This website, onecharlottecommunity.org, began life in 2010 as a place for coverage and commentary related to Charlotte-Mecklenburg public education issues.
In 2020, when the material moved to a new Internet Service Provider, some editing of older material occurred to remove links that had gone bad over time. In some cases, a page was turned into a text cache. Pages in February and March 2013 collect materials prepared at the request of a newcomer wanting to know more about Charlotte.
2024
- The color of money (1/2/2024) - In the same week of 2021, two big investments were announced. One was $250 million, made by corporate leaders as…
2021
- Food for thought (12/16/2021) -
- Fall 2021 (10/19/2021) - Oct. 19, 2021
- Hot summer (6/30/2021) - June 30, 2021
- Pursue your dreams (5/29/2021) -
- Once and future Tax Day (4/15/2021) -
- Seeing (4/14/2021) -
- Morning (3/19/2021) -
- Tornado watch (3/18/2021) -
- Prepare (3/11/2021) -
- Wishing on a Star (3/6/2021) -
- Bashful (3/5/2021) -
- Frost damage (3/4/2021) -
- Forming (3/3/2021) -
- Going Green (3/2/2021) -
- Awaiting Spring (2/28/2021) -
- Also Not Mars (2/27/2021) -
- Harbinger of Spring (2/26/2021) -
- Not Mars (2/25/2021) -
- Galvanizing Times (2/24/2021) -
- Aloft No More (2/23/2021) -
- Drizzle (2/22/2021) -
- Afternoon (2/21/2021) -
- Morning (2/20/2021) - Reflections off a frosted windshield.
2020
- Aug. 3, 2020: Lew Powell (8/3/2020) - Aug. 3, 2020 Lew Powell, a longtime Charlotte resident, is a retired journalist. During his retirement he has focused…
2021
2020
2-22-20 Less time in the silo Our thanks to Ann Doss Helms at WFAE for laying out another CMS misstep for all to see. Her reporting is here. The incident involves asking CMS students from 6th-12th grade about their sexual orientation and gender identity. The questions were inserted in a survey that children could take only after logging […]
2-17-20 What expectations do we have for our children? It’s Presidents’ Day. Odds are that none of the students in CMS schools today will ever serve as President. But every one of our children should be ready to take their chosen place in adulthood. How are we doing on that goal? Setting aside all of the wrangling over tests and what […]
2019
9-9-19 On oblitering the lines that divide us.
8-11-19 “E(Race)ing Inequities: The State of Racial Equity in North Carolina Public Schools,” by Nicholas P. Triplett and James E Ford, Center for Racial Equity in Education: “…racially inequitable access to the full benefit of public education persists today and presents one of the most pressing and stubborn problems facing the field.”
2018
5-10-18 Broad Center’s “Hire Expectations: Big-district superintendents stay in their jobs longer than we think.” PDF file. EdWeek’s coverage here.
4-11-18 The CMS “Breaking the Link” reports: More data on the continuing link between reading proficiency and poverty.
2017
3-27-17 Opportunity Task Force Report, Dr. Opehlia Garmon-Brown & Dee O’Dell, co-chairs. Two-year study launched in the wake of Harvard Chetty study focused its recommendations on systems change.
2013
3-16-13 Black populations compared
3-16-13 Metro area topography
3-16-13 Metro area soils
3-16-13 Paths of early American migration, by European ethnic concentrations
13-16-13 CMS elementary attendance zones, 1992-93, with focus on “satellite” areas
3-16-13 Reach of sewer and water lines, 1991
3-16-13 Truck delivery times, 1986
3-16-13 Population percentage change by census tract, 1970-76
3-16-13 Reach of sewer and water lines, 1978
3-16-13 Reach of sewer, water lines, 1978
3-16-13 Population percent black, 1980
3-16-13 Median household income, 1985
3-16-13 Annexations through 1988
3-8-13 A black power movement launched in private from Fannie Circle in GrierTown, modern Grier Heights.
3-8-13 Plato Price School helped open opportunities for African-Americans.
3-8-13 Pinewood/Elmwood Cemetery.
2-25-13 Building permits 2000-2011.
2-25-13 Annexation history of Charlotte.
1-15-13 Task forces take on role as shapers of the conversation.
1-10-13 Open the door on task forces’ discussions on the future of CMS.
2010
12-20-10 Observer carries citizen comments on “what would make CMS a great system.”
12-2-10 Mayor Anthony Foxx ruminates at town hall about whether school budget cuts are right thing to do.
11-28-10 The Rev. John Cleghorn comments from the pulpit, and the editorial page, about CMS budget issues.
11-6-10 Longtime civil rights attorney James Ferguson calls on CMS to halt school-closings plan. Text cache.
11-6-10 Four county commissioners ask school board to delay Tuesday vote. Text cache.
11-2-10 Let’s start talking again, using lessons learned during “comprehensive review.”
10-29-10 An open letter to Judge Manning appealing for a ban on the new Jim Crow.
9-23-10 A Steve Johnson video might help people think about school issues in a different way.
9-20-10 The limits of home school assignments.
9-18-10 Let’s have a parade of parades!
9-10-10 Wildly popular academic programs should move to bigger buildings.
9-9-10 School board’s struggles during this Comprehensive Review are often with its own past mistakes.
9-8-10 Is this Review comprehensive? A proposal for K-8 schools in the Spaugh feeder area.
9-7-10 Rosenwald schools: A reminder that the struggle for education runs deep in Mecklenburg soil.
9-1-10 The CMS Investment Study Group isn’t your school board – or is it?
8-31-10 The Tuesday Morning Breakfast Forum compiles its suggestions for education reform.
8-31-10 CMS official Tyler Ream on how high school graduation is unlikely for a student retained twice.
8-15-10 The late Donella Meadows on how democracy is supposed to work.
8-4-10 Jim Henderlite writes about holding leaders accountable.
8-4-10 Incompatible goals: Top achievement for all and assigning everyone close to home.
7-28-18 Will the gap ever narrow? Ruminations on a chart about on-grade reading levels.
7-19-10 A chart of reading scores shows difficulties with achievement at CMS’s most challenged schools
7-12-10 Could we talk about guiding perceptions before guiding principles?
7-10-10 Observer reports on board member’s assignment priorities. The list of priorities. Text cache.
7-8-10 Could we broaden our understanding of how parents participate in their children’s educations?
7-6-10 Teacher leaving CMS talks about how fear of losing jobs will keep teachers from being candid.
6-30-10 People tied to Westerly Hills Elementary look to protect their school from closure pressure.
6-30-10 What about stability as a guiding principle for the education of struggling students?
6-28-10 Will group stay the course tracking voting records of school board members?
6-26-10 Student appeal may make case that resegregation is a hardship to educational attainment.
6-26-10 A reader comments about school hours in China.
6-23-10 When will resegregation rise above the “threshold of unacceptability”?
6-23-10 Charlotte Post story about public forum focuses on advocate Blanche Penn. Text cache.
6-21-10 Observer story lays out assignment issues. Text cache.
6-19-10 Whither CMS? and a note about the operation of this website
6-19-10 A teacher comments on “toxic environment” created by overcrowding.
6-19-10 Charlotte Observer outlines upcoming week of comprehensive review meetings. Text cache.
6-18-10 Notes and comments from people responding to columns by Kathy Ridge and Steve Johnston.
6-18-10 Kathy Ridge urges participation in upcoming CMS comprehensive review.
6-18-10 Steve Johnston suggests a single question for CMS and community during comprehensive review.