"Bold" is a favorite term with education reformers. A dose of boldness would have been a help to "Within Reach: Leadership Lessons in School Reform from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools."
The 98-page book was commissioned by former Superintendent Peter Gorman and paid for with almost $60,000 from a $250,000 grant the C.D. Spangler Foundation gave him. The five fascinating, tumultuous years he spent leading CMS are sanitized to the point of blandness: Gorman rallied a community that had soured on CMS. A dysfunctional board learned to work together. Strategic staffing created remarkable gains. Teacher performance pay created "a great deal of nervousness and distrust," but "Charlotte is holding firm." The CMS agenda "included several strategies that were in the giving 'sweet spot' for several national foundations," bringing millions into the district.
Gorman's detractors may scoff at the idea that he has anything to teach the district's future leaders and others across the nation. I think he does -- but the lessons came from the setbacks and stumbles as much as the victories, and nothing was ever simple. I'm willing to bet that when current and former superintendents get together, they tell the kind of war stories that would have made this book gripping.
The account of his arrival is interesting, especially as CMS goes through the replacement rituals again. Gorman tells the authors, Tim Quinn and Michelle Keith, that he followed news on CMS closely during the year the district was seeking a leader, and brought his family to Charlotte for four days before applying. Between the hiring vote and his arrival, he used the California/North Carolina time difference to lay groundwork, making calls to key figures in Mecklenburg County from 5-8 a.m. Pacific time before starting his job in Tustin.
"Every minute of every day during the first week was carefully mapped out," from a 6 a.m. meeting with support staff (schools weren't open in July) to a walk in the Matthews Independence Day parade. "This action spoke volumes about the new superintendent's level of interest in this part of the district and helped to overcome the talk of secession," he writes.
Why did he decide to leave the job he writes so glowingly about? What was the personal toll of five years as the face of CMS? Why did the superintendent who seemed to thrive on communication and community ties abruptly walk away without public comment or farewells?
This book doesn't give the faintest hint. Peter Gorman the textbook leader pays tribute to all the good folks he worked with and vanishes into a rosy memory. Peter Gorman the human being still hasn't broken his silence.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
The Gorman years through a rosy filter
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He doesn't have to comment. The Sarah Palin departure format says it all.
Ann
What are the good things Gorman has to offer are you are referring to?
AN EVENT THAT MIGHT HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO DR. GORMAN’S DEPARTURE.
At a series of board meetings in the 2010-2011 school year there were a significant couple of closely tied events. These happened during three-minute public comment periods at the opening of board meetings. I witnessed them from the gallery.
During the budget discussions, with all the possibilities of reductions in force, reshaping of school assignment areas and closings, there was a group of Black adults that that took the three minute comment periods to the level of personal attacks on Dr. Gorman’s family. It was severe and vicious. Those speakers were warned.
At the next meeting where comments were allowed, those parents sent young children in their places and had them read the similar hateful messages directed toward the superintendent’s family.
Usually when cute kids speak with sophistication beyond their years, there is great applause from the audience and board members. The crowd was stunned and silent, except for the few adults who had organized the attacks.
At the next board meeting and continuing to today, the board chair’s greeting to the public wishing to speak changed from a message stating the time limitation to a warning about verbally attacking staff and members of their families.
In my lifetime I can think of only one event of similar impact on a public official.
On February 27, 1968, CBS news anchor Walter Cronkite read at the close of the broadcast his statement changing his support for the Vietnam War to advocating its end.
President Johnson said to his staff, "If I've lost Cronkite, I've lost Middle America.” Two weeks later Johnson announced he wouldn’t run for re-election.
And that’s probably similar to what happened at CMS.
To quote Cronkite, “…and that’s the way it was.”
Bolyn McClung
Pineville
Postscript: Every time I hear the chair’s warning before each public comment period, I remember those events. I’d like for Dr. Morrison’s first board meeting to start minus the warning of personal attacks. It would set the right tone..
I won't dispute Bolyn's version of those events, as I wasn't present. However, warning speakers not to make attacks on individuals has been a standard part of the public comment period for many years. It isn't anything new.
Pam,
You're correct. The change was to add "staff and family members" to the warning. Plus the rest of the warning changed slightly to indicate a more serious will to enforce it.
Hope your national campaign is an exciting adventure.
Bolyn
April 26, 2012
Thanks, Bolyn. We'd love to have your endorsement!
Yes Bolyn, please endorse reverend waffle's busing plan for Pam and meck acts.
