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RIGHT AT
HOME
Former ProvWence
Hi^ star Chris
Clyburn enjoys a
breakout season at
J.C. SmIth/tC
CLIP JOINT
‘Barbershop 2’
departs from
original hi)/1 D
Sequel adds
► Queen Latifah
(left) to cast.
Volume 29 No. 22
www.thecharlottepost.com
$1.00
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t
The Voice of the Black Community
Also serving Cabarrus, Chester, Mecklenburg, Rowan and York counties
WEEK OF FEBRUARY 12-18, 2004
Panel
voices
equity
concerns
Report: Poor
CMS schools
go lacking
By Herbert L. White’
herb, while @ ihecharloltepo.'H. com
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Schools appears to be aban
doning its pledge to fund
lower-income schools,
according to a citizens panel.
The CMS Equity
Committee submitted a
report to the school board
that concludes the district is
pulling back from equity,
CMS staff will also submit
its findings.
“I can’t give you any facts
that there is less money
going to Equity schools, but I
can tell you there is a per
ception,” committee
Chairman Julian Wright
was quoted in Educate, a
newsletter chronicling edu
cation in the county’s public
schools.
Some data backs up the
perception. Ninety percent of
elementary schools targeted
for extra financial support —
primarily in the iimer city
and made up of black and
Hispanic students - have
faculties that miss at least
one element of the county’s
teacher quality standards.
Only three of 32 Equity ele
mentary schools — Sterling,
Idlewild and Berryhill — met
all standards. One of 14 mid
dle schools. Piedmont, made
the cut and none of six high
schools met all standards.”
At issue is resegregation of
public schools, with middle-
and upper income students
fleeing the inner city for
campuses in their neighbor
hoods. Inner city activists
have argued that CMS’s
mandate to end busing for
desegregation drains inner
city schools of teachers and
resources.
Vice chair Paulette
Higgins predicted minority-
dominated schools “are not
going to get what thy need if
trends continue. “That’s
what we’re going to be
known for — and that’s not a
perception,” she said.
“I would agree we are get
ting too many segregated
schools,” Wright said.
Presidential
candidate the
Rev. Al
Sharpton was
presented an
award last week
by the
International
Civil Rights
Center and
Museum In
Greensboro.
\^olent clashes
spread in Haiti
DomesOc
programs
cutwiOi
Bush win
ERA PHOTO/ORLANDO BARRIA
Residents of Grand Goave, Haiti, carry their belongings as they ieave the viilage Monday.
Grand Goave, located in the South of Port-au-Prince, feli to armed insurgents Sunday. The
rebels set ablaze police stations and blocked exits to the city.
Government-backed troops rally for Aristide
By Michael Christie
REUTERS
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
— The Haitian government
and armed supporters are
fighting back against a
rebellion that threatens the
rule of President Jean-
Bertrand Aristide in the
impoverished Caribbean
nation.
Pro-Aristide militia in the
country’s second-largest city,
Cap-Haitien, attacked the
homes of political opponents,
ordered local radio stations
off the air and erected blaz
ing barricades to halt any
advance by armed rebels,
local media reported.
The authorities said they
had taken back at least two
towns from armed opposi
tion gangs, who launched a
revolt six days ago that has
killed at least 34 people and
presented Aristide with his
greatest challenge in months
of anti-government protests.
Almost a dozen police sta
tions have been torched.
Those residents of Cap-
Haitien who could afford
tickets packed commercial
flights to the capital Port-au-
Prince to flee the wrath of
government supporters, resi
dents said.
As violence spread in the
poorest country of the
Americas, the United States
said any solution would
require deep changes in the
way Haiti was governed.
“It’s clear from the kind of
proposals that have been
made and the discussions
that are being held that
when we talk about under-
See REBELS/2A
Should Sharpton quit race? It
depends on depth of support
PHOTO/WADE NASH
By Hazel Trice Edney
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
PUBUSHERS ASSOCIATION
WASHINGTON - Al
Sharpton, who won less
than half of the black
votes cast for Sen. John
Edwards in the South
Carolina Democratic pri
mary and was almost
trounced 2-to-l among
Afncan-American voters
by runner-up John Kerry,
By Hazel Trice Edney
NATIONAL NEWSPAPER
PUBUSHERS ASSOCIATION
WASHINGTON -T^e
last federal budget
President George W.
Bush submits to
Congress before the
November election fea
tures a slight increase in
spending for domestic
programs but docu
ments that he didn’t
submit along with his
proposed budget reveal
that many of those same
programs would lose
some or all of their fund
ing in subsequent years,
an analysis by the
Center on Budget and
Policy Priorities shows.
“Over the next five
years, the president’s
budget proposes to slice
away gradually at
domestic discretionary
funding [funding not
mandated by law, but
largely aids the poor and
middle income] outside
homeland security. By
2009, the overall fund
ing for domestic discre
tionary programs out
side homeland security
would be $50 billion — or
11.5 percent - below the
level needed to keep up
■with inflation,” accord
ing to the analysis writ
ten by Richard Kogan
and David Kamin, bud
get analysts at the
Washington-based cen
ter.
“Even
' S Bush
increas
es in
2005 — such as the
National Institute of
Health, Title I educa
tion, the Supplemental
Food Program for
Women, Infants, and
Children and the low-
income energy assis
tance program — would
be cut in 2006.”
White House analysts
say the $2.4 trillion bud
get for fiscal 2005 simply
reflects his prioritizes, in
descending order: the
war on terror, homeland
security, the economy
and “helping Americans
most in need.”
Richard Kogan of the
Center on Budget and
See PRESIDENT’S/6A
should either come up
with a bold new strategy
or get out of the presiden
tial race, says one of
America’s most respected
political scientists.
See SHOULD/8A
Bennett president to
keynote fund raiser
for scholarships
By Herbert L. White
herb. white@thecharloUepost.com
Bennett College President Johnetta Cole will
keynote Duke Energy’s Minority Professional
Association scholarship banquet next week.
The banquet wiU be held on Feb. 19 at the Charlotte
Marriott City Center at 7 p.m. with a silent auction
and reception at 5:30 p.m.
“We are delighted to have Dr. Cole
address our attendees this year. She
has had a distinguished career as a
college and university professor and
administrator that spans more than
three decades,” said Shelia Harvey,
MPA’s chairperson. “Her commitment
to academic excellence and higher
education exemplify the mission of
our organization to help young people
achieve their educational goals
through financial support and mentor
ing. Since the banquet’s inception in 1997, we have
raised more than $379,000 for our scholars.”
The scholarship fund is administered by The
Foundation For The Carolinas.
MPA is a professional development organization and
provides opportunities for employee interaction, men-
See BENNETT/3A
Cole
Inside
Editorials 4A
Life 4B
Religion 8B
Sports 1C
Real Estate 5C
Business 8C
A&E ID
Happenings 4D
Classifieds 5D
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© 2004 The Charlotte Post Publishing Co.
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