To really get a feel for how things are going at Charlotte-Mecklenburg's new preK-8 schools, a panel of volunteers should be sent in to do a checkup, says Dr. Becka Tait.
Tait -- a pediatrician, CMS parent and member of the League of Women Voters Education Committee -- told the school board it should revive its Equity Committee to get beyond the data at these eight new schools, which will play a crucial role in getting kids from impoverished neighborhoods ready for high school. (Read more about the preK-8 schools in Sunday's Observer.)
"It's time to ask those students 'How are you doing?' " Tait said. Volunteers could flesh out staff reports, she said.
Equity -- the concept of making sure all schools get what they need to educate their students -- may be the biggest question looming for the new school board and the superintendent they hire this spring. There are sharp differences in the community about how to define and execute equity, and the current board will have to hash out its own approach.
The Equity Committee illustrates the challenges. In 2002, as Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools was moving from court-ordered desegregation to a neighborhood-based student assignment plan, the school board created the panel to monitor and report on progress. Over the years, the committee did some interesting research that included extensive school visits and data-crunching. But there were always questions about what the board expected and what it would do with the mandatory annual reports.
By 2009, when an election brought in five new members, the committee's existence was controversial. Some in the community and on the board viewed it as a holdover from the battle over busing. Others thought it was an essential voice for schools and communities that might be overlooked. There were rifts, sometimes rancorous ones, among committee members who represented different views. The then-new board voted to end the requirement for Equity Committee reports, and the committee stopped meeting in spring of 2010.
Now there's a new board majority. The revival of the committee is probably not the top issue on anyone's agenda. But the bigger questions of equity -- how it's defined, what it means for schools across Mecklenburg County and how the community is engaged -- loom large.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Give preK-8 schools a checkup?
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40 comments:
The Equity Committee isn't very equitable when board members appoint activists as payback. Or when half the committee is some combination of Mecklenburg Acts (which is basically the education committee of the very left wing league of women voters) and the Tuesday morning breakfast forum (which is a bunch of leftover activists from the 60s who often seem more interested in 60s style solutions rather than helping children).
@7:23
If you're going to speak of others in such a disparaging way, you should at least have the decency to use your name.
EQUITY COMMITTEE, AN EXAMPLE OF STAYING AROUND TOO LONG.
The Equity reports used to be interesting. I can remember getting useful information from them. However, the committee’s leadership drifted away from solid and reliable people in the beginning to folks who let their emotions override their good senses. In other words, they didn’t understand they were an advisor group; not the shadow Board of Education.
I found the earlier reports very useful. It was from reading a report from about 2004 that I learned that all but 80 students of one year’s increase of 4000 were from below the poverty line. The same report noted bright flight to private schools and surrounding counties as a measure of something wrong about CMS.
The 2007 Meredith Supreme Court decision also was a dilemma for the committee. Meredith changed the focus from race-based to economically based. The committee was left with their anchor dragging in the sand.
Also the committee began to drift into sexual gender issues. While noteworthy, was not on a level with the issue of keeping CMS from backsliding on the solutions that would keep the federal government from directing the schools instead of the Board.
I wouldn’t bring back the Equity Committee. The most I can see would be study groups appointed by the board for specific issues. Name the study group after the specific issue. Term of the group would be in weeks not years.
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
Equity:
The state, quality, or ideal of being just, impartial, and fair.
Our education spending is anything BUT fair and much of it is based - again - on bogus school lunch numbers.
Try asking suburbanites what their definition of equity is in the area of public education funding.
I'm sure you'll get a completely different definition.
If you want to see another version of "equity", read Fannie Flono's rambling piece on philanthopy related to Reid Park.
I'm sure you'll find it as riveting as I did.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/01/13/2922313/try-being-a-philanthropist-this.html
So Boylyn, are you saying that Rob Harrington, the Equity Committee's final chair, let his emotion override his good sense?
Bolyn -- sorry.