I think you hit on the problem with Gorman -everything he did was for show. He was, almost, a PR master. Strategic staffing sounds wonderful, but I don't think the data backed up the assertion that is was extremely effective. His listening tour at the beginning of his tenure was not to gauge what people wanted, but to gauge what people would support him in what he wanted. I fear the same in RE Pete. Decentralization simply added layers of bureaucracy and more costs, but again it looked like a good plan. His hirings left much to be desired - ambler and perez, really? How many of you really thought he was trying to work with teachers on pfp after HB 546 was introduced by his BFF Ruth? I won't even get into the Broad virus that now infects our district...look around the country and see how many LEAs have fired or removed Broad people, or had them quit like Gorman. See the Playbook run page for page with attacks on tenure, school closings, use of mercenary teachers (TFA), and of course the rise of Testing.
It really doesn't matter much who the Superintendent is. Their spirit will be destroyed by the dysfunctional BOE, crazy parents, "faith" groups and other wacko organizations, and of course - disruptive students.
Who cares about what he writes in the book. He did very little withing CMS and will always be know as a QUITTER and he lied to the community when he said he was not leaving. This guy was a loser from the start and closed 11 schools while adding volumes the class room sizes with 0 regard for kids. His tactics were poor at best and he continues to bash CMS around the country. Why in the world are people defending this trash?
I agree with you, Bolyn, about the disrespectful treatment Dr. Gorman and the board received from speakers at the board meetings. It should be noted that one of the speakers who frequently accosted the board and used children as her surrogates is VP of the NAACP.(How many of our board members also belong to that organization?) Things got so bad that even Joe White, who was a founding member of the Swann Fellowship, found it necessary to firmly admonish this group.
However, I would also like to add that this type of disrespectful behavior is really not new. When I served on the CMS Task Force in the mid 2000's we presented our findings to the public in a series of meetings. A board member (still a board member today) accompanied a group (of white women) to one of the presentations. During the meeting, conducted by Harvey Gantt, the women disrupted the meeting by shouting out when they disagreed with something. When this occurred many in the heavily African American audience turned and looked at them in amazement. After the meeting I spoke to the board member about what had occurred. He excused his friends' rudeness, saying that "Anger in the pursuit of justice is justified."
Sharon Starks
One might also say that the Observer spent a lot of years looking at the busing era through a "rosy filter" as well.
Is it possible that 9:37 has participated in public comments at board meetings? Seems he/she would fit right in with some of the participants.
DON'T THINK I'LL BE ENDORSING THAT CAMPAIGN.....but
What makes Charlotte an exciting place to live is the high level discussions over important issues. Some I like. Some I don't.
For example, while I'm a Republican, it is pretty interesting to follow the DNC's small retreat scheduled for the middle of this year. Wouldn't want their man to win in November but if you miss the show you miss a lot.
Same with Pam's petition. It's based on good discussion and dedication. There are things to learn there....but sign that document...NO!
Bolyn
Pineville
Until diversity and entitlements are completely removed as the driving forces to managing education, nothing will change.
Period.
It is NOT the school system's responsibility as to what transpires once a child steps off school property.
It is our collective responsibility to ensure every child has what they need IN school to have an equal opportunity to succeed. Beyond that, where they live or what type of parent(s) or guardians they have helping them at home is immaterial.
Get off the class size argument. We've had large class sizes in school forever, even when I was going to school 30 years ago.
Do we need additional schools built in areas to handle whole school overcrowding? Yes, but we also had schools that needed to be shuttered and the fact we still have unspent bond money from 2007 should tell you why we have the problem in some areas.
My niece's graduating class (Lexington High School) currently has about 925 in it and she's a freshman! She has some classes with 35 to 40 students in them but they are building another high school which she will attend starting her junior year.
We've been dealing with these same issues for decades and very little has changed.
There is no 9:37 ...
It looks like 9:37's extremely disparaging and rude comments were removed.
OK all you would-be teachers, this is absolutely your last chance to sign up for the Teach Charlotte program. We know we've had numerous extensions previously, but seriously, this is it! If you want to teach in a high-needs school, and take classes at night to earn your certification, you need to sign up for this wonderful opportunity:
We will be extending our final application deadline until Monday, April 30! Please note that this will be our absolute final deadline, and we will not be able to accept any additional applications after April 30 at midnight.
Wiley,
You're right--almost all school systems have at some point had to deal with overcrowding, aging facilities, even split day schedules to accommodate growth and/or funding issues (In Ohio I spent first grade in a crumbling old school building, then second grade in a "rustic" temporary building while a new school was being built. When I first started teaching, my special ed class met at a table in the cafeteria of my Chicago area school.) Folks may have grumbled about the state of things but we didn't see the bitterness and nastiness we often see today.
Why the difference? I think we've stretched this equity, justice, fairness, and now, apparently, the "opportunity gap" thing so far that everyone feels aggrieved about something. Suburbanites have been told for so long that they are selfish and somehow responsible for lower performance in urban schools that many have had it. Might as well start demanding some of the goodies for themselves.
