Project LIFT starts making grants

Project LIFT will report on its first round of grant recipients at Tuesday's Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board meeting.

According to the powerpoint, those will include an array of local and out-of-state groups working to recruit and develop staff, provide summer programs for kids and help families tap into technology. Project LIFT, as most of you know, is a public-private partnership focused on West Charlotte High and the eight schools that feed into it.  While the organizing has been in the news for more than a year,  this summer marks the start of services for kids.

Several weeks ago, I requested numbers on teachers who were offered retention bonuses or forced to transfer from the LIFT schools, as well as results on the others who were given a choice.  I've renewed that request and hope to have more to report next week. (Update: Tahira Stalberte said today those numbers will be ready "in about a week.")  I'm also curious about how close the group is getting to its goal of having $55 million pledged by June to spend over the next five years.

While I'm updating (and giving blog readers a respite from Reno reports),  I didn't forget about doing a story on the 2012 CMS payroll.  I had one written and ready to run,  but after I hopped on the plane,  CMS reported that the file they'd given me omitted Race to the Top bonuses.  I'll update the database and the story soon.