One of the current issues concerning the education in Charlotte is the school system used at present in most of the schools. On the one hand, it must be admitted that the offered system has proved to be quite efficient, since it has been time-tested for several years. On the other hand, there are several obvious flaws that point to the necessity of the school system reconsidering.
Among the recent issues that cause big concern among the teachers within the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system, one of the most crucial is the tendency to adapt to the modern means of education and teaching, since there is considerable necessity in creating appropriate conditions for children to study in the most efficient way. According to the research conducted by Anne Duncan, “an average public school building in the United States is more than 40 years old.
Nationwide, cash-strapped school districts face an enormous $270 billion backlog of deferred maintenance and repairs” (Duncan). Hence, there I an obvious necessity for the existing public school system to offer the students the required learning environment and provide the former with the necessary supplementary materials so that the students could study without such obstacles in their way as outdated books or poor school conditions.
Evaluating the depth of the threat that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, as well as the rest of the public schools in the USA, one must admit that the problem of reforms concerning the technical aspect of schools and supplying the schools with the required materials has been brewing for quite long.
Taking a closer look at the measures that have been taken so far to prevent the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system from collapsing, one can claim that everything possible to keep the public school system from aging has been done, yet the latter has finally become outdated.
Since “Charlotte-Mecklenburg is the largest school system in North Carolina,” (56) as Turner emphasizes, the fact that the schools are outdated has to be dealt with. According to Duncan, the government of the USA has already made the necessary amendments to the school system, yet these amendments have to pass certain time-testing.
According to the recent results obtained from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, the public school system is about to face certain improvement. It cannot be denied that the actions taken by the citizens of Charlotte have had their effect, which resulted in the outburst of positive effect.
Yet it must be mentioned that the effect seems to be temporary, while the schools obviously need continuous improvement and unceasing progress. If taking a closer look at the state of affairs in the Charlotte’s public schools state of affairs, one can see distinctly that certain superficial changes have been made. As Otterbourg points out,
The IBM Corporation and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District North Carolina have developed a community partnership, which encourages increased parental participation in children’s education. By providing state-of-the-art technology equipment, the partnership has increased home-school communication via electronic mail. (6)
Hence, it can be concluded that the current policy fir the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system is to provide a closer connection between the teachers and the parents. It must be admitted that the aforementioned policy is important for students, teachers and parents, yet it can be suggested that the state of schools themselves should have been improved before establishing high-tech equipment in schools.
However, the connection between the teachers, the parents and the students can encourage the mutual understanding between the three, which will, no doubt, serve as an important step forward on the path of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools progress.
Despite the tiny improvements that have been made so far, there are still a huge number of financially unstable schools which need urgent assistance. According to what Duncan claims, the number of the schools requiring support is constantly increasing, which is a reason for concern. As Duncan says, “Already, financially pinched school districts are reducing class time, shortening the school calendar, cutting after-school programs and early childhood education, and reducing top-notch arts and music instruction” (Duncan).
Hence, the question of providing the Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools with the most essential elements of public education is still open. Despite the reform that is supposed to take place currently, the schools in the district are still suffering from the lack of the materials and the inappropriate condition. It is evident that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system requires reconsideration and vast changes even despite the steps undertaken so far.
The reason for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system underdevelopment, its flimsiness and the lack of enthusiasm within the system are still quite vague, especially if considering its specific background. Michigan, with its notorious segregation issues in Detroit, was one of the first places where the issues concerning the racial discrimination were finally considered and the segregation slowly ceased. As McDermott recalls,
Later rulings in two more southern cases, Green v. New Kent County and Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools required formerly segregated districts not just to declare their schools open to students of all races but actually to achieve racial balance in their schools by busing students outside their home neighborhoods if necessary. (44)
With the background of the kind, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools are not to give up, slowly coming to absolute decay because of the lack of financial support.
Once being able to create a revolution in the sphere of education and abolish racial segregation in schools, Charlotte-Mecklenburg schooling board is supposed to offer certain solution for the problem and find the support from the government. With help of the funds offered by the government, Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools will be able to provide a decent environment for the students to absorb knowledge.
There is no doubt that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools have to face considerable changes, otherwise the school system in Michigan is facing great threat. Without the sufficient environment for studying, children will not be able to learn the material efficiently, and, therefore, will not be able to obtain the knowledge that they will need for their future academic life or work.
As Duncan wisely remarked, “The path to prosperity, the way to win the future, is to invest wisely in schools, remembering that children get only one chance at an education” (Duncan). However, one must understand that, to apply efficient changes, not only the government, but also the teachers and the parents of the students have to partake in the reestablishment of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school system.
Thus, it is absolutely obvious that the current school system requires considerable changes. However, to provide the required changes and make them efficient, quite long time period is required. Once checking that the offered system works more efficiently than the current one, the educational board in Charlotte will have the opportunity to improve the existing situation with schools education considerably.
Works Cited
Duncan, Arne. The President’s Plan for the Economy and Education. SIRS, 28 Sept. 2011. Web.
McDermott, Kathryn A. High-Stakes Reform: The Politics of Educational Accountability. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2011. Print.
Otterbourg, Susan. Partnership for Family Involvement in Education: Who We Are and What We Do. Darby, PA: DIANE Publishing, 2008. Print.
Turner, Hollyene C., et al. Predictors of Teachers’ Job Satisfaction in Urban Middle Schools. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest, 2007. Print.