Newman, Carol R., 1946-2007

Wright, Christina

Charlotte, North Carolina

J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

2006-02-23

1 audio file (2:04:22) : digital, MP3 + 1 transcript (56 pages : PDF)

sound recording-nonmusical

spoken word

eng

Carol Newman was a 60-year-old woman at the time of interview, which took place at Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Education Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1946. She graduated from University of Massachusetts with an Ed.D. and an M.Ed., and from New York University with a B.A. in English; and was employed with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools for about 30 years, most notably as the director of grant development, and in staff support and development earlier in her career.

In this second interview, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) administrator Carol Newman continues to discuss the successes and challenges of the city's open schools program, but also focuses on the emergence and significance of magnet schools in the district between 1990 and the early 2000s. Mrs. Newman describes what she saw as the major purposes of the magnet programs, which were introduced under the leadership of schools superintendent Dr. John Murphy as a means to support equity, diversity, and academic innovation at a time when the community was becoming highly critical of busing for integration. Mrs. Newman recounts her role as the principal grant writer for CMS, detailing the process of writing five successful federal grants to support the growing magnet school program, and discussing factors in the success or failure of particular magnet themes. She also reflects on the significant changes resulting from the Capacchione v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools district court case, which found the school district to be "unitary" and therefore no longer in need of court-ordered integration measures, eliminating racial balance as a factor in CMS magnet lotteries. Mrs. Newman concludes with a discussion of the major challenges facing CMS today and the personal leadership qualities she believes will be the most valuable in a new school superintendent at what she saw as a critical juncture in CMS history.

MP3 access copy created on ingest from WAV preservation master. Interview originally recorded on two minidiscs and digitized using a Digidesign 003 rack.

Teachers
School administrators

Newman, Carol R., 1946-2007
Murphy, John, 1935-

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Irwin Avenue Elementary School (Charlotte, N.C.)
West Charlotte High School (Charlotte, N.C.)
Piedmont Open Middle School (Charlotte, N.C.)

Open plan schools
Student-centered learning
Teachers
Experiential learning
Teachers--In-service training
Magnet schools
Federal aid to education
School integration

North Carolina--Charlotte
North Carolina--Mecklenburg County

Interviews
Oral histories

1970-2010

Open schools in Charlotte-Mecklenburg

Living Charlotte : the postwar development of a New South city

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Digitization made possible by funding from the federal Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by the State Library of North Carolina, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources.

audio/mpeg

Carol Newman oral history interview 1, 2005 December 14, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (http://goldmine.uncc.edu/islandora/object/uncc%3A365)

Irwin Avenue Open School records, J. Murrey Atkins Library Special Collections and University Archives, University of North Carolina at Charlotte (https://findingaids.uncc.edu/repositories/4/resources/287)

OH-NE0421

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/uncc:356