Are you concerned about events taking place in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools?

The Charlotte Area Association of Black Journalists will sponsor a Saturday forum at Johnson C. Smith University where parents and residents can discuss topics ranging from CMS budget cuts to the achievement gap.

“Since we are a black journalists organization, we thought that it would be good to expand our borders and have an education forum about how CMS is going to educate students of color despite these budget cuts,” CAABJ President Dedrick Russell told Qcitymetro.com. “We want to walk away with some real solutions.”

Next year, CMS may be forced to cut $100 million from its operating budget. Superintendent Peter Gorman will not officially present his recommendations until Tuesday night’s school board meeting, but there has already been a firestorm of controversy.

The proposed cuts have been challenged for their disproportionate impact on minority students, which make up the majority of the district‘s population.

CMS will close several schools next year, mostly in low-income and minority communities. The Bright Beginnings pre-kindergarten program also may see the chopping block. (Forty percent of its students are African American.) And a CMS program that directs additional teachers to schools with high poverty rates also will be affected.

“There is going to be a change for African American students,” said Russell, who covers education for WBTV. “We want to talk about what [families] can do to make sure that students of color do not lose or suffer academically because of these proposed budget cuts.”

CAABJ has gathered a panel including school board members, teachers and administrators who will address issue and offer solutions. Confirmed panelists include school board Chair Eric Davis and Mary McCrae, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators.

IF YOU WANT TO GO:
Date: Saturday, April 9
Time: 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Place: Johnson C. Smith University’s Biddle Hall Auditorium
Cost: Free to the public

For more information, visit www.caabj.com or contact Russell at (704) 374.3674.

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