Heath and I find successors

The next CMS superintendent and the reporter who will cover her may have been in the audience at Thursday night's town hall meeting at Rocky River High.

Heath Morrison,  who took the helm of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools on July 1,  convened the meeting to field questions and comments from the public.  Before the meeting he chatted with members of the Rocky River student government,  and during the Q&A period he asked President Julia Constantinidis to stand.

"I want you to see the next superintendent,"  Morrison said with a smile,  noting that Julia is taking five Advanced Placement classes and plans to become a teacher,  then move into administration.  It's always good to have a succession plan,  he quipped,  so now he has a replacement in the wings.

Imagine my delight when I collared a young man who had asked Morrison a pointed question,  only to discover he was a reporter for the Providence Prowl,  spending a summer evening gathering information for an article.

During the Q&A,  rising senior Arjun Gupta told Morrison he'd followed last year's flap over testing and teacher performance pay,  then done a lot of research of his own.  The media didn't give the full picture,  Arjun said,  and "the teachers seemed the most misinformed."  Arjun wanted Morrison to explain how his administration would do a better job of providing full,  accurate information about the next steps toward changing the way teachers are evaluated and paid.

In fine journalistic style,  Arjun told me afterward he wanted more specifics than Morrison provided.

Arjun and his friend Jeff Pacholski,  also a Providence student,  were astute in noting that Morrison has a way with crowd-pleasing generalities.  At an event with Morrison earlier that day, blogger Tonya Jameson summed his style up in a tweet:  "Morrison has used every inspirational quote/saying in his talk.  He's like Chicken Soup for CMS."

Still,  I'd say Arjun's question got one of the best answers of the evening.  Morrison said he thinks performance-based pay is the right thing to do.  He noted that regardless of his views,  state and federal officials are mandating changes in the way teachers are rated and rewarded,  so "I would rather we be deliberate and do it well."  Morrison said he's been asking his staff where things stand and hasn't been satisfied with the answers.  At a staff retreat next week,  Morrison said,  about half the time will be focused on how to move forward with the Talent Effectiveness Project and how to keep people informed about it.

Arjun was correct in noting that Morrison didn't lay out a specific plan,  though it may be too early to expect that.  At any rate,  it's good to know we have smart young people engaging with the big issues in CMS.

Julia and Jordan Hughes, student government secretary at Rocky River,  said they hope Morrison finds ways to keep hearing students' voices as he moves forward.  I suspect he will.