57%

[monsoon]

This is the percentage of CMS public school students that manage to get a high school diploma from the institution according to Education Week. CMS upon being asked about this stated that it doesn't currently have access to these #s.

This is a pretty appalling failure rate and maybe the reason the counties around Mecklenburg are gaining so many people. I would argue that continuing failures of the school system here will hurt the efforts to urbanize Mecklenburg county, lead to more cries for deconsolidatoin by the towns, and generally hurt the area when it comes to state funding. What do you guys think of this?

[Creasy336]

Wow, thats pretty bad how many schools have been threatened to be shut down? I know here in the Burlington area they threatened to shut down 2 schools. I have to agree people not getting educations will add to the people who remain in the Charlotte Mecklenburg area. Lack of education will always add to crime and hurt communties due to the lack of employment opportunities which can lead to people stealing, selling drugs etc... The best way for Char/Meck to fix the problem would be to get to these young people EARLY in their lives while they are in elementary and middle school.

[TowerRooster]

Wow, that is just... unbelievably sad. Mulling over that makes me pretty angry, but I really don't know who to direct it towards. I've heard that the school system is highly inefficient with the money. Who knows a little more about this... pretty much all I know I heard via Tara Servatius, and I havne't read CL in a while.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

The best way for Char/Meck to fix the problem would be to get to these young people EARLY in their lives while they are in elementary and middle school.

What I hear is that they do well in elementary school and then in middle school they take many steps backward. The poor graduation rate for CMS is also extremely disappointing when you look at what you need for graduation: one of the requirements is the ability to test at an 8th grade reading level.

Pathetic.

This will only have negative consequences for the city and region.

EDIT:

I went and read the article in the O, and it says even with these low graduation rates, we are in the middle of the pack nationwide on this statistic. Wake County fared much better.

[A2]

Since I am being an optomistic A2 today I will just say that the glass is half full, since we could have been SC (please no stone throwing I am just trying to jab a little for kicks and giggles)

[Creasy336]

Two words: School Uniforms. Take the cool out of school

[cltheel.sdl]

I am proud to say I am part of the 57% that passed.

That being said, the graduation rate is deplorable. Especially comparing our rate to that of Wake County. They have an 80% grad rate. I believe ours is one of if not the lowest grad rate in the state. I don't think you can blame it all on CMS, alot of it comes from inner city kids who just don't care and/or have a poor home life.

[A2]

If we take our handy dandy math skills that we learned in CMS we could technically just round this number out to 60. That would at least give us a passing grade! Remember grading on the curve maybe that would work too. Hell if the Gov't and Wall street can cook the books and tweak the digits, well then so should CMS.

But seriously, this is really a sad state of affairs, really. 57% is an embarassment!

A2

[dubone]

Taking the cool out of school does not increase the graduation rate. (Although, I agree uniforms are good).

CMS is incompetently run, at the central level, leading to poor policies on discipline that often are counterproductive for education and graduation goals for borderline/bubble kids.

Social promotion is a huge problem, which then leads to kids falling further behind, and then dropping out. You don't realize how many kids are in high school who still can't pass the 8th grade reading test. What are the high school teachers supposed to do? Teach reading in high school english class, and what does that do for the kids who can read at grade level?

Some how, the idea is that if you pass them for the grade, that you are somehow helping the students. I personally believe that kids should be stuck in the grade until they get it right, period. If that means 43% of the system stays in the 8th grade until they 16 years old, then so be it.

Another problem is that NC allows kids to drop out at 16, so in social cultures that are okay with it, (which, culturally, it is acceptable for many walks of life in Charlotte). Some states, such as Kansas (a notable example because they have very good education numbers), hold the parents legally responsible if the children don't stay in school through age 18. By having a law that says you are allowed to drop out at 16, leads many to simply think that is fine.

Also, you guys shouldn't forget that this generation of kids were born in the late 80s and early 90s. The term "crack baby" refers to a real life thing. There are tremendous number of children who have a biological impediment to learning as a result of the drugs their parents took 15 years ago. Crack was an epidemic then, and has lead to a social epidemics now. I would bet that there were many more crack addicts in Charlotte than other parts of NC.

Another issue is lack of classroom space, and student-teacher ratios in poor schools that pretty much just assume that children will drop out. When you put 35-40 kids in a classroom, not much can be done to deal with the individuals' situations and keep them in school. The school is pretty much incented to let them go and be able to deal with smaller numbers.

