http://66.225.205.104/CW20100630.mp3
The Charlotte Mecklenburg school board yesterday laid out a set of criteria for Superintendent Peter Gorman. They're supposed to help CMS craft future student assignment plans. But school board members are having difficulty agreeing on the details. After four hours of discussion, an unofficial tally of points at yesterday's School Board work session was left open to interpretation. "It might show, like, obviously the student achievement that gets a 10... it's kind of by itself because it got a 10," said board member Tom Tate. "It may be that it shows us that equity and magnets are next because they're fairly much above the next ones." But that's not a lot for Superintendent Peter Gorman to go on. The work session was meant to give him a concrete set of criteria, called guiding principles that would give him and his staff guidance in making recommendations on things like school boundaries. The Board did lay out 13 key concepts: for example, every kid deserves the same opportunities. Another is putting kids in schools closer to their homes. But after points were assigned, it wasn't clear in what order the concepts should be prioritized. They could only determine their top priority. Board member Rhonda Lennon said "Well it looks to me like it focuses us on our mission, which is to maximize achievement for every student." But that wasn't enough for Gorman, who explained, "We need to know of the other things, what does matter, so we can take those into account to make every school a great school." Part of the problem was two members were absent from Tuesday's meeting. So for now, it's a topic for another day.