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Flawed priorities
Improvements to poorer schools skipped the most important factor in a child's education: good, experienced teachers
Now, three-quarters of a billion dollars in voter-approved bonds later, things look starkly different at most inner-city schools. Gone are the leaky pipes, faulty thermostats and stench of old, rotting carpet. The hundreds of millions in bond and other monies we've spent so far have bought us over 20 new or restored inner-city schools, and much more.
Turnover Percentages |
||
| High Schools | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 |
| Teacher Experience | 0-3 years | 0-4 years |
| Equity | 32% | 40% |
| Non-equity | 22% | 24% |
| Majority Black | 29% | 38% |
| Majority White | 20% | 20% |
| Middle Schools | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 |
| Teacher Experience | 0-3 years | 0-4 years |
| Equity | 43.5% | 48.1% |
| Non-equity | 30.5% | 30% |
| Majority Black | 47% | 52% |
| Majority White | 28% | 28.4% |
| Elementary Schools | 2002-2003 | 2003-2004 |
| Teacher Experience | 0-3 years | 0-4 years |
| Equity | 35% | 37% |
| Non-equity | 26% | 27% |
| Majority Black | 38% | 35% |
| Majority White | 23% | 24% |
| High Schools Teacher Turnover |
2002-2003 | |
| Equity | 25% | |
| Non-equity | 18% | |
| Majority Black | 26% | |
| Majority White | 14% | |
| Middle Schools Teacher Turnover |
2002-2003 | |
| Equity | 36% | |
| Non-equity | 26% | |
| Majority Black | 43% | |
| Majority White | 22% | |
| Elementary Schools Teacher Turnover |
2002-2003 | |
| Equity | 28% | |
| Non-equity | 20% | |
| Majority Black | 34% | |
| Majority White | 19% | |
The study found that in terms of teachers, Mecklenburg's is a caste-like, three-tiered school system that breaks down with surprising predictability along class and racial lines. White majority suburban schools are stacked with the system's most experienced teachers, and have the greatest number of teachers with the much sought-after National Board Certification. Today, the schools with the highest concentrations of minority and poor children, called EquityPlus II schools by the school system, are teacher turnover mills with much higher numbers of inexperienced teachers who leave in a seemingly endless stream, only to be replaced by more just like them. The rest of the system, which includes schools with more balanced populations in terms of race and socio-economics, lags behind the majority-white suburban schools in the county's highest-income zip codes, but not as far behind, on average, as the county's majority black schools.
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