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Over on the Morrison thread, a few people mentioned 3 logical school districts to break CMS into. They offered scant details about what the "logical" districts are. Would anyone care to elaborate?
My initial thoughts were grouping the high schools by those sharing similar problems and circumstances so each superintendent could concentrate on a common concern. I can't imagine such divisions would ever be allowed based on the obvious racial and economic divides. Determining funding would also be a political landmine. Would funding be allocated per capita, each district given its own taxing authority, or given to the district with the most need (feed problems and starve opportunities)?
My logical districts are:
Crescent district - Olympic, West Meck, Harding, West Charlotte, Garinger, Independence
Providence district - South Meck, Myers Park, East Meck, Providence, Butler, Ardey Kell
Northeast district - Hopewell, Hough, North Meck, Mallard Creek, Vance, Rocky River
I think the division should be how they are now with a few merges. It's already in "place" as according to this map. (i didn't get a more recent one but just as a general idea)
Honestly, I think people have little to no understanding how CMS is structured. CMS currently has learning Communities grouped by geographic area along with area superintendents that administrate those areas. I'm not sure where magnets fall.
I would love to see a realistic funding model from those who think the district should be split. Folks also seems to ignore the fact that the NC General assembly led the push to consolidation. That's why most of the districts are county based.
Lastly, it seems like people go off on bigger is bad but have no concrete examples to show how a bunch of smaller districts would be better. I tend to think that people don't like the idea that they are being combined with someone not like them. If you live in the suburbs, you don't want to support urban school and you think those schools get more support that could go to your area. People don't seem to realize that $$ spent based on economic need aren't going to schools where there is no economic need. Those federal dollars are never going to schools that don't have that economic demographic.
Honestly, I think people have little to no understanding how CMS is structured. CMS currently has learning Communities grouped by geographic area along with area superintendents that administrate those areas. I'm not sure where magnets fall.
I would love to see a realistic funding model from those who think the district should be split. Folks also seems to ignore the fact that the NC General assembly led the push to consolidation. That's why most of the districts are county based.
Lastly, it seems like people go off on bigger is bad but have no concrete examples to show how a bunch of smaller districts would be better. I tend to think that people don't like the idea that they are being combined with someone not like them. If you live in the suburbs, you don't want to support urban school and you think those schools get more support that could go to your area. People don't seem to realize that $$ spent based on economic need aren't going to schools where there is no economic need. Those federal dollars are never going to schools that don't have that economic demographic.
Well apparently the huge district is overwhelming the superintendents that are taking over. Plus we have to "pay" them more as it's a huge job.
I think by breaking it up in 2 or 3 smaller school districts it will allow them to focus more on issues and fix it. It's easier to fix 10 failing schools than it is with 40 failing schools. I know it isn't the perfect solution and there's a lot more to it and it's easy for us to make suggestions like this. But something needs to be done as it's clearly NOT working as a one big district.
It feels fruitless though as in the end, the district will NOT be split and we will just find another warm body to pay huge $$$$ to and hope for the best.
Well apparently the huge district is overwhelming the superintendents that are taking over. Plus we have to "pay" them more as it's a huge job.
I think by breaking it up in 2 or 3 smaller school districts it will allow them to focus more on issues and fix it. It's easier to fix 10 failing schools than it is with 40 failing schools. I know it isn't the perfect solution and there's a lot more to it and it's easy for us to make suggestions like this. But something needs to be done as it's clearly NOT working as a one big district.
It feels fruitless though as in the end, the district will NOT be split and we will just find another warm body to pay huge $$$$ to and hope for the best.
why isn't it working ? because superintendents come and go every 3 years?
Well apparently the huge district is overwhelming the superintendents that are taking over. Plus we have to "pay" them more as it's a huge job.
I think by breaking it up in 2 or 3 smaller school districts it will allow them to focus more on issues and fix it. It's easier to fix 10 failing schools than it is with 40 failing schools. I know it isn't the perfect solution and there's a lot more to it and it's easy for us to make suggestions like this. But something needs to be done as it's clearly NOT working as a one big district.
It feels fruitless though as in the end, the district will NOT be split and we will just find another warm body to pay huge $$$$ to and hope for the best.
Not saying that splitting up is or isn't the right thing to do, but superintendent pay probably isn't the best argument for doing it. 1 superintendent at $288K isn't going to beget 2 or 3 in a smaller district at a fraction of the cost, so at least the superintendent salary will be more, not less. Don't know if your actual HQ headcount would shrink or grow in a "split" scenario, either.
Not saying that splitting up is or isn't the right thing to do, but superintendent pay probably isn't the best argument for doing it. 1 superintendent at $288K isn't going to beget 2 or 3 in a smaller district at a fraction of the cost, so at least the superintendent salary will be more, not less. Don't know if your actual HQ headcount would shrink or grow in a "split" scenario, either.
Admittedly I didn't research the salary, I just went by a poster's amount he posted. Since there are already personnel in place for each district on the map I posted, by merging the two areas. I think it would be a wash in the headcount by splitting it. But again this is all off the top of my head. It isn't a situation that should be done as a quick fix. It should be researched and see if it's indeed a valid solution. It "seems" like it would be but I wouldn't vote on it unless there was a good study on it using solid resources.
The fact that you are asking this question makes me wonder if you think CMS is a success story?
It was a very serious question. I actually wanted your opinion on what makes a district successful. I should know better than to try to have a discussion on an online forum. Why try to understand someone else's point of view when I can just shout my own opinions and snark instead
I have many issues with CMS but none of those would change if the district were smaller.
I don't want CMS splitting up if it adversely affects the magnet school enrollment. Selfish on my part perhaps, but I have two kids who attend a magnet elementary now and will be at a future magnet middle school. No way do the neighborhood schools meet their needs (exactly why they are in magnet schools).
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