But wait, it gets better, and by better I mean worse. The Observer weighs in today with an edit that declares comparisons with Wake County meaningless. Mecklenburg County has so many special circumstances, you see, it cannot help but to spend more money.
Excuse me, but it is remotely possible that Judge Manning, at this late date, is unaware of differences in North Carolina public school populations? Manning simply pointed out that overall per pupil funding for CMS is substantially higher than Wake County yet test scores are lower for CMS. This suggests that misallocation of resources might be an issue for CMS.
He did not say, as the Observer seems to imply, that CMS should perform like Wake with Wake spending levels. But what Manning did do was puncture the notion that more money, more money, and more money will solve CMS’ problems. That just does not fit the accepted world-view in downtown Charlotte.
Amazingly the Observer does not want CMS held to any identifiable, objective standard of performance: “Comparisons to other school districts are interesting but beside the point.” What? Let me rephrase that: What?
Given that we already have an ABC test score system is that is fairly to utterly meaningless, exactly how are parents supposed to measure CMS’ performance? Via CMS press release? Observer editorials? Or is that redundant?
Sorry, this was just the latest in a sudden string of downright absurd Observer edits that have me worried about the water quality down Trade and Tryon way.
