Issue Position: Education

Statement

While we have a lot to be thankful for in our schools, we must improve the state of our education for the sake of our children and for North Carolina's future. North Carolina lags behind on test scores and graduation rates, and we are consistently ranked among some of the lowest performing states. North Carolina has the resources and the ability to rank among the leading states for student achievement, and we must work together to bring about positive change.

Closer to home, we must continue to improve our schools in North Mecklenburg and the entire county and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School (CMS) systems must be more responsive to addressing over crowding in many of our schools. As a parent of a high school student in public school, as a school improvement activist, and as the President of the PTSA of one of the largest and most over-crowded schools in Mecklenburg County, I know fundamental change is needed to get CMS on track. We need to break up the school system into more manageable districts, and we need to put the authority for running schools in the hands of the people closest to our children, not the people in CMS headquarters in downtown Charlotte.

Although the ultimate decision as to how the Mecklenburg Schools district rests with the County Commission and School Board, the scope of change needed to get CMS on the right track will require enabling legislation from the General Assembly. I will work hard to secure support for enabling legislation to bring about the transformation of CMS.

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