The Right Τ ο Be Second Best
By Hoyle H. Martin Sr.
Post Executive Editor
The real tragedy behind the sud
den firing of Superintendent Rolland
W. Jones by the Charlotte-Mecklen
burg School Board is in the fact that
we as a community, as well as a
nation, have an obsession with suc
cess. The late football coach Vince
Lombardy put this in focus when he
said, "Winning is the only thing."
Yet, for all who succeed, for all
who win, and for all who are
"number-one," the majority fail,
loose or are never better than second
best.
Rolland Jones came to Charlotte
four years ago as a winner and a
Number-One school administrator.
He continued in that tradition as he
brought calm out of the riots and
chaos involved in school desegrega
tion and through the introduction of
a number of innovative educational
programs - Open schools, Street
Academy etc. - he was able to aid
the schools in their efforts to meet
the growing and diverse needs of
the individual students.
However, as time passed, Jones
began to show the imperfections that
plague mortal men. Basically, he
began to have increasing difficulty
in articulating to the school board
and the community certain actions
occuring under his administration.
Among these were student test
scores, the letter to the parents of
youth attending private schools, the
administrative reorganization plan,
his unannounced trip to the White
House to discuss school desegrega
tion, the summer jobs mess, and the
extent of his personal commitment
to the concept of traditional educa
tion. Whether justified or not, each
of these generated some controver
sy.
Jones was publicly fired because
these controversies began to under
mine his credibility, particularly
among school board members and
reportedly the Mecklenburg County
Commissioners. t
The POST readily agrees that Dr.
Jones might have avoided some of
these controversies if he had given
more attention to the public role that
he as the county's chief school
administrator must fulfill. Never
theless, the POST does not believe
that such a weakness on the part of
Jones was justification for his dis
missal.
Therefore, Jones was fired be
cause he was not number-one, and
not the best in every aspect of his
work. We might ask the question,
"Who is?" If the next Superinten
dent is strong where Jones was weak
and weak in the more substantive
areas of education administration
and leadership we may well wish we
had Jones back. We may also wish
Jones had been given an objective
evaluation of his work, and then,
with proper notice and courtesy
advised of his employment status.
The harsh, inhumane and emo
tional manner in which Dr. Jones
was fired will cause any individual
worthy of the now vacant position to
think more than twice before seek
ing to become Jone's successor.
Charlotte Needs L.C. Coleman
1 - λ." ι ■ « a· ·· ii λ %
necent published reports that Le
wis Coleman, a candidate for the
Mecklenbrug Board of County Com
mission, is delinquent in paying $104
in property taxes and is having other
financial difficulties has caused him
to consider withdrawing from the
primary runoff.
The POST accepts this news with
alarm and appeals to the community
for support - especially from those
who live in a better environment and
better communities because of Cole
man's leadership and efforts.
The POST certainly believes that.
all taxpayers should pay their taxes
on time if at all possible, however,
we share a concern expressed by
Mr. Coleman. He said, "I am
concerned about why all of a sudden
my past has been so thoroughly
investigated... (and) I question why I
am the only candidate who has been
investigated to date and why not
before the primary last week?
We share Mr. Coleman's concerns
and we too wonder, why now? Did
those who may have opposed Cole
man's candidacy believe that be
cause he ran a low-keyed campaign
with, in his own words, "limited
finances, a very small campaign
organization and very little support
from either the black or white
pviiucai icauci diup LllciL I1C WUU1U
easily lose in the primary?
It is probably a history-making
fact that inspite of a low-level
campaign, Coleman attracted
enough votes to finish fourth in a
field of 11 with 11,656 votes. To have
done so well in a first-ever political
race without the support of the
traditional political and power Haid
ers of the community was probably
upsetting to these power bases.
Coleman has demonstrated in the
most unselfish way that he is truly a
candidate of the people, and proba
bly he would not have the problems
he has now if he were not so busy
assisting others.
Again the POST appeals to the
community to demonstrate. its de
sire to have Mr. Coleman remain in
the primary runoff. He is, in our
view, a true representative of the
people, particularly those people
who so often do not get adequate
representation in the halls of govern
ment and public decision-making.
Let's keep Coleman in the run
ning, and let's elect him to a seat in
our county government.
The POST believes that men who
do nothing need not fear making a
mistake, but men like Coleman, who
is seeking to aid others, sometimes
do.
Blacks Must Not Become "Just
Spectators" To Their Own Doom
REPORT FROM
Jà^WbshingfonJ
How Bureaucracies Are Born And Grow
by Jim Martin, 9th
District Congressman
A few weeks ago I tolcUyou
the postcard voter registra
tion Act was to be approved by
the House of Representatives.
