Photo by Public Health Image Library |
Charlotte is shaped by education. Our neighborhoods, demographic patterns, housing, social mobility, workforce development, economic opportunities, childhood experiences, and our community narrative and stability are all reflected and are a product of our public and private school systems. Who goes to what schools and how they get there and who benefits is at the heart of who the city is and will ever be. In a previous issue of Charlotte Viewpoint: Archives, we published a 2006 column by then CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman on what he learned after his first few weeks on the job. In this issue, we devote more past commentary to education in Charlotte.
In 2011, Anna Spangler Nelson, civic leader, wrote 'Public Education: Our Vital Interest' as part of our Critical Issues series. Nelson was then co-chair of Project L.I.F.T. (Leadership and Investment in Transformation), an ambitious multi-year effort to improve student academic outcomes in West Charlotte. The column documents the history behind the effort, and the complexity of the task to effect fundamental change. The column was a call to action in the first year of the project. Nelson noted that "[w]e're going to experiment. Not everything will work. We have a particularly complex challenge because we are not launching a separate, independent enterprise...but rather [a private venture] partnering with an existing public school district...It's easier to turn away. However...[d]elivering effective education for all is a responsibility we share for the common good." Project L.I.F.T. went on to make important strides and become a case study in the pervasive effects of resegregation. We invite you to read debriefs of Project L.I.F.T elsewhere, and to commit your own efforts to the vital importance of a good education for all.
We also include a 2013 article by Keia Mastrianni, writer, cookbook author, and storyteller, about the food served in CMS schools. Keia reported on the hot debate about school lunch that stretched from the cafeteria to Capital Hill. We also include an article by Leah Worthy on the making of
Spiral Bound, a documentary advocating change in public education; a poem by Katina Winkey on childhood skip rope rhymes and dreams; and an artist gallery by Armando Bellmas. In addition, as always in this newsletter, you’ll see links to four of our PDF magazines from previous years that include lead columns from Ronald Carter, Sue Gorman, Pamela Gundy and Smokey Oats. To public virtue, Mark Peres Charlotte Viewpoint Founder The Charlotte Center Founder & Executive Director |
Public Education: Our Vital Interest |
When I was a student at West Charlotte High School in the late 1970s, West Charlotte was a peer to Myers Park High School in every aspect: academically, athletically and artistically. The schools were two of the top academic high schools in Charlotte. West Charlotte High School was newly integrated through court-ordered busing, drawing students from predominantly black and predominantly white neighborhoods. We had enormous school pride at West Charlotte. I attended because my parents believed it was the right academic decision for me to do so.
Today my daughter attends Myers Park High School. It is our locally-zoned school. She attends Myers Park because my husband and I believe it is the right academic decision for her to do so. However, much has changed between the time I went to high school and today. The graduation rate for Myers Park is 85%. The graduation rate for West Charlotte has plummeted to 54%. The two schools are only a few miles apart. It seems what matters most is what zip code you were born into or what neighborhood you can afford to live in.
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From 2013:
Into the Mouths of Babes: School Lunch |
The term “school lunch” is likely to generate as much excitement from most readers as a spoonful of cod liver oil from your grandmother. It brings to mind unappetizing trays of dull, lifeless food and lunch ladies outfitted with plastic gloves and a bad attitude.
More than that, school lunch remains a sore and hotly debated issue that stretches from the cafeteria to Capitol Hill and yes, even to Charlotte. |
| From 2014:
Local Doc Tackles Ed Reform |
We usually hear about the dysfunctions in our education system from top-down sources: Administrators, teachers, parents, and reformers contend they speak on behalf of the students. But why not hear straight from them?
Dr. Barbara Ann Temple, vice president of education at the Arts & Science Council of Charlotte, recently brought together a group of high school and undergraduate students for the making of Spiral Bound, a documentary that advocates change in public education. |
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From 2013: Ropes, Rhymes & Dreams |
Pretty brown girl,
Popping gum, skipping rope,
Kinks & coils defy gravity,
White shell toe shoes,
Tip, tap, past reality, |
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From 2011: Armando Bellmas |
Armando Bellmas is a digital and multicultural creative with a passion for the stories that connect us to the people, places, and things we love. To see more of Armando’s work, visit www.bellmas.com. |
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About Charlotte Viewpoint |
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Charlotte Viewpoint is a magazine about the city and culture of the Charlotte region that ran from 2003-2016. Charlotte Viewpoint published civic and cultural commentary and programmed events about Charlotte for engaged citizens to nurture creative capital, elevate civic discourse and promote intellectual and artistic excellence in the Charlotte region. |
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Charlotte Viewpoint has been archived by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Library Robinson-Spangler Carolina Room for its historical significance. |
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