Who's going to be the new school board member?

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board is looking for a new member, and if history is any indication, there'll be a lot of interest.

Joyce Waddell, who represented District 3, stepped down to assume her role in the N.C. Senate. Her district runs from uptown north and east through the University City area.

Waddell ran unopposed in 2013. But in elections before that, the District 3 seat has been one of the more hotly contested positions on the board.

Nine names appeared on the ballot in 2009, when Waddell won the seat with 32 percent of the vote.
Four people vied for the seat in 2005, when George Dunlap won re-election.

Dunlap, who now is a Mecklenburg County commissioner, ran unopposed a few times before that.

Applications are due Feb. 2. You can apply online here. They'll pick somebody Feb. 5.

I have two people so far that I've confirmed are going to apply.

• Levester Flowers is a retired Bank of Amerca employee and a familiar face in local politics. He's a regular speaker in the public comment sessions and has been vocal about getting families more involved in their children's education. In 2011, as CMS moved to shut down campuses amid budget cuts, Flowers organized a group called "Save Our Schools." He has run for a seat on the City Council before.
  
  He told the Observer he is throwing his hat in the ring to help continue the "upward spiral" of test scores, graduation rates and reading proficiency.

• Pat Martinez is a Charlotte businesswoman who runs a company called "Leadership in the Clouds," which works with other businesses on leadership development. She is an advocate for the Latino community and would be one of the first Hispanic people on the school board (if not the first).
  
  She said she wants to "work with school board members to restore trust and continue to enhance the integrity of our school system."

Know of anyone else applying for the position? Let me know. 

N.C. 25 percent law: Headaches, costs and questions

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board spent an hour last night hashing through the state law that phases out teacher tenure.

The gist boils down to three words:  What a mess.

The law,  passed this summer,  requires school districts to offer four-year contracts that include $500-a-year raises to 25 percent of teachers who have worked three consecutive years and earned  "proficient" job ratings.  Teachers who accept those contracts have to voluntarily sign away their  "career status"  rights,  which will disappear for all teachers in 2018.

Districts across the state have spent the ensuing months grappling with how to put that into practice,  looking at everything from who qualifies as a teacher to how you choose one in four without getting sued,  Superintendent Heath Morrison and CMS lawyer Jonathan Sink told the board.  (Read the presentation here.)

"It is one of the most complicated pieces of legislation I have ever seen,"  Morrison said.

Ellis-Stewart

" 'Complicated' is being very nice,"  responded board member Ericka Ellis-Stewart.

Ellis-Stewart is a Democrat,  and the 25 percent law is a creation of the Republican-dominated state legislature.  But frustration on the local board was bipartisan.

Vice chair Tim Morgan,  a Republican,  noted that teachers have vowed to fight the law in court.  "I hold no animosity toward the teachers who are going to be bringing the lawsuit,"  Morgan said,  looking at a handful of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators officers in the audience.

Morgan

Morgan noted that CMS will likely be forced to spend county tax money defending a system that local officials didn't create and don't support  --  "dollars that would be better spent in the classroom."

Morrison repeatedly told the board he believes lawmakers'  intentions were good,  but said the plan is rife with confusion and unintended consequences.

Sink said several lawmakers have told him their intent was to reward and motivate classroom teachers.  But the state attorney general has ruled that the legal definition of  "teacher"  includes other certified people in instructional roles,  such as counselors,  social workers,  media specialists  (aka librarians)  and deans of students.  In CMS that's more than 10,000 people.

Once you rule out those who haven't worked three consecutive years,  you're looking at more than 6,000.  CMS currently has 5,789  "teachers"  who meet the three-year requirement and have no rating lower than proficient,  HR Chief Terri Cockerham said.

The district calculates that 25 percent of eligible teachers will come to about 1,500 people who will be offered the contract and raise.  And that poses the central question:  How do you sort the 25 percent who get the offer from the 75 percent who don't?

The obvious method,  taking those with the highest ratings,  won't work.  The district calculated that 45 percent of teachers have no rating below  advanced  or  distinguished,  which are higher than proficient.  Morrison noted that a literal reading of the law,  which says no teachers can get the contract offer unless they've shown effectiveness  "as demonstrated by proficiency on the teacher evaluation"  might eliminate those who are above proficient,  though the legislators clearly intended proficiency to be the minimum.

CMS administrators and teachers are looking at other criteria,  such as National Board Certification,  attendance records and the difficulty of filling the positions.  Morgan,  who is on the board of the N.C. School Boards Association,  said some districts have considered offering the contracts to the most experienced eligible teachers,  while others say it makes more sense to offer them to the newest and lowest-paid in hopes of enticing them to stay.

