It was crystal clear from the CMS Task Force meeting in Matthews last night that the entire reform package turns on finding a superintendent/CEO who can execute it. Task Force co-chairs Cathy Bessant and Harvey Gantt are masterful public speakers and advocates, but they could not hide from their plan’s crucial need. Instead, Bessant embraced it.
“The timing couldn’t be better,” Bessant said, noting the vacancy at the top of CMS.
This view, however, is at serious odds with the rumblings that have CMS interim super Frances Haithcock sliding into that role permanently. Haithcock cannot be viewed as the kind of change agent and take-charge executive the Task Force plan needs. Rather, she is vested in the old CMS order of denial and hiding problems. Haithcock is also viewed as anti-teacher by the teachers for repeatedly telling high school principals to blame the teachers for student failure.
Haithcock also seems a poor choice to deliver what Bessant said was a need for real diffusion of authority out of the Ed Center. Responding to criticism that the Area Superintendent plan the Task Force backs is just a replay of previous CMS structures and would merely add another layer of bureaucracy to CMS, Bessant said this reform would be real and different. Hard to be different with the same people in charge, however.
But that is only one problem confronting the bold Task Force plan, which might be CMS’s last, best chance for reform. The change in the way the school board would be elected and its very make-up was a lightning rod for criticism during the two-hour meeting. Going from nine members to seven while shifting to a county-wide election for six district candidates and one appointed member might be too bold. Several questioners peppered Bessant and Gantt with worries that the resulting county-wide elections would be too expensive and result in only well-funded, i.e. Uptown funded, candidates gaining office.
Gantt turned that around to say the business involvement in the schools is a good thing and implied, as did much of the presentation, that the status quo has to change regardless. Still, this governance change remains the weak-link in the Task Force proposal in terms of public support and understanding. It may have to be shelved in the near-term.
The rest of the Task Force’s radical proposals — outsourcing non-core services, increased reliance on non-traditional school construction, taking school-construction out of the hands of CMS, a robust choice/charter component — drew amazingly little attention as many in the audience preferred to look backward and fight yesterday’s battles over diversity. That is depressing in a way, but also a clear sign just how ineffectual current CMS structure, management, and focus have become.
A related observation: If former school board member Louise Woods ever starts talking at a meeting you attend, just go ahead and hit yourself over the head with a chair. It is quicker, but otherwise has the same effect on your higher-brain functions.
Gantt said the Task Force is pushing ahead with its sales mode and would like to see a Citizen’s Commission on education to take up the reform banner and carry it forward as “a critical friend of CMS.” But time is short. A new CEO, a new bond package, and various reform elements all would have to begin moving forward within months for CMS to truly get pointed in a different direction.
Accordingly, CMS and county officials should take up the free-standing reforms, such as outsourcing transportation functions, and begin implementing them ASAP. Otherwise, be prepared for lots of nothing cloaked as something.
And one final observation: Although Bessant said the Task Force did not assume alternative funding sources like impact fees or real estate transfer taxes or stamps, it is fairly clear those new revenue sources are on the table right now in Mecklenburg.
