‘Wasn’t the guy they wanted’: Community reacts to pending ouster of CMS superintendent
Parents, students and educators weighed in on news Monday that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Earnest Winston is on his way out.
The school board will meet Tuesday to vote on terminating Winston’s contract, a source close to the negotiations told The Charlotte Observer. The meeting will be at 12:30 p.m. in the Chamber Room of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center and be open to the public. Early Monday, Winston was told by the school board that “separation was the best path forward,” the source said.
“Just when this school year for students couldn’t get any crazier and frustrating, the BOE is trying to force Superintendent Winston out,” said Malachi Thompson, a sophomore at West Charlotte High School. “I am starting to think it’s more political than focusing on students’ educational outcomes. I am hoping for change.”
Shortly after the news broke, Winston tweeted a quote from former President Barack Obama: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
Time ran out
Former Harding High boys basketball coach and teacher LJ Johnson, 34, said he was not surprised by Winston’s impending firing.
“I feel like it was coming,” said Johnson, who also worked at Butler High School. “When he was hired, I was a fan of the hire, but it’s unfortunate that his time ran out before he got things done.”
Johnson is leaving CMS after 10 years to work as a teacher in South Carolina in the fall. Johnson said Winston, like the many superintendents he’d worked under, didn’t create enough change.
“Hopefully,” Johnson said, “when this next hire is made, that person is not going to repeat the same pattern I’ve seen, a revolving door of the same issues, from all the way at the top to the bottom. And it’s going to continue to be that type of cycle if the underlying but yet major issues are not addressed.”
Johnson said those issues include a lack of equity among schools and a lack of teacher support, both emotionally and financially.
“Being in the classroom, we’re just not compensated enough for what we’re asked to do,” Johnson said. “In the classroom and outside of the classroom, what’s on the job requirement isn’t matching the compensation sheet.”
West Charlotte parent William Bullard, whose son is a sophomore at the school, said the job of the superintendent has never been clearly defined enough. He said it makes it hard for the public to gauge how well a person is doing at the job.
But Bullard said he was not surprised about Winston’s impending firing.
“If we go back,” Bullard said, “he wasn’t the guy they wanted. I remember they went through a lot of people before they decided on him. I think they got a body in, but I don’t know how much control (Winston) has over all of these individual schools, unless they make a call that affects every school. But if you’re the person in charge, and things happen on your watch, you get held accountable. But from his position, how can he control, say, what Myers Park does, or does not do if he’s not dealing with those situations directly?”
Bullard said the next superintendent should have clear expectations. And he said the school board needs to choose wisely.
“I’m a manager myself,” Bullard said, “and you are a reflection of the people you hire. If you keep bringing in candidates that are not working, are you choosing the wrong candidates or not setting expectations? ... Something has to change.”
‘Lifespan of about four years’
Gary Richmond grew up as a student in CMS and was a full-time teacher for 29 years. He worked with Winston when the superintendent entered the system at the old Vance High School. Richmond has been a substitute teacher since retiring five years ago.
“Superintendents,” Richmond said, “have a lifespan of about four years, and that’s in any urban school system across America. It’s not unique to Charlotte. Secondly, there’s not a playbook for a pandemic. You’re going by science or what available science there is, and trying to go by best practices you see other systems using.
“And, third, there was a massive teacher shortage throughout this school year, and that’s not his fault. If nothing else, that’s the legislature’s fault for not having education-focused programs that enticed students to want to get into education and end with paying real benefits. But none of those things you can blame on Earnest.”
With test scores down, weapons being brought onto campus and a myriad of other issues arising in the past two years, what happened was bound to happen, Richmond said.
“It’s a results-driven business,” he said. “That’s what the school board is looking for.”
‘Completely reasonable measure’
Richmond said Winston won’t be the only large school superintendent to lose his job at least partially due to the pandemic. But he worries about how many superintendents CMS has hired recently. If Winston resigns or is fired, CMS will be looking for its seventh superintendent since 2011.
“It’s definitely too much,” Richmond said. “It’s almost like sports, where you have an impatient owner who doesn’t want to give the coach enough time to implement their culture, and CMS is unique that it is a very diverse school system, and it seems like when you pay attention to one demographic too much, the other demographics feel like they are not getting enough attention.”
Aidan Finnell, junior at Myers Park High and student member of the Title IX Task Force that Winston created in the fall, said it’s time for a new superintendent.
“It’s a completely reasonable measure to be taken,” Finnell said. “(Winston’s) been irresponsible with Title IX in the district in all regards, and also with the decisions made on clear backpacks. His potential removal from the district is the best decision for students and the community.”
Brooke Weiss, CMS parent and chair of Moms for Liberty in Mecklenburg County, agreed.
“Moms for Liberty - Mecklenburg has been advocating for a change in leadership since last spring,” Weiss said. “It is well beyond time for a new superintendent. The Board of Education needs to move this process along quickly so that a new leader who will be focused on improving student outcomes and safety in schools can get started.”
A CMS teacher, who wishes to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said the thought of a new superintendent neither surprises nor concerns her.
“I read the news on Instagram and thought, ‘Hmm sounds par for the course’ and kept scrolling,” she said. “This is my sixth year in CMS at the same school. I’m on my third principal and potentially fourth superintendent. I’m over trying to understand all the leadership politics. I’ll continue doing what I can to make a difference for kids in my classroom and to teach and love them well.”
This story was originally published April 18, 2022 at 6:58 PM.
