County education money: Whose is it?

A sign of the changing education landscape:  For the first time in 13 budget cycles I've covered,  Mecklenburg County commissioners sat down to talk about charter schools.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools,  which briefed the commissioners,  has posted that report online. It includes a lot of interesting items for anyone who cares about the issue,  including a map of where Mecklenburg's charter students live,  a list of which schools they attend and a demographic comparison between CMS and the students attending Mecklenburg's charter schools.

The presentation got me thinking about the way I've always reported on county funding as an allocation for CMS.  There's good reason for that.  The superintendent,  top administrators and school board spend weeks crafting a request,  which commissioners scrutinize and vote on.  While everyone knows that there's a pass-through to charters,  it's CMS that gets the scrutiny, praise and heat.

Given the work that CMS puts into getting that allocation,  it's easy to understand why officials and supporters might resent about being forced to give up some of their money  --  especially when that pass-along is expected to top $30 million next year.

But if you look at is as the county's allocation for public education,  it makes more sense.  If CMS projections materialize,  about 157,000 Mecklenburg students will enroll in public schools next year.  CMS will get about 91 percent of them, and 91 percent of the county money.  The charters that serve the other 9 percent will divvy up that portion.

The big question is whether that's a smart way to spend local money. CMS board member Eric Davis took issue with my recent post critiquing his comparison of CMS and charter spending projections.  I said it was a false premise to assume that the per-pupil share passed along to charters meant anything about the actual cost of operating those charters.  Davis said I missed his point:

Davis

While there are many charter schools that are well performing, my comments were solely based on financial efficiency of charter schools versus CMS.

CMS is better positioned to absorb another 2300 students within our existing network of 160 schools than opening 10 charter schools, each of which will need a new principal and other support staff. That staff already exists in CMS.

Moreover, CMS per pupil funding continues to go down, dropping over the past 5 years by 7.2% in state funding and 5.4% in county funding. Since charter schools receive the same per pupil funding as CMS, they offer no possibility of reducing per pupil expenditure when another charter school opens. Hence, charter schools are a less efficient way to educate an expanding student population than the existing system.

In a time when we hear that our state does not have money for public education due to other issues such as increased health costs, it would seem that our decisions would be guided by how to improve the efficiency of the existing system. Charter schools, while they provide choice, do so in a more expensive way than increasing choice within the existing system.

Davis might be right  --  if CMS were,  in fact,  planning to absorb all the new students into its existing schools.  But CMS is doing exactly what Davis and Superintendent Heath Morrison have criticized charters for doing:  Creating small schools.  They're counting on the state to approve $922,000 in the 2014-15 budget to launch the UNCC Early College High  (100 students),  Levine Middle College High and Harper Middle College High (69 students who have so far applied for next year's debut on a combined campus).  That's in addition to the local and state money CMS would normally spend for those students,  and the county money to set up mobile classrooms.

CMS is also creating Hawthorne Health Sciences, a magnet high school with 87 students enrolled so far,  and a new Montessori magnet in Huntersville with 92 enrolled so far.

The state requires a minimum of 65 students in each charter school.  Even the small charters generally try to open with more than that.  And most plan to add grades and build enrollment in coming years,  exactly as CMS plans to do with its small start-ups.

Bottom line:  Large schools generally have lower per-pupil costs than small ones,  whether they're charters or CMS.  Schools with low poverty and few kids with special needs are cheaper than those at the other end of the spectrum,  regardless of who's running them.

And CMS is opening small schools for exactly the same reason the state is authorizing charters:  They believe it's the right thing for students.

When I pressed Morrison about the per-pupil cost of his small schools,  he noted the success of existing ones such as Cato Middle College High.  "How do you put a price tag on the overall quality?"  he asked.

That's a question that bears thoughtful exploration,  for charter and district schools alike. 

Student's seizure highlights role of nurses and family

When a 9-year-old had a seizure on the playground Wednesday,  University Park Creative Arts School got an illustration of the importance of school nurses and parent communication.

When the child collapsed,  school staff rushed into action,  calling 911,  clearing the area of other children and summoning the teachers trained as "first responders."  The west Charlotte school,  which has about 400 students,  has a nurse only two days a week,  so trained faculty must fill the gap.

Davidson

After getting a dispatcher who provided medical guidance by phone,  Principal Janice Davidson says her staff called nearby schools in hopes of finding a nurse.  West Charlotte High's nurse rushed straight over,  arriving just after medics and firefighters,  Davidson said.

"I feel all schools need a full-time nurse  --  all day,  every day,"  Davidson said after the child had been taken to the hospital.