Tate

Board member Tom Tate captured the general sense of confusion and frustration when the discussion began.  "My question is how is this helping us?"  Tate asked.  "How much time and energy are we putting into this that we ought to be putting into other things?  Is it going to be a net gain or a net loss?"

So what comes next?  This post is running long, so come back tomorrow for a look at the race against the clock.

Two newcomers in CMS board race

Byers-Bailey

Thelma Byers-Bailey filed for the District 2 seat on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board today, bringing the total to four incumbents and two newcomers.  It's only Day 2 of filing,  which runs through July 19.

Byers-Bailey,  a lawyer,  CMS grandparent and daughter of the educator whose name graces Walter G. Byers School,  is the first candidate to file for the westside District 2 seat.  Incumbent Richard McElrath hasn't said whether he'll seek a second term.

Bailey

Paul Bailey, mayor pro tem of Matthews,  filed Friday to run for the south suburban District 6 seat.  Amelia Stinson-Wesley, appointed to that seat two years ago when Tim Morgan won an at-large seat,  also hasn't revealed her plans.  Like Morgan,  Bailey is active in Boy Scouts.  He has spent 16 years on the Matthews Town Council  (he doesn't have a campaign web site yet,  but his bio is on the town site).

As expected,  the incumbents have filed for re-election in the other four districts:  Rhonda Lennon in District 1, Joyce Waddell in District 3,  Tom Tate in District 4 and Eric Davis in District 5.  Keep up with filings at the Mecklenburg Board of Elections web site.  See a map of voting districts here.

CMS board yanks support of performance-pay bill

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board voted unanimously to withdraw its support from House Bill 546, a controversial performance-pay measure that came to symbolize many teachers' frustration with CMS and former Superintendent Peter Gorman.

Gorman and his staff crafted the bill,  which would grant CMS the right to revise the teacher pay scale without teacher approval. A prior bill had given CMS authority to pilot performance pay with approval by its teachers. The House approved 546,  but it was tabled by the Senate.

Last year the school board was narrowly divided on the bill,  with a slim majority supporting it. Mary McCray, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators at the time, was a vocal opponent. She retired from that post and is now among three new members. As vice chair of the school board, she made the motion to tell lawmakers that CMS no longer wants the bill pursued.

The board also voted 8-1 on a legislative agenda,  with Rhonda Lennon opposing because it includes taxing authority for CMS.

CMS board in private conference on superintendent

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board has moved on to a private conference call with the consultants from PROACT Search,  who have 89 applicants for superintendent. After the closed session,  which is expected to take two or three hours, the board may release plans for upcoming interviews.

The five-hour public session ended without time for the board to talk about Project LIFT or the "theory of action."  Members spent the early afternoon jotting down ideas about what they mean by reform,  equity,  fairness, effective communictions and hiring a change agent.  Most of it was broad and hard to argue over -- things like wanting someone who is open to innovation but willing to keep what works.

"A change agent to me is,  'Do what we're doing and put a brick on the gas pedal,' " Tim Morgan said. "To someone else, it could be,  'We want a 180-degree reversal.' "

Eric Davis said he wants someone with the courage and vision to innovate. 

"Is the path that we're on the only path of courage,  or are there other courageous paths?"  Ericka Ellis-Stewart asked.

***
1 p.m. Some board members say interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh is the one who acted improperly when he emailed them to say two members had caused teachers to feel bullied and belittled during their school visits.

Vice Chairman Mary McCray, a former teacher and head of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators, said if Hattabaugh had concerns about board members' behavior, he should have discussed it with the chair and the members in question, rather than emailing the entire board.  "I see it as staff (Hattabaugh) taking on the role to chastise governance," she said.

The rift stems from visits members Richard McElrath and Joyce Waddell made to Project LIFT schools about two weeks ago.  They raised questions about the philanthropic effort to improve nine westside schools,  about whether the project supports segregated schools and about a recent report from teachers on  "hard to staff schools."

Hattabaugh told the board today there's nothing wrong with board members visiting schools, but that faculty at Thomasboro, Allenbrook, Byers and Bruns complained to their supervisors about the way board members had spoken to them.  Hattabaugh said those complaints came to him, and he talked to the board members in question.  Hattabaugh said he also spoke with Chairman Ericka Ellis-Stewart about the incidents.  On March 1, he sent the memo to all board members saying "the behavior reported to me by the staff at Thomasboro was so egregiously unfair to our teachers and staff that I cannot remain silent."

