With all the scandals at Cleveland Community College that are also School Board related, you would have thought the School Board would be doing some investigation of their own. And some reporting on their investigation. Not a peep about that at the July 24, 2017 School Board meeting. Silence is the ultimate cover-up and the School Board is wrapped tight in silence regarding their problems.
Before we go into what was on the agenda at the School Board meeting, let’s make a list of what was not on the agenda, but should have been:
1. Dumbed Down College Courses:
Dumbed down community college classes for school system students in the dual enrollment program as well as the Early College that generates so much money for the Schools and the College. Not a peep about the need for such programs to start with. Not a peep about high schools teaching high school classes and colleges teaching college classes. Not a peep about why almost half of students attending Cleveland County Schools graduate without being able to read or write proficiently or even be able to count to 100, yet the schools are enrolling these students into so called college courses at the high schools where they can only pass by having the college courses dumbed down. Not a peep ever at a school board meeting. Not much more than a peep at the Community College Board of Trustees either. Not a peep about all the money State and Cleveland County taxpayers throw at this so called dual enrollment program without any measure of success and no accountability. Lots of money pouring in and no accountability is a sure formula for disaster for the students and a real big fraud being pulled over on taxpayers.
But that is not the half of it.
CCS Board Member Danny Blanton, a longtime advocate for more vocational training at the high school level asked a very simple question that had a blockbuster of truth regarding Cleveland County Schools as well as the Cleveland Community College. Mr. Blanton’s question to Jennifer Walker was this, “what are the percentage of high school graduates that go on to college and what are the percentage that go to work straight out of high school?” Jennifer Walker had no answer to that question. Blanton went on to say his estimates are 80% of high school graduates go to work after graduation and only 20% go to college.
Then CCS Superintendent Stephan Fisher chimes in with excuses, saying it is hard for schools to keep track of students once they leave the school system and on and on with some fast talking chatter that had not a whit of proof or justification.
But the facts are this: United States schools 50 years ago were Number 1 in the world, now we are not even in the top 10 and maybe not in the top 30. North Carolina Schools have always been close to the bottom in the US and Cleveland County Schools have always been close to the bottom in North Carolina. Now, we find out that CCS is not keeping track on how many students go on to college, to work or even to prison. There are no measures that tell us where we stand or how well our many many school programs and non school programs are actually doing. From Head Start, Smart Start, More at Four to the Communities-In-Schools to the Math Academy, Early College, dual enrollment programs to about everything, all that is certain is we are spending more tax dollars for education than anywhere else in the world and our schools are still failing. And the school board minus, Danny Blanton, refuses to ask why or even to task the top heavy CCS administration to find out why. Or care as long as the money keeps on rolling in. That cash flow is what CCS and CCC are interested in, students be damned. The public be damned too. The School Board, by law, is required to conduct their business in public meetings. But at public meetings very little to nothing is discussed, everything is illegally decided behind closed doors and the DA won’t do anything either.