Enlarge Attendees line up for open Q&A with candidates.

Posted: October 21st, 2011 Amanda Pagliarini

It was standing room only in the CPCC auditorium for the MeckEd / WFAE Interactive Debate with CMS School Board Candidates on Wednesday night.  Regardless of whether you had a seat, each attendee—both live and virtual—was given a voice through the use of live audience polling to determine debate topics via texting or social media. 

The room was filled with not just parents, teachers and community members, but with current and former CMS students. The youngest noted in the room was a sixth grader from Community House Middle School who confidently stepped up to the microphone during open Q&A and asked why his school no longer has fitness or journalism electives—making a point to express his confusion given the number of overweight students in his school.

Assessing student learning and the achievement gap were the two topics of priority to attendees. When discussing the emphasis placed on standardized tests, candidate McCray stated that we needed to prepare our children not for a test, but for the world; noting that the world would require creativity, critical thinking, and the ability to work in groups.

Candidate Nelson jumped in and, referencing the sixth grader’s question about the loss of journalism, noted that journalism became an elective when it was pulled out of the English curriculum because it wasn’t part of standardized testing; reinforcing his belief that we are forcing teachers to teach to the test, instead of the curriculum.  

When asked about overcrowding, candidate Pomis said he felt the issue was causing communities to pit against one another. With overcrowding stemming from budget issues, Pomis feels that it is the instructional priorities of our teachers and students that should drive budget priorities. 

Candidate Plotsender, a CMS teacher, feels the system has priority issues. “We all know when Myers Park wants something, they get it, and all other schools are second class.” 

The growing problem of segregated schools within CMS was another popular question from the audience. Candidate Ellis-Stewart acknowledged the lack of diversity in our schools and stated that we first have to embrace diversity as a community if we want that to trickle down to our schools.

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