Eric Davis and Tim Morgan defended Hattabaugh's action.  "I think what our superintendent did was he defended our staff in the face of his employers,"  Davis said.

Waddell asked Hattabaugh:  "Did you feel you had retaliated because of an earlier incident?"  She later referred to "the incident with the deceased principal,"  an apparent reference to the suicide of Northwest Principal Barry Bowe,  whose death came in the midst of a CMS investigation of a security lapse at a school dance.  Ellis-Stewart tried to get Waddell to clarify the connection, but she did not.

McElrath said there "may have been something done wrong,"  but urged the board to focus on training on the proper role for board and staff,  rather than rehashing visits most of them weren't part of.  "If it means apologizing for anything that may have been done that wasn't intentional,  that's fine.  Let's move forward,"  he said.

McCray questioned the notion that board members can be intimidating to faculty: "As a teacher,  I know the intimidation factor that's out there.  Teachers are not intimidated by board members.  We're more intimidated by our principals and the superintendent."

Tom Tate agreed he doesn't know what happened,  but said the strong complaints from faculty are cause for concern.  "If I had been in a school and that had been the response to my visit,  I would have thought that I had done something terribly wrong,"  Tate said. 

Ellis-Stewart said Hattabaugh did not show her the email before sending it to the entire board,  and said she might have been able to mitigate some of the problems if he had.  Tate said that might be the lesson going forward:  If there are concerns about board behavior with staff,  any response should be crafted by the superintendent and board chair together.

Mary Kendrick,  the facilitator,  urged the board to move forward in a way  "so that no one is villainized in the process."

Read more here: http://obsyourschools.blogspot.com/2012/03/hattabaugh-board-members-bullied.html#storylink=cpy

***

10:20 a.m. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board is about to tackle some of the toughest issues on their plate and in the community: What do equity and fairness mean to each member?  Do they have the same ideas of educational reform and hiring a "change agent" as superintendent?  And how can they talk to each other when they disagree?

They're meeting today with Mary Kendrick, the facilitator who led the board's January retreat, to prepare for the superintendent search.  High on the agenda:  Looping back to some of the questions that brought tension to Tuesday's meeting.

Chairman Ericka Ellis-Stewart said she hopes today's session  "continues the business of coming together as a new team,"  which includes three members elected or appointed after the superintendent search began.  Kendrick suggested the board focus on dialogue to help them understand each other, rather than debate to prove their own points.

Tom Tate,  the only member with more than two years' experience,  said both are essential.  "We have to enter into debate at times.  ...  I think we ought to admit that there are simply times when we want to convince each other that our way,  my way,  is the way we ought to go."

Joyce Waddell countered that debate becomes "a negative tool when it becomes an argument,  rather than an exchange of ideas."

Were LIFT school visits out of line?

After two Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board members made an unannounced tour of Project LIFT schools recently, colleague Rhonda Lennon says it's time for a public discussion of the proper way for board members to deal with CMS staff.

Lennon added the discussion to Tuesday night's agenda, with the support of members Eric Davis, Tim Morgan and Amelia Stinson-Wesley.  "We need to as a board address where the line is -- how do we behave in public, what we're supposed to be doing," Lennon said today.

On March 1,  board members Richard McElrath and Joyce Waddell visited schools in the new Project LIFT Zone, asking principals and teachers what they think of the effort to improve nine west Charlotte schools with private donations.  The board voted unanimously in January to approve a contract that gave the philanthropic board an unprecedented role in running those schools,  but McElrath said he still has questions and concerns.

“I’m just trying to get my head around the real focus of this program. I’m just confused about the long-term plan,”  McElrath said,  adding that he's especially concerned that it focuses on supporting  "segregated schools in segregated neighborhoods."

Lennon said board members have to realize that even if they're voicing personal concerns,  employees see them as the voice of authority.  She said the board needs to talk about a perennial question:  How to voice dissent without undermining board decisions.  "If we have a 9-0 vote, should someone be out in the community saying they don't support it?"

Ellis-Stewart, McCray ran low-cost campaigns

Ericka Ellis-Stewart and Mary McCray spent less than $15,000 each to win countywide seats on the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board, final campaign finance reports show.

That's a sharp contrast with the previous at-large election in 2007,  when the three winners spent $21,000 (Joe White) to $58,650 (Kaye McGarry).  The 2007 crew also pulled larger vote totals,  with first-place McGarry logging 59,392 votes to Ellis-Stewart's 35,341, the top tally in 2011.

