2A
NEWS/tE))e Ctiarlottc $at
Thursday, June 3, 2004
dm proposal: $9 nriHon lor West Gharione High
Continued from page 1A
Manager Harry Jones pro
poses for CMS and would be
linked to the board accepting
accountabili-
Cox
ty goals.
The school
board has
asked for
$290 million,
$25 million
more than
last year.
Cox, who is
retiring from
the board
later this
year, is often a swing vote
among commissioners.
Republicans, who hold a 5-4
majority, have tended to hold
the line on school budgets
despite 7,000 new students
over the last two years.
Democrats are usually more
supportive of increased
school spending.
West Charlotte has a long
and glorious history. It is the
last formerly all-black high
school in the county and was
Ground Zero when
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
campuses were desegregat
ed in the 1970s.
“West Charlotte is an insti
tution,” said Laura
Ellington, a former co-presi
dent of West Charlotte’s
PTSA. “It’s not just a school.”
But it is no longer the dis
trict’s star campus, fueled in
part by a 1999 federal court
ruling that ended CMS’s
reliance on busing for deseg
regation. Middle-class fami
lies — black and white — took
off for suburban schools. So
did some of its best teachers.
As a result, student achieve
ment has lagged, something
Cox believes the county
should try to reverse.
“Something radical cer
tainly needs to be done as far
as the academics,” Ellington
said. “That was a significant
issue when we were more
heavily involved with the
school.”
If money is appropriated to
West Charlotte and test
scores improve, Cox said
he’d like to try those pro
grams at other schools. West
Charlotte would be a formi
dable challenge.
Last year, fewer than 32
percent of students scored on
or above grade level in eight
of nine end of course tests. A
quarter of lOth-graders
passed a comprehensive
exam and student atten
dance was 89 percent, com
pared to 94 percent
statewide.
Nearly 67 percent of West
Charlotte’s teachers were
fuUy licensed by the state, 15
percent below the N.C. aver
age, and turnover was 25
percent, 9 percent higher
that N.C. as a whole.
“I think what we have to do
with West Charlotte and
other schools is take bold
action,” he said. “You don’t
make bold action with incre
mental plans.”
“This idea came from the
realization that 60 percent of
children in CMS are doing
just fine, the business model
works for them,” Cox said.
“But there’s another 40 per
cent where the business
model doesn’t work for them.
If you can figure out what
works at West Charlotte,
then you can export it to
other schools.”
Cox, who met with West
Charlotte parents and sup
porters Wednesday at the
Education Center, wants to
move quickly.
Commissioners are expected
to vote on the 2004-05 bud
get June 15, and the school
board’s support is critical.
“That means the Dr.
(James) Pughsley and the
school board have to
embrace it,” he said. “Not a
social embrace. A bear hug.”
Elhngton, whose husband
graduated West Charlotte in
the 1960s and son graduated
in 2000, said money could
help, but won’t cure every
thing.
“It’s more than a matter of
resources,” she said. “The
school faces so many chal
lenges. It almost seems to
reflect what’s going on in the
country education-wise.”
DORpr MISS:
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2, 4, 6, 8: Barber-Scotia
football left at the gate
Americans?
• Speakin’ o’ Harry, who’s
betting therell be fireworks
over the coimty budget like
last year’s dust-up with
Chairman Tom Cox? What
theater - and totally
unscripted, too.
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Fly on the Walt Is an occasion
al column chock full of rumor,
innuendo and a snuutering of
truth. If you 're a veteran Po.st
reader, no further .schooling
required. If you’re new, congrat
ulations, and where in the heck
have you been?
That’s Fly’s legal dtsclaimer,
brought to you by the gtxtd peo
ple at Dewey Cheatham and
Howe, attorneys to bugs big and
small.
• Barber-Scotia College
suffered another blow last
week when word leaked out
that the Concord school
dropped its fledgling football
program. Without playing
one single, solitary game.
One of Fly’s Spies passed
on the info after one of the
now-former coaches vented
to a few close friends. Fly
was looking forward to foot
ball Saturdays in Concord,
‘cause you know there’d be
some serious BBQ around
the way.
But Fly doesn’t blame
school officials for pulling the
plug and leaving all those
recruits without a place to
play and coaches without
jobs. With all the fires
administrators face keeping
the joint open and its accred
itation intact, football should
be the last thing on their
minds.
• If you’re looking for black
people on WCNC, NBC 6,
anchor Sonya Gantt is all
you’re going to get.
At a gathering of public
relations folks in Charlotte,
a suit at the station said
NBC 6 is a suburban station
and if you don’t live in
Ballantyne or some other
posh Charlotte locale, then
the station isn’t covering it.
According to Mr. Suit, NBC
6 isn’t interested in the
urban market (that’s the
high faintin' buzzword for
black and brown).
No wonder they’re in third
place in the ratings.
• Fly was inspired this
week - mail actually
addressed to yours truly. 'The
contents was a note suggest
ing Mecklenburg commis
sioners are plotting to got rid
of the Office of Minority
Affairs, which has been
around for a good many
moons. Excuse Fly’s callous
ness, but what has it done
since the good old days when
former director Ahmad
Daniels and County
Manager Harry Jones
went at it over hyphenated
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