Leaders meet with parents, local school members about upcoming year

by Mike Parks

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools leaders came before parents this weekend to discuss a district at a crossroads.

The system currently is racing to fill some 300 teaching positions before school starts Aug. 25. It’s also dealing with the departure of Superintendent Peter Gorman, blowback from parents and teachers over a proposal to pay teachers based students’ performance and an upcoming school board election with 16 people running for three at-large seats, including current school board representative Tim Morgan.

Morgan was one of three school leaders on hand Saturday, Aug. 13, in Ballantyne to give parents an update on the current state of the system while looking into the future of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

“It appears we are over that major hump,” in terms of school system reductions, Morgan told parents on Saturday, citing recent developments that will lead to schools hiring an additional 500 teaching positions this year instead of cutting the more than 1,000 positions originally feared this spring. Meanwhile, the system cut some 500 non-classroom positions.

“I will take that problem every year (of needing to hire some 300 more teachers) over a reduction in force,” Morgan added.

Because the school system sets next year’s budget prior to fully knowing how much money the system will get from the state, school system leaders originally thought they would have to cut $101 million from their budget and lay off as many as 1,000 positions, along with school and program closures.

State funding reductions, instead, weren’t as severe as school leaders had anticipated, allowing them to keep teachers. However, the change in funding did not stop the closure of some schools, including Davidson I.B. Middle School. North Mecklenburg’s middle school I.B. students now attend J.M. Alexander Middle School

“Closing those schools is one of the most painful things I’ve had to do,” Morgan said. School board Chairman Eric Davis, who joined Morgan on Saturday along with school system Chief Information Officer Scott Muri, said the district likely would never even have discussed closing those schools if not for the financial situation the system found itself in earlier this year.

Davis, Morgan and Muri said finding the best teachers is key in narrowing the county’s achievement gap, which has seen some progress over the past few years before taking a step backward this past year, as did much of the state.

“We know that the single most important factor in increasing student achievement is the teacher,” Muri said, noting that things must change for the district with next year’s academic growth. That’s why the district will consider hiring a number of Teach for America candidates for its open positions. Being a good teacher is more about the drive to do a quality job than it is about degrees and certifications, Davis said.

With these matters ongoing, the school board will continue to push forward with its pay-for-performance plan, where teacher compensation depends on their students’ performance on tests. The plan has drawn criticism from many who worry the program would put too much focus on standardized testing, forcing teachers to focus on students just passing tests instead of learning all the content.

Davis countered those arguments Saturday by saying it’s unheard of in other professions to pay employees based solely on seniority and “how many degrees you have,” instead of that employee’s performance at his or her job.

Under the performance plan, the school system would take into account a number of criteria in deciding if a teacher deserves more pay for their performance. Those criteria include – along with test scores – input from each teacher’s principal, their fellow teachers, their students and those students’ parents, as well as thoughts from the teacher.

That structure should allow the system to weed out any outlying issues and get a better picture of a teacher’s overall effectiveness, Davis said.

However, the board chairman does acknowledge parents’ concerns about too much testing.

Ballantyne Breakfast Club, an advocacy group in south Charlotte, hosted Saturday’s meeting. Along with school leaders and board at-large candidates, a handful of principals, teachers and teacher assistants attended.

Current CMS openings in area schools

These positions were open at north Mecklenburg County public schools as of Monday, Aug. 15.  For more information, visit www.cms.k12.nc.us/Jobs/Pages/CareerOpps.aspx.

Alexander Middle School
• Exceptional Child teacher assistant

Blythe Elementary School
• Facilitator, Math

Bradley Middle School
• Math teacher
• Secondary dance and health (dual ceritified) teacher

Cornelius Elementary School
• Secretary

Davidson Elementary
• Art teacher

Hough High School
• Art teacher
• Career and Technical Education
marketing teacher

North Mecklenburg High School
• Facilitator, high school academic
• Math teacher
• Biology teacher
• Career and Technical Education
marketing teacher
• Head baseball coach/teacher

Torrence Creek Elementary School
• Teacher, Exceptional Child general curriculum
• Art teacher
• Teacher, kindergarten-third grade
• Teacher, kindergarten-third grade (interim)