A lot changed in those four years.  A lingering economic slump made fund-raising harder.  The field of candidates doubled,  from seven in 2007 to 14 in 2011.  Voter turnout slumped,  from 24 percent to 16 percent.  The most recent race had no incumbents,  while all three 2007 winners already held the seats.  And the local Democratic party broke with tradition this year by endorsing candidates  (Ellis-Stewart, McCray and Aaron Pomis)  and mobilizing voters for the school board race.

Ellis-Stewart,  who ran her own campaign,  apparently spent $13,900 on her campaign.  She didn't fill in the column for the running tally,  but that's the total from her three individual reports. That comes to about 39 cents a vote,  compared with 45 cents to 99 cents for the 2007 winners.

McCray, who finished second,  reports spending just over $11,000,  or about 42 cents a vote.  Third-place Tim Morgan,  who already held the District 6 seat,  spent just over $23,000,  or about 93 cents a vote.

Elyse Dashew,  who finished fourth,  was the race's big spender, reporting about $42,100 in expenses (about $1.79 a vote).  The school board race is nonpartisan,  which means there are no primaries and no parties listed on the ballot.  But Dashew,  who is unaffiliated,  was likely hobbled by having no political party pushing her candidacy.

Going into the 2011 school board campaign,  there had been speculation that it would take around $50,000 to win a seat.  That was fueled partly by Eric Davis'  District 5 campaign in 2009;  he spent just over $58,000 to win a decisive victory over one opponent, at a cost of about $3.26 per vote. 

Cell-phone stipends for CMS board?

In a billion-dollar budget,  $6,048 a year is barely pocket change.  But a proposal to spend that much on cell-phone stipends for the nine Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board members stirred some lively discussion because of its symbolic impact.

"I think the last thing we want to do is even appear to increase the cost of the board,"  said Eric Davis,  who asked to have the $56-a-month stipend put on Tuesday's agenda so he could vote against it.  He noted the painful cuts the board has made in recent years:  "It's just not a smart thing for us to do."

Some board members were confused by the agenda item  --  which was understandable as the story came out at Saturday's school board retreat.

It seems newly-elected board member and chair Ericka Ellis-Stewart asked interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh whether she could get a CMS phone to use on board business.  Hattabaugh talked with Chief Information Officer Scott Muri and decided it would make more sense to offer a stipend that would cover a data plan than to buy phones.

CMS already pays $470 a month to the board chair and $370 a month to other members for expenses incurred during board business inside Mecklenburg County.  New board members may not have been aware of the expense allowance because it's folded into their monthly paycheck, Hattabaugh said.  He noted that school board members are paid less than county commissioners,  who get an additional  technology stipend.

Mary McCray,  who was also elected in November, noted Saturday that she had to buy a second cell phone to keep up with board calls and emails while protecting the privacy of her old line.

Davis,  Tim Morgan and Rhonda Lennon  --  the minority who have complained of being shut out of decisions made by Ellis-Stewart and the new Democratic majority  --  got wind that a cell-phone stipend might be added and asked to put it up for a public discussion.

It's unclear whether that item will actually come up Tuesday.  CMS attorney George Battle suggested giving staff more time to research options and report back.  Morgan suggested making it part of 2012-13 budget talks.

Joyce Waddell said she's open on timing,  but she thinks the board should settle the question in public:  "I don't want us to look like we're hiding things."


A p.s. that will amuse regular readers: When I asked Hattabaugh after the meeting for the amount of the current expense allowance, he grinned.  "You already have it on your blog,"  he said.  Christine Mast had emailed Chief Finance Officer Sheila Shirley to ask for details,  then posted the information in a comment.  Hattabaugh said he could resend the email, but Mast had it right.  So thanks,  Christine,  for helping out with the reporting!

How public is public's business?

In the section of N.C. Open Meetings law that lets elected officials hold closed meetings for personnel matters,  it clarifies an exception:  "A public body may not consider or fill a vacancy among its own membership except in an open meeting."

Does anyone believe the decision to appoint the Rev. Amelia Stinson-Wesley to the District 6 school board seat was made in the open meeting?  Of course not.  Board members made no secret that they were conferring by phone  --  and,  as the meeting time approached,  in small groups clustered in back rooms and halls at the Government Center.

Likewise,  before the board opens its official meeting Tuesday,  members will meet in small groups with interim Superintendent Hugh Hattabaugh and other top staff to preview the issues they'll discuss.  It's legal because they're careful to avoid a quorum.