All of you must not have attended the meeting last month for CMS Board. They paraded 3-4 principals from the pre-k -8 schools touting "how great its working and the kids love it". Clearly you concerned parents must have seen that "puppet meeting" as the principals for course would not bash CMS. When asked for data updates they had none ! Heck they should be on the board with answers like that. Concerned citizens and Equity Committee's we dont need those at CMS all is sunny on a daily basis ! Just pay that big tax bill to support the idiots.
I did not write the post at 7:23 am; however, as a former member of the Equity Committee I will have to agree of some of what this poster said. For its last few years the Equity Committee, for whatever reason (including the increasing number of board members who declined to make appointments to the committee)in my opinion became very top heavy with agenda driven folks. This was caused in part because some board members who were still making appointments chose to make appointments outside of their districts. There was no board policy against this, but the resulting committee then had as members two white women from District 4, appointed by the representatives from district 2 and district 3, and a black woman from district 5 appointed by the representative from district 4. All just happened to be members of Meck ACTS.
When Molly Griffin's district 5 member's tenure was up she declined to appoint anyone; district 6 had no appointee (I live in District 6 but appointed by an at large member), nor did District 1. Dr. Gorman had two appointments, one being Rob Harrington, who became chair and I thought did a very fair job of trying to equally consider all sides of an issue. Unfortunately some of the members were not so inclined.
There are many different viewpoints on every issues within CMS it seems. But in my opinion it was very much a struggle to get a fair hearing on those various viewpoints on this committee. Especially concerning to me was the questionable use of data specifically to prove how un-equitable CMS was. Members were cranking out graphs and charts which at times improperly used data to prove what might not be true. Also, because CMS is such a huge system it is virtually impossible for lay people (and probably those working within CMS) to know everything about the system. So reports were written criticizing areas within CMS without full knowledge of all that was involved.
The danger of all this is that the reports showed a skewed and sometime inaccurate view of CMS and equity. While citizens certainly need to be heard on CMS policy. an equity committee made up of agenda driven folks of whatever persuasion does nothing to actually enhance equity within the system. Ironically, it may be that board members making agenda driven appointees may have led to the demise of this committee.
Sharon Starks
I was a member of the previous version of the Equity Committee and then was appointed when it morphed into the Equity Committee's life. In the beginning, the group truly represented varied viewpoints and we had constructive, respectful conversations that led to excellent reports. Our chairman, Julian Wright, made sure that discussions were fair and that everyone's voice was heard and listened to. Toward the end of the committee's life, it became very agenda driven because some Board members misused their appointments; although they kept within the 'letter' of the policy, they did not follow the spirit of the policy which was to appoint people in their district ensuring that the differing opinions in the community were well represented. This small committee ended up with 3 people who were leaders in Mecklenburg ACTS! Unfortunately, with these partisan appointments came disrepectful language, uncooperative behavior and people who wouldn't listen to opinions that differed from their own. There was a nastiness and mean spirited tone to the committee. This was a true shame because the Equity Committee had been a model for encouraging tough and uncomfortable dialogue in a respectful setting. Even in this setting of a blog, I see disrepectful and nasty comments and don't think this moves us forward in these challenging educational times.
Everything in CMS and with the Board of Education is agenda driven.
Just so folks know, the two women appointed by the representatives of District 2 and 3 were myself and Carol Sawyer. We do indeed live in District 4. When it came time for Tom Tate to make an appointment, as there were already two District 4 residents on the committee, he chose to appoint someone who lived in District 5 but worked in District 2. (I fail to see how our race has anything to do with this, by the way.) Districts 2, 3 and 4 have many common interests, because they are the districts where the majority of high-poverty schools are concentrated. I would be interested to hear from anyone living in District 2 or 3 who thinks that Carol and I did not represent the interests of those districts' schools as well as anyone who actually lived there would have done.
Thinspace, I think you ought to identify yourself so that we all know that no one is posting comments under multiple names. Also, I would challenge your assertion that we engaged in "disrespectful language," "uncooperative behavior,"or various forms of "nastiness." I repeat my comment to @7:23 that if you wish to make such accusations you should do us the courtesy of identifying yourself.
