CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Gregory “Dee” Rankin plans to keep on fighting even when the only option left is the North Carolina Supreme Court.
Rankin was one of two parents who joined the state and Charlotte-Mecklenburg NAACP chapters in filing a lawsuit nearly two years ago to block a law enabling four municipalities to operate their own charter schools. They contend the law encourages racial segregation and financial inequity.
“As long as the bill is in place, it’s unfair. It’s unconstitutional,” Rankin, a parent of three, told The Charlotte Observer. “You’re excluding individuals, and it’s known that charter schools can be just as segregated as our traditional public schools.”
In the Court of Appeals’ unanimous decision last week, Judge Jeffery Carpenter wrote the plaintiffs “have not alleged in their complaint they sustained a direct injury, or that they are in immediate danger of sustaining a direct injury, resulting from the enactment of HB 514.”
Speaker of the House Tim Moore and Senate Leader Phil Berger, named as defendants, in response to the suit said: “No municipal charter school has ever been pursued or opened under (the law).” House Bill 514, passed in 2018, opened the door for the creation of municipal charter schools in Matthews, Mint Hill, Cornelius and Huntersville.
Charter schools in North Carolina are primarily funded through state and local tax dollars and operated by independent nonprofit boards of directors, according to the state Department of Public Instruction. Charter schools created by HB 514 would be funded by municipalities and able to limit admissions to residents of the town, The Charlotte Observer reported when the suit was filed in 2020.
The suit argued the law created new public school districts separate from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for the four predominantly white and affluent towns. If they draw away CMS students, municipal charters also could reduce the district’s allotments from state and county sources.
Those who pushed the law say they meant for it to address overcrowded public schools — something CMS hopes to tackle with the construction of new schools.
Rankin and other plaintiffs will decide whether to request a review from the N.C. Supreme Court, which can choose to hear cases on what is known as “discretionary review.” But the odds of such a review are long.
“We are disappointed with this poorly reasoned decision,” Deborah Dicks Maxwell, president of the North Carolina NAACP, told The Observer, “but are awaiting an in-depth review from our attorneys and branch partner, which will guide any decision the NC NAACP makes.”
What about the towns?
With four municipalities considering town charter schools, CMS pushed back in 2018.
In August 2018, CMS leaders adopted the Municipal Concerns Act, which moved the four towns to the lowest priority for new construction. Two years later, none of the four towns had made any moves toward creating municipal charters. Cornelius and Matthews also publicly renounced plans to pursue municipal charters. CMS then removed them from the Municipal Concerns Act.
Huntersville has yet to abandon the municipal charter idea.
“Huntersville continues to work with our partners at CMS and look forward to seeing the results of the updated rubric,” Huntersville Mayor Melinda Bales said, “and hearing how CMS plans to address the educational needs within our community.”
Mint Hill Mayor Brad Simmons told the Observer this week that the town has “taken absolutely no action on municipal charter schools.”
“Our children are currently being well served by CMS and private charter schools,” Simmons said. “I don’t foresee the court ruling changing are position on this matter.”
Charles Jeter, executive director of government affairs, policy and board services at CMS, told The Observer last week CMS leaders don’t believe the cities can functionally open charters based on how the law was written.
“They cannot go into debt service for (them),” Jeter said.
It’s not the first time town leaders and residents have wanted to splinter CMS, a district with about 140,000 students and 19,000 employees.
In 2012, groups from north and south Mecklenburg wanted to split CMS into three school districts: north, central and south. The Observer reported the north district would include Huntersville, Cornelius, Davidson and the Mountain Island lake area; the central district would include the area within the Interstate 485 loop with slight adjustments based on enrollment; and the south district would stretch from the Steele Creek area to Mint Hill.
A similar movement seven years earlier drew hundreds to talk about splitting CMS up into smaller districts, the Observer reported. In 2006, then-Superintendent Peter Gorman promised to make the district less Charlotte-centric; the movement fizzled.
What now?
Rankin is a Charlotte native who serves on the CMS Equity Committee and was a former chair of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Black Political Caucus’ education committee. Rankin said he believes municipal charters are a loophole for towns to form their own school system.
“You’re taking public money to create a public school, yet my daughter, for example, wouldn’t be able to attend,” said Rankin, who is also running for school board this year.
He plans for file for the District 3 seat when filing starts in July. If successful, he would replace Ruby Jones, who announced she won’t run for reelection.
“We live a mile from the Huntersville line, but my daughter would be excluded. People don’t see the inequity that can be created from this,” he said.
Corine Mack, the president of the NAACP Charlotte-Mecklenburg branch, initiated the litigation on the case. Mack, like Rankin, is consulting attorneys on what the next steps will be.
“At the end of the day, we are the parents of students in Mecklenburg,” Mack said. “It’s important that the parents and students have a voice in every process. We’re talking about equity (in education) not only in Mecklenburg, but in the state.”
While it’s fair to criticize CMS for not providing quality education for all students, it doesn’t mean people should be able to create another school system with public money, Rankin said.
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