On Tuesday, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (CMS) school board passed the “Municipal Concerns Act of 2018.”  It is a stunningly brazen document.  As Jim Morrill of the Charlotte Observer explains,

What the board did was pass the “Municipal Concerns Act of 2018,” a measure that would effectively block future school construction in Matthews, Mint Hill, Huntersville and Cornelius. Those are the towns authorized to create municipal charter schools under a bill the General Assembly passed this year. They wouldn’t get back on CMS’ construction priority list unless they agree not to launch a municipal charter for 15 years.

The relevant text of the act is as follows:

1. To ensure the Board upholds its fiduciary responsibility to the taxpayers of Mecklenburg County, the Board instructs the Superintendent to prioritize all future capital funding to projects that are located within the municipal limits of Charlotte, Davidson, and Pineville, none of which were included in North Carolina General Assembly Session Law 2018-3 (“SL 2018-3”), and are therefore are unable to create and operate their own municipal charter schools.

4. Municipalities included under SL 2018-3 may be included in this section for priority spending upon the passage of a binding resolution by their elected Board of Commissioners guaranteeing a 15-year moratorium on enacting any section of SL 2018-3.
SL 2018-3 is the legislation that authorizes the towns of Matthews, Mint Hill, Huntersville, and Cornelius to apply to the state for a charter.