Failing grades
Inner city schools open year lacking facilities, faculty by John Minter, THE CHARLOTTE POST
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PHOTO/CALVIN FERGUSON |
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Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board Chairman Arthur Griffin (left) and Garinger High School Principal Mike Turner
examine the school's media center. At inner city schools like Garinger, facilities and equipment are much older than at suburban schools.
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Mike Turner walks proudly through Garinger High School's hallways. He shares the excitement and anxiety of the approaching first day of a new
school year - Monday. This is his second year as principal at the eastside school and he's determined to do good by his students and teachers. But his walk, with Charlotte-Mecklenburg, school board
Chair Arthur Griffin, eventually takes them to the chemistry lab, a barren room with decades-old fixtures and little else. The lack of modern laboratories affects
the students' ability to move from the classroom into the workplace, Turner explains. "This is where the rubber meets the road," he says. "You can't just rely on the textbook.
This is hindering kids, especially with higher level courses." The media center is not much help. A random survey of reference books there turned up few
books copyrighted in the last five years. In face, a book on China was last published in 1983, while another was published in 1970.
The media center's three computers linked to the Internet are so outdated the manufacturers' nameplate is unrecognizable, hardly the high-speed machines needed to quickly research
today's graphics-laden websites. And hardly enough to help students, particularly seniors doing the required exit papers and projects.
Griffin knows Turner and other Charlotte-Mecklenburg educators in similar situations face additional challenges their counterparts at the 28 new schools built since 1980 don't -
teaching children with outdated, often dilapidated facilities. He can list the names quickly, names like Oaklawn and Lincoln Heights elementary schools.
The effects are far-reaching, limiting advanced classes on some campuses and making recruitment of top level teachers difficult.
"Teachers are professionals and they want professional classrooms." Griffin said. "They need a professional environment. They need the latest materials. At Garinger, you have to do
the best you can do." Upgrading equipment and facilities of schools in predominantly black communities was a major part of the testimony during last spring's desegregation trial before U.S. District Court
Judge Robert Potter. School officials argued that there remains a need to continue its court-ordered desegregation plan because some schools, most those "racially identifiable as black," are not getting equal
resources, with a resulting lack of achievement among black students. Griffin and other school officials said the Charlotte-Mecklenburg system has failed black children.
The white plaintiffs in the lawsuit are seeking to end court-ordered busing and impose a neighborhood school system, with students assigned to the school closest to home. That, Griffin and others argue, would limit black students to older, inadequate inner city
schools, while whites enjoyed the newer, modern facilities built over the past two decades.Potter, a conservative jurist, is expected to rule soon on the lawsuit. Even school officials
concede he is likely to order an end to court-ordered busing. Any ruling will almost surely be challenged on appeal. But on Monday, nearly 100,000 students will return to Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, many
to places like Garinger.
 Griffin said those schools have been neglected and the age of the buildings is
not always a factor. For example, Garinger, East Mecklenburg and North Mecklenburg high schools were built in the 1960s, but have decidedly different facilities. East
and North have more modern laboratories and media centers, he said. "We want the full range of opportunities at Garinger," Griffin said. "Parents shouldn't have to
make choices about where to go to school. We need the full range of rigorous courses here. We want the same range of opportunities."
The school system has spent millions of dollars attempting to upgrade some schools, but much of the bond money in recent years has gone to construct new schools to keep up with growth.
Just Tuesday night, the school board voted to build two new high schools a year earlier than planned. One will be built in southwestern Mecklenburg. The other in the north.
School officials are gearing up to spend the nearly $250 million approved in a 1997 bond referendum for upgrading 79 schools, with most projects in the design phase. Some schools
have already gotten improvements from earlier bonds, like the new media center at Briarwood Elementary and the $12 million spent at West Charlotte High School.
But many critical needs remain and Mecklenburg County commissioners voted not to include any money for schools on the November bond referendum. School officials had asked for
$1.3 billion over 10 years, most of it for upgrading buildings and facilities. To aid with faculty recruitment, along with facilities, a critical piece of the education package,
the board will begin paying an annual $2,500 bonus to qualified teachers at some schools. Deputy Supt. James Pughsley said the final touches are being put on the plan, but the affected schools have not been designated.
"One school (Thomasboro Elementary) was identified as low performing," Pughsley said of the state school grading program. "That was a carryover from the previous year. Our goal is
no low performing schools" "With regard to that school, significant changes have been made, especially in the leadership," he said.
Mildred Wright, a retired principal, has returned to the system to take over at Thomasboro. "She is a very competent person," Pughsley said. "Both naturally and by design, she has been
able to bring in a much stronger staff. We have sent additional resources and assistance to that school. We expect good things to come out of Thomasboro this year."
"We are also targeting select schools to stay on track," Pughsley said. "At some of those schools, we will be able to provide incentives for teachers going into those schools and remaining there."
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Pughsley
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Pughsley said the system is looking for quality teachers with at least four years experience and no licensing problems, with demonstrated success and
a proven record.The late approval of the plan means school officials have not been able to take full advantage of the new program this year and, Pughsley said, the
system is "finalizing criteria to determine which schools will be targeted schools." Griffin said the issue is equity - making sure all students have the same
educational opportunities, no matter which school they attend. "I don't want to sit here and say 'parents shake in your boots .. be afraid,' in terms of coming
back to school," Griffin said. "The school board has identified the needs. Some schools have the full range of resources, some schools don't have a full range of resources."
Turner is determined to overcome Garinger's challenges. "If you take a beaten attitude, you will be beaten," Turner said. "Our attitude is that we take
what they give us and work hard for each student. I can't afford to get caught up in politics. Our job is to take the kids who come to us and make them contributing citizens in this
country. We would like to have what everybody else has ... It is just a matter of time."
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