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Page 2A - THE CHARLOTTE POST - Thursday. May 19. 1988 a i. a a ww a m. Advisory Group Searches For Strategies To Stem Teacher Shortage By HERB WHITE Post Staff Writer More ciareer choices and bigger bucks are slowly draining Char- lotte-Mecklenburg schools of minority teachers, say olTicials who are working to reverse the trend. Dr. Joe Flora, assistant super- Intendant for personnel, said the system's minority personnel committee, established last Sep tember, has been looking into the shortage of minority teach ers In Mecklenburg and ways to remedy It. "1 think to an extent, some peo ple had the perception" that the number of blacks in personnel wasn't consistent with the num ber of minority students in the county. Mecklenburg's minority en rollment makes up about 39 per cent of the 74,000 student sys tem, but minorities make up a little more than 30 percent, said Oscar Bidgood, Charlotte- Mecklenburg personnel direc tor. While the percentage of minor ity teachers Is fairly close to the ratio of students, the number of non-white teachers Is getting smaller. "We're finding that more of the Members of the community advisory group are (1-r); John Pappas. Calvin Lewers, Janice Brown Josephine Smith, Joseph Flora, Oscar Bidgood, Pholo/CALVIN FERGUSON Jan Richardson, Gwendolyn Bradford, John T. Crawford and William Leak. non-white teachers are reaching retirement," Bidgood said. 'We re trying to come up with strategies to Identify" young minority prospects, he said. Bidgood and Flora place the shortage of minority teachers on the expanding field of profes sions offered to blacks In recent years. 'We found more and more of our black youngsters are going Into other fields," Bidgood said. "It used to be that being a teacher or preacher were the only pro fessions open to blacks but that's not the case now." Said Flora: "The numbers aren't there because younger mi nority students are no longer go- Leadership Charlotte Honors Louise Sellers For Achievement Leadership Charlotte, a com munity leadership program, has named Louise J. Sellers, Blddle- ville-Flve Points community leader, the 1988 recipient of Its Dr. Schley R Lyons Circle of Ex cellence Award. TTie award hon ors Leadership Charlotte gradu ates who have distinguished themselves through community leadership, service and achieve ment. The award was presented dur ing Leadership Charlotte's lOth Anniversary gala on Tuesday, May 10, 1988, In the Adam's Mark. Earlier In the program, the award was re-named to honor Dr. Schley R. Lyons, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of political science at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Lyons and UNCC, In coop eration with the Greater Char lotte Chamber of Commerce, es tablished Leadership Charlotte 10 years ago with a grant from Title 1 of the Higher Education Act of 1965. He directed the program during Its first three years, during which time Lead ership Charlotte made a suc cessful transition to private funding and a Board of Direc tors composed of program grad uates. Louise Sellers is a graduate of Leadership Charlotte V (1983). Her community work has been concentrated In the Blddleville- Flve Points neighborhood, an area she is credited with saving from destructive redevelopment. She has coordinated numer- Sellers ous community clean-up cam paigns; secured gas lines, side walks, curbs and gutters for the area; conducted area relocation and public housing surveys, and provided housing assistance and placement for transients. Among her many community activities, Ms. Sellers Is presi dent of the Blddlevllle-Five Points Community Organiza tion, Inc.; a member of the Pro ject Catalyst Steering Commit tee; a director of the West Trade- Beattles Ford Area Merchants Association and the Friends of Johnson C. Smith University; vice-chair of the Business Incu bator, and a member of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Citi zens Forum, the Community Is sues Council, the School Health Advisory Committee, Strategies to Elevate People, Grass Roots Leadership Organization, the Central Planning District Com mittee, Focus on Leadership and Summit Avenue Housing Project Advisory Committee. Previously, she served on the 2005 Plan Advisory Task Force, the National Low Income Hous ing Information Service (Wash- . ington, D.C.) Low Income Coali tion (Washington) and the Carolina Community Project. Ms. Sellers, who was born In Pembroke and reared In Max- ton, has worked as a cashier and factory supervisor and cur rently manages her profession al cleaning service (Wright & Associates) and owns a