Published: July 25, 2009 11:04 pm      

No elephant in the room

I want to speak to Mr. Kent about his elephant because I do not own an elephant, and I do not think many people in the Queen City do either. I think Charlie Kent has brought the circus to town to divert attention away from the real issues plaguing Meridian Public School District.

I am a product of the Meridian Public School system.  I live and work in Meridian; my wife and I want our children to grow up here and be products of that same school system. We go to church in Meridian, we eat in Meridian restaurants, and we pay our taxes in Meridian.  Growing up, I had friends from all over town, but I never chose my friends based on their race. Today, my business associates and friends represent all areas of the community. We interact based on common interests and common goals.

I have seen many school principals and many school superintendents come and go, but I have never witnessed the problems we have had since July 1, 2008. Mr. Kent has pulled the focus off of him and his key areas of weaknesses in order to distract the community. By pulling this race card, Kent has thrown out or silenced all intellectual thinkers at Central Office and in leadership teams at schools. He has begun relying on people who walk into his office with their own agenda and their own data research which they have yet to publish. We, the taxpaying public, must demand to see the research, the dates, the person who found it, and then be given the opportunity to provide our own up to date data to affirm or deny any such claim by Charlie Kent.

I was given the "elephant survey" I requested at the July 20 Meridian Public School Board meeting. Mr. Kent's data is from a 2001 Riley Foundation study called "Grow Meridian." Any citizen can access it by "Googling" it. It makes no mention of race or elephants. Perhaps, Mr. Kent should look at 2009 data to determine what is happening in Meridian Public School District. The cold hard facts are testing violations, low teacher morale, poor communication, and inconsistent implementation of policy have become the driving forces in his administration.  He should be forthcoming in his insinuations that some mysterious NEW survey exists.

Kent claims our problems did not happen overnight, and he is correct.  Problems with accreditation, testing violations, gang activity, school violence at MHS and middle schools, lower teacher morale, and low test scores have been allowed to snowball over this school year under his watch. 

I beg for the action from the community to save our school district. Community forums and summits have become a platform for Kent to show boat. Kent's big joke: “The teachers are afraid of the principal; the principals are afraid of the school board, and the parents are afraid of their kids, and the kids ain't afraid of nobody" IS a joke!  And yes, Mr. Kent, the community should be afraid of YOU and your elephant. The two of you seem to be the ones who "ain't afraid of nobody!”

Why have our business leaders bowed out of this fight? Why have our Board Members washed their hands of this? Can we take one more year of students and teachers leaving the district, shaking their heads in dismay? Delta schools are now actually keeping their heads above water; Tunica schools were only awarded a "warning" for testing violations. MPSD was given a full blown "ADVISED" status. 

I do not have the answers, but I do know that we never felt the need for forums and summits before 2008-09, and before that, MPSD was a thriving school district with a new school bond under its belt. Meridian has always been a city that works together. Yes, Meridian is "different," Mr. Kent! We pride ourselves on our great educational system and our desire to get along with one another, no matter what our race, our religion, or our obstacle. 

You may have an elephant, Mr. Kent, but you brought him with you, along with smoke and mirrors. Our community is too smart to buy your circus ticket.



Gerry Mitchell

Meridian