at the school.

Carrie Sutton, a former school board chairwoman, said she thinks Fort Bragg wants to build a charter school because officers' wives don't want their children to attend E.E. Smith. She said she thinks charter schools can lead to segregation.

Earle called Sutton's statement "very unfortunate."

"I'm not going to say any more, but that's very unfortunate," he said...."

I'm glad to hear this is happening. I went to a different high school in Fayetteville in the late '80's and E.E. Smith had a terrible reputation even back then. When I was stationed at Bragg a couple of years back, it didn't look like things had changed. Maybe it is different now, but I don't think so.

IMO, back when I was in high school the only thing that was holding Smith together was the Fort Bragg dependents, who were typically more motivated, better disciplined, and more academically inclined. I totally understand why E.E. Smith wouldn't want this to happen, they'd lose a lot of their best students. At the same time though, if I had high school-aged children and I lived at Bragg, I'd want them to go to a different school than Smith.

I don't know where the "segregation" argument comes from, the only "segregation" will be between dependents and non-dependents, it has nothing to do with race.

[chester]

X.

[Pete]

When my kids were going to RR HS EE Smith was IDed as a failing school and a lot of the students jumped ship for RR.

The kids said it was like a light was switched off when the EE Smith Crowd showed up. Problems increased for a few months and then faded away as the Smith kids returned "home".

They found out they had to, like man, furnish a product to get a grade. That's so much like work, dude.