- Yeah, whether it's your children attending CMS, or your tax dollars they're spending on CMS, you're probably wondering too, will a different CMS really mean a better CMS?

(gentle music) - [All] Five, four, three, two, one!

(all cheering) - [Jeff] It's another ribbon cutting at another brand new CMS campus.

- Good morning, Grove Park Otters.

- [Jeff] And another chance for the brand new CMS superintendent to share her vision of what our schools could be, and should be.

- This brand new facility will help our teachers do an even better job of preparing and ensuring that all of our students graduate from Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, either enrolled, enlisted, or employed.

- [Camerawoman] Yay, thank you, guys.

- But after posing for pictures and sharing hugs in the hallway, Dr.

Crystal Hill also has high expectations to fulfill.

New superintendents often get a clean slate.

They get a fresh canvas to work off of.

Do you feel like you've got a clean slate coming in this year as the new superintendent?

- [Crystal] No.

(both chuckle) - Does that make that job harder?

- I think it makes it much more intense and much more difficult.

I've said to many people, "I understand that my runway is this short."

And I think that is certainly because of the instability of leadership that we've had in the past in our district.

- [Jeff] Yep, the new CMS superintendent is talking about the long list of short-time CMS superintendents who came and went before her.

- I'll answer that for you.

- [Jeff] Hill praises Hugh Hattabaugh as a firecracker interim superintendent, but he only lasted eight months until retiring.

- I just wanna be clear, it's not an easy job.

- [Jeff] Earnest Winston is the superintendent who first hired Hill.

He was fired by the school board two weeks later, after less than two years on the job.

- At some point the board may say, "Well, you know, your four years have been enough."

- [Jeff] And Clayton Wilcox was forced to resign by the school board after only two years and one month as superintendent.

- I mean, I think the biggest thing I'd like to see is stability.

- [Jeff] In fact, voters we talked with on election day wonder why the more things change at CMS, the more they stay the same.

- I think that we need some change.

I think it's really sad that our students are doing as poorly as they are.

- [Jeff] Are they satisfied with the direction schools are going now?

- Well, I don't think they're satisfied.

I don't think I'm satisfied.

One thing that I've said in my short time here in Charlotte, that there's absolutely no reason why we can't be the number one school district in the state, and one of the top in the nation.

- [Jeff] Hill claims CMS is already succeeding with early grade math and reading.

CMS shows us the numbers.

- So we saw increases in math and reading, all the arrows were going up.

20 of our schools increased their school performance grade from the year before.

- [Jeff] But in Charlotte's minority neighborhoods, where kids consistently grade lower than their white counterparts, the signs of discontent over years of poor test scores at CMS didn't just disappear after the election was over.

- Why are the EOGs, the EOCs, why are they so low?

Why they are so low, you know, right now?

I'd like for those to be a little higher.

- We're way down on the state list as far as education for our children, and I would like to see that improved.

I wanna know how they're gonna do it, and I wanna see 'em do it.

- Well, I always say the definition of insanity is thinking you can continue to do the same thing and get different results.

- Right.

So you're intending on doing things differently than we've done in the past.

- Things that didn't work.

So, if there are things that we've done that are proven to be ineffective and they're not yielding us the results that we need, absolutely committed to going in a different direction.

- [Jeff] Voters also want some assurances that the billions in bonds CMS is spending on schools and classrooms lead to student success in schools and classrooms.

- It shouldn't be one set of schools got more than the other.

Everybody should have equal opportunity.

- That's a lot of money, and I don't see where anything is going to the teachers.

- As we're making choices with spending our money, what is the data that we're basing it on?

And is it best for kids?

So I think the number one question that we have to ask ourselves is, "Are the buildings that we have that are substandard, are those okay for my Madison and my Morgan?"

And the answer would be a resounding, "No way."

So if it's not okay for my girls, it's not okay for anyone else.

- [Jeff] Yeah, it turns out that the new CMS superintendent is also the mom of two teen girls at CMS.

And Hill says she sees her own kids in the face of every CMS student.

- Am I different as the superintendent because I'm a parent?

Absolutely.

- [Jeff] Does being a parent makes you a different, better superintendent?

- I believe that it does.

Because I said that parents are our customers, I'm always thinking about, how would this land on me?

- [Jeff] And Hill reminds us that 26 years ago, long before she came to Charlotte, before she was a superintendent or even a parent, she also taught elementary school.

- Because of my experience as a teacher, I've been there, I've done that.

I will always have deep respect and understanding of the importance of what happens in the classroom.

So it is actually our responsibility to ensure that we get it right for students, and we get it right early and consistently.

I think definitely the expectation to move quickly and excel is definitely what keeps me up at night, (Jeff chuckles) and it's what I wake up to every single morning, because there are amazing things that are happening in our district, and I'm just proud to be here.

- There's also a lot of inexperience leading CMS now.

Dr. Hill has never been a school superintendent before.

And out of nine school board members, seven are newcomers either this year or last year.

But like Dr. Hill, a majority of the school board members are also CMS parents, which means they know firsthand about the problems in the classroom, and how important it is to solve those problems.