Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools aren’t the responsibility of the city, but in these trying economic times, the schools need help that the state and county can’t deliver. In the second part of an ongoing series, Creative Loafing asks the current mayoral candidates how city government can help the school system. (This week’s installment includes Martin Davis, another Republican running for mayor.)
Creative Loafing: What role should the city play in helping to fund Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools?
Anthony Foxx: The city was holding money owed to the school system from our Safelight/Safe Speed program, and there was a lot of haggling going on about how the money should be used. With the budget crisis facing the school impacting educator positions, I stood up and said we need to fork over the money, and we need to do it right now. When we have resources that belong to the schools, we ought to provide that to the schools. In terms of funding, though, another area where the city is heavily invested is school resource officers. I would be a strong supporter of keeping that relationship.
The third area that we touch on is after-school programs. In the time I’ve been on council, we’ve actually expanded our after-school reach. Most of the dangerous activity that kids get involved in occurs between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. If we’re able to get them involved in educational activities in that time period, it helps us keep them safe. In terms of funding, those areas are very appropriate, and I will be looking for ways to expand our reach on that.
John Lassiter: Technically, the city has no responsibility to financially support Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. That’s a county and state role, but we have found ways over time to provide support. There are a couple of areas in particular that we continue to help, even in difficult times. We have worked with them on providing police at all high schools, middle schools and most elementary schools that deal with a wide variety of issues to keep those schools safe. We have been engaged in supporting after-school programs that are more logically the responsibility of the school system. We have supported a wide variety of after-school programs that are developing study habits and quality time that will hopefully lead to those kids becoming responsible adults.
Martin Davis: None. They’ve got plenty of money. I don’t think the city should have any official interaction with the public school system.
How can the city work more effectively with the school system?
Foxx: First of all, acknowledging them would be a good first step. Acknowledging education as a key driver of our economic development and community is a major first step. I think the mayor, in particular, has the responsibility to speak out on behalf of Charlotte parents and kids. I also think the mayor has the responsibility to speak to parents and kids by encouraging people across our community to activate themselves to help kids who are struggling. I don’t see city government taking the place of the school board. They are the body that makes decisions about how to use resources and they are the body that makes policy decisions, and that’s not going to change.
Lassiter: Part of what we can do is find ways to partner. An example of something that I helped lead when I was on the school board: If you go out to the end of the light rail line where the light rail terminates to South Boulevard, we did a partnership with Sterling Elementary School and Park and Rec where the city built the deck and Park and Rec built the ball fields that connect to the school house. And it ended up having the first recreational facility that benefited the neighborhood as a whole. We are now in the process of moving the school system out of its headquarters in Marshall Park, and they are going to co-locate a number of their administrative functions in the government location that houses the city and the county. That may create some opportunities to marry up human resource functions and technology functions that can be used across all levels of government and save some money.
Davis: As mayor, I would use the bully pulpit to promote the charter school movement, KIP — Knowledge Is Power — program. I would try to get the state to lift their 100-charter-school cap statewide so that we could have as many charter schools in Charlotte as the citizens wanted. I would try to create some kind of momentum for the way that KIP educates children and bring it to the community to let people know it’s available to them.
What will you do as mayor to ensure graduates of local colleges will have a place in shaping the future of Charlotte?
Foxx: My hope and expectations are that we will work closely with our area colleges and university presidents and Tony Zeiss at CPCC to make sure we are using every resource available to us to engage kids while they are in college to help make this community better and help our future to be better. The other way is, as kids graduate, we have to make sure we have a ready supply of jobs to keep that talent here and to keep that youthful vigor in our community. That’s one of the reasons why I’ve been a strong proponent — even before the economic crisis — of taking aggressive steps to diversify our economy.
Lassiter: I chair the city’s economic development and planning committee; we have aligned our focus to attract industry with the efforts that are coming out of UNC-Charlotte, Queens, [CPCC] and Johnson C. Smith and making sure the programs that they are developing and strengthening match up with the industries we are trying to attract. An example is we’re working with UNC-Charlotte in their efforts with energy and renewable energy, and we’re attracting businesses that need those kinds of graduates.
Davis: What I’d try to do as mayor is, if we have the lowest possible crime, that we can have the lowest tax rate. And we have an excellent transportation system that is going to create economic growth and allow people that have skill live here and work here. I don’t think there is anything the government has the capability or the business in trying to target certain areas. Right now, I know green jobs and energy are the two big areas that the liberals who run Charlotte want to try and create job growth in, and they don’t have that expertise.
This article appears in Jun 16-23, 2009.
