Charlotte could use a little legislative overreach right now | Opinion

Charlotte could use a little legislative overreach right now

Mecklenburg County was once known as a “hornet’s nest of rebellion,” but these days, that independent spirit only seems to surface when Republicans in Raleigh get involved.

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From airport control and HB2 to the I-77 toll repayment dispute and Iryna’s Law, our city’s political leaders have had plenty to say about Raleigh meddling in local affairs over the years.

After watching the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education, I’m beginning to think a little overreach might do us some good right about now.

The board abruptly fired Superintendent Crystal Hill and is now preparing to choose her replacement, even with the sword of SBI and state auditor inquiries hanging overhead. It’s a difficult moment to ask families to put their faith in the board’s judgment.

Ideally, the board would clean its own house. Stephanie Sneed has stepped down as chair but remains on the board. At the very least, she should resign her seat. Preferably, all five members who voted to oust Hill would go.

But resignations seem unlikely. So lacking that, the General Assembly should ensure the search for Hill’s replacement has outside supervision, with students’ interests at the center. Our children will live with this decision long after the controversy fades.

To be honest, I did not have strongly formed opinions about Hill’s performance before this debacle, but I salute her courage in raising concerns about financial irregularities inside the district.

Over the course of a few months, the board unexpectedly rejected her proposed budget, suspended her, spent approximately $379,000 investigating her and then reinstated her. Its own public report says investigators “did not find evidence of improper conduct.” Still, six weeks later, five board members fired her without cause.

That whiplash is troubling enough. But woven through it are Hill’s questions about financial decisions involving the people who controlled her employment.

In a 14-page memo backed by more than 200 pages of exhibits, Hill described concerns about district contracting and efforts to remove her. One arrangement involved Raki McGregor, whom CMS paid $130,000 as an “executive in residence” to help oversee a teacher housing project. Hill declined to renew his role. Yet according to records cited in her memo, a law firm retained by board leadership later subcontracted with his company for $30,000 a month.

Shortly before her firing, Hill also emailed County Manager Mike Bryant to warn that the transactions she had questioned involved county funds.

Perhaps there are reasons behind the scenes that would change this picture. From what the public can see, though, it certainly looks as if Hill lost her job for blowing the whistle. The district attorney has asked the State Bureau of Investigation to conduct a criminal investigation into CMS. State Auditor Dave Boliek has also opened a financial investigation.

This type of spending is particularly galling considering what happens when a classroom needs money. This month, a Pinewood Elementary teacher raised $49 through DonorsChoose for Play-Doh, laminating supplies and snacks. CMS pleads poverty, and teachers ask strangers to help make their classrooms more engaging. Somehow, the district finds considerably more money for “executives in residence” — arrangements lawmakers ought to prohibit.

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In a joint statement Tuesday, the school board and CMS said they were “united in our commitment to transparency, accountability, and earning the trust of our students, families, employees, and community.” They promised to cooperate fully with the auditor and SBI, providing information, documents and access for their investigations.

That is all well and good. But this board has zero credibility left. A statement promising accountability does little to explain the decisions that brought us here, or why families should trust the board to make the next one.

As a conservative, it would be easy to say “I told you so” and point to the perils of one-party rule. The board’s last Republican, Lisa Cline, lost her seat last November.

But as the father of four CMS students, I take no particular pleasure in this mess. I want a school system my family can count on. That ought to be common ground for parents across Mecklenburg County.

I generally want decisions made as close as possible to the people who live with them. But local control depends on local accountability, and it’s hard to see much of that here. Outside supervision of this superintendent search would be an extraordinary step. So is asking families to trust this board with another consequential hire while investigators examine its handling of public money.

In North Carolina’s political system, the General Assembly holds the upper hand over local government. Cities, counties and school boards exercise powers the legislature grants them, and lawmakers have broad authority to change those powers or reorganize the institutions themselves. Raleigh has the authority to intervene in CMS. The question is whether it will use it.

I’m tempted to ask the legislature to disband the board of education, split up the district or take similarly drastic action. Perhaps things have reached that point.

At the very least, lawmakers should establish outside supervision before this board chooses another superintendent. It ought to give families reason to believe that district money will serve students and that the next superintendent can do the job.

Raleigh has plenty of dysfunction of its own. Still, I suspect plenty of Charlotte parents would welcome an intervention that put their children’s interests ahead of the school board’s prerogatives.

The hornet’s nest ought to get stirred up over what’s happening inside CMS. And if Raleigh can help us fix it, the Great State of Mecklenburg ought to be big enough to accept the help.

Regular freelance columnist Andrew Dunn is the publisher of the Longleaf Politics newsletter, which offers thoughtful analysis of North Carolina politics and policy from a conservative perspective. He can be reached at [email protected].

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