How CMS leadership shakeup is impacting families, students and long-term stability

CHARLOTTE — Channel 9 is zeroing in on how the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools leadership shakeup is impacting families after CMS board Chair Stephanie Sneed called for the firing of Superintendent Dr. Crystal Hill.

Channel 9’s Evan Donovan spoke with an education expert about what the turmoil is doing to students.

“It’s going to have huge impacts on schooling,” said Dr. Frederick Hess, a senior fellow of education policy at the American Enterprise Institute.

Hess said teachers will likely focus on the task right in front of them, but at some point, the bigger perspective matters.

“Good schools are places of trust,” she said. “Where teachers trust that somebody’s going to have their back if they’re actually being clear about discipline. Where if you spend a lot of time working on a new curriculum or working to understand a new assessment, that it’s still going to be here the next year, the year after.”

Hess said that has not been the case at CMS.

Channel 9 previously reported when the district ended some STEM and magnet programs this year. In fact, dozens of significant programs or initiatives have been changed or canceled in the past 15 years.

Hess said solid, steady leadership would bring that stability.

“And a huge problem in school systems is that that’s not the case,” she said. “Every new leader brings in new curricula, new vendors, new philosophy of what teachers should do or how they should be coached.”

That is exactly what has happened in CMS.

Since 2010, CMS has had six different superintendents and eight stints with an interim or acting superintendent. The school district says student scores are getting better, but some parents say instability undermines the numbers.

Donovan asked Hess what success would look like one year, two years or five years from now.

“You got to get transparent with the community. You got to own up to the things that have gone wrong,” Hess said. “You’ve got to get clear about what the heck the school board is here to do and what the superintendent’s job is. And then most importantly, you actually got to live it every day. You can’t just say it.”

In light of the recent changes at CMS, the city of Charlotte said grant funding to help the district build housing for teachers has not yet been released.

Channel 9 previously reported CMS’s teacher village was planned to be built on CMS-owned land with 100 affordable rental units for teachers.

City leaders said they are evaluating the status of the project before moving forward.

Tune in at 7 p.m. Thursday for in-depth conversations about how we got here and the district’s path forward. “9 Investigates: The CMS Shakeup” will air on Channel 9 and anywhere you stream.

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