Who is Thelma Byers-Bailey, District 2 CMS Board of Education candidate?
Name: Thelma Byers-Bailey
School board seat you’re seeking: District 2, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
Age as of Nov. 8, 2022: 79
Campaign website: It is not up yet.
Email: ThelmaForCMS@ThelmaByers-Bailey.com
Occupation: Attorney
Education: West Charlotte Senior High School diploma with honors, Fisk University BA with honors; St. Louis University Law School JD with honors; and St. Louis University Joint Degree Program MA.
Have you run for elected office before? (Please list previous offices sought): Yes, CMS District 2 Board of Education.
Please list your highlights of civic involvement: Girl Scout leader; president, Wiley Manuel Bar Association; treasurer of the Charlotte Chapter of the Links, Inc; president, Lincoln Heights Neighborhood; member, Historic West End Neighborhood Association; member, Northwest Corridor Council of Elders (NWCCOE); member, Friendship Missionary Baptist Church CDC; member, North Carolina School Boards Association Board of Directors (NCSBA); and I have been elevated to leadership of the CMS board as vice-chair for three consecutive years
What qualities, skills and experiences do you think would make a good superintendent for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools?
Honesty, integrity, compassion, organizational intelligence, experience running a large, urban school district, evidence of leading a high achieving academic program.
CMS, along with other districts across the country and state, have lost a lot of teachers. What are your ideas to keep teachers in CMS classrooms?
Providing professional development which enhances their skill set. Providing a wholesome, inviting teaching environment. Providing ample time to prepare their classwork. Making them feel appreciated, and providing them opportunities for professional advancement that doesn’t require them to leave the classroom.
What solutions would you offer to improve student and employee safety on CMS school campuses?
Provide opportunities for exercise and relaxation outdoors to relieve stress. Provide wholesome, nourishing, healthy, invitingly delicious food for meals and snacks. Provide some time to socialize with co-workers and fellow students. Provide after-school engaging activities that expand the imagination, and opportunities to be involved in the arts, music, dance and theatrical performances. Establishing one-on-one relationships between students and adults in the school.
How do you define CMS’ achievement gap? How can CMS bridge the achievement gap, raise test scores and get the 50 district schools off of the low-performing list?
I define the achievement gap by whether students achieve or exceed growth because lack of growth is what creates the gap. Test scores will increase when students consistently, repeatedly exceed growth. Schools will get off the low performing list when they have high performing leaders in the schools, high performing teachers in the classroom, when students are present in class each day, when barriers to learning have been identified and addressed, and when they are tutored to fill in learning gaps.
Why should voters choose you over your opponents?
My achievements include two new replacement schools on the 2017 bond and preserving the opportunity to restore two historic schools for community use. I have advocated for both West Charlotte High and Harding High schools to maintain their IB magnets when proposals were to eliminate both or at least choose between them. I have advocated for the reopening of Lincoln Heights Neighborhood school as Montessori Magnet and the reopening of Waddell High School as either an IB or a Cambridge magnet without pulling the IB magnet from Harding High.
This story was originally published October 3, 2022 at 8:58 AM.
