Education

House Bill 514 does have the support of Mint Hill elected officials, says the town’s Mayor Ted Biggers. The legislation would allow Matthews and Mint Hill to create their own charter school, with preference given to students in the two towns.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board members are considering a budget for next year that includes $4.4 million to hire 60 additional school counselors, social workers and psychologists. This comes after the fatal school shootings in Parkland, Florida.

A Charlotte study that came out last year identified access to quality pre-kindergarten education as a key factor in making sure that children who are born into poverty have a chance of rising out of it in their lifetimes.

Legislation that would allow Matthews and Mint Hill to create charter schools dominated discussions Thursday between school officials and state lawmakers. The bill, HB 514, still needs the approval of the senate. During the breakfast meeting, the only Republican legislator in attendance offered a possible alternative to the legislation.

Several members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board vowed to do whatever they can to defeat any legislation that would allow officials in the town of Matthews to create a charter school. House Bill 514 would do just that. School board members say the bill will lead to higher taxes in Matthews and increased segregation in CMS.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board members want to give themselves about a 34 percent pay increase in next fiscal year’s budget.  

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Superintendent Clayton Wilcox presented an ambitious budget to school board members last night that will require an increase of $40 million from the county. Wilcox’s budget calls for additional security at schools, a pay raise for teachers and more mental health care support for students.

Educational attainment is increasing, but in large part because of people who have moved to the region, according to the 2018 State of the South report. 

CMS budget discussions begin Wednesday night with the unveiling of the superintendent’s proposed spending plan for next fiscal year.

The report card is out on how the nation, states and some urban school districts have done over the past two years. It shows that not much has changed.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Clayton Wilcox said the district has not seen the achievement gains it had hoped for at Project LIFT schools. 

School administrators often complain that they lack flexibility when it comes to improving their schools academically. In response, state education officials created the Restart program two years ago to help struggling schools. The program gives those schools a say in spending state funds, on calendar schedules and hiring flexibility—similar to charter schools. There are more than 100 Restart schools statewide.

For about three decades, beginning in the 1970s, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools was a national leader when it came to integration. Now, CMS is the most racially and economically segregated school district in the state, according to a new report. It found that the number of racially and economically segregated schools statewide increased from nearly 300 in 2006 to close to 500 last year.

CMS released a report last month showing that huge achievement gaps exist in district schools along racial and economic lines. School officials are asking for public input on how to narrow this gap as they set goals for the next six years. They are holding a series of meetings with the first one held today.