Truth is, all public bodies have discretion to decide how public they'll be  (and our state legislators seem to be exploring new frontiers).  At one extreme,  a board could be so obsessed with openness that every discussion among members and staff would take place in formal public meetings  (which presumably would last days instead of hours).   At the other,  meetings could be brisk vote-counting sessions to formalize decisions made privately.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board,  with three new members,  two new leaders and a new political alignment,  must now decide where to place itself on that spectrum.  There's already been some jostling over that.  After two applicants were nominated for the District 6 seat,  former board Chair Eric Davis made a motion asking that each member explain his or her thinking on the selection.  "The public has a right to know how we made decisions. This is how we build trust,"  he said.  Richard McElrath disagreed,  saying that it demonstrates a lack of trust to compel anyone to explain a vote.

Davis' view prevailed,  and members went around the table talking about why they preferred Stinson-Wesley or David Knoble.

Two years ago,  when five of the nine members were new,  the group spent quite a bit of time talking about how to air views without descending into personal sniping.  They also talked about the challenge of airing strong disagreement,  then rallying around a board decision.

The new group plans to hold its first retreat Jan. 20-21.  How they'll work together and how they'll earn public trust are bound to be discussion topics.  And this time around,  the members who were in the majority in 2009 will be in the minority.

The District 6 plot thickens

Update to correct party tally: There are six unaffiliated, four Republican and two Democratic applicants. I've been labeling E. Thomas Bowers a Democrat, based on his Facebook page describing his political views as "Progressive Democrats" (tried to look up his registration, but "E" doesn't work for the online search). Yesterday political consultant Lawrence Shaheen, who was Tim Morgan's campaign manager, tweeted that Bowers was a registered Republican. We were both wrong: Bowers told me this morning that he was a Democrat until President Obama supported the Bush tax cuts, at which point he switched to unaffiliated.


There weren't a lot of shocking statements when the 12 applicants for the vacant District 6 school board seat spoke Tuesday.  But the fact that newly elected board Chair Ericka Ellis-Stewart and Vice Chair Mary McCray wrote up questions for the candidates without consulting their colleagues  --  and that those questions included nothing specific about District 6  --  may fuel speculation that suburban Republicans Tim Morgan and Rhonda Lennon will find themselves on the sidelines of the selection.

Lennon confronted Ellis-Stewart about that at the end of the meeting,  urging applicants to email her to tell her what they consider the top issues for the south suburban district and how those differ from the issues for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools as a whole.  Morgan,  whose at-large election created the two-year vacancy,  stayed quiet at the meeting but said afterward he'd also have liked to ask about district specifics.  McCray, a District 6 resident elected at large,  asked that all board members get copies of applicants' answers.

Most of the speculation has swirled around Wilhelmenia Rembert,  one of two Democratic applicants  (the other is the Rev. Amelia Stinson-Wesley; read all applications here).  Rembert was appointed to an at-large seat on the school board in 1998, elected countywide in 1999 and defeated in 2003.  She was then elected to an at-large commissioners' seat in 2004 and defeated in 2006. She chaired the school board and was vice chair of the county commissioners.  She's a longtime resident of south suburban Charlotte  --  she lives just inside I-485 -- but it's far from clear that her own district would elect her,  given its tendency to choose Republicans.  However, Democrats hold five of the eight board seats that will be voting on the appointment.

Morgan,  who spent a good bit of the campaign reminding people that he would not get to hand-pick his successor,  said Tuesday that  "I have a favorite,"  but wouldn't name that person.  My guess,  confirmed by someone who probably knows,  is David Knoble.  Like Morgan,  Knoble is a Republican with ties to the homebuilding industry and a history of Boy Scout leadership.  He talked about some of the same issues Morgan does,  such as refining the current plan to "incentivize teachers" and saving money on transportation and school cafeterias.  And he's got kids in a suburban school,  Community House Middle.

A question that could arise is whether the newly elected at-large members will recuse themselves from voting on people who contributed to their campaigns.  Ellis-Stewart got donations from Rembert and Republican applicant Bolyn McClung,  and Morgan got a donation from McClung.  McCray said none of the applicants donated to or volunteered in her campaign.

Two applicants,  Angelica Castaneda-Noorbakhsh and Aida Bertsch,  told the board they could be a voice for the growing Hispanic minority.  Both are unaffiliated voters from Colombia.  So far the CMS board has not had a Latino member.

Most applicants talked about their passion for public education,  their experience in business and/or civic life,  and the importance of hiring a good superintendent, spending wisely,  supporting teachers and building community trust and involvement.  There's always at least one applicant who uses the process to  tweak the noses of the school board,  and Larry Bumgarner filled that role Tuesday.  He opened his 10-minute question-and-answer period by asking how he could get his parking validated,  then told the members he didn't want to emulate them,  urged them to "take the blinders off, folks,"  and riffed on the "crappy cars" that many teachers drive.

