Lt. Governor Dan Forest Lays Out NC Education Budget Increases, Teacher Pay [Video]

Posted on July 20, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Lt. Governor Dan Forest lays out the education increases in the North Carolina 2016 budget, including raising teacher pay for the third year in a row.

 WATCH:

Education Highlights: 

  • Average teacher salary increase of 4.7% and will average over $50,000.  (More details on the increases here)
  • Over the next three years, that teacher salary average will increase to $55,000, which is an increase of over 20% since the Governor and Lt. Governor took office.
  • NC leads the nation for increased teacher pay.
  • Education budget will increase by over $512 million during the 2016-17 budget year.
  • The current spending on education is $2 billion more on k-12 than was spent in the last year of the Perdue administration, which froze teacher pay.
  • Funding for 450 more first grade teachers to shrink classroom size with the goal of 1 teacher for every 17 kids in K-3.
  • Full funding of teacher assistant positions.
  • No tuition increases for students paying in-state tuition in the UNC university system.
  • UNC system university student fees frozen.
  • Offer of a $1,000 per year tuition rate at several UNC universities.

The video also covers the $3 billion in tax cuts, the state cutting unemployment in half, the creation of 300,000 new jobs, paying off $3.8 billion in debt left behind by the Perdue administration and boosting per capita income at a rate 15% faster than the rest of the country.

Governor McCrory also put out a statement with details on the budget, including teacher pay raises and textbook spending.  Excerpt:

“The highlight of this year’s budget is investing in North Carolina teachers to ensure it recruits and retains the best and brightest to prepare students for future success. Teachers will receive an average 4.7 percent pay increase, bringing average teacher pay in North Carolina above $50,000 for the first time in state history. When considering robust health and retirement benefits offered to every full-time teacher in our state, the budget will boost average total compensation to more than $67,000. Teacher pay in North Carolina is growing faster than in any other state in the country under Governor McCrory’s leadership. Since 2013, North Carolina has invested more than $1 billion in new funding for teacher raises.”

 

Here are a few more NC economic tidbits:

  • NC’s AAA Bond Rating Affirmed By All 3 Credit Rating Agencies.
  • NC Revenue Up, Budget Surplus Increases To $425 Million. In contrast, Virginia announced a $266 budget shortfall which will likely put promised teacher raises on hold.
  • NC Jumps Up 4 Spots In CNBC’s Annual Ranking Of The Best States For Business
  • NC Has Added 25,000 Jobs (since May 2016) and 300,000 since Governor McCrory took office.
  • $425 million dollar surplus, which is $188 million more than originally projected.

Related Reading:

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ICYMI – 23 States are now Suing the Obama Admin over Bathroom Edict

Posted on July 20, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Another 10 states have filed suit against the Obama administration’s attempt  to force school districts to allow transgender students to use the bathroom or shower facilities based on ‘gender identity’ instead of biology.

The new suit is State of Nebraska v. United States of America.  The states involved are Arkansas, Kansas Michigan, Montana, Nebraska,  North Dakota, Ohio, South Carolina, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Via Alliance Defending Freedom:

“The Obama administration cannot unilaterally redefine federal law to serve its own political ends and lawlessly impose its will on local schools. Twenty-three states have now filed suit to stop this overreach, designed to force students to shower and undress in the same locker rooms and to share rooms on overnight trips with students of the opposite sex—something they shouldn’t ever be forced to do. The administration has exceeded its authority in threatening schools that choose to protect children’s privacy. Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson and the growing number of states across the country who joined him in this lawsuit are to be commended for exercising common sense and defending the privacy and safety of children.”
– Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Kellie Fiedorek

The prior suit was filed at the end of May by 13 states and is headed up by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. View the complaint.

The plaintiffs in suit include Texas, the Harrold Independent School District (Texas), Alabama, Wisconsin, West Virginia,Tennessee, the Arizona Department of Education, the Haber-Overgaard Unified School District (AZ), Paul LePage, in his official capacity as Governor of Maine, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Utah, and Georgia.

At a recent event hosted by the Heritage Foundation, Paxton gave some remarks and was joined by Kyle Duncan of Schaerr Duncan LLP, which is the firm leading the North Carolina suit defending House Bill 2.

