Inclusive public schools where all Charlotte-Mecklenburg children reach their potential
March 24, 2020 Darius and Vera Swann were looking for a racially integrated school in a time of mandated segregation. They wanted, expected, a good education for their son James. Their efforts on his behalf in 1964 placed them in the crosshairs of United States history and upended Charlotte’s trajectory as a New South city. Read More …
8-20-16: CMS has a “Ready for School – Parent Checklist” posted that accompanies an update on how adults can prepare children for the new experience of kindergarten. There are immunizations to attend to, lots of forms to fill out, and anxieties to address. Many of the skill sets listed on the checklist have to do with Read More …
Aug. 12, 2016 From a commentary published in Educate! on April 22, 2005 in the days immediately following the resignation of Supt. James Pughsley. The community can tackle the big issues of fear and indifference – or not – as it chooses. But neither can be tackled without sacrifice. And since the discussion is about Read More …
July 30, 2016 Excerpt from a subsection headlined “The public interest” in a commentary headlined “Big issues calling: Schools may be about to close, but difficult challenges lie ahead needing focus, attention” first published in Educate!, June 5, 2003. But perhaps the biggest question mark hanging over the schools is whether adults from all walks Read More …
7-14-16: Using KPMG data, the Business Journal noted that Charlotte has “the ninth-most favorable tax structure for businesses” and for manufacturing operations “the fourth-most cost-effective tax structure among the U.S. cities” included in the survey. A 2014 study of the 50 U.S. largest cities ranked Charlotte last in upward mobility. Are we talking unrelated data Read More …
July 1, 2016 Comments at a 2002 UNC Chapel Hill conference by john a. powell, currently a Berkeley School of Law professor, as first published in Educate!, Sept. 5, 2002: Produce a clearer vision of the public good that integration might bring, above and beyond the narrow gains from court-ordered desegregation, a University of Minnesota Read More …
June 16, 2016; first published in Educate! Feb. 3, 2002 From a report headlined “Board Retreat: 3 one-act plays; School board hears good news about goals achieved, bad news about prospects for next year’s budget – all on top of a gathering designed to ease some of its divisions” How, asked Supt. Eric Smith at Read More …