Teri Saurer and a group of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools parents have been lobbying for two years to get just that.  As my colleague David Perlmutt recently reported,  their persistence is making an impression on county officials,  who are thinking seriously about spending the $2.5 million it would take to meet that goal next year.

In this case,  the child's parent had recently informed the school about the medical problem and brought seizure medication.  It couldn't be administered,  however  --  not because a nurse wasn't present but because the paperwork from the child's doctor wasn't complete.

That's the second important lesson,  Davidson said.  Parents whose children have medical issues need to make sure schools are fully informed and authorized to provide assistance.  In this case,  she said,  once the authorization was complete the nurse would have trained the designated teachers.

Bolyn McClung,  who was doing volunteer work at University Park when the incident occurred,  says he was impressed by how well the school responded.  "If nothing else,  the staff knows how to handle an emergency,"  he said.

Winners and losers in CMS lottery

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' beefed-up menu of options for 2014-15 drew more than 24,000 students for the first lottery,  with 20,287 of them getting assignments at requested schools,  newly posted lottery results show.

The report shows some new offerings,  such as a high school on the UNC Charlotte campus and tech-oriented magnets for lower grades,  opening with strong interest.  Many perennial favorites remain popular.  But enrollment continues to slump at some struggling magnets,  such as Marie G. Davis Military/Leadership Academy and Harding High's IB program.  And it looks like some new programs,  including a middle college high at CPCC's Harper campus and a Montessori school at Long Creek,  will have to keep recruiting to be ready to open in August.

Morehead STEM remains popular

Before the details,  a caution:  A lot can change between now and August.  Many families apply for CMS magnets,  charter schools and/or private schools to see what their options are before making a decision.  Some students who got seats in magnets may fail to meet the admission requirements.  CMS will keep recruiting for underfilled programs.  We'll hear more about upcoming plans at a Wednesday news conference.

Here's what strikes me looking at the list  (find CMS lottery results for the last five years here and check the CMS plans for new options here).

Cotswold Elementary's IB magnet appears to be the toughest to get into,  with 238 waiting for only 190 seats that were filled.  Morehead STEM, a K-8 magnet,  has the longest waiting list,  with 668 waiting and 1,180 seated.

The new early college high based at UNCC's energy and engineering center had originally planned to open with 65 ninth-graders in August.  Instead CMS placed 100 ninth-graders,  with 94 on the waiting list.  Students will be able to attend up to five years of high school and receive two years of tuition-free college credit along with their diplomas.

Students will have a similar option at three middle college high schools at Central Piedmont Community College,  although these schools are open only to 11th- and 12th-graders.  Cato,  the model for the two new clones,  filled 220 seats with nine students waiting. But only 14 were seated at Harper Middle College and 55 at Levine Middle College.

A new health sciences magnet at Hawthorne High pulled 87 students.  CMS had hoped to have about 250 students at Hawthorne,  which is transitioning from an alternative school to a magnet,  but the current list shows only about 160 including the nonmagnet students.

A STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) magnet in the new elementary school opening in the southwest Pallisades area filled its 150 seats and has 63 waiting.

Cochrane Middle School's new iMeck Academy drew 152 students, and McClintock Middle's new STEAM Academy  (that's STEM plus arts)  pulled 107. Coulwood's new STEM magnet, which was created partly to offset the loss of sixth-graders who will stay at Mountain Island Elementary as it becomes a K-8 school,  drew only 38 sixth-graders. CMS had hoped for 150.

One has to wonder:  Has the high-tech craze sapped enthusiasm for other options?

CMS'  existing Montessori schools drew hefty waiting lists,  as usual.  The new Long Creek Montessori,  opening as a separate school next to the neighborhood elementary on the same Huntersville property,  drew 50 prekindergarteners and 37 kindergarteners,  but only five students for grades 1-3  (oddly,  the list says there's one first-grader placed and five on the waiting list).

Northwest School of the Arts, a 6-12 magnet with a long tradition and national reputation, slipped in this year's lottery.  Only 48 sixth-graders applied,  down from 99 last year,  with the total seated slipping from 941 to 854. Update: Student placement director Scott McCully says there's no decline in applications. Students who apply must audition to be admitted, he said, and that has gone more slowly than in past years. Once applicants complete their auditions, he said, the number of sixth-graders will rise.

The  "hub"  plan for high school students to transfer into North Mecklenburg High for career-tech programs didn't get much interest. Seven each applied for seats in the cosmetology and culinary arts programs, two for automotive, one for horticulture and none for carpentry.

