Education - Education And Child Care

One of the most important decisions in choosing a place to live is the quality of schools. If you’re moving to Mecklenburg County, much of the decision of where your child will attend school is up to you.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System (CMS) uses a Choice Assignment Plan that allows families to have a voice in school selection. Started with the 2002–2003 school year, the plan allows families to choose a school close to their home, a magnet school, or a school elsewhere in the county. Students are guaranteed a spot at their home school, but must apply for a spot at others. Around 76 percent of students receive their first choice.

But the road to the Choice Assignment Plan was quite bumpy for CMS. While the issue of school assignment has been a hot topic in the last 10 years, the issue actually dates back more than five decades. Three years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled separate schools are not equal in the 1954 case Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, four black students began integration of Charlotte schools. But in 1965 a black couple sued after their son was denied enrollment at the school closest to their home, a primarily white school. In 1969, a judge ordered CMS to use all known ways of desegregation, including busing. The landmark case set a precedent for school desegregation across the nation, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ruling in 1971.

The tables were turned in September 1997 after a white parent sued CMS claiming his daughter was denied enrollment in a magnet school holding spaces for minority students. Six more parents joined the suit in 1998 to contest all the district’s race-based policies. After a two-month trial, a federal judge issued a landmark ruling ending Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s use of race in student assignment. The school board rushed to design a race-neutral plan, then scrapped it when a federal appeals court overturned the first ruling. However, under further review, the federal court reversed the first appeal and affirmed the earlier ruling, saying CMS had achieved unitary status and that the district should operate without regard to desegregation no later than 2002–2003. Appeals continued until the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear the case.

CMS moved forward with its Choice Assignment Plan. Since then, critics say the choice plan has increased crowding at some schools and boosted concentrations of poverty at others. Some schools, especially in high-growth suburban areas, were forced to take many more students than they were designed to hold. Other new schools in less desirable areas were left with empty seats as families in those neighborhoods chose alternatives.

Despite the challenges and ongoing controversy, more than 130,000 students attend Charlotte-Mecklenburg public schools. CMS, led by Dr. Peter Gorman, is the largest school system in North Carolina and the 19th largest in the nation. The district employs 18,862 faculty, staff, and support personnel. In recent years CMS has been honored nationally for award-winning programs, closing the achievement gap, raising test scores across the board and making rigorous courses accessible to all students.

The CMS Web site at www.cms.k12.nc.us is an excellent tool for learning about CMS, its Choice Assignment Plan, and the most up-to-the-moment news in the district. Parents and students can also tune into CMS-TV3 (Cable Channel 3) for updated news and information.

Entries in this chapter are arranged alphabetically by type of program. Listings are located in Charlotte unless otherwise noted.

Education - Higher Education

Whether you are interested in earning a degree or simply taking a class on computer programming or music, Charlotte’s colleges and universities can accommodate you. The greater Charlotte region is home to 11 universities, 9 private liberal arts colleges, 10 public community colleges, and 7 professional schools. Ten have master’s or doctoral programs. Many junior colleges, community colleges, and technical institutes offer two-year associate’s degrees.

Around 150,000 students are enrolled in area universities, colleges, community colleges, and professional schools, with nearly as many attending business, industrial, and continuing education classes.

Here is an overview of the many educational opportunities that exist in the Charlotte area.