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Somehow it seems fitting that local elected officials are sworn in during the holiday season, a time to find hope and light in times of darkness. War, climate disaster and national politics are enough to fuel despair. But there’s something heartwarming about seeing members of our community step up to tackle local issues.
Charlotte City Council opened its swearing-in ceremony with a drumline from the Johnson C. Smith University marching band. Sadly, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools did not follow suit with any of its excellent high school bands. But the board’s two newest members, Liz Monterrey and Monty Witherspoon, symbolized the future of CMS with the young children who joined them for the oath-taking. Monterrey’s 5-year-old, clearly a politician in the making, gave a beaming two-handed wave to the crowd. Witherspoon’s 5-year-old held the Bible while his little brother crawled through the forest of grown-up legs.
Monterrey is the first Latina board member in a district where more than one in four students are classified as Hispanic. With Spanish-language reporters packed into the press pit waiting for interviews, she talked about the sacrifices of her immigrant parents and the importance of representation.
Witherspoon, a preacher who lost twice before winning a board seat this year, recalled growing up as a Black boy who failed in school and was ready to drop out. He took inspiration from Bishop George E. Battle Jr., who served 17 years on the school board from the 1970s to the 1990s. Witherspoon concluded his remarks by reading Langston Hughes’ “Mother to Son” in honor of his own mother.
Lenora Shipp, a retired educator and West Charlotte High School alum who won a second term in November, spoke of her pride in seeing students she taught and educators she hired flourish. And she noted that her daughter, who also graduated from CMS, is now a medical doctor. “CMS set her on this path. Her dream is now reality,” Shipp said.
Tough work ahead
Almost certainly these folks will make mistakes, get on each other’s nerves and anger some of their constituents. But it’s also clear they have a deep personal investment in creating a public education system that opens doors for everyone.
I thought about my conversation with departing board Chair Elyse Dashew a few days earlier. She talked about the fear and anger that’s directed at public officials, and the challenge of remaining open and empathetic despite it. She acknowledged that she and her colleagues made flawed decisions — sometimes big mistakes with big consequences, such as keeping students in remote learning longer than surrounding districts did. That’s a conclusion drawn with the benefit of hindsight, which they didn’t have in real time.
In almost 22 years covering education, I’ve watched dozens of good people pour their time, passion and knowledge into governing CMS. They’ve encompassed a wide span of philosophies and life experiences. And yet, as the new school board was reminded when they scrutinized reading scores for Black and Latino children, none of them has managed to create an equal shot at success for the students who arrive with the most disadvantages.
It’s reasonable to be angry about that. Letting elected officials know when they’re failing our kids is part of being a good citizen. But it’s also worth considering what Dashew said about getting to know your adversaries and understanding them as human beings. Social media can enable enemy-bashing, and we’re living in a time when the person who’s arguably America’s most popular politician calls his critics vermin.
Still, maybe we can remember that our local officials are real people with kids, parents and feelings.
