Tepid support for CMS bonds
Political, community leaders haven’t decided to back CMS referendum
By Herbert L. White
herb.white@thecharlottepost.com
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools $421 million bond referendum will likely need black support to pass.
Getting it is another matter.
Unease over equity for inner city schools and uncertainty over CMS leadership has some advocacy groups standing pat until more details are revealed.
“There are quite a few issues about the bonds and how that affects the African American community,” said Danielle Bess Obiorah, president of the Black Political Caucus. “There’s no truth that we’re going to come out against it.”
The BPC will host a town hall meeting on the referendum Sept. 11 at Little Rock AME Zion Church at 6 p.m. Obiorah said caucus members will listen to public input before deciding on a course of action.
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But Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP President Kenneth White said black voters want assurances that the money will be spent equitably. The civil rights organization has held “some discussions” on the referendum, but no official decision has been made.
“We have some grave concerns about what these bonds mean to our community, and those are not addressed by the school bonds,” he said. “Our major concern is children in high-poverty schools have the same opportunity as children in the suburbs and low-poverty schools.”
There’s also the tenuous relationship between black voters, bond boosters and CMS. Previous campaigns relied on overwhelming black support to pass, only to have programs or money pledged to inner city schools shifted. CMS will have to do a better job of convincing voters the money would go where promised, Obiorah said.
“In part, the numbers are huge, but the bigger issue is the schools want the community to support it and African Americans to support the bond issue,” she said. “If we’re going to support something, the school system should be sensitive to the concerns of African Americans.”
Aside from the referendum’s size, voters are leery of the next school board’s makeup and who it’ll choose as a permanent superintendent. That uncertainty is a factor as well.
“It’s not really easy to sign on to this bond package because there’s so much unknown,” Obiorah said.
The Charlotte Post Article Volume 30, No. 50 Sep 02, 3005