CNS news reported on Paxton’s remarks:

TX AG Ken Paxton Bathroom Biology“How you feel about your gender does not change your sex at birth, and how the president feels about his authority to write laws cannot change the fact that the Constitution grants that power to Congress,” Paxton said.

[..]

“There are hosts of reasons why letting 14-year-old boys into girls’ locker rooms is a bad idea,” Paxton pointed out.

In related legal news, the U.S. Department of Justice seems anxious to knock out the suit related to House Bill 2 which brought by Governor McCrory against them.

DOJ Desperate to Knock Out NC Governor’s  Lawsuit
Over the last week, the Department of Justice has made two separate legal filings over North Carolina’s HB2. The rapid fire filings nearly overlap, raising the question of what is their big hurry?

The first was a request for an injunction on the facilities portion of the law which was filed on July 5th.   The second was a request to dismiss the lawsuit brought by Governor McCrory entirely.

Associated Press via WBTV:

Federal lawyers asked a judge Tuesday to dismiss Gov. Pat McCrory’s lawsuit defending the law. Four other lawsuits, including a challenge by the Justice Department, are being heard by a judge in another federal court.

The federal government argues that McCrory’s lawyers “rushed to the courthouse” because they knew the Justice Department planned to sue the state. They say McCrory raises the same issues in litigation in the other court.

One might have to ask a lawyer about the argument being employed by the DOJ, which seems akin to a child being upset they were beat in a fair foot race.

A hearing has been set for August 1st at 10 a.m. in Winston-Salem by U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder, who will hear arguments on whether or not to block provisions of HB 2 while another lawsuit filed by six North Carolinia citizens is still pending in federal court.

Schroeder also indicated that there might be a consolidation of lawsuits at some point.

 

 

HB 2 Related Case Documents:

Other Related Case Documents:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, LGBTQ Issues, YWBMTC | Tagged , | 2 Comments

11 New Charter Schools Await Board Approval in North Carolina

Posted on July 19, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Eleven new charters schools have been recommended for approval by the state’s board of education per a bulletin  from the NC Department of Public Instruction. Once approved, the number of charter schools in North Carolina will rise to 168.

The schools recommended for approval by the NC Public Schools, via their Newsletter:

At their abbreviated July Board meeting held last Thursday, State Board of Education members approved 11 charter schools to open in August.

These schools are currently completing their yearlong planning period, also called “Ready to Open (RTO).” Although representatives from seven of the schools had to appear before the North Carolina Charter Schools Advisory Board in May because their RTO Progress Report was deemed insufficient, CSAB members felt confident they would meet all requirements stipulated in the RTO to open and so recommended to the State Board that the following schools be approved:

*  Central Wake Charter High School (Wake County);
*  FernLeaf Community Charter School (Henderson County);
*  Gate City Charter Academy (Guilford County);
*  Girls Leadership Academy of Wilmington (New Hanover County);
*  Ignite Innovation Academy (Pitt County);
*  Iredell Charter Academy (Iredell County);
*  Kannapolis Charter Academy (Cabarrus County);
*  Mallard Creek STEM Academy (Mecklenburg County);
*  Matthews Charter Academy (Mecklenburg County);
*  Union Day School (Union County); and
*  Union Preparatory Academy at Indian Trail (Union County).

 

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Poll: 62% of Democrats prefer Concentrated Federal Power

Posted on July 19, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

The Tenth Amendment states:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

Now view this Gallup poll, which illustrates a stark and startling divide of how different political affiliations view concentration of power:

Gallup Poll

An astonishing 62% of Democrats prefer the federal government having control over the states, versus 50% of  Independents and Republicans combined.

Without argument, this poll says a lot about this election cycle. Democrats wanting the federal government to exert more control over the states, whereas the rest of the voting population overwhelmingly prefers more state control.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Democrats, ELECTIONS, Government | Tagged | Comments Off on Poll: 62% of Democrats prefer Concentrated Federal Power

Exclusive: Read NYC Schools Letter Directing Use of ‘Teaching Tolerance’ Materials

Posted on July 19, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

The NY Post  recently reported that NYC schools were making the addition of Common Core aligned “anti-bias” social studies curriculum from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s offshoot, Teaching Tolerance.