The proposal would set up a
nationwide voter registration
program enabling individuals
to register to vote by using a
postcard. While the measure'
has passed the House and
must be approved by the
Senate and presented to the
President, there are a couple
of interesting observations
which can be made about the
bill.
The proposal provides that
the Voter Registration Admin
istration will be under the
jurisdiction of the Federal
Election Commission. The
Commission you may remem
ber was set up in the wake of
the Watergate investigations
and election-year politics to
oversee federal elections.
Now we have the first addi
tion for the Federal Election
Commission. Its growth would
take the form of the Voter
Registration Administration.
No one has the foggiest idea
exactly how much this govern
ment expansion is going to
cost the American taxpayer.
Estimates range from $50 mil
lion to <200 million for a
program opposed by many
state and local elections nffi
Cong. Jim Martin
cials who say such an effort
would result in duplication.
Cited as an example of dupli
cation is the fact that 70
percent of all eligible Ameri
cans are already registered to
vote. You would then have a 70
percent waste factor.
In addition to seeing how
much government agencies
proliferate, the Voter Regis
tration Act reveals how the
federal government imposes
itself on state and local go
vernments, making them
more dependent on Washing
ton. The Voter Registration
Act provides that states would
be Feimbursed for costs incur
red in processing the voter
registration forms. In addi
tion, the states would be offer
ed a bonus of 30 percent above
their costs if they adopted
postcard voter registration for
all elections, not just those
involving federal candidates.
Thus, the potential and temp
tation for turning over all
elections to the federal go
vernment becomes obvious. I
think we have seen enough
evidence in the past to prove
that once an agency is born,
its administrators feel an obli
gation to grow and that means
the taxpayers foot the bill.
Getting more involved in
state and local elections would
be just the beginning. This on
top of the expected fraud
which would occur would
make a shambles of our elec
tions. It would be an open-invi
tation for fraud, because there
would be no way to verify the
signature was valid and not
already registered to vote
elsewhere.
The local governments in
this country are highly aware
of the need to improve voter
registration. The necessary
steps arc being taken every
day to see that those who are
eligible are given adequate
opportunity to register. Local
civic organizations and the
media have been effective in
encouraging people to partici
pate in the electoral process
once they are registered. The
issue of voting should remain
at the local level, not relin
quished to another new fe
deral agency.
TO
BE
EQUAL
Vernon Ε. Jordan Jr.
J
America7» South African folicy
America's declared policy toward Africa has
one of its main points majority rule throughout
the Continent. This means that our government
supports black participation in Rhodesia, where
blacks outnumber the whites that control the
country by 25 to 1, and in South Africa, where
blacks make up 70 percent of the population.
Both countries are white-ruled today, and
blacks have no rights at all. Whether our nation's
policy is made up of empty words or of action is
still in question.
The private sector's role is more complex; it is
unrealistic to expect American companies with
investments in South Africa to pull out of the
country. But they can do a lot to help bring about
changes in the vicious apartheid system.
That's why I've called on all American
companies doing business in South Africa to
come together in a Corporate Alliance for Black
Progress, a declaration that would include:
: a statement to the South African government
opposing apartheid,
: demands for changes in the labor laws that
prevent equal treatment for black voters,
: standards of social responsibility that would set
standards of affirmative action, and education
and housing programs for the black community.
: pledges to disobey the petty apartheid regula
tions that segregate employees (the South,
African government would look the other way if
American companies took down the "white" and
"black" signs and integrated their public
facilities),
: a moratorium on future investment in the
country until signs of real change appear, and
: refusal to invest in the "homeland" areas so
long as they remain the cornerstone of a policy
that denies citizenship in all of South Africa to
blacks.
The leaders of the corporate community are
uneasy about their role in South Africa. They're
troubled by charges of collaborating with a
racist regime, and defend their presence there by
claiming that the jobs and economic advance
ment they bring will help foster changes.
The black South Africans I talked to don't want
to see those jobs leave the country; they're
needed by black people who have few economic
opportunities. And I was told that if the t
Americans pull out they'll be replaced by j
European and Japanese firms less amenable to |
social responsibility. 1
But the blacks I spoke with, while wanting th
Americans to stay, unanimously agreed U.S.
companies should do a lot more to help blacks.
And since the companies claim they want to help
the country toward peaceful change, my propos
ed declaration can become a vehicle that allows
them to exercise the maximum pressure in that
direction.
It's not all altruism either. South Africa will
face its day of reckoning sooner or later and the
black majority will eventually have self-deter
mination. If it comes peacefully and is helped by
our nation, then American interests will be
protected.
But if it comes over American opposition, our
nation's prestige and its economic interests
throughout Africa may be swept away in
righteous indignation.
