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December 6, 2005 |
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 FRANCES
HAITHCOCKCharlotte Mecklenburg Schools Interim Superintendent does some Myth busting By Susan Manning For those of you who are fans of the television show, Mythbusters, Interim Superintendent, Dr. Frances Haithcock, did some impressive "myth busting" at this week's Rotary meeting. The title of her presentation was "CMS: Myths vs. Reality". Frances, who is one of our own, really needed no introduction but Tony Zeiss introduced her in his usual enthusiastic style. Dr. Haithcock is currently serving as interim superintendent for CMS, the 23rd largest school system in the nation. Prior to that she served as the CMS Associate Superintendent for Instruction for five years after coming to Charlotte from Broward County, Florida where she was the Deputy Superintendent of Schools. Dr. Haithcock began her remarks with an impressive array of statistics on the size and diversity of CMS and shared the CMS Vision, which is to create a culture of achievement, equity and hope for all children. Then the myth busting really began. Myth #1: Students aren't achieving. Dr. Haithcock countered this myth with the reality of achievement citing improvements since the mid 1990's. For example, in 1996 there were 22 low performing schools by state standards and now there are none. CMS currently has 28 Honor Schools of Excellence, 28 Schools of Excellence or Distinction, 29 High Growth Schools and 100 Schools which met expected growth. 90% of fifth graders are at or above grade level in reading and math, which is a key metric for students moving into middle school. Equally impressive is that 80% or more students are on grade level in reading and math in 10 Title I (high poverty) schools. On a national level, 4 CMS high schools were listed among the 100 best high schools and 11 are in the Top 900 out of over 27,000 high schools nationwide. Myth #2: CMS isn't well managed. Frances busted this myth by citing the strategic planning initiative and the development of the CMS balanced scorecard that measures progress in five key areas. All processes and initiatives are aligned to the balanced scorecard and progress is tracked using red, yellow and green lights. She also mentioned that CMS has been held accountable for its operations with reviews by outside consultants, the Chamber of Commerce and its external auditors. Myth #3: CMS is a failing school system. The Superintendent indicated that CMS is the only large urban district that has national accreditation, which was an intensive 2 ½ year process. She cited an impressive array of statistics and graphs showing continued, sustained growth in academic progress, including closing the gap between white and minority achievement, SAT results of the top 10% of CMS students, the participation rate in AP and IB courses, and 8th grade students who take Algebra or Geometry, which is unique in North Carolina. CMS also has a significant commitment to educating students from a global perspective, which includes 17 IB schools, 6 Centers for Leadership and Global Economics, 5 foreign language immersion schools and 1 international studies school. Myth #4: CMS should be like Wake. Frances maintained that we should want to be ourselves rather than aspiring to be like Wake County. She cited demographics that showed major differences with Wake County. However, a comparative look at new school construction costs shows that CMS is building schools at the same or lower cost per square foot than similar construction in Wake and Guilford counties. Before closing, Dr. Haithcock busted a few more myths including CMS has half-filled schools and empty seats; CMS is wasting money and doesn't need new schools, CMS hasn't planned for growth; CMS could save money if it used consistent plans for school construction, and CMS needs to run more like a business. In each case, she presented the reality with facts and figures to support her case that CMS is the best urban school system in the nation. Her final myth busting reality is based on the most recent results that show CMS is outperforming the nation in three of four areas measured on the national NAEP test as reported in the Wall St. Journal and The Charlotte Observer. Frances closed by asking Rotarians to get involved by visiting our schools and "walking in the shoes" of principals for one day and then spreading the word on the positive reality of school performance in the community. While acknowledging opportunities to improve performance, the entire community needs to be engaged and take ownership of its school system and build consensus around solutions. Head Table: Jay Westmoreland, Pam Daigle, Herb Harriss, Tony Zeiss, David Norman, Katie Tyler: Invocation: Lee Morris Visitors & Guests: Ed Turner; Health & Happiness: Don Haack; Song: David Erdman
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Revised: January 24, 2008.