This is the first time I have made a comment on this blog. I don't want to engage in a 'tit for tat' conversation with you, Pam, but thought my identity was evident from explaining my tenure on the Equity Commmittee. I wanted to express my point of view since I saw the Equity Commmittee's evoluation quite differently from you. It was unfortunate that there were major changes to the tone of the Equity Committee when Chair Julian Wright left. Under Julian's leadership, he allowed no disrepect, the committee was high functioning and demonstrated a cooperative spirit creating reports that we were all proud of. It was hard work and there were many uncomfortable discussions, but we pushed through because we had a deep respect for each person on the Equity Committee. We knew these conversations were important and it felt safe to be honest because there was so much trust in the group. Sorry to see that kind of group go. Ellen Martin
Part of the challenge we face in this community, Ann, is that "equity" as we practice it here is not "... the concept of making sure all schools get what they need to educate their students." It is the concept of arguing about whether everybody has exactly the same stuff, and as long as new facilities are built, old facilities will never have the same stuff.
Thank you Ellen. Insiders probably knew who you were, but as this is a public forum, I think it's best to make it clear for all. I expect other readers can see that there are a variety of opinions on the Equity Committee, and this forum is probably not an especially useful place to try to sort them out. For further clarity, Patsy Burkins was the District 5 resident appointed to represent District 4, and in my opinion she was an excellent and hardworking committee member.
9:06 Thank you for the thoughtful and insightful post. Sadly, as someone once said:
"Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is a phrase describing the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments.
Sounds like that is the case here, too. Everyone using the data to support whatever their position or agenda might be. CMS is clearly too big for any lay person, including many BOE members to fully comprehend. Thus, too many of the proposals being pushed, aren't necessarily in the public's best interest.
Clearly this previous posters demonstrate that the Equity Committee has too much baggage to be resurrected especially with any of those previously serving. My thanks to you who served but you are excused.
Secondly, we are only 1 semester into this K-8 setup. While this works very well in small towns, rural settings and in the past, the results of more recent implmentations to address achievement issues are not impressive. It seems though to be starting to get notice of those who wish to poison change like thay have done with Waddell HS closing and moving most of those to Harding. While I might characterize the principals' reports as rose colored glasses, we do want to learn how it is going to either adjust the rudder or get a better map.
Lastly, it continues to puzzle me why the BOE is scared to have folks on the board that have any analytical abilities, who represent the taxpayers, and who are from Missouri (the show me state).
Knowing and having dealt with current and past BOE members, I know them to be well meaning individuals.
Yet, having watched current and past members of the CMS admininistration, I feel like I'm back in grade school being lectured to by someone who has all the answers to the test, yet wants me to find the answers on my own rather than laying the subject material out in an easy to understand matter. The end result being wasted tax payer dollars on projects that never should have seen the light of day.
@10:25 a.m. I think you are correct that if a new committee is appointed, it would be best to start with a fresh group.
As a final, pedantic note, as I think about it I believe that contrary to what I said earlier, Patsy was appointed to the committee before I was. I'm sure no one out there cares, but as this is on the record, I don't want to leave incorrect information out there. This is what happens when you do history on the fly. I'll bow out now.
10:34
The road to h**l is paved with good intentions.
We as a community need to put aside electing "well meaning individuals" and start electing people who can get this complex job.
Or you will just continue this textbook example of insanity.
...Lastly, it continues to puzzle me why the BOE is scared to have folks on the board that have any analytical abilities, who represent the taxpayers, and who are from Missouri (the show me state).
...because common analytics don't work in CMS when dealing with local, state and the federal govenment.
In order to analyze the data, you have to start with verifiable data, to which CMS does not have.
So what we do is stir the pot of bogus data and try to make some sense out of it that makes us feel good and that we've accomplished "something".
WC, while you are right, you are explaining the current level of analytics we see now. For an example of what I am talking about, let's use startegic staffing.
