CMS board member Eric Davis named to NC Board of Education

Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member Eric Davis was named to the N.C. Board of Education on Tuesday, Gov. Pat McCrory’s office announced.

Davis, a senior vice president with Wells Fargo Corporate Real Estate Group, has served on the local board since 2009, chairing it for his first two years. McCrory cited his “strong background in education oversight” leading the state’s second-largest school district.

The state appointment does not require Davis to leave his Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools post.

McCrory named Davis to an at-large seat vacated by Marce Savage of Waxhaw, a Union County school board member who recently resigned from the state board after serving about a year of her eight-year term.

Her departure came after the Union board reviewed her expenses and cited 29 problems, including billing the county and state for mileage to the same event. “Given the current issue, I do not want to be a distraction to the board and their service to the students of this state,” Savage wrote.

Davis’ appointment runs through March 31, 2021.

Davis is an unaffiliated voter who most recently emerged as a critic of the CMS board’s decision to accept Superintendent Heath Morrison’s resignation.

Morrison offered his resignation in late October after board leaders confronted him with a report from CMS general counsel George Battle III alleging that Morrison bullied subordinates and misled the board about costs of a school construction project.

The board voted 6-3 to accept Morrison’s resignation.

Davis, one of the “no” votes, said the board did not do enough to work with Morrison about the concerns. He has called for an outside attorney to review the process and make a public report.

The state Board of Education does not oversee local decisions on hiring and dismissing superintendents. In his state role, Davis said Tuesday he’s eager to work on such issues as shaping testing policies, following up on the state decision to replace the Common Core curriculum and making North Carolina a more desirable work environment for teachers.

“We’re facing some serious challenges on our ability to attract and retain talent,” he said.

Davis joins former CMS board member John Tate, who represents the state board district that includes Charlotte, and Garinger High teacher James Ford, who holds an advisory post on the state board because he is the 2014 N.C. Teacher of the Year.

This story was originally published December 23, 2014 at 6:10 PM with the headline "CMS board member Eric Davis named to NC Board of Education."