North Carolina’s high schools will soon find themselves in the hot seat – again. Tomorrow, Superior Court Judge Howard Manning Jr. (presiding over the long-running school funding lawsuit, Leandro) will hear from the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) about “turnaround” teams sent to help struggling high schools. Manning, known for his biting and inflammatory rhetoric, will surely offer up his reaction. DPI could really be in for it: news about these high schools is far from rosy.
Judge Manning’s interest in the performance of sub-par schools is substantial. A brief history of the lawsuit explains why. In May, 1994, parents, school boards, and students in 11 school districts filed a lawsuit (named Leandro after one of the plaintiffs), accusing the state of North Carolina of failing to provide enough money for a “sound basic education.” In 1997, the North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that our state constitution guaranteed “every child of this state an opportunity to receive a sound basic education in our public schools” but declined to rule on specific remedies. In 2004, after a number of appeals, the North Carolina Supreme Court handed the case to Judge Manning to begin implementing the decision.
Since that time, Leandro has been the subject of countless hearings, memos, and media articles. Judge Manning has used his bully pulpit to express his distaste for widespread school failure and to wag his finger at school leaders. In May of 2005, Manning wrote a stinging report on poor high school performance, equating what was going on in Mecklenburg County’s poorest-performing schools to “academic genocide.” Back in March, Manning threatened to close 19 high schools because of their consistently low student performance. And earlier this month, Manning spoke to high school principals across the state with a blunt and pointed message: put up or get out.
So, are schools shaping up? Decidedly not – in fact, things seem to be taking a turn for the worse. Several weeks ago, the Department of Public Instruction released “performance composites” for high schools around the state, summarizing the percentage of students in a school who have test scores at or above Achievement Level III (demonstrating consistent mastery of course content matter) in 10 mandated subject areas. A full 95 high schools had a performance composite below 70 percent in 2004-05 and 2005-06. A shocking 64 of these high schools performed worse in 2005-06 than in the previous year. Clearly, we are headed in the wrong direction.
Adding fuel to the fire is a troubling study on graduation rates from the Schott Foundation. According to their 2006 State Report Card on Public Education and Black Male Students, Charlotte/Mecklenburg’s graduation rate went from bad to worse between 2001-02 and 2003-04. In 2001-02, Mecklenburg’s graduation rate was 38 percent for black males and 71 percent for white males. In 2003-04, Mecklenburg schools had a graduation rate of only 35 percent among black males, and 65 percent among white males.
Will Judge Manning make good on his threats tomorrow? I doubt he will go as far as issuing a judicial mandate to close certain schools, but other educational options outside of traditional government schools must be allowed. Far too many North Carolina high schools aren’t making the grade.