Flip a Coin. Is it Exec. Director Sgro or Rep. Sgro? – #ncga

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

Islamic terrorism struck the LGBT community in Orlando and it was devastating.  Vigils are appropriate. What’s not appropriate is using a vigil for those murdered to further your social justice and political agendas.

Such is the case with Equality NC sending out an email tying a vigil to slamming the legislature on HB2. Shame on them.

So, yet again, we find Director Sgro organizing a vigil protest against the very place he was appointed to serve as Representative Sgro.  It’s  like watching Two-Face flip his coin, and ask am I a representative today or an activist?

If this was a Republican, the media would be losing their minds.

The email from Representative/Executive Director Sgro is below.  Note that Moral Monday is holding a similar protest at nearly the same time.

 

Chris Sgro, Equality NC <enc@equalitync.org>

Sat, Jun 18, 2016 at 3:25 PM
Reply-To: enc@equalitync.org
To: WinstonSmith@DoublePlusGood.com
Equality NC

Winston,There is not much time left in this year’s short session. Leaders of the General Assembly have already indicated that we could be just two weeks away until the legislature adjourns. We cannot let them run out the clock and not repeal the hateful and discriminatory HB2. We must now be louder than ever.

Join us at 6:30pm on Wednesday, June 22nd, in Raleigh as we “Stand against Hate”. The event will be a vigil to honor those that we have lost in Orlando and a rally to protect the ones most vulnerable in our community. We will stand together to show our determination to fight against harmful legislation that impacts the lives of LGBTQ North Carolinians by calling for full repeal of HB2 and to pass much needed protections.

RSVP now for the “Stand against Hate” rally!

Though different in many ways, the victims of the Orlando shooting had one thing in common: they were simply trying to be who they were, live their lives, and enjoy the evening in what they thought was a safe space. The horrific events that followed mark not just the worst mass shooting in our nation’s history, but one of the worst attacks carried out against the LGBT community in the United States. Their lives will not be forgotten as we stand against hate!

RSVP now and “Stand against Hate” on Wednesday, June 22nd.

This is a crucial time. We must ensure that the NCGA leadership and Governor McCrory hear us. We must get loud!

In Solidarity,

Chris Sgro
Executive Director, Equality NC

P.S. Share the Facebook event with all of your friends and let them know that you will “Stand Against Hate”

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Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), LGBTQ Issues, Media Bias, Moral Monday, NCGA | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

NC Parents: We Have A Bill To Offer Traditional Math. It’s Your Turn To Act.

Posted on June 19, 2016 by A.P. Dillon
This article was originally posted at StopCommonCoreNC.org.

The North Carolina General Assembly (NCGA) was not fooled by the NC Department of Public Instruction’s (DPI) attempt to make cosmetic changes to Common Core’s high school Integrated math.

The NCGA set up a bill that lined up with the findings of the Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC). The NCGA’s proposed bill initially replaced the Integrated math. View the Bill:  HB 657.

Amendments were later added to keep the Integrated math but also offer NC’s traditional pre-Common Core math courses.  North Carolina’s prior math sequence was Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II.

Sources inside the legislature report that various non-profits and special interest groups what support Common Core, in particular, the NC Chamber of Commerce, is heavily pressuring legislators to dump HB 657.  These pressures are apparently what led to altering the bill from dropping Integrated math entirely to offering a dual choice.

Another amendment was added requiring schools to inform parents of these choices.

View the amendments:

Oddly, the bill is giving DPI two years to come up with assessments and curriculum aligned to the previous progression. Yes, this means that North Carolina students will have to endure another two years of Common Core Integrated math.

North Carolina taught Algebra I, Geometry and Algebra II for quite some time and even overlapped some of them with the Integrated math during the transition to Common Core.  DPI already has the curriculum and assessments for these courses, it should be just a matter of reinstating them, making a two-year time frame nonsensical.

