MeckEd comes out in support of sales tax referendum

The proposal to boost the Mecklenburg County sales tax to fund teacher pay raises and a lot of other projects has been controversial since county commissioners put it on November's ballot. But it now finds itself with one influential supporter.

MeckEd, a nonprofit advocacy group, put out a formal statement this morning backing the measure. It would boost the sales tax by a quarter cent, with 80 percent of the money going toward raises for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools employees, 7.5 percent for raises at Central Piedmont Community College, 7.5 percent for the Arts & Science Council, and the balance for libraries.

Here's the full statement from MeckEd:

MeckEd is committed to fair and competitive compensation for teachers across North Carolina and in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. While we applaud this year’s statewide teacher salary increase, there is more work to do. Given the increase in teacher turnover rates and the drop in North Carolina students entering colleges of education, it is imperative to invest in teacher salaries in every way possible.

As a community, we must help CMS attract and retain the best educators to our classrooms. MeckEd’s 2014 Public Policy Agenda calls for raising the state’s average teacher salary to the national average, in order to better compete for top teaching talent.

MeckEd endorses the referendum to raise teacher salaries, and we encourage all Mecklenburg County residents to support this important investment in our educators on November 4th.

The Charlotte Chamber may be deciding today whether to support the referendum. The organization has already said it won't be mounting a campaign to push it ahead of the election. Charlotte City Council members have been a little hesitant about it, too.

And of course, there was a little battle in Raleigh over whether to let Mecklenburg vote on it in the first place.

A peek at menu for CMS, CPCC bonds

A November referendum on bonds for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and Central Piedmont Community College won't be locked in until August, but county commissioners' approval of a capital plan last week makes it a pretty sure thing.

CMS and CPCC leaders are talking about the best way to present their needs and plans, while the folks at the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce are kicking around strategies and names for a bond campaign. Publicly-funded bodies can't spend money to influence an election, so there's always a careful line between the public  "bond information" campaigns and the privately-funded "vote yes" push.

Mecklenburg County' five-year capital plan will provide $290 million for CMS and $210 million for CPCC, says county Finance Director Dena Diorio. Here's how projects break down under that plan:

In 2014-15, the county would provide money to finish the last of the CMS 2007 bond projects: A new school to relieve crowding at Highland Creek Elementary and renovations to Hawthorne High.  Other 2014-15 projects would be:

*Work at Alexander Middle in Huntersville, Myers Park High, Olympic High and Statesville Road Elementary (see details of CMS projects here).

*Reopening Oakhurst and Starmount as elementary schools.

* Construction of a new preK-8 school in west Charlotte, a new K-8 language immersion school in east Charlotte and a replacement for Nations Ford Elementary on the campus of Waddell Language Academy.

* Buying land for a new K-8 magnet in the Ballantyne area and an expansion of Northridge Middle School.

* For CPCC, doing work on the Giles Science Building and Cato Campus,  plus buying land for projects at the Levine,  Central and Merancas campuses.

In 2015-16,  CMS would get money for projects at East Mecklenburg and South Mecklenburg high schools and Northwest School of the Arts.  CPCC would launch projects at the Levine and Harper campuses.

In 2016-17,  CMS would launch work at Northridge, Selwyn Elementary and five preK-8 schools,  while CPCC would get money for a Central Campus project and Terrell renovation/expansion.

In 2017-18,  CMS would build the new Ballantyne-area K-8 magnet, convert Davidson Elementary to a K-8 school and do career-technology improvements at Garinger, Independence, West Mecklenburg and North Mecklenburg high schools.  CPCC would get money for a Hendrick Automotive expansion,  renovation/expansion to the Advanced Technology Center and the Merancas Campus project.