Monday, November 15, 2010

Coach gets ready for "blind date"

This week Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member Joe White will be sworn in as president of the N.C. School Boards Association, representing 115 local boards.

It will be an interesting role for the retired coach, known for his die-hard Democratic politics and his tendency to speak bluntly. He'll be getting to know the first Republican-dominated state legislature in more than a century, fighting for school spending at a time when revenue is deflating like a punctured beach ball.

House and Senate Republicans will caucus this week to pick new leaders. The Public School Forum of North Carolina, a nonprofit advocacy and research group, recently described the prospect of getting to know new powerbrokers with a penchant for budget-cutting as "the worst blind date of their lives" for people who depend on state money.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a joke, this guy can hold his tongue. His outburst at the BOE Meeting is a prime example of how fake these clowns are.

Anonymous said...

This man has done more in his life for education than most people ever will. Good Luck Coach White! Believe me, if you had attended the meeting, you would have welcomed the comment.

Anonymous said...

Yes,Coach White is a democrat and he used to strictly toe the PC line. But I think he has learned from experience that some of his "constituents" will turn on him with a vengeance if he strays at all from their "blame anyone but us" storyline. Kudos to him for standing up to the obnoxious group that attempted to hijack the board meeting and double kudos to him for stating what needs to be said about the root of students' misbehavior.

wiley coyote said...

Joe White is a symbol of what is and has been wrong with public education for the past 40 years.

It's time to get tough. Eliminate excuses, hold students, parents and educators ALL accountable for their actions.

The time for coddling and placating certain groups of people is over.

Either get it, understand it or get out.

Joe White, facing a $100 PLUS million dollar budget shortfall, states he wants to keep both magnets and sports.

Sorry "Coach". The time for hard decisions such as cutting out extracurricular activities is here. If you can't do it, get out of the way and let someone in that can.

Anonymous said...

The 115 school systems of NC need Joe Whites head football coach record since he runs on that "coach" handle. This includes when he began up at North Meck and down to Olympic when they opened etc. and determine whether he is worthy. He was 4A state champ runner at OHS in the early 70s once but that may not be good enough.
So hand over that entire head coach record ASAP. Hopefully its worthy but we'll be the judge of that, not you.

Anonymous said...

Notes from the Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum in West Charlotte, April 5, 2007 (Joe White had been asked to speak at the last minute about proposed bonds that would build schools in the suburbs. He explains why he has to leave early but is criticized anyway):
Questioned about why he came on a day when he had to leave for another appointment, and urged to return when he had more time, White replied:

"I'm going to address that. Folks, I'm 72 years old. I got up at 6 o'clock this morning to get here. My wife got a call yesterday afternoon that they had put her mother on a morphine drop because she is literally dying and not expected to make it through the night. My wife spent the night at the nursing home. I got up and ate breakfast at Bojangles on the way to here. I made an appointment with H.E.L.P. two weeks ago because they'd been after me. I will go from this meeting to a 9 o'clock meeting to a 10 o'clock meeting to an 11 o'clock meeting to a 12 o'clock meeting, and probably discuss bonds till probably 12 o'clock tonight.

"And you're going to have the gall to tell Joe White, after spending all the years of my life that I have, that I've not been willing to come and give enough time? Folks, I'm sorry, I don't have a lot of patience with that.

"Have I not come and met with you? I understand. I know what you want. I cannot bus kids again. I'm sorry, go ahead. I was asked last night at 7 o'clock to come here."

Learning back then about some of his "supporters"--we support you only as long as we pull the strings and you dance the way we want you to dance.

Anonymous said...

Seriously, Coach isn't that complicated. Let's just call this discussion a no-brainer.

Coach Joe might be perceived as staunchly democrat but he also has a well established record for voting for anything CMS staff (predominately democrats) conjures up. His mantra, if "the staff" presents something and thinks it's a good idea, he'll vote for it.

So the touch down! question is; if a majority republican staff presents something will he vote for it? My theory, there's a good chance he will.

Again, Coach simply isn't that complicated. These are the people running our public school system. The good news, he'll continue to have some great folksy one-liners that will ensure him electoral votes and a place in NC education history. Then, we can sit him on a rocking chair front porch with a tall glass of sweat tea for a political T.V. commercial and claim him as one of our homegrown own.

Anonymous said...

Yep, if CMS Student Placement Office staff suggested busing part of the "Bermuda Triangle" (a stretch of small neighborhoods along HWY 51) to a high school in Fayetteville, I'm confident Coach would endorse the plan.

Love,
Old Providence South, then Old Providence South/West, or, are we McAlpine East/North now with 3/4 of our area still at Providence High and 10-12 kids at South Meck?

Anonymous said...

Please Coach, don't forget your meds! Please don't open your mouth, just sit back and nod, lest the folks of NC think that CMS is a bunch of racist, elitist whites..
No stories how Martin Luther King, beat you to the civil rights movements and marches before you could get down to Alabammy and all.

Anonymous said...

we're screwed...