CMS Cutting 500+ Teaching Jobs, Launching Review

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board authorized a plan to lay off nearly 1,000 district employees, including more than 500 teachers.

CMS officials have been considering making the cuts for weeks, but the decision wasn’t finalized until a Tuesday evening meeting at which board members voted 8-1 in favor of it.

Kaye McGarry was the only board member to vote against the plan.

“I understand it will pass, but I'm not going on record supporting it,” McGarry said.

A total of 539 teachers will be laid off before the 2010-11 school year begins.

The decision is part of the district’s plan for absorbing nearly $80 million in cuts from the state and county.

Last week, however, the Mecklenburg County Commission decided to give CMS an additional $6 million. That money could potentially go toward saving teachers’ jobs, but some board members said they were wary of the idea.

For the past two years, the district has faced a reversion, meaning the county asked that funding it provided be given back late in the school year.

Board member Trent Merchant said he’s worried a similar situation will come up during the 2010-11 school year, forcing CMS to make more layoffs.

“I don’t think we need to rush and sink that $6 million into people,” he said.

County Commission Chairwoman Jennifer Roberts said economic projections for the county are more optimistic for next year than they have been for the past two years, so she doesn’t think a reversion will be necessary.

“[District leaders] need to budget for what we've told them we're going to provide them," she said.

And in Roberts’s opinion, that means saving teachers’ jobs.

“We absolutely think we should put money into hiring teachers, that we should keep those gains in our school system,” she said.

CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman said if the district ends up with more money than it plans to, teachers who are laid off could be rehired before the beginning of the 2010-11 school year.

Strategic Review

The board also launched Tuesday what Board Chairman Eric Davis called a strategic review of the district’s major components, including everything from student assignment and diversity to transportation and increasing achievement in the classroom.

Millions of dollars in cuts prompted the board to take on the review, which members hope will illuminate areas in which money can be saved without a major sacrifice in learning or achievement.

District leaders said the review will take about five months. It's expected to be completed by November, with changes going into effect in the 2011-12 school year.

"It's a long time. It's labor-intensive and it's a challenge, but it's just the way it is," Gorman said.

Davis admitted the project is ambitious, but said it's worth the time and effort.

"I’d much rather be leaning forward and aggressive and taking on the challenges as opposed to reacting to them as they come,” he said.

The board will host a series of forums to get feedback from parents, staff and community members about improving the district and making it more cost-efficient. Seven major areas will be discussed.

Topics up for discussion at public forums:

• Student assignment plan

• Home-school zones

• Effective use of school buildings

• Diversity

• Magnet programs

• Transportation

• Assignment opportunities for students with disabilities and students with limited English proficiency

Click here for forum dates and times.

Previous Stories: June 4, 2010: County Leaders Vote To Give Libraries, CMS More Money June 3, 2010: CMS Could Face Complete Overhaul