Marie G. Davis Military/Leadership Academy, a K-12 magnet that has long struggled to attract students to the school south of uptown Charlotte, had 701 students seated,  down from 847 in last year's lottery. Only 12 kindergarteners and 39 first-graders applied,  compared with 34 kindergarteners and 82 first-graders last year.

East Meck now has the largest high school IB magnet with 1,009, up from 845 in last year's first lottery. North Meck is second at 615, also up slightly. Harding's IB magnet,  which has been struggling since CMS ended the westside school's full-magnet status in 2011,  drew 297 students,  down from 393 last spring and 744 in 2010.  West Charlotte IB is holding steady with 231.

Myers Park High still has an IB program, but since it stopped taking students from outside the attendance zone it isn't part of the lottery.  Likewise,  there's no listing for Olympic's new Advanced Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship school because it's an internal assignment for students living in the Olympic zone.

As noted,  we'll have a chance to hear more from CMS officials on Wednesday,  so if you see interesting patterns or have questions,  please post them.

Charters, tenure, testing and Project LIFT

It's a good week to learn more about education, with an array of public meetings and forums taking place.

At 3 p.m. Tuesday,  Mecklenburg County commissioners will hear a presentation from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools about the county money that's passed along to charter schools.  Some commissioners want to know more about how that money is being spent and whether they can exercise any control.  As required by law,  CMS is passing along about $25 million from this year's $356.5 million allocation to cover costs for almost 11,000 Mecklenburg students enrolled in charters.  With 11 new charters opening in the Charlotte area in 2014-15,  CMS projects it will take another $7.5 million to cover almost 2,300 more charter students.

Pine Lake Prep in Iredell County serves Mecklenburg students

The special commissioners' meeting,  in room CH-14 of the Government Center,  is open to the public.

At 6 p.m. Tuesday,  the CMS board will vote on its version of the controversial  "25 percent plan" to phase out tenure (details of the CMS plan have not yet been released)  and the district's 2014 legislative agenda.  The agenda also includes a report on academic achievement at the Project LIFT schools. That meeting,  in Room 267 of the Government Center, is also open and streamed online.

Cobitz

At noon Wednesday,  Wingate University Ballantyne kicks off a "lunch and learn"  series with assistant professor Chris Cobitz talking about  "What's all this testing in schools about?"  Cobitz is a former testing official with CMS and N.C. Department of Public Instruction.  Bring your own lunch and attend the session at Suite 150 in the Harris Building, 13024 Ballantyne Corporate Place.  (It'll be like Throwback Wednesday if I can make it; I worked extensively with Cobitz and Lloyd Wimberley,  director of the graduate school of education, when they were with CMS.)

Stuckenberg

As they say in the late-night infomercials ... but wait!  There's more!  You can cap off this education marathon by hoisting a mug at  6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Heist Brewery in NoDa,  where there's a  "Policy and Pints"  session scheduled.  Just keeping up with new education advocacy groups these days is a challenge:  This one is sponsored by N.C. Policy Bridge,  a  "grassroots and top roots"  organization trying to get teachers more engaged in public policy discussion.  Kayti Stuckenberg,  a CMS middle school teacher,  is one of the organizers.  Adam Rhew of MeckEd,  which is helping promote the meetings,  says the core group is young teachers associated with Teach For America.  To attend,  RSVP here.

Update: Just found out CMS lawyer Jonathan Sink and CMS administrators will also be at the Tuesday Breakfast Forum this week  (8:30 a.m. at the West Charlotte Rec Center) speaking about the state's charter school law and the district's desire to have similar flexibility.

School technology theft is booming

When Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools introduced a  "bring your own technology"  program,  some predicted that it would lead to a surge of lost and stolen gadgets at schools.

CMS Police Chief Randy Hagler says such thefts have indeed become common,  to the point that they frustrate his counterparts in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Hagler

"It just drives their property-crime numbers out of sight,"  Hagler said this week.  "It affects what the community sees as crime trends."

But Hagler doesn't think the problem is driven primarily by students bringing digital devices for classroom use.  While student laptops and tablets occasionally go missing,  smartphones are by far the biggest target for thieves.

The solution?  The simplest one is to activate a tracking app,  Hagler said.  Most often,  that leads to a successful recovery.  Schools are also working on individual strategies to discourage opportunities for thieves, he said.

And CMS is getting security cameras installed in elementary and middle schools,  which officials hope will deter thefts and identify those who swipe someone else's technology.  They should all be in place when school starts in August.

Lost, stolen or broken devices are the responsibility of the family,  not CMS.  Parents and teachers,  what are you seeing and thinking?

CMS raises and charter costs: A math challenge

School board members delved into math questions about employee raises and charter school costs at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools' first budget work session Tuesday.

Tuesday's presentation  (CMS plans to post it on the budget page today)  included a preliminary suggestion of $17 million to $18 million in county money to provide raises for all employees.  A board member asked what size raise that would cover.

Image: Cambridgecoaching.com

Superintendent Heath Morrison and Chief Financial Office Sheila Shirley said it's too early to say.  Most CMS employees are paid by the state, but others are paid with county,  federal or grant money.  When the state gives an across-the-board raise,  CMS traditionally uses county money to make sure all employees get that raise.  So if state lawmakers were to approve a 2 percent raise,  CMS would need $4 million to $5 million in county money to match it,  they said.

On the other hand,  if the state provides nothing,  CMS would spend about $18 million to give employees a 2 percent raise with county money alone,  according to the presentation.  Plus,  Morrison noted that the plan to boost starting teachers' pay proposed by Gov. Pat McCrory and legislative leaders may bring yet-unknown county costs.

In that case, a vague answer was the right one.  But when it came to the cost of sending students to charter schools vs. CMS, a teacher should have stepped in.

The presentation projected 2,296 additional charter students next year,  with CMS passing along $7.5 million in county money.  It also said CMS would need $400,000 from the county for an additional 754 CMS students.

New board member Paul Bailey asked whether such disproportionate numbers could possibly be right.  It was a good question.  The charter allotment breaks down to about $3,267 per student, while the CMS total is $530.50 per pupil.

Morrison and Shirley said the costs aren't directly comparable. They explained the system that requires CMS to pass along a per-pupil share of the county allotment for each Mecklenburg student who attends one of the independently-run public schools.

Davis

When Eric Davis got his turn,  he looped back to those numbers,  saying how much more cost-effective it is to send students to CMS than to create new schools for them.  Describing himself as a former Republican,  the unaffiliated Davis said he would be aghast at spending so much to finance new charters when the state is  "starving"  traditional public schools.

It was a dramatic speech based on a false premise.  The per-pupil pass-along to charters has nothing to do with the cost of operating those schools,  as Davis most likely knows.  In fact,  that cost is precisely and by definition the same as the average cost for CMS students, new and existing.  That's how it works:  However big the county  "pie"  for education is,  each student gets a proportionate slice.  The only thing that drives up the size of a charter student's  slice is county commissioners' generosity in responding to the CMS request.

I'm not sure exactly what's included in the $400,000 estimate for the addition of 754 CMS students,  but it's clearly not the full county cost for their education.

Many of us would love to know which schools deliver the best academic value for the dollar.  But looking at those two lines in the CMS presentation won't give us the answer.

Survey: Lawmakers are in the doghouse

People who answered a recent UNC Wilmington online survey are plenty mad about the N.C. legislature's recent changes to education, according to a recent report.

With the 2014 session looming,  we seem to be getting a poll a week,  and most of them show what the sponsors go in looking for.  So let's be clear up front:  This was a self-selected group of more than 2,350 people who responded to links shared by PTAs and social media,  including,  apparently,  the Observer's Facebook page.  Participants were skewed toward middle-class women who have kids in public schools and/or have worked in public education.

Respondents trust teachers ...

Still,  it's always interesting to hear what folks have to say.  More than 95 percent said they trust teachers and principals to make decisions about education,  compared with just over 60 percent who trust their local school board and just over 3 percent who trust the governor and state legislature.

... a lot more than they trust these guys.

More than 90 percent said North Carolina is headed the wrong direction when it comes to public education.  Especially unpopular: Increasing class sizes,  decreasing per-pupil spending,  giving schools letter grades,  cutting pay for advanced degrees,  providing private-school vouchers and lowering the percentage of certified teachers required at charter schools.  Among people who have never worked for a school system,  there were mixed reviews for Teach for America,  the Read to Achieve program and the controversial  "25 percent plan"  to replace teacher tenure.

About 30 percent of the parents who responded said they've considered private or charter schools for their children. “We are actively searching for private school options to escape the ridiculousness that has become the NC school system!”  one reported.

And,  of course,  the overwhelming majority think teachers need a raise.  It's looking like the only debate on that point is going to be who gets how much  (and that debate will be a doozy).

The survey by UNCW Professors Robert Smith and Scott Imig follows one that tallied educators'  reactions to the legislative session in December.