THE CHARLOTrE POST
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Superintendent Rolland Jones Fired?
By Gerald Ο. Johnson
The controversial superin
tendent of the CMS System,
Dr. Rolland Jones, was re
cently dismissed from his job
by the school board. I am still
puzzled about why Dr. Jones
was fired. Hopefully, after
reading this article, you will
be puzzled about his firing,
also.
Let's take the incident step
by step The school board
insists that lack of public
confidence was the reason for
the firing. Some pointed to the
lack of leadership as the rea
son for the firing. No one has
conclusively stated that the
reason was the summer jobs
controversy.
Using this as a premise I
will attempt to show that it
does follow that Dr. Jones was
fired for none other than the
summer jobs controversy.
The school board almost
unanimously approved Dr.
Jones' two year contract in
April of 76 Every controversy
leading to Jones firing hap
pened before April Even the
accusation by the federal go
vernment about the mishandl
ing of the summer jobs pro
gram was issued in March.
The reading program accusa
tion was the only controversy
following the renewal of
Jones' contract Therefore, It
would appear that if the school
board was adhering to its
responsibility, they should
have dismissed Jones in April
by not renewing his contract.
Instead, the school board
waited, until the news media
exposed the federal govern
ment's audit, to react. Hence,
they acted out of embarrass
ment and made a bad situa
tion worse.
The school board elections
aided in Dr. Jones' upheaval
The people running for the
school board (with the help of
the news media) made Dr.
Jones an issue These candi
dates knowing little about pu
blic opinion said what other
candidates had said which
turned out to be a unanimous
opposition to Jones Hence the
current school board felt com
pelled to act. Dr. Jones was
fired, Q E D.
Therefore, having reached
the conclusion that the sum
mer Jobs controversy was the
reason for Jones' firing, I
Gerald Johnson
think (he firing was unjusti
fied I didn't say that Dr.
Jones was not wrong in what
he did But I don't think his
being fired was the answer.
Now, let me try to justify
this. Dr. Jones brought the
school system through turbul
lent times and made this
school system a national ex
ample He did this by giving
strong leadership when it was
needed He did not conform to
southern ideologies which
could have made him popular
among his peers, but rattier he
did what he thought was right.
This won him the title of being
'cocky'.
He could have used this Job
as a stepping stone to social
prominence in this area. But
luckily for the black commu
nity he was not interested in
such social grace. He spoke
his mind freely and did his job
well. No one can deny this,
except possibly Bill Booe.
Moreover, I learned a cliche
which stated: Show me a man
that doesn't cause controversy
and I'll show you a man that
isn't doing a thing.
The money is not worth
firing Dr. Jones over. The
school board squanders that
much In court in a week. So
they couldn't be upset about
the money.
Furthermore, they will itill
have to pay the money back,
they will still have to pay Dr.
Jones his salary over the next
two years, what was gained?
In conclusion, the school
board is the policy making
body of the school system. The
superintendent directs the
operation of that system by
proposing programs that must
be approved by the board.
Correct me if I'm wrong. It
seems odd that the board
allowed Dr. Jones so much
leeway in his position. It is
obvious that the lack of school
board responsibility was as
much the cause of the sys
tem's problems as Dr. Jones
was.
The derelection of responsi
bility by the board will not be
erased by Dr. Jones' firing. At
best the board can hope that
with new personnel they can
cover up their mistakes.
As one person put it, "Dr.
Jones was caught by the new
epidemic: The swine Booe!" I
hope we don't let it spread.
100 State Groupe To Support March
I «
wiituiucu ta uni ra^e ι
Carolina Civil Liberties
Union; Pat Roger·, vice·
chairperson, National Tenant
Organization of Durham; the
Rev. Charles Ward of the
Raleigh NAACP; and Sarah
Stevenson, president of the
Black Womens' Caucus of
Charlotte.
In a special interview with
the POST, Dr. Helen Othow, a
local official of the N.C. Al
liance and a professor at
Johnson C. Smith University,
said. "The purpose of the
March is to gain support for
the Wilmington 10, the Char
lotte 3 and other political
prisoners; to show concern
for the protection of the rights
of workers to organize, with
special concern for municipal
workers and textile workers;
and to express strong opposi
tion to possible legislative act
ion to re-institute capital pun
ishment."
Dr. Othow added that a
mong the list of prominent
speakers to participate In the
March and its related activi
ties will be Georgia stâte
senator Julian Bond, activist
Angela Davis and Dr. W W.
Finlator, chairman of the N.C.
Human Rights Commission.
The POST has also learned
from Dr. Othow and Mf. Mit
chell that persons interested
in participating lr. the March
may travel to Raleigh by
chartered bus for a round-trip
fare of 115.