VoteNoBonds.com

Dear Editor,
If you support a sound basic education for all children, you must vote “no” for the school bonds. N.C. Rep. Beverly Earl and other local and state elected officials based their support for the school bonds on rapid growth in suburban areas and the need for life cycle replacement of things such as roofs, HVAC, etc. I have no doubt that the student population of CMS will increase by 53,000 students in the next 10 years, and that we will have to build schools to accommodate these students. My problem isn’t the need; it is CMS’ response to the need.

At least 45 percent of the 53,000 expected new students will be poor and minority. That translates to 23, 580 new poor and minority students that will be attending schools in CMS over the next 10 years. Most, if not all, of these poor and minority students will be located in Districts 2, 3 and 4. CMS plans to build 10 schools with the bond money. Only one of those 10 schools will be built in District 2; there will be no schools built in Districts 3 or 4. The standard for poverty in CMS is whether a child receives free and reduced lunch (FRL). If a school has high concentrations of FRL students it is labeled a “Focus School” (formerly called Equity Plus schools). There are 53 “Focus Schools” (schools with high concentrations of poverty) in CMS; 48 of them are located in Districts 2, 3 and 4. While approximately 48 percent of the students that attend CMS receive FRL, the current neighborhood choice plan has concentrated the poverty so that the poverty levels in our elementary schools is 84.3 percent; in middle schools it is 69.34 percent; and in high schools it is 62.12 percent. Most educational experts believe it is extremely difficult to educate children in high poverty schools.

In an effort to make Focus Schools work, CMS promised to: Reduce student-teacher ratios (one teacher per 16 students); provide additional instructional supplies and materials; and add incentives for teachers to attract them to Focus Schools. The two most important steps that must be taken, in order for children in Focus Schools to have at least a chance for a sound basic education, is to provide quality teachers and small class sizes. The June 6, 2005 Charlotte Observer published an article entitled “CMS teacher incentives.” The article proclaimed that the No. 1 priority for this year for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board is to have effective, high quality teachers in all classrooms. Just three months later, September 2005, the Charlotte Observer published an article entitled “Teachers won’t be laid off by budget.” The Board of Education, by a vote of 7-to-2, voted for a budget eliminating signing bonuses and other perks designed to attract staff to needy schools. CMS, with this unconscionable vote, must know how extremely difficult it will be for children in Focus Schools to receive any kind of decent education without experienced, quality teachers.

The bonds, if passed in November, will authorize CMS to build only one school in District 2, no schools in District 3 and no schools in District 4. The only way Districts 2, 3 and 4 can accommodate 23,850 new poor and minority students in the existing schools, plus one new school, is to do away with the promise of small class sizes for the Focus Schools. Without experienced, qualified teachers and small class sizes, you haven’t got a snow ball’s chance of giving children in Districts 2, 3 and 4 that attend high poverty schools a sound basic education. It may be that Commissioner Valerie Woodard was the only elected black official that voted against the bonds because she is one of the few black elected officials that regularly attends black forums such as The Tuesday Morning Breakfast, NAACP meetings and Charlotte Black Political Caucus meetings. It is fair to mention that the Charlotte Black Political Caucus held a Town Hall open to discussion on the pros and cons of the bonds. At the conclusion of the discussion, which featured representatives from the Chamber and CMS, a survey of the participants indicated that they are not in favor of voting for the bonds by a margin of 2-to-1.

Richard A. McElrath, Sr.
Founder, People United For Education;
Chairman, Education Committee,
Charlotte Black Political Caucus

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 1st, 2005 at 7:32 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.