Consequences of Common Core peddling coming home to roost? Oh dear, is Onslow GOP now bearing “false witness” too?

Via Onslow County GOP:

RESOLUTION OF THE 3rd CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT GOP

CALLING FOR THE RESIGNATION OF JUNE ATKINSON

Whereas, the Department of Public Instruction of North Carolina, of which Dr. Atkinson is the Superintendent, is responsible for setting policy for the public schools of North Carolina and in that position, Dr. Atkinson has repeatedly and vocally endorsed the Common Core Standards and defended them publicly, and;

Whereas, Dr. Atkinson is also serving as President of the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), one of the two organizations that drafted and own the copyrights to the Common Core Standards, and;

Whereas, CCSSO is a private, not-for-profit, non-governmental trade association, which does not have a grant of legislative authority from any state to do anything, and is in fact an association of companies and corporations collaborating for a shared purpose, and;

Whereas, CCSSO receives over half of its operational funding from dues paid by member states. These states expend tax-payer money to pay for memberships to CCSSO committees where education public policy is crafted, where they can collaborate and work in meetings that, since they are conducted under the auspices of a non-profit organization, and not as entities of public instruction, avoid sunshine laws and the requirement to inform
tax-payers what their money is paying for, and;

Whereas, this activity, if conducted under the auspices of the Departments of Public Instruction of the States, would be subject to sunshine laws. However, when tax-payer money is used to create non-profit organizations to be used as shelters for allowing public policy to be crafted out of the public eye, this demonstrates an intent to avoid the spirit of transparency present in our open records laws, to avoid accountability to the very tax-payer that is funding these organizations, and;

Whereas, serving as President of an entity that is dependent on tax-payers, but is used to shield its members from tax-payer scrutiny demonstrates a clear conflict of interest with Ms. Atkinson’s role as Superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction, and;

Whereas, Ms. Atkinson’s willingness to accept the position of President of CCSSO while serving as Superintendent of the Department of Public Instructions compromises her integrity, and clearly demonstrates her inability to remain impartial and make decisions solely for the benefit of North Carolinians.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED the Onslow County GOP (hereafter “We”) call for the immediate resignation of Ms. Atkinson as the Superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction.

Be it further Resolved that we call upon the General Assembly to review all of the actions taken at the Department of Public Instruction while it was headed by Ms. Atkinson, looking for any actions that may have been initiated as a result of this conflict of interest, and take appropriate actions to ensure the best interests of North Carolinians are reflected in the policies of the Department of Public Instruction.

Be it further Resolved that we call upon our Chair to ensure a copy of this resolution is presented in person or via certified mail with receipt to Ms. Atkinson, our representatives to the General Assembly, Governor Pat McCrory, Lt. Governor Dan Forrest, Third District GOP and to the media outlets that serve our area.

Adopted this 12th day of April, 2014

_________________________________

Kim West, Chairwoman

3rd District Republican Party