taxicab. "Ms. Sellers' story Is most In spirational because her accom plishments are an excellent ex ample of a person utilizing her God-given talents for her com munity in spite of her limited fi nancial resources," said Dr. Pau la R. Newsome, Leadership Charlotte alumni affairs direc tor, in presenting the award. She previously has received the Urban Life Associates Neighborhood Award (1984), the Harold Learner Award for Com munity Service from Johnson C. Smith University (1981-82), In ternational Women's Day Award (1985) and Black Media Citizen of the Year Award (1986). Ms. Sellers joins the five previ ous Dr. Schley R. Lyons Circle of Excellence recipients; Carla E. DuPuy (1987), Bob Goodale (1984), Ray Gooding (1986) James E. Rogers (1985) and Sam Smith (1984). Jesse: Blacks Want Bigger Slice Of Pie Continued from page lA. when he was preparing to gradu ate from North Carolina A&T State University, blacks could not reasonably expect to be pres ident or governor, Jackson said. T hey were preoccupied with win ning the right to vote. But now, blacks — and other racial minorities and women —- have loftier goals. As the Demo cratic Party's most loyal consti tuency, they expect party leaders and elected officials to help them attain positions of power through the ballot box and ap pointments. "Just talk reasonable expecta tions," Jackson told his support ers. "Nothing way out, nothing different, no amendments to the Constitution, no special breaks. We just want a reasonable return on our investment. ... We cannot allow our expectations to re main low." What constitutes a "reasonable return" he didn't say. But he said North Carolina had not meas ured up. "In North Carolina, no black congressmen out of 11 districts," Jackson said. "Democratic Par ty, be fair. Make room for us. In North Carolina, a state where black votes make governors and senators, no more all-white slates. That's an insult." State Rep. Dan Blue, D-Wake, chairman of Jackson's cam paign in the state, defines rea sonable expectations as "full participation" in the political and governmental arena. As blacks vote, become active in party affairs and work to elect Democrats, he said, it's only natural that a proportion ate number will be elected and appointed. Jackson and Blue distinguish between such rewards and prefe rential treatment, saying they don't want the latter. They de pict victories at the polling booth and ap pointments to government posts as wages for honest la bor in Demo cratic vine yards, not handouts. White Demo- Blue cratic leaders generally agree blacks are entitled to more offic es and power. But they say the top priority must be defeating Republicans so there will be power to share. These white Democrats often perceive, right ly or wrongly, a choice between supporting a black — and losing --- and winning with a white moderate. Ill endorsing Sen. Albert Gore Jr. for president. Sen. Terry Sanford and former Gov. Jim Hunt said Gore was the candi date best positioned to carry the South and win in November. But Jackson argued that he had earned their support. It's still a sore point. ''llie fact is Sanford got only 42 percent of the white vote ... and 3'el he won" because of over whelming black support. Jack- son said. "It's reasonable to ex pect that Senator Sanford will endorse my campaign. "We define our friends by their willingness to be fair and to be just. One thing about politics, it does not go up and down. It goes Town Meeting ■file public is invited to a Town Meeting Sundaj', May 19, at First Baptist-West Church, 1800 Oaldawn Ave., beginning at 7:30 p.m. Ccdilc H. Jones candidate for County Commission, at-large, is the facilitator. round and round. Everything that goes around comes around." The Jackson agenda — "New South politics," he calls it --- will not go away regardless of what happens this fall. Black Democrats will continue push ing for a bigger slice of the pie, presenting the party leadership with difficult choices. Not that it's impossible to sat isfy minorities without alienat ing the white majority. In the past year. Democrats won enact ment of a law creating nine new Superior Court judgeships in predominantly black areas. They also worked out a compro mise with Robeson County mi norities on replacing slain Indi an judicial candidate Julian Pierce. Still unresolved, however, are such thorny issues as runoff pri maries and the scarcity of mi norities in top governmental posts such as congressional seats and Council of State offic es. Sue Myrick Will Speak On Crime Awareness The Uptown Crime Awareness and I’revention Association, Inc. will host a breakfast meet