(And, A2, if Wall Street and the Federal Government cheats on numbers, you better believe CMS does. They lie about crimes on campus. I know that for a fact. I'm sure their response to this article will be spin, and excessive counter statistics. Of course they do everything but fix their horrible organization that leads to these problems.)

[A2]

(And, A2, if Wall Street and the Federal Government cheats on numbers, you better believe CMS does. They lie about crimes on campus. I know that for a fact. I'm sure their response to this article will be spin, and excessive counter statistics. Of course they do everything but fix their horrible organization that leads to these problems.)

True^

Do you think the hiring of the new Super will change things?

A2

[dubone]

Yes, but I tend to agree that much will be business as usual simply because the education system national has seriously mediocre managers. I somewhat agreed with the conservative on the board, that a non-"educrat" manager might bring some common sense management.

[A2]

Yes, but I tend to agree that much will be business as usual simply because the education system national has seriously mediocre managers. I somewhat agreed with the conservative on the board, that a non-"educrat" manager might bring some common sense management.

I really do hope so, since schools are a BIG reason for corporate relocations and for driving our local economy. IT IS A MUST !

A2

[DanRNC]

That's pretty bad. When I graduated it had to have been close to 80%. My mom actually knows a couple of people that are leaving Charlotte for Chapel Hill due to the school situation there.

[krazeeboi]

Since I am being an optomistic A2 today I will just say that the glass is half full, since we could have been SC (please no stone throwing I am just trying to jab a little for kicks and giggles)

Actually, I was going to use SC as an example. SC is contending the numbers Education Week is utilizing based on certain factors; however, SC has its numbers in tow, ready for review. CMS, on the other hand, is saying it doesn't have access to its numbers, which isn't good.

[A2]

Actually, I was going to use SC as an example. SC is contending the numbers Education Week is utilizing based on certain factors; however, SC has its numbers in tow, ready for review. CMS, on the other hand, is saying it doesn't have access to its numbers, which isn't good.

Yikes ! No access, that does suck.

A2

[cltheel.sdl]

If we take our handy dandy math skills that we learned in CMS we could technically just round this number out to 60. That would at least give us a passing grade! Remember grading on the curve maybe that would work too. Hell if the Gov't and Wall street can cook the books and tweak the digits, well then so should CMS.

But seriously, this is really a sad state of affairs, really. 57% is an embarassment!

A2

Actually, rounding up to 60% still fails them. In CMS, a passing grade is 70% and higher. Maybe that's part of the reason why so many are failing, but I doubt it. They'd probably still fail.

[A2]

Actually, rounding up to 60% still fails them. In CMS, a passing grade is 70% and higher. Maybe that's part of the reason why so many are failing, but I doubt it. They'd probably still fail.

Maybe CMS is just taking from BofA's slogan with the whole "higher standards" motto. I am sure they think if can work for a bank it can work for our students. But in all seriousness, I had no idea that 70 was now considered passing. My how the times are a changin'. Thanks for the info cltheel.sdl.

2

[Charlotte_native]

Maybe if CMS parents weren't constantly infighting, battling over money and control, threatening to try and pull some areas out of the system, and voting down bonds they could concentrate on education. As I see it, and as a person paying property taxes that support the schools but has no kids, they are a bunch of bickering idiots who would rather oppose each other dig trenches, and fight to be "right" that they never worry about their kids or schools. Inner city schools get too much, moral sewers abound, county schools have too many trailers...who cares?? I read the paper and news voraciously, but when it is an article about CMS, after the years of becoming desensitized, I pass it by without paying any attention at all.

Not that this is the sole source of the education problems here, but it most certainly can't help. How many parents and "involved" citizens are already hoping the new super will fail? They have already begun harrassing him about where he'll live...

I think a lot of people on each side of the CMS issues would rather see the other side proved wrong that see other ideas work -- even if it helped their children.

[UptownGrrl]

Have they given a clear definition of how those numbers are calculated? I thought I heard someone from CMS state that the number is deceptively low and describes only the full four year matriculation rate -- meaning if a student left sophmore year because their family moved, they count toward the statistic of starting with CMS, but not graduating from CMS. I don't know if this is accurate or not - but it at least sounds like a good excuse for them to bat around while they avoid the underlying issues.

