Taking all of our collective education and experience, this is what we expect from Cleveland County Schools:
1. Reinstate School Construction Strategic Plans to evaluate present population densities and demographics and construct smaller K-12 schools to better encourage parental and other related local participation. Every such school shall contain equal facilities and shall include vocational courses of study.
2. A course of study at every level shall be developed such that all students are taught age appropriate reading, writing, arithmetic with additional math, sciences, history, civics, agriculture, vocational. etc. as the student progresses. Honors and remedial classes shall also be included.
3. The age appropriate curriculum shall include studies of how things work, the principles of operation, how they are constructed and maintained, hand tools, common power tools and their use and the various skills that are associated. Such classes shall be part class work and part hands on use of such tools.
3. Lesson plans and text books must be adopted such that a balanced educational process is obtained. Just like we had years earlier. Not much “new” is required.
4. Classroom teachers will teach to the lesson plans as developed and all aspects of “political correctness” and “teaching to the test” will be eliminated.
5. Lessons in home economics, etiquette/manners, civic duty and responsibility, light industrial work, marriage and family planning, home repairs, agriculture, cooking, cleaning, and other such social and family living skills shall be included in an age appropriate manner.
6. Lessons on how government operates at the local, state and federal level must be taught so that the population will know how to inform and direct elected officials to pass laws as necessary to restore education to a true workforce development program in order to implement a restructuring of public school systems to accomplish the intended purpose as outlined above.
This is what we expect from Cleveland Community College to provide smooth transitions from High Schools:
1. To develop courses of study such that the lessons learned in the graded schools are seamlessly advanced beyond the basics taught in High School to meet the needs of our local industry as well as specialized industrial processes and trades. Examples are structural and pipe welding. Machine shop processes, etc.
2. To develop training courses for vocational trades such as plumbing, electrician, certified pipe welding, electronics, computers, HVAC, Construction, Auto repair, woodworking/furniture making, etc.
3. To offer High School Equivalency courses to earn GED degrees for those whose circumstances did not allow them to obtain a High School Diploma.
4. To offer advanced courses in English, History, arts and sciences as a prelude to higher education at the college degree level and beyond.
5. To partner with local industry or business for specialized training for that particular industry or business. In such cases CCC would provide the training and the industry or business would provide the funding for that training, materials and equipment.
Of course this is a bare-boned outline of a plan to bring the education system in Cleveland County back to the purpose of educating our children so that our children are taught what is necessary to become a part of a trained workforce. To become educated adequately so as to become self sufficient and a law abiding contributing member of our local community. This will not be accomplished overnight with some kind of “magic answer” that will solve all our workforce development problems over night that Commissioner Eddie Holbrook is looking for. But this plan works. We are proof of that.
Other proofs are our crime rates and prison population back then was much less. Many people left their doors unlocked at night and were not afraid. The old Cleveland County Courthouse was in operation and had only one courtroom. Most other county agencies were also located in that same building. Downtown Shelby was booming. Downtown Fallston, Kings Mountain and other towns were booming. Cotton mills were booming and full of employees. Large businesses like PPG and Fiber came to Cleveland County without major giveaways of taxpayer dollars. And paid good wages too. Just about everything was “Made in the USA” by USA workers. The Cleveland County Fair was the best in the state and never asked for taxpayer dollars. Need I say anymore?