Sharon
I think Sharon is spot on. Certainly what she describes is how I feel.
I sure am glad Our brand new Heath Morrison was not at West Charlotte breakfast meeting the day of the gun incident (missed by 24 hrs). Just think he could have seen that and jumped back to RENO to stay. Then we could have Ann Clark who is the most effective of the bunch. Or maybe Cash would have jumped back in the fold at that point willing to take on the would be criminals. Ericka and Mary you should be careful were you take the new guy we have invested alot of tax payer money in him. I sure expect him to be around at least as long as Project LIFT.
Sharon's got part of it right: entitlement. Where we're at now is, everybody feels entitled to something, and what that something boils down to is a larger piece of the pie than what they have. We don't ask for things anymore, nor do we work to earn them. Rather, we demand what "should have been ours to begin with." Everyone - black, white, suburban, urban, rich, poor - is guilty of this, and until it stops, until Charlotte sees itself as a city rather than a conglomeration of pie pieces, CMS will continue to dissatisfy everyone equally.
I've read this book before it's called "Lies that my teacher told me!"
Folks if your mad about your zone school and think their is another "better whiter" option then tell CMS the zone school is a threat to your child and choose the one you think is better. We all know this goes on everyday. Better yet you "bus" that minority kid over to Sharon Elementary for the "better education" that kid will feel so out of place its not funny. You will feel safe that your child has better daycare. Of course it makes no sense at all , but if you feel the need Ericka,Mary,Richard,Joyce you go ahead. Oh I am sorry Ericka already took her son out of CMS.
Sharon 10:38, I agreed with you till your last conclusion. The more correct conclusion is that suburbanites were okay with throwing money at urban schools because they were "promised" this and the new buildings would solve the achievement gap. After 10 years of this fruitless effort, and the suffering suburbanites have put up with overcrowded schools, classrooms, racists threats from the NAACP and from many members of the BOE, there is only so much a nation of liberty and freedom loving Americans should put up with.
Ann, it is the old saying, looking at whatever through rose colored glasses. Similar to drinking the koolaid.
Bolyn, the incident you related just continues to reinforce the message that this bad, anti-social, behavior among the balck kids. These are the role models these kids perfer.
Until you get serious with this behavior in public places, these people should have been removed forceably and arrested for threats against these people. Likewise, these kids in schools with no behavior standard need to be dealt with directly and decisively.
My father is a retired public school superintendent who worked for rural and suburban school systems in New York, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine. On two occasions my father was threatened with a gun by angry parents - white parents. I know what it's like to grow up in a public fish bowl- not to say there weren't some advantages that came with my father's position. I can't begin to fathom what it would be like to be the wife or daughter of a public school superintendent here in Charlotte. Fish bowl? No, our public school system is a man eating shark tank. Perhaps the untold "human story" of Dr. Gorman's tenure was deciding to prioritize the needs of his family first.
Alicia Durand
12:37
While I was attending graduate school, a white 13-year-old student came into my former Jr. high school with a gun and tried to kill the school principal (suburban Connecticut). He missed the principal, struck a non-life threatening bullet into a secretary (the mom of a boy I once dated) before killing the janitor. The incident made national news. I don't want to hear one more thing about anti-social behavior among "those black kids".
Alicia Durand
This was the Junior High School I attended.
- Alicia Durand
December 10, 1985 Portland, Connecticut,
United States
Floyd Warmsley, 13 1 dead, 2 injured 13-year-old student Floyd Warmsley fatally shot a school custodian, wounded the principal and school secretary, and held a student hostage with a rifle at Portland Junior High School in Portland, Connecticut after he had been suspended for refusing to take off his hat while in school. He was arrested after his aunt convinced him to surrender.
If I recall, Community House Middle School in Ballantyne recently had a loaded gun incident.
As did West Charlotte High on Wensday of this week. What is LIFT plan for guns in classrooms?
Re: Guns at Community House Middle School and West Charlotte High - I guess we don't have to worry about closing this "Opportunity Gap".
3:38 - Too funny ! For diversity I am sure one will show up at Myers Park or Audrey Kell next week. In Davidson their have been no reports this year of guns in schools. Idea send a bunch of kids from West Meck starting at age 4 up to Davidson for school. Just a hour and a half bus trip. These kids will become Anthony Foxx overnight ! Good use of LIFT $
Yikes! You were close, 3:57 -- gun at South Meck just reported.
Race doesn't matter...Students who disrupt the learning environment should be removed. I also believe emotionally "disabled" and felonious students ahould be assigned to schools that specifically address their issues.
Anon 338 maybe you should show up at Myers Park and see the actual student body. Not the high dollar crowd you think!!
How did talking about gormans bs book turn into gun play.. Dam, G man can bring the best out of people.
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