Understand that Pete Gorman is doing exactly what the Uptown loves to do: “reach into silos” and “educate” the general public about the world — as the Uptown crowd seeks to recreate it.

Of course proposed changes to the CMS bell sked “vex” parents. That is their primary purpose. Reach into cozy, fixed suburban daily schedules and give them a good whack between the eyes. It is nothing less than a mugging.

Give us money or we’ll royally screw up your day!

Ditching 1:45 dismissals for elementaries is the smoking gun. It existed for three solid reasons: Give the buses plenty of time to make their initial afternoon rounds before heading back to schools for more congested runs; give the schools plenty of time to empty of regular students and be converted to any afterschool uses; and last but not least, give elementary teachers time to handle their own afterschool childcare issues.

With 2:45 dismissals CMS would have buses late and stuck in traffic in the PM, mismatched afterschool skeds, perhaps less revenue from rentals as a result, and good teachers fleeing the system in search of more family-friendly systems/professions.

Is that all worth $4m. in savings? Besides, exactly how many drivers will CMS be laying off and how many buses will CMS be selling with this new bell scheme? Hard to see how any savings can be realized unless that happens.

But remember — “vexing parents” will CMS’ operating philosophy in the near term, at least until a tax hike is secured, and perhaps beyond.

Update: Whoops! I forgot the statewide implications of Pete “End Times” Gorman’s proposed cuts and changes, to wit:

“The superintendent’s proposal is a harrowing preview of the threats to our economic future,” said Edwin McLenaghan, a policy analyst with the NC Justice Center’s Budget & Tax Center. “Unless we reform our outdated revenue system to prevent the worst of these cuts, North Carolina communities will face job losses, fewer educational opportunities and a grim economic future.”

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg proposal, McLenaghan said, is the first in a series of cuts that are likely to be proposed across the state in the coming months.

Got that?