Monday, December 12, 2011

CMS search: The novel

A full report on what the public said about the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools superintendent search is on the agenda for Tuesday's school board meeting.

The Cliff Notes version of the online survey report has been out for more than a week,  but the full version is posing a challenge,  according to the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute researchers who conducted the poll.  It seems the open-ended question at the end got a lot of responses.  Of the 9,300 who took the survey,  about 3,600 wrote more about what they wanted  --  and brevity was not the defining characteristic.

"The number of words in those responses rivaled full-length novels,"  a member of the research team said last week.  "For instance,  'The Grapes of Wrath.' "

As of last week's forums,  the researchers seemed unsure of how to proceed.  Clearly they realized people who took the time to write deserved more than the very brief synopses in the preliminary report,  such as "teacher needs,"  "communications"  and  "equity/diversity."  But it's also unlikely that board members want to read hundreds of pages of unedited comments.

I'll be among the group listening to how they handle it Tuesday  ...  and keeping my fingers crossed that the new board's first meeting doesn't turn into a deadline-buster.

7 comments:

Christine Mast said...

I will be watching very closely, to make sure that the Board is given every.single.word of what the public wrote in the open-ended question of the survey.

Since none of the survey answers were about "standardized testing" or "pay for performance," the open-ended question was the only place to voice those concerns. In addition to testing and Pfp, others were concerned with the extended elementary school day, and the bell schedule changes to some schools.

I attended two different meetings about the Superintendent search last week. At the first meeting at Myers Park, Eric Davis commented that "the Board wanted to read everything they could" about those answers. I will hold him to that.

At both meetings, I asked the moderator whether they would be giving a summary or all the details to the Board. At each meeting, I was told they would give the Board everything. I will hold them to that, as well.

Anonymous said...

Why dont you hold them to the ABC performance bonus that was promiced, but never paid over 3 years ago. CMS always wants something for nothing. How about the great teacher that was put into the classroom upon my recommendation. Again, received nothing for the time and effort.

Anonymous said...

Wait, what?!?

You wrote a recommendation and you received nothing from CMS? Are you expecting to receive something for writing a recommendation?? You better get on that, maybe hire a lawyer. Harold Cogdell may take up your case...

As far as the STATE ABC program, please send your legislators your bill. They are the ones stockpiling $128 mil for pfp.

Anonymous said...

CMS is going to "listen" to the business folks they had a meeting with back in October in Concord. This was held in another county so the Charlotte Chamber could "hide" away their little secrets. They could care less what the tax payers and parents of the county actually think. Eric Davis is so far in over his head its clear he has no clue or accountability. We could hope he gets outed as chair tonight for a change of direction. Even if one of the "rookies" gets the helm it we would be better served. Give Ann Clark a fair shot at this Superintendant job so we wont waste it on a outsider. She probably wont get a fare chance since she does not go along with big brother (Chamber) all the time as she is told. Thats poor that we cannot have a true leader with a plan take the helm. The new person is directed to follow the St. Peter 2014 program to the letter which is poor at best. Seems Eric is lost without his clone Peter Gorman !

Anonymous said...

So last night the survey results came out. They sub titles african american, students and others (white) were sectioned off. The consensus after $20,000 was we dont trust you cms, we have our eye on you cms, you cant communicate better than a 3rd grader, we dont trust you and we dont trust you. So we bring in a new chair (thank god) and vice chair (yes) so they can take over the super search. Guess what color this new person is going to be? Thats a HUGE changing of the gueard so fire up those buses as we go back to segregated schools. Should be fun as I think the same judge would sit on this case that ruled against us 10 years ago. Should be short and sweet !

Anonymous said...

I would not guess the color nor gender, nor age for that matter, of the next superintendent based on anything that happened last night. What you can be sure of is that the new super will have less to do with the BROAD organization. Sorry, but the new super will not be "just like the old one."

Anonymous said...

No question that the new super will not be like the old one. CMS could not find one as bad as St. Peter to fill his role ! I can fix a main issue right away. Move the woman from Harding who did a great job when it was a IB school. As a "gang " school her leadership is not effective. Bring in a large male who can shake things up and hold folks accountable. Thats called planning none of which CMS beleives in. Proactive no pro-act is what we need !