Charlotte seems to be all convulsed over the Time story claiming that marginal students were railroaded out of Myers Park High School.
Hang on.
This is essentially the same story The Charlotte Post ran with in August 2006 and again visited in a column on the same topic a couple weeks ago. In that column, retired CMS counselor Richard Hanners claimed that Myers Park under former Principal Bill Anderson routinely found ways to weed out weak students. Hanners further said an “external investigation” was needed.
In the Time story, yet another, but unnamed, Myers Park counselor shows up to lodge identical complaints against Anderson. The obvious question is did Anderson have a problem with some students or some counselors?
In any event, author Melba Newsome, a long-time Charlotte freelance writer, never mentions the previous Post coverage. Nor does she share with readers that what Myers Park is supposed to have done with some students under Anderson — report dropouts as transfers — is not exactly unheard of in the far-flung CMS empire.
And should we really be surprised that the Uptown paper of record immediately threw 10 staffers on the story? Heaven knows if a national media outlet says it is news, it must be news.