Morale is lower than ever in public schools across the state. Teachers aren't being paid enough, lawmakers seem eager to privatize the system, and less is being spent on resources for students than in years past. The solutions to these problems are often messy and complicated. So when CL decided to tackle education, focusing on problems plaguing Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools, we had victims — and solutions — in mind. CL copy editor Emiene Wright exposes the confusing system a teacher must navigate to appeal the potentially career-ending decisions of rogue administrators. Over the last year Ryan Pitkin, our former Blotter writer, noticed an increase in police reports coming out of CMS; a little research led him to discover the number of police in schools had risen 300 percent in 10 years. He argues positive influences, not more handcuffs, is what the system really needs. And columnist Erin Tracy-Blackwood investigates the booming business of charter schools.
— Ana Mckenzie, news editor
• When school administrators go rogue, what are a teacher's options?
• The scary increase of police presence in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools
