Orr's school trip

Bob Orr has praise for a Charlotte charter school.

In a post on his More from Orr blog, the former Supreme Court justice and Republican gubernatorial candidate writes about a recent trip to two schools in Mecklenburg County.

At West Mecklenburg High School, he says he was concerned about the challenges they face, including the threat of gangs, teaching foreign students with minimal English and high teacher turnover.

Next, he went to the KIPP Academy, a charter school based on a national program.

He said the students were respectful and focused on their classwork and the staff dedicated to their work, but he worried about what's happening at public schools:

The most troubling statement of the whole day long visit in Charlotte, came from an articulate, attractive young African-American teacher at the Kipp Academy. She had been the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School System's teacher of the year several years back. "I'll never go back into the regular public school system again." she said.