Mecklenburg and its students deserve to know more about CMS plans

Let us say I am 3 years old, and you tell me you would like to take me to the beach. First questions: What is a beach? How will I know when I have gotten there? Next questions: How are you going to get me there? What roads? Is there a place to eat along the way? Are there any signs along the way to prove we are not lost? Finally: Three months ago, you said we would go to the mountains. Did not happen. How do I know this beach trip will happen?

I suspect that students know that all this debate in Mecklenburg County over school funding and achievement and restricted contingencies is just something adults do. Students know they need to learn – a lot. Many of them also know that some students are getting more of what they need to learn. Every time they see fewer curriculum offerings, worn-out running tracks, or sense low expectations, they know.

So they ask: What does career-ready mean? What does college-ready mean? Am I learning what I need to know? You say I should do better, but what precisely are you going to do to help me get better? Are you going to continue to send me inexperienced teachers, or am I going to get one of the most experienced teachers? Are you going to lower teaching standards and call it a day? If all I get is a crust of bread, are you still going to be eating steak for dinner?

The heart of today’s education debate is over how our students and their parents can be assured that CMS school policy becomes CMS school practice. Example:

For some years, school policy has said that a student who is failing or at risk of failing must have an intervention plan designed to guide teachers in bringing that child up to grade level. After three years of asking how many students were involved and how many of those had intervention plans, I got my answer last November: There were 51,000 students failing or at risk, and 3.2% of those students had intervention plans. If there are 97% left to go, it does not sound like we are at the beach yet.

It is not a plan to simply say 75% of all students will achieve at least one North Carolina High School Diploma Endorsement. While current school improvement plans are void of any such terms after three years, are we on the right road to the beach yet?

Prior to COVID-19, the district failed to achieve a modest 2% growth in third grade Career and College Readiness (CCR) in reading for African American students. With that track record, why should we believe a current goal of 12% and 13% annual growth in such scores?

Prior to a Dec. 10 joint meeting between the Board of County Commissioners and Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, commissioners put forth specific education questions in writing. Commissioners are still waiting to receive answers to some of their specific questions. Our local school board can ignore me all it wants, but the school board ignoring its local financial partner has consequences.

I support the County Manager’s funding proposal and request for an actionable student learning improvement plan. What is wrong with wanting to reduce or eliminate the 42 low-performing schools, of which 36 are recurring? What is wrong with knowing how many CMS graduates are ready for a career or college? What is wrong with requiring an academic intervention plan for eligible CMS second and third graders? Why is this proposition or request for a learning improvement plan so controversial?

Many years ago, when my grandson was a second-grade student at Winget Park Elementary, Mrs. Mac, his second-grade teacher, intervened to make sure he mastered his times table through 10 to be ready for third grade. She had an intervention plan for all her second-grade students. Bless her heart.

I consider Superintendent Winston and many on the School Board to be friends. My disagreements are not personal. Just because there are educational injustices elsewhere, does not mean I have to accept educational injustices at home.