Obama Going to Mooresville Middle School
Published June 4, 2013
Add to the growing list of Mooresville Graded Schools supporters President Barack Obama. The White House announced that Obama will visit Mooresville Middle School to see “the school’s cutting edge curriculum that maximizes the benefits of technology and digital learning.” Obama is the latest in the parade of educators and national media to recognize how the Mooresville Model is reforming public education. The president will be met by Superintendent Mark Edwards, National Superintendent of the Year.
They say a prophet is never recognized in his own homeland and it very much appears true with public education. There is so much talk about education reform in our state that it is difficult to understand why it has taken so long to recognize we have one of the best examples in the nation in Mooresville.
June 4, 2013 at 12:57 pm
dj anderson says:
Why is Obama going to that school system? It's only a few thousand students, a handful of elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school -- not a typical system.
Is Obama going there to address the $50 laptop usage fee in a free public education? Is he going to help toss out the printed text books?
Is it a photo opt at a highly ranked, high tech district in an affluence area? Why would he not step foot in a Charlotte city school?
Mooresville is spending $7K+ per student, giving Apple a million a year for a math program, and to pay for it got rid of dozens of teachers, nearly doubled class size and improved scores & graduation rates.
It's a model, but does it fit most school districts enough to be a model? The president is putting his rep behind it. That says a lot.
Just having Obama visit will raise scores and motivate. He might have to visit a lot of systems and tell them they are special and being looked at.
BTW -- Education needs reform, growth, but today Wake County will announce a new Superintendent who will be from within and not one to make teachers and staff uncomfortable like the old Broad School trained "outside" Tata did.
June 9, 2013 at 11:55 pm
John Black says:
Why is it that conservatives seem to view everything this president does as a photo op? And for you to diminish this school system the way you have here shows that you know very little about this system. And FYI the laptop fee has been addressed...........................................................Families pay $50 a year to subsidize computer repairs, though the fee is waived for those who cannot afford it, about 18 percent of them. Similarly, the district has negotiated a deal so that those without broadband Internet access can buy it for $9.99 a month. Mr. Edwards said the technology had helped close racial performance gaps in a district where 27 percent of the students are minorities and 40 percent are poor enough to receive free or reduced-price lunches.