There's bound to be a whole lot of phone-calling, emailing and horse-trading going on between now and 4 p.m. Thursday,  when the board reconvenes to make a choice. Public comments won't be allowed at that meeting,  but constituents are free to offer their views to the board (contact information here).

Meet the District 6 dozen

The 12 people seeking appointment to the remaining two years on the District 6 school board seat will make their pitch to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board at 1 p.m. today.  Meanwhile,  here's what they said in their applications.

Update: Board Chair Ericka Ellis-Stewart, who said last week the board could discuss applicants and even select one today,  opened the meeting by saying that will happen at a second special meeting on Thursday.

This appointment will provide a gauge of how the current eight members feel about district representation.  The idea of districts is to give each geographic area of the sprawling county  --  in this case, the southern suburbs  --  a voice on the board,  even if that voice belongs to someone who might not appeal to voters countywide.  The registered voters of District 6 are 41 percent Republican,  30 percent unaffiliated and 29 percent Democratic.  They've repeatedly chosen Republican Bill James as their county commissioner in partisan elections,  where the District 6 Republican primary winner is considered the strong favorite.  They've also consistently selected Republicans in the nonpartisan school board elections.  Expect to hear Tim Morgan,  whose at-large election in November left the seat vacant,  and fellow Republican Rhonda Lennon argue that means the board should fill the vacancy with someone of similar politics and philosophy.

On the other hand,  Democrat Wilhelmenia Rembert brings extensive school board experience and has been elected countywide to the school board and county commissioners.  Democrats now hold five of the eight seats (District 6 will be the ninth, and former Chair Eric Davis is unaffiliated),  and Rembert's supporters will likely note she's a longtime resident and voter in that district.

Complicating the party question:  In November's at-large election,  the top three among District 6 voters were Republican Morgan,  unaffiliated Elyse Dashew and Democrat Ellis-Stewart,  according to the Swann Fellowship's post-election analysis.  Larry Bumgarner,  an unaffiliated voter who's applying for the seat,  came in sixth among the district's voters.

Another twist:  Hispanics represent a fast-growing minority in Mecklenburg County and its public schools,  but so far they've haven't sought school board seats.  Some in that community are eagerly watching Angelica Castaneda-Noorbakhsh,  who is active in Hispanic/Latino groups and has applied for the seat.  She would bring a missing voice  --  but it might not be the voice of District 6,  where only about 2 percent of registered voters say they're Hispanic.

Six for District 6 ... so far

Half a dozen people have applied for the District 6 school board seat left vacant when Tim Morgan was elected to an at-large seat in November,  with the application deadline looming at 3 p.m. Monday.  The eight current members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board plan to hear applicants' pitches at 1 p.m. Tuesday; if time allows, they'll discuss and possibly select an appointee that afternoon. If not, they'll meet again at 4 p.m. Thursday . Both special meetings are open to the public.

Here are the names so far:

Scott Babbidge of Matthews,  a Republican who filed to run for the at-large seat but withdrew when there were four Republicans seeking the three seats.

E. Thomas Bowers of Charlotte,  a Democrat and progressive political activist.

Larry Bumgarner of Mint Hill,  an unaffiliated voter who has frequently run for school board,  including this year.  His comments will be familiar to readers of this blog.

Angelica P. Castaneda-Noorbakhsh of Charlotte,  whom I've been told is a leader in the Latino networking and advocacy group Enlace Charlotte.  I can't find her under any variation of that name in voter records.

Michael Orlando Jones of Matthews,  a name that's new to me.  Voter records show a Michael Orlando Jones who's a Republican living in District 1 and a Michael O. Jones who's a Democrat living in District 2.  To be considered for the District 6 appointment,  applicants must be registered to vote there.

Bolyn McClung of Pineville,  a Republican who's also familiar to readers of blog comments.  He served on the panel led by former Gov. James Martin that advised CMS on construction strategies after a failed 2005 bond vote and is a regular at school board meetings.


I'll get the applications next week and learn more about these folks.  It'll be interesting to see if there's a last-minute surge of filing;  in recent years,  open seats have drawn big crowds of applicants.  Rumors have been floating that this vacancy,  which has two years left to serve,  might entice former board Chair Wilhelmenia Rembert , who served five years in an at-large post and lives in District 6.  Morgan says he knows of two more people who definitely plan to apply Monday and one who's considering it.

There's also been speculation about how the board will make a choice.  Will they pick someone similar to Morgan, a moderate Republican?  Will the Democrats who hold a majority push someone from their party,  even though the south suburban district is heavily GOP?  A look at other appointments indicates anything could happen.