This school system and Arne Duncan like to spout these few school examples of closing the achievement gap and improving test scores of this demographic. However, luckily, CMS has a number of similar demographic schools that are not filled by strategic staffing that are doing as well and better than those that are filled. The current analytical minds ignore these but where we need to go should question if we need to continue strategic staffing once the initial committments are over with this revelation of data.
I do realize the shortcoming of most of the current data. Your point (fraudulent FRL) and the fact that the data comes from school system itself are my concerns. There is no independent testing agency.
Pam, Thanks for correcting the part about the timing of Patsy's appointment. That actually is important information, as it belies your statement that Tom appointed someone from district 5 because there were already two district 4 members on the committee. At the time of his appointment of a district 5 resident (who worked in district 2) to represent district 4 there was already a district 5 rep (who lived in district 5) on the committee, as well as a district 2 rep (who later resigned and was replaced by Pam, resident of district 4).
Sharon Starks
Sharon,
I did think it was important to clarify the chronology. However, I think the larger point is that the school board members elected to represent Districts 2, 3 and 4 chose people who they believed understood and would address the challenges those districts faced. And frankly, I think we did a good job of representing those districts' concerns. I have not heard any complaints about our performance from people living in those districts.
Pam, of course they would not complain. They had scads and scads of resources flowing to them. The complaint should have come from anyone with an overall view of the system. Especially as suburban classrooms filled to 40 to 50 students, had magnets taken away from them and as CMS decided to define itself as an urban system.
Actually too, CMS BOE should never create any more groups without a taxpayer advocate assigned to it. Someone has to call BS on the narrowness of thinking all money is free.
@12:15. And your name is? If you're going to address me by name, it's only polite to let me know who you are.
Clearly all of us are concerned about what is happening with the mis-management within CMS. The board and CMS mngmt must ADMIT they have not clue and stop having so many outside relationships. Get the Chamber, Allen Tate, Spanglers, Broad & Bill Gates to name a few OUT ASAP. Identify your goals/needs and move forward with a common purpose of educationing the childrens needs and supporitng teachers to do it. Until you do this the mess that CMS is today will never change. Why have we been listening to Bob Morgan since he runs the Chamber and lives in Gastonia? How much does he really care about CMS? Were are his kids in school today?
To all you Anonymous folks
A board member once criticized me for using a different name to sign-on even though I put my name and town at the bottom of all comments. Since I deeply respect his opinion I dropped that.
However, Anonymous is good enough for me.
Two decades ago Joe Klein was the Anonymous that wrote Primary Colors.
Our nation wouldn’t have been same without Poor Richard, Mark Twain, The Unknown Soldier, Dear Abby and Ann Landers. Though these are pseudonyms and pen names they serve the same purpose.
Here’s an anonymous phrase I like, “Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so.” Dr. King just happened to say it differently and it added to his fame. Either way, pretty effective.
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
In Ann's comments about the Equity Committee she stated that "Over the years, the committee did some interesting research that included extensive school visits and data-crunching."
But two items she does not mention:
First, this "research" and the extensive school visits came with a cost in time and money for the system. Committee members were pretty much given free rein to access various department heads and ask for detailed data and information regarding whatever issues the committee was studying (each member had their own CMS identity badge). And sometimes this information-seeking included time consuming tasks for schools and principals (for instance seeking detailed information on clubs available at each elementary school). Also when the committee visited schools, quite a bit of scheduling and preparation was required on the part of the school staff.
Most importantly in regard to the research, often the conclusions presented in the reports depended on who was writing that particular report. There were many times when different equity committee members came away from school visits or staff presentations with very different perspectives, depending on their individual points of view (and their "expertise" with data). And of course, as stated in a previous post, because of the size and complexity of CMS not all information committee members were using in reports was complete and entirely accurate. Nor was all analysis of data accurate, since we were not professional data crunchers (no matter how much of an expert each member considered themselves to be).
So to me, Ann's comments about the committee's research and data crunching is a perfect example of why the board was correct to abolish the equity committee. Too few questioned the accuracy of their research and conclusions, which after all was being done by volunteers with no checks or balances.
