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For a city politician to start talking about Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools is a bit like diving into a murky pool. You're not sure what's swimming around that you can't see. You may worry about something toxic - or sharks! - hiding in the murk.
Parents can get passionate, not to mention paranoid (whoa, there, I almost said "crazed," until I remembered I, too, am a parent) when their kids' futures are at stake. This fall's heated school attendance zone hearings are only the most recent example of the political perils. Charlotte may have a reputation (possibly urban myth) of peaceable desegregation but CMS politics is where the gloves come off and politesse vanishes.
So I do see why most elected officials from city government make a point of telling voters, "City government doesn't have anything to do with the public schools. That's CMS and the school board."
But.
Anyone who cares about the economic and social health of Charlotte, or any city, must pay attention to the schools. A well-educated labor pool is a powerful economic development lure. A reputation for sorry schools repels middle-class residents and companies that hope to hire them. A change in attendance zones from a strong high school to a perceived weak one can affect neighborhood health, even property values.
Charlotte's mayoral race features two men who understand all that. Democrat Anthony Foxx grew up in Charlotte, attended West Charlotte High in the era when it was integrated via busing and talks movingly about how his West Charlotte experience, and friends he made there, changed the trajectory of his life.
Republican John Lassiter spent 11 years on the school board, an era when the board faced a lawsuit over court-ordered busing and adopted an assignment plan that ultimately led to resegregation of many - but by no means all - schools here.
Both, asked what the city can and should do for public schools, offer good suggestions. But to my knowledge, neither mayoral candidate has said what I kept hoping both would.
I want a mayor who, when asked about Charlotte's public schools, will be a proud champion.
Compare: Mayor Pat McCrory and most City Council members, if asked about city government, will brag about good things the city is doing on their watch. They recognize problems exist, but generally are cheerleaders for the city. This is to be expected.
I want them doing that for schools, too.
I want a mayor who'll make a point of saying, often: "We have a great public school system. We have many schools we're really proud of. Yes, some need work. Like most large cities, we have problems. Too many kids drop out, too many come to school not ready to learn and don't learn enough at school. But I'm proud of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and what we're doing."
Already, some of you are guffawing. Even some school board candidates characterize CMS as a failed system. That's hogwash. CMS has some excellent schools - otherwise why would Myers Park High School parents be so upset at the very thought of being reassigned? - some average schools and some that need plenty of work.
But city officials surely know city government has excellent departments, average ones and some that need work. Yet they tout the positive. Why not do the same for the schools?
I am most definitely not suggesting the mayor or any city politicians wade into school assignment disputes or other heated school board matters.
But most people consider the mayor the city's "leader." The mayor goes on camera or gets quoted when news erupts. Many voters even believe the mayor runs the schools. (N.C. public schools are mostly funded and run by state government and local elected school boards.)
Because of my job I got to interview both mayoral candidates. I asked both what the city could or should do to help CMS. Each had good ideas.
Foxx , in general, is more likely to bring up schools unasked, when touting his vision. He talks of how he'd use the visibility that comes with being mayor to encourage mentoring and tutoring in the schools. "The symbolic involvement of the mayor in a public school is important," he said. He talks about hoping to change the community conversation over schools.
Lassiter, for his part, touts his school board experience. Among his ideas for efficiency is to pull together the patchwork of agencies offering after-school programs, including the city, and to work out a way to ensure good afterschool at all schools. Whoever wins, I hope he'll put all the good ideas into action.
But those good ideas aren't all I wanted to hear. I want my mayor - whoever he is - to champion our schools. I want him to take that dive.