The NY Post cited quotes from Chancellor Carmen Farina on the topic. These quotes seem to have come from a letter sent to employees regarding the use of these materials. This blog has obtained a copy of that letter, which was sent by email to employees on July 14th.

While not naming the men outright, Farina’s  letter refers to the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. There is also mention of Texas in Farina’s letter, where on July 7th, police officers were targeted by a sniper, injuring nine of them and killing five others.

Farina appears to use these events and deaths as a platform for “going beyond talking” and “support informed action” by implementing the Teaching Tolerance social studies curriculum:

“However, as educators we must go beyond talking. To support informed action, the Department of Education will implement a new social studies curriculum, which includes robust lessons integrating themes of tolerance, civil rights, and equity. Perspectives for a Diverse America, a literacy-based curriculum developed by the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance project, is another useful resource.”

The letter encourages educators to create “safe spaces” to have conversations with students.

Read Farina’s Letter:

The point, according to Farina’s letter to is ‘open up communications’ and ‘foster empathy’,  however, that is not the point of Teaching Tolerance’s materials.

Social Justice Factories

The end goal of the Teaching Tolerance ‘Common Core aligned anti-bias lessons’ is the creation of social justice activists; starting in pre-k with kids as young as 4 and 5 years old.

This activism goal is implied  by Teaching Tolerance’s own materials and by its mission statement.

Read more about Teaching Tolerance, including my 5 part series:  Social Issues Activism Is Now “Common Core Aligned”.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, EXCLUSIVE, Racial Justice, Social Justice | Tagged | 4 Comments

EEOC Files Suit Against Bojangles

Posted on July 18, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission had filed a suit against Bojangles on behalf of one Jonathan Wolfe claiming the restaurant has created a, “hostile work environment because of her gender identity,”.

The Bojangles restaurant in question is located in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Wolfe, who is biologically male, claims to be a transgender female.

Claims made in the suit include the Wolfe’s Unit Director who allegedly “made comments about Wolfe’s effeminate mannerisms, including Wolfe’s gait, speech, and posture.”.

The suit also claims that, “In or around October or November 2012”, Wolfe entered the store while off duty to buy food. At the time, Wolfe was dressed as a female.  According to the complaint, allegedly the Unit Director told Wolfe that, “she could not be in the store while dressed as a woman and forbade Wolfe from ever entering the store again dressed as a woman.”.  The Unit Director also told Wolfe they could not wear “make-up or fake fingernails” while on duty.

Wolfe also alleges that around December 2012, the Assistant manager made comments to Wolfe such as,  “pray to God or go to hell,” “God made woman for man,” and “Boy, you need to pray”.

In 2013, Wolfe was promoted to cash register duties but claims the manager told them to ‘act like a man’ by changing how they walked and spoke. That same year, Wolfe showed up to work with long, braided hair and was told to change their hair or ‘be fired’.  Wolfe was not, however, fired but instead transferred to a different store location.

The suit offers no corroboration of the plaintiff’s account.

Via Fay Observer:

According to the release, the comments were made by the restaurant’s manager and assistant managers. The release did not identify the managers or provide Wolfe’s age or address.

The release said derogatory comments about Wolfe continued, even after she had reported them on at least two occasions.

Wolfe was fired in retaliation shortly after making the complaints, the release said.

Lynette Barnes, a lawyer for the EEOC’s Charlotte district, declined to provide specific information about Wolfe or additional facts of her case as a matter of policy. She did say that Wolfe worked at the Bojangles in the 1900 block of Owen Drive from May 2012 to February 2013.

Brian Little, spokesman for Bojangles Inc. in Charlotte, said the fast-food chain has a policy prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex.

“In this case, Bojangles’ decision to terminate this employee’s employment was based upon misconduct including insubordination, and had nothing to do with the employee’s sex or gender identity,” Little wrote in an email.

Attempts to reach Wolfe were unsuccessful.

More at WNCN.

Case details:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), LEGAL, LGBTQ Issues | Tagged | 2 Comments