Sharon Starks
Good post Bolyn....
Although it seems the board member didn't respect you as much as you respected them because they "shamed" you into signing your name.
People have their reasons for not using their names, as I do.
Would it make it any better if I started signing my posts Tom Wickenburg instead of Wiley Coyote?
I still believe the same thing and will tell it to anyone in person.
Funny thing is, some people here have a hard time handling anonymous posts. I couldn't imagine them hearing my comments face to face.
Bolyn, my experience with people displeased with the use of anonymous if that they do not want to debate your points, they want to directly assassinate your character because logic and facts do not support their position. And the Observer editors gleefully oblige.
Wylie, your take on people "having a hard time handling anonymous posts" is interesting. I don't think yours are abusive, but we've all read some that are must plain mean. Do you think those folks walk up to strangers and tell them they're dumb, lazy and ugly? Or do they just post anonymously and feel bold about being rude?
Personally, I think most people could handle your opinions face to face ... but I'm not sure you could get them to hold still for repeated lectures on FRL :-)
Oops ... does it count as an error if you misspell a fake name? Just finished typing "Lake Wylie Elementary" and had that stuck in mind.
Ann,
First of all, I said "some people", not all people and secondly I wasn't going to mention any names.
I don't diagree with you regarding abusive anonymous posts. I'm talking about a few who have a hard time with Anons who post very thoughtful posts that don't attack anyone but are counter to another point of view.
Regarding people holding still about my obsession over the NSLP, of course they couldn't hold still.
Those are the same people who don't want to face the reality that public education is broken and that the system is predicated on those bogus NSLP numbers which greatly contributes to mess we have.
How about you Ann? Do you have any idea just how many of the 78,000 CMS students who are currently enrolled in the NSLP actually qualify, other than regurgitating a number CMS tells you?
Anyone?
Tom Wickenburg
Ann,
Getting my name incorrect doesn't count because it's anonymous, so spelling goes out the window.
If you had misspelled Tom, we'd have a problem.
=o)
Wiley, no, I have not independently verified lunch eligibility. But if we want to get all existential before the weekend, I don't independently verify any CMS numbers. I haven't counted heads to see if there are really 138,012 kids. I don't audit tests to see if kids really pass. And I sure can't count to a billion dollars. It could all be an illusion ...
OK, that's being flippant. But the reality is there's always a lot of trust involved in covering a huge institution. The best backstop comes from other agencies that do monitor and audit, and from the knowledge that whistleblowers can raise questions if they see something amiss.
My take on the FRL/EDS numbers is that they're a rough proxy for "kids who need extra help," in the way that pass rates are rough proxies for "kids who have mastered basic academics." Neither is perfect by a long shot. Debate over better ways to get at those things is healthy.
Ann,
Thanks for the explanation but my question was rhetorical, as I really didn't expect you to answer, nor was I questioning your coverage of CMS.
Quite frankly, if it wasn't for your coverage of CMS in detail, we'd all be mushroomed.
Hey, Sharon, just pulled your 2:41 comment out of spam. Just when I think it's not snagging real comments ...
The last 2 years, CMS has published a set of numbers at the start of the shcool year that represent DSS's work to "pre-qualify" kids for FRL. As if by some alignment of the stars, the sample audits seem to mathematically suggest that any FRL applications submitted outside the perview of DSS are not forthright.
Thanks, Ann. I wondered where it went--thought maybe I imagined that I had posted it. It's been that kind of day.
Sharon
One last word on the Equity Committee. When it was established by board policy there were no provisions written into the policy to evaluate the committee's work or check the accuracy of its reports. It also was given no ending date, so it could essentially operate forever under whatever parameters the committee members wanted. In recent years, when it morphed into a largely agenda driven committee, the only way it could be controlled was by a re-write of board policy which eliminated the Equity Committee. Any new committees of any type established by the current board should definitely have strict parameters concerning purpose, appointees, evaluation, and longevity.
Sharon Starks
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