Articles About MeckEd

Citizenship in Difficult Times

Over the past few weeks, I have watched the implications of Mecklenburg County’s budget crisis become clear. Of particular interest to me, as the head of an organization that advocates for our public school system, have been the actions taken by the CMS administration and school board to make budgetary accommodations that minimize impact on student learning, and the ensuing public discourse that those cuts inspired. I was struck by the widespread misinterpretations, distorted sound bites and
overly simplistic news “shorts” (compounded by CMS’s communiqués) that seem to further confound an already disengaged citizenry.

I have watched as some school board members who could have rallied and risen in unity to the challenge of common purpose – making the best of a bad situation – revert to predictable accusatory behaviors. And so I am left with the question - how do we tone down the rhetoric and turn up our collective will to keep our public schools strong through these challenging times? More>>