To me, the most unbelievable part is the fact that they don't know how many graduates they have. Wouldn't you think someone in administration has some sort of record of all the seniors and a list of those who are getting a diploma... should be pretty easy to calculate such a percentage. They said they only have data from the 2002-2003 school year... Sounds like they need some sort of systems upgrade to keep better track of their students.

[cinco]

i have always thought that EDUCATION is the answer to all problems, and therefore should be one of the most important focal points of society. we all know that the issue of teacher salaries - is an elephant in the room. we should have higher standards for them to qualify up to, and they should be paid handsomely. instead of "no-child" left behind, it should be "no-teacher" left behind. i'm sorry but great teachers should be making what great lawyers, doctors, and etc. make.

anyways, this number is terrible and i don't know what the answer is, but i think a shift in priorties is needed for us to evolve.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

i have always thought that EDUCATION is the answer to all problems, and therefore should be one of the most important focal points of society. we all know that the issue of teacher salaries - is an elephant in the room. we should have higher standards for them to qualify up to, and they should be paid handsomely. instead of "no-child" left behind, it should be "no-teacher" left behind. i'm sorry but great teachers should be making what great lawyers, doctors, and etc. make.

anyways, this number is terrible and i don't know what the answer is, but i think a shift in priorties is needed for us to evolve.

I don't think it's all about money. The private schools are doing much more with less.

Maybe the main problem is this culture of education that has developed. Have any of the new and progressive feel-good methods of teaching really brought any positive results? Maybe we should go back to before the 1960s, and look at how they did it. I also heard somewhere that it used to be that 1/3 of the employees of a school district were teachers, now its like 1/15 are teachers(something like that).

[cinco]

I don't think its all about money. The private schools are doing much more with less.

i don't think it's all about money... i think teacher qualifications should be greater and in return compensated much better. more money doesn't equal better performance... but i think the priorties, of what occupations we put on a pedestal and who we celebrate, should be addressed.

also, i wasn't aware that private schools teachers weren't paid more? i always assumed they were since the QUALIFICATIONS are more stringent.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

i don't think it's all about money... i think teacher qualifications should be greater and in return compensated much better. more money doesn't equal better performance... but i think the priorties, of what occupations we put on a pedestal and who we celebrate, should be addressed.

also, i wasn't aware that private schools teachers weren't paid more? i always assumed they were since the QUALIFICATIONS are more stringent.

Qualifications are more stringent but teachers, at my school at least, were paid around $10,000 less than similarly qualified teachers at public schools. It's a quality of life issue for them I guess.

EDIT:

I don't know what qualified means in a high school environment, but all my teachers had their masters degrees, and two had a PhDs. All were teaching in their field of expertise.

[cinco]

wow... that's amazing teachers with those credentials would accept that less of pay. what other benefits, other than smaller classes and discounted education for their children, do private school teachers get?

on another note... it would be nice to see some kind of apprenticeship program being fostered more thoroughly. i know CMS has certain magnet schools... but, not everyone is going to graduate by state/federal levels... maybe a tradesman initiative could be worth looking into. the fact remains that beyond statistics - all these kids who aren't graduating... are not, all idiot failures. there has to be a more productive way to assimilate them into the workforce/society... does a "diploma" need to be a black and white positive or negative.

[peaceloveunderstanding]

wow... that's amazing teachers with those credentials would accept that less of pay. what other benefits, other than smaller classes and discounted education for their children, do private school teachers get?

They actually get to teach, there are no EOGs, and they have more freedom to teach their class - the ACLU's rules don't apply. Second they have the knowledge that if someone gets out of hand they can send him down to the principal and it will get sorted out right quick. Third, there is great communication between the parents and teachers. Some of my past teachers taught in public schools first and they told me that one of the primary reasons they left public schools were the behavioral problems.

on another note... it would be nice to see some kind of apprenticeship program being fostered more thoroughly. i know CMS has certain magnet schools... but, not everyone is going to graduate by state/federal levels... maybe a tradesman initiative could be worth looking into. the fact remains that beyond statistics - all these kids who aren't graduating... are not, all idiot failures. there has to be a more productive way to assimilate them into the workforce/society... does a "diploma" need to be a black and white positive or negative.

Some high schools up north have trade schools and career centers in which the majority of your studies focus on something like auto mechanics, woodworking, and other similar trades.