The two most recent vacancies occurred at the end of 2008,  when Vilma Leake and George Dunlap became county commissioners and left openings in Districts 2 and 3,  respectively.  Nineteen people applied for District 2 and 22 for District 3,  though only 17 ended up making speeches for each opening  (some withdrew,  were deemed ineligible or just didn't follow through).  Democrats and African Americans make up a majority of both districts.  The board chose Kimberly Mitchell-Walker, a black Democrat,  for District 2.  James Ross, a black Republican, got the District 3 seat,  ruffling some Democratic feathers.  Both ran for office the following year and lost.

In 2006, unaffiliated at-large member Kit Cramer resigned and 40 people signed up to take her place. The board chose Trent Merchant, also an unaffiliated voter. I still grin when remembering the article I wrote to introduce him: An Observer researcher found a 2002 article describing him as a young Atlanta actor who got frustrated with noisy audience members.

"Get the f--- out!" Merchant yelled,  according to that clip.  "Either shut up or leave!"

Although he did earn a reputation for colorful commentary,  Merchant never used those particular phrases with his colleagues.  He was elected to the at-large seat the following year.


Finally,  the last time the board appointed a District 6 representative was in August 2005,  during an election season.  Republican Lee Kindberg resigned with four months left on her term and endorsed Democrat Liz Downing,  who was running for the seat,  as her fill-in.  Some board members balked at appointing someone who was campaigning,  but Downing got the nod over eight other applicants.  (She was defeated by Republican Ken Gjertsen in November.)  In one of the odder twists, Republican County Commissioner Bill James had offered to represent the district on both bodies to fill the gap before the election.

Hmm ... no word from James about the school board this time around. Then again, some commenters have suggested he's got his eye on becoming Mayor of Ballantyne now.

Party tickets in CMS board race

It looks like the Democrats and Republicans will both be pushing three-person tickets for the Nov.  8 Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board race  --  and the process has gotten messy for both parties.

The board race is nonpartisan,  which means no primaries and no parties on the ballot.  But with 14 people jostling for three slots at a time when crucial decisions are being made,  both groups want to get their people elected.

The Mecklenburg Democratic Party hasn't made endorsements in recent school board elections.  But party Chair Aisha Dew said with so many candidates in what's traditionally a low-turnout race,  it's important that Democrats not spread their votes too thin.


The Mecklenburg Democrats apppointed a five-member endorsement committee that reviewed questionnaires and interviews done by other groups,  attended candidate forums,  did background checks,  interviewed the candidates,  talked with party members and analyzed who was most electable. The panel's unanimous recommendation:  Mary McCray,  Aaron Pomis and Ericka Ellis-Stewart.  The party's executive committee will vote Saturday on that recommendation.

The committee  "recommends that the slate be endorsed without reservation. Please remember, our real opposition is the other party and we as Democrats must be UNIFIED,"  says a letter sent to all the Democratic candidates Friday night,  signed by committee members Pamela Gordon,  Herman DeCastro,  Sam Spencer,  Gail Summerskill and Cozzie Watkins.

That didn't sit well with some of the Democrats left out:  Darrin Rankin,  Lloyd Scher,  Lisa Hundley,  DeShauna McLamb and Hans Plotseneder.

Rankin,  a member of the party's executive board,  notified the party Friday afternoon that he was resigning from that post to focus on the school board race.  He said Monday he was puzzled by the panel's decision but will remain an active Democrat.

Scher,  who served four terms as a Mecklenburg County commissioner,  says he and Rankin have been more active in the party than the people chosen:  "How do you think I feel?  I've been a Democrat since I was 10 years old,  working on John F. Kennedy's campaign."

Republicans have generally had an easy road to endorsements:  They tend to field one candidate per open seat and promote them heavily among party members.  But this year filing closed with four GOP contenders.  After a good bit of debate,  Scott Babbidge withdrew on Sept. 1,  leaving the party to endorse Tim Morgan,  Ken Nelson and Tom Davis.  Last week Davis also pulled out,  saying he wants to pursue a state House seat next year.

Meanwhile Keith Hurley,  who had filed as an unaffiliated voter and who got Babbidge's support,  switched his registration to Republican.  Local GOP officials didn't return calls Monday asking whether he'll be added to the endorsement slate.

For those who are keeping score,  the remaining candidates  --  Larry Bumgarner,  Elyse Dashew and Jeff Wise  --  are unaffiliated.  And the departing incumbents include one of each:  Republican Kaye McGarry,  Democrat Joe White and unaffiliated Trent Merchant.

