M<xJ«»imhe Gofringef H.gh S<Kool ii one of the mcrol new plontt m the combined comfy-city
school »y»fem.
Schools
Economy
Education is big business in Meck¬
lenburg. North and South Carolina's
largest and 35th in the nation, the
Charlotte - Mecklenburg consolidated
system employs 6.300 people, more
than any industry group in the county.
2.700 of those constitute the instruc¬
tional staff of 99 schools, accommo¬
dating 63.000 students. They teach
with some of the most modern fa¬
cilities in the South and arc paid the
highest local supplement in North
Carolina.
The system is generously financed.
Out of the SI. 6 1 tax. schools get
S 1.0458. or about 65 per cent. The
total budget runs to a whopping $20.-
000.000 annually, and special bonds
arc passed with astonishing regularity.
Since consolidation in 1960. two $8
million issues have been approved, and
from 1946 to '60, the two systems
combined sold over $42,000,000 in
bonds.
School construction goes on continu¬
ously in Mecklenburg. It has to. Of¬
ficials count on an increase of 3.500
children every year, and that makes
four or five new buildings imperative.
In the heart of Charlotte’s best resi¬
dential section is a public school com¬
plex which may be unique in this coun¬
try. It covers 125 beautifully wooded
hills, contains 17 buildings and in¬
cludes on a single site Sclwyn Ele¬
mentary. Alexander Graham Junior
High and Myers Park High.
In addition to merely keeping up
with the birth rate, the Charlottc-
Mccklenburg system conducts a num¬
ber of special programs, and has led
the way in several fields. The first
junior high school in North Carolina
was built here; and as of 1961, it
boasts the first educational TV station
in the state. The station currently uses
«broadcasts of WCUNC-TV courses
and plans a greatly expanded sched¬
ule of live and taped instruction for
the future. Its special education pro¬
gram for gifted as well as retarded
children is thought to be the oldest
such established in the South.
An Industrial Education Center, set
up in the remodeled Central High
plant, offers extension and prc-cm-
ploymcnt courses to adults and high
school students. The total number of
students enrolled in classes at the Cen¬
ter and in other high school trade
courses came to 1.428 during the fall
of 1961. A distributive education pro¬
gram acquaints interested people with
the enterprise closest to Mecklenburg's
heart.
Charlottc-Mecklenburg makes good
use of its facilities in the summer, too.
It operates the largest summer school
in the state as well as the first kinder¬
garten to be run by a public board of
education. In co-operation with the
Parks and Recreation Commission,
the schools conduct an extensive rec¬
reation program and have set up
neighborhood Youth Councils which
avail themselves of gym and play¬
ground equipment.
A final indication of the size and
complexity of this system: it is the
only one in the south to have a Public
Relations office. In addition to prepar¬
ing up-to-date statistical data, the de¬
partment gets out a monthly news¬
letter and handles all press releases.
It also sponsors a radio program on
the schools.
Obviously Mecklenburg claims a
bagful of firsts, mosts and biggests.
What it has in the way of bests is
harder to get at, but a couple of meas¬
urable items can be cited. College
attendance among high school gradu¬
ates runs a high 55 per cent. The
figure gets a lot of help from one
school: Myers Park High sends 90
per cent of its seniors to college. And
a very important "most": Mecklen¬
burg is tied with Onslow for first place
in North and South Carolina in the
number of years of school completed
by the average citizen. The number
was 11.6 years in the 1960 census.
There arc good reasons for the pres¬
ent flourishing state of Mecklenburg’s
schools. One is the uniform quality of
facilities and staff throughout the
county. When Charlotte and Mecklen¬
burg consolidated their educational
operations in I960, it was a merger
of two equally successful and well-
managed systems, not a "poor-rich"
marriage. Another is the padded
salary, which tends to attract better
teachers. And another is the local in¬
terest and pride in good things. Its
conservatism notwithstanding, Meck¬
lenburg is not a stingy county. For
example, the Charlotte Junior League
has contributed $30,000 to the Read¬
ing Center, $30,000 for a school psy¬
chologist and $10,000 to the Young
People’s Concert series, co-sponsored
by the League, the Charlotte Sym¬
phony and the schools.
THE STATE. APRIL 27. 1963
20