Moving money - Carolina Weekly Newspapers

Education
Three say they know the schools
by Andrew Batten
andrew@mountainislandweekly.com
HUNTERSVILLE – The three candidates
for the District 1 seat on the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education
faced off Sept. 23 during a debate
hosted by Mecklenburg Citizens for
Public Education at the North County
Regional Library in Huntersville.
Below is a summary of the conversation
between candidates Gail Summerskill,
Rhonda Lennon and Robin Bradford.
Some questions were omitted because
of space limitations.
What criteria should be used when
deciding school boundaries?
Rhonda Lennon: This is such an
easy solution because the only rule that
should govern school boundaries is proximity
to the schools. We need neighborhood
schools in North Carolina. Studies
show that parent involvement increases
when the school is close to home, and
parental involvement is one of the greatest
influences on student outcome.
When you put students in a school that
is closest to home, the community can
rally around the school.
Robin Bradford: Neighborhood
schools are key, but we have to understand
that we have generational poverty
areas and we need to create a diverse situation,
not put them in a bubble. Each
child needs to be able to communicate,
work and be educated fairly, so we need
to look at the busing situation as well as
the feeder patterns and the neighborhood
as a whole.
Gail Summerskill: In terms of the
premise, the Board of Education is working
under their resolution – April 13,
2001. That resolution said that stability,
proximity, utilization and choice were
the four elements we should consider. I
just read an interesting article in Wake
Forest. Wake Forest has a 78-percent
graduation rate, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Schools only has 66 percent.
Since we really changed our schools in
2001 and they are looking at what to do
next, what they are looking at happens
when you start losing to 40-percent free
and reduced lunch. Once you go over
that, studies show that the biggest factor
in children changing their ability to
do well in school is socio-economics of
their school.
What are your views on equity in
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools?
Robin Bradford: It should be made
sure that each child receives a fair and
equal education, the same resources,
the same effectiveness of their teacher
and the school as a
whole. You do not want
a concentrated area of
highly effective teachers.
For instance, if my
situation changes because
of the economy
and I have to move to
District 2 or District 3, Bradford
why should my child’s
education suffer? If we
are paying taxes into the
whole pot, every school
should be able to teach
our children effectively.
Rhonda Lennon: I
think equity means allocation
of resources Lennon
to meet the needs of
students regardless of
where they live or what
their background is. It
means making sure we
have effective teachers
and teachers that are
offering the right type
of intervention programs
for students who
Summerskill
come to the schoolhouse and don’t start
where the rest of the children start.
Gail Summerskill: What it takes to
remediate one student may cost more
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than another student. Now I do agree
that I think that the school board should
have a registrar’s taskforce to look at
scheduling. I had an interesting meeting
with Superintendent Dr. Peter Gorman,
and one of the things he talked about
was that he feels strongly, and I agree
with him, that the new school board
needs to set a definition on what the
board believes is equity.
Should Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Schools fund charter school construction
needs?
Rhonda Lennon: I am a supporter of
charter schools. I thank God everyday
for charter schools in north Mecklenburg.
If we didn’t have all those charter
schools in this part of the county, we
would have so many of what Superintendent
Dr. Peter Gorman called “relocateable
classrooms.” We would be
busting out the seams if we didn’t have
charter schools. As far as capital dollars,
we don’t have enough to build what we
need now, but I do have concerns that
charter schools have to look to other
places for capital funding. They do get
operational dollars just like Charlotte-
Mecklenburg Schools does.
Gail Summerskill: There are currently
no definitive studies that show charter
(more on page 24)
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Page 22 • The Herald Weekly • Oct. 2-8, 2009
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