ing on May 26, 1988 from 7:30 - 8:45 a.m. in the 6th lloor cafete ria of the uptown Belk store. The Association is positioned as a focal point for the uptown community to address its com mon security and safety con cerns. This breakfast meeting is to further introduce the associa tion to the uptown community and begin the promotion of the campaign "Tell some one who cares." Speakers will include: Mayor Sue Myrick, Police Chief Sam Killman and CCA's Betty Chafin Rash. ing into education. There are fewer students going into educa tion regardless of color, but it's more so for minorities. We find that we have to work twice as hard to keep up with where we were two or three years ago." The numbers from two or three years ago aren't exactly thrill ing, Bidgood points out. He said colleges aren't graduating as many education majors as be fore, with white institutions barely turning out any black majors. Black colleges, a prime source of black teachers in the past, aren't faring much better. Char lotte's Johnson C. Smith, for ex ample, graduated 51 education majors in the 1978-79 school year. In 1984-85, nine students graduated. Winston-Salem State had 92 in '78-79; 48 in 84-85 and North Carolina A&T 139 and 76. "As we go out recruiting, we see less and less minority students talking to us about the educa tional experience," Bidgood said. Flora said there is a more pressing need for minority teachers of science and math. With private corporations offer ing huge sums of money for mathematicians and scientists, finding black teachers in those areas is very difficult, he said. The 10-member committee, which has conducted meetings monthly since its inception, has recommended several steps to bolster minority teachers and personnel. Increases in salaries, reduc tion in work load away from the classroom and more incentives are some ways Mecklenburg can make teaching more attractive, Bidgood and Flora agree. A program to identify prospec tive teachers at each of Mecklen burg's 10 high schools has been in place over a year. But it will take time to deter mine the program's success, with three years of high school and four years of college before teachers emerge. For now, how ever, better pay and benefits are the incentives to draw the best and brightest minorities to teaching. "We're getting better in that area," Bidgood said, "but that is the farthest problem right now." Charlotte Will Receive Community Development Block Grant Funds The Charlotte City Council approved on May 9, 1988 the final statement of Com munity Development objectives and the projected use of $3,335,000 in FY89 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds, $1,350,000 in program income, and $75,000 in reprogrammed funds for a total of $4,760,000, Copies of the final statement of Com munity Development objectives and pro jected use of funds; the City's plan for minimizing displacement of persons as a result of CDBG funded activities; and the plan to assist persons actually displaced by CDBG activities are available at the following locations; Community Develop ment Department (Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, 600 E. Fourth Street), Office of the City Clerk and Public Service and Information Department (City Hall), 600 East Trade Street. The City of Charlotte, with federal approval will use $4,760,000 of Com munity Development Block Grant Funds in the fiscal year which begins July 1, 1988. The Community Development Block Grant is a major source of federal money to assist local communities in developing and maintaining decent hous ing and expanding economic develop ment opportunities for low and moderate income persons. Make SuneThis Gets Attached To A House Before You Do When you see a Max™ emblem, you know immedi ately that a house is an excellent investment. Because it’s been inspected by Duke Power and approved as a Maximum Value Home. That means it gives you the biggest discounts possible on your power bill. It has optimum insulation throughout. It usesThe Comfort Machine™ a High Effi ciency Heat Pump. It comes with safe efficient electric water heating. And it gives you the option of joining Duke Power s Easy Saver Plan. With all these advantages, it’s easy to see why we say The Max is where the next generation will live. So wnen you see our emblem, go ahead and get attached to the house. Because it’s a place where you can live happily ever after. Trademark of Duke Power Company DUKE POWER
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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May 19, 1988, edition 1
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