Two of three CMS board seats will change hands

Updated 6:15 Wednesday to correct some garbled paragraphs: So this is a strange twist. When De Shauna McLamb announced her candidacy in March, I checked in with the three incumbents about their plans. Kaye McGarry said she hadn't decided. Joe White had been very clear about not running again. And Trent Merchant said he probably should play coy, but yes, he planned to run again.

I was vague about that in yesterday's post because I'd been hearing folks say Trent was not running. I couldn't reach him before posting, but in an email sent last night, he says he basically blurted out a lie when I asked:

"I am not running for re-election this fall," Merchant wrote.

"I made my decision in November 2009. I informed Dr. Gorman in August 2010, Eric Davis in November 2010 - and have been telling others in recent weeks."


"In the early Spring of this year, at the end of a lengthy conversation on another topic, you asked me in passing if I was running and I blurted out a quick 'yes.' I wish that I had said something more cagey and politician-sounding, but that has never been my strong suit - and I was not ready to make my decision public until I had the chance to inform certain people privately."

"I will have served on the Board of Education for over 5 years at the end of my term, and it has been an honor to serve the people of Mecklenburg County. I thank them for the opportunity, and will be eternally grateful. My family, friends, and work colleagues have been incredibly supportive during the past 5 years; now it is time for me to devote more attention to them."


So now it's at least two of the three at-large members who will be new. McGarry sends this: "At this moment, I have not made a final decision. I am still reflecting on the accomplishments during my 2 terms (2003-present) serving all the children and families in Mecklenburg County, and am considering the upcoming challenges and how my experience and dedication might continue to serve public education should I decide to run for a third term."
---

With all the furor over school closings, teacher layoffs and a barrage of new testing, the prospect of a Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board election this fall has almost gotten lost.

Elyse Dashew, a parent leader at Smith Language Academy and a founder of MeckFUTURE, kicks off her campaign this week, and filing takes place the first two weeks of July. That means we should start getting a glimpse of what the race for three at-large seats will look like (the six district posts aren't up until 2013).

Elyse Dashew

During the last three years of budget cuts, Dashew has spent a lot of time trying to figure out what all the change will mean for her kids' school. From there she started looking at the bigger picture and getting to know families from various schools. MeckFUTURE, launched in March, mobilized folks from about 40 of CMS' 178 schools to lobby county officials for money to avert the massive layoffs projected for 2011-12.

Amidst all the turmoil, she says, there's a common thread: People really care about CMS. "There's so much energy around education," she said Tuesday. "A lot of times its expressed as frustration or anger or anxiety."

So far, Dashew's themes are pretty broad: She wants to get people constructively engaged and help the board work together. She's a first-time candidate and an unaffiliated voter, something she thinks would be a plus on a board that's ostensibly nonpartisan (the current makeup is four Democrats, three Republicans and two unaffiliated).

Dashew joins De Shauna McLamb, a CMS parent and NAACP member who announced her candidacy in March, and Hans Plotseneder, a West Meck teacher who has run twice before and plans to make a formal announcement of this year's candidacy soon. Tim Morgan, elected to represent south suburban District 6 two years ago, is mulling a bid for a countywide seat. At least one newcomer will take a seat, with Joe White stepping down at the end of this term.

It's a sign of the times that Dashew scheduled her formal announcement for Thursday but "soft-launched" via Facebook and Twitter last week. I returned from vacation and saw that a fan had tweeted her campaign web site.

Another sign of the times: We'll be relying more than ever on the web to get details of the school board campaign to the folks who care while making the best use of limited print space. During the 2009 campaign, I was frustrated at how little space we were able to dedicate to each of the 19 candidates. Since then we've launched this blog, which has opened faster and better ways to connect with the readers who care most about education. Keep me and Eric posted on what you're hearing and what you'd like to see to make informed choices.

Charges dismissed against school board protester

Dr. Hans Plotseneder, a CMS teacher who joined other residents in protesting the school board's decision last year to close about a dozen schools, says the trespassing charge police filed against him have been dismissed.

Plotseneder, a frequent speaker at school board meetings, said in a press release that the dismissal of the charges were important beyond just re-establishing his reputation. "This dismissal will contribute to reducing the fear of CMS teachers to exercise their Free-Speech rights."

He feels he was wrongly arrested. CMS police felt they were justified in arresting him and NAACP President Kojo Nantambu. (His charges were also dismissed). The Observer reported on the arrests. Plotseneder wants the dismissal reported as well in the interests of protecting his good name.

Consider it done.