Lines were drawn Wednesday over Charlotte's most contentious issue since where the new Charlotte Coliseum should've been built.
It wasn't lines in the sand actually, but clear divisions of thought and opinion over a brown bag lunch at the Charlotte Chamber building.
A Chamber Involvement Forum, led by Bob
Morgan, was held to examine "Education and Integration in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools."
About 75 people turned out for the panel discussion, which was moderated by WSOC-TV reporter Kim Brattain.
The conference, held on the eve of a major federal court ruling on how the school system operates, featured a cross-section of community viewpoints and included Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools Supt. Eric Smith.
Speaking for those who say race should not be used in assigning students to schools was Matthews Mayor Lee Myers, who has led an effort to
end court-ordered busing and supported the anti-busing lawsuit. Westside neighborhood leader James Ramsey, president of the Beatties Ford Road/Sunset Road Coalition,
represented the black community. Also on the panel was UNC Charlotte professor Mary Lynn Calhoun.
Panelists agreed that all children should attend schools with adequate facilities, teachers and supplies.
"No child should attend a poor school," Calhoun said. "Every child should have an equitable chance to reach their optimal development."
But it was clear that panelists had different views on the issue of school assignments. And there also seemed to be differences of opinion on the definition of some terms, including "quality education."
Myers preferred a strict definition, with focus on the 3Rs of reading, writing and arithmetic.
"The board of education should focus on what the name says education putting everything
else aside," Myers said. "We need to make it what it was many years ago."
But Ramsey said a quality education today must take into the account not only the basics, but
the need to teach children how to work with "people who don't look like them"
"The role of the school system is to prepare children for the future," Ramsey said. "The future
society in this country is going to be integrated. That's going to force people to deal with people who don't look like themselves. This country is becoming browner. We are attempting
to develop these youngsters for the future."
Smith said that the future would require children to work in "diverse work teams."
"The world we live in as adults is very different from the world our children
will live in," Smith said.
Ramsey also took issue with Myers' belief that the system should return to methods used before forced busing was ordered in a series of rulings by U.S.
District Court Judge James McMillan in the Swann v. Board of Education case.
But Ramsey pointed out that the era of "separate but equal" schools for blacks and whites was not good for all children.
During a discussion on a "controlled choice" pupil assignment plan, as proposed by Smith last spring, Ramsey took issue with Mecklenburg County commissioners, several of whom were in the audience Wednesday.
"I believe the county commissioners were absolutely wrong in not putting some (school) bond issue before the citizens in the fall," "Ramsey said. "We know that there are needs in this
district, regardless of what the court decision will be. To delay addressing those needs should not have taken place."
Until those needs are addressed, "the future is bleak for a large number of students in this district," Ramsey said. "The court case will not alter that."
Ramsey said the worth of a "controlled choice" pupil assignment plan is a "moot point," without expenditure of the money necessary to equalize school facilities.
"You have to have equity to make choices," he said.
Smith agreed.
"Choice without equity is no choice," Smith said.
Choices should not be based on parents "fleeing" from inadequate schools, he said.
Myers expressed reservations about the "controlled choice" plan, which would divide the
district into the sections and give parents choices within the sections. Myers said he worried about who would have the "control" in such a system. He favors a wide range of choices
which would not require long bus rides to magnet schools, as is common today.
The panel also differed on the school system's share -so far of the anti-busing lawsuit attorneys' fee, about $3.1 million.
Myers said that community involvement should come at the polls when voters decide whether to re-elect incumbent school board members. He said the school board had an opportunity to
avoid the lawsuit by ending forced busing. He also criticized board members for defending themselves by noting their failures.
Smith noted that the school board did not initiate the lawsuit and, once the suit was filed, was forced to defend itself.
"If the public is unhappy with what caused the suit and unhappy with the school board, the public can get involved by deciding to not elect or re-elect those people," Smith said.
Smith said he hopes the community can come together after the court ruling.
"I would like to see if the community can come together around a new strategy that binds the
community together suburban to center city," Smith said.
The pressure for unity is made more urgent by such factors as the need to build "1 new schools in the next eight years, he said.
By the way, the coliseum was built off Billy Graham Parkway in 1988. Today, the community is arguing over whether taxpayers will spend as much as $200 million home for the Charlotte Hornets.
Whether it will be downtown or not, is not even part of the discussion. It will be downtown.
