Category Archives: POLITICS NC

Amendment Would Temporarily Tip The Scales Of Power In Cabarrus

Posted on June 28, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

A bill put into play by Senator Fletcher Hartsell (R-36) appears to be trying to manipulate the balance of power on the Cabarrus county Board of Commissioners. The NC Senate passed his amendment this week that would temporarily shift the number of Cabarrus Commissioners from 5 to 7 by adding Diane Honeycutt and Sue Mynatt temporarily. The amendment is part of a bill (HB 1218 / SB 844) that would alter the charter of the city of Monroe in Union County.

The Cabarrus Board of Commissioners was a hot topic during the primary season. Folks should bear in mind that Diane Honeycutt was one of the candidates using the strategy of getting Democrats to party switch to vote for her in the primary. The move to push her and Mynatt into their roles before their term begins is rooted in one thing: counter-balancing the Tea party influence. The Independent Journal sees the same power play at work; emphasis added is mine: Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), ELECTIONS, NCGA | Tagged | 1 Comment

Your Kindergartener Has Become A Guinea Pig

Posted on June 27, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

ACT, the same group that does the college entrance exam and of which I wrote about their multi-grade job assessments that begin in 8th grade apparently will be developing assessments for Kindergarteners. Via Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — A new digital tool to test academic and behavioral skills will target students starting in kindergarten.

ACT, the organization that developed the ACT college-entrance exam, will start testing the tool in the fall. It will be available to schools starting in 2014.The tool tracks students’ career interests, academic performance and progress toward goals. It’s designed to follow students from kindergarten through high school.

Jon Erickson, president of ACT’s education division, said the goal is to identify and address gaps in skills needed for college and the workforce. The assessment combines traditional testing with teacher-led projects to generate an instant, digital score.

It’s a multimillion dollar project, ACT officials said, but will be affordable and easily accessible.

Schools won’t be compelled to use the new tool, but Erickson said he anticipates that entire states or groups of states will choose to utilize it. The tool can be customized to include state-specific benchmarks and other performance measures.

In the testing and educrat world, where data is God, it seems perfectly normal to start testing, poking and prodding a child of 5. Most 30-year-olds don’t know what they want to do for a career, here we are testing 5 year olds like they hold the key to cracking future job selection. Pidgeon-holing our kids. That’s what we’re ultimately doing here.

Here are a few reminders related to this turn of events with ACT. Continue reading →

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McCrory And Tillis Offer Teacher Pay Raise; Keep Tenure

Posted on June 26, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Yesterday, Governor McCrory and Speaker of the House Thom Tillis held a press conference to announce alterations to their original Teacher Pay Plan. This new plan will be part of a new bill.

“There will be no teacher in the state who, in a couple years, if they follow our plan, will make less than $35,000 a year,” McCrory said.

The governor said teachers would get paid more for having master’s degrees and schools would get more money for textbooks, which is a growing problem in the state. A new pilot program would also be set up which would award teachers based on experience, leadership, performance, and market value.

“All these things can happen without sacrificing 4,000 to 6,000 teachers’ assistants, without sacrificing Medicaid,” McCrory said. “We can also do this while meeting the educational needs to pre-k, colleges, and universities.” – ABC 11

So, in essence, all the changes made in the past year are now gone.

The new plan will give teachers at 5% raise, allow them to keep tenure and includes keeping teacher assistants. Tillis added that the Education lottery funds are not needed to support the proposed bill. On hand was NC Superintendent and CCSSO President Elect, June Atkinson. Apparently, this has her blessing yet was quoted by ABC 11 as saying it was ‘not nearly enough’. That figured, right? The Governor would do well to get rid of Common Core if he intends to keep this promise — the costs to NC for keeping and implementing it are estimated at over $640 million for just the first five years. That does not include testing.

Watch the clip from the press conference via News and Observer on YouTube: Continue reading →

Posted in EDUCATION, June Atkinson, NCGA, Pat McCrory, Video | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

News and Observer’s John Frank Can’t Get Common Core Stories Right

Posted on June 25, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

Another day, another News and Observer Common Core fiasco. John Frank has gotten really skilled at regurgitating talking points instead of actual reporting. I could pick this latest attempt down line by line, but frankly I don’t have the time to waste. I will hit highlights instead. This section bothered me: Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, June Atkinson, Media Bias, NCGA | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

What #NCGA Reps Voted NO to #SB812? See The List.

Posted on June 25, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

These Representatives who voted for this bill should be congratulated and thanked for their service today in working towards restoring the integrity of our educational system and for championing the children of North Carolina. Please consider taking time out to call your Representative and the House Leadership to thank them.

From me personally, I am thankful that common sense and the truth have prevailed today. We are fortunate to have the leadership of Speaker Thom Tillis and Speaker Pro Tempore Paul Stam guiding the House for this important bill. I offer my humble thanks to the House Leadership and to all the Representatives who made this happen today. Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, NCGA | Tagged | 1 Comment

#SB812 Amendment ATL-60 Dissected

Posted on June 24, 2014 by A.P. Dillon

The NC General Assembly’s House passed SB 812, however, Rep. Cotham snuck in two amendments. At first glance, they seem innocuous, but upon closer inspection, it’s clear one of them is a bit slippery. The amendment in question is A1: S812-ATL-60-V-2. Continue reading →

Posted in Common Core, NCGA | Tagged , | 2 Comments