Teachers in various social media spaces such as this article by EducationNC posted to Facebook are outraged they might have to offer their students a choice.

Meanwhile, in another EducationNC article, legislators were outraged the bill doesn’t do enough because it doesn’t cover elementary math:

Sen. Tom Apodaca, R-Buncombe, first said he wouldn’t vote for the bill because it didn’t extend to the way math is taught at the elementary school level, where he said damage was being done with the teaching methods currently being used.

“I’m not voting for this bill, because this bill doesn’t do enough,” he said.

The exchanged continued, with Senator Tillman hitting Supt. Atkinson and State Board of Education Chair Cobey for their Common Core advocacy:

Tillman fired back that if Apodaca wanted to be stuck with Common Core, not supporting his bill would make that happen.

“If you don’t like choice, and you want to be stuck with the June Atkinson/Bill Cobey Common Core, well that’s exactly what you’re going to get,” Tillman said.

Tillman is arguably right on the money with his remark. It is becoming more and more clear that Common Core is yet another failed educational fad and Atkinson and Cobey have done everything in their power to defend it.

The bill was passed on the 16th by the Senate.  Now it heads to the House for concurrence. If the House passes it, then it should go to the Governor to be signed.

Does this legislature wish to continue to endorse the failed policies of Atkinson and Cobey? The ability of the NCGA House to now pass this bill and send it to the Governor will likely be a litmus test.

Parents now is the time to contact your Representatives and to also email or call the Governor at (919) 814-2000.

 

Related Reading:  

More articles on HB 657 at LadyLiberty1885.com

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Academic Standards Review Commission, Common Core, EDUCATION, NC DPI, NCGA | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Cleveland County Charter Schools Score Big Win In NC Court

Posted on June 17, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Charter schools in Cleveland county scored a big win in court this week as a judge ruled the district needed to turn over funding of $55,000.

Gaston Gazette:

The North Carolina Supreme Court upheld an appeals court ruling stating the Cleveland County School District must turn over nearly $55,000 in per-pupil funding to three state charter schools.

CCS Superintendent Stephen Fisher said the district was notified on Friday of the supreme court’s decision.

“We are disappointed in the ruling, however we understand that the Supreme Court has made its ruling, and we’ll work with our folks to make sure we abide by that ruling,” he said. “We’ll get that money paid to the charter schools.”

The charters involved in the case are Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy near Mooresboro, Piedmont Community Charter School in Gastonia and Lincoln Charter School in Lincolnton.

North Carolina general statute requires local education authorities to transfer per-pupil funding for the county students who attend charter schools.

The article goes on to describe the original complaint filed in 2012.

The Gaston Gazette reported that, “The charter schools contended CCS moved funds that should have been shared with the charters into a “special revenue fund,” making them unavailable to the charters.”

Proponents of charter schools in North Carolina have contended for some time that they are underfunded and this suit arguably proves that contention.

More from Gaston Gazette:

Joe Maimone, headmaster at Thomas Jefferson, said he hopes this decision will help every county commission and the state legislature to recognize the importance of fair funding and that they will now take pro-active steps to correct inequities.

“The saddest part of this process is that the school system chose to continually appeal a straight-forward decision by each of the courts that heard this case over the past five years,” he said. “That means that precious education dollars were spent on legal fees, instead of on educating our students. The simple fact that the original intent of the charter school legislation is that ‘the money follows the child to the school educating that child’ was correctly supported by the courts.”

Back in 2010, Dr. Terry Stoops wrote a lengthy primer on charter schools in North Carolina. In it, he detailed the funding gap writing that, “charter schools suffer from an average $1,100 per student disadvantage compared to the district school average of $9,331 per pupil.”

In 2011,five charters in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area had a judge rule in their favor on funding as well.

In 2015, I interviewed Dr. Stoops during School Choice week.  In that interview he laid out the difference in funding, noting that, “charter schools must use their operating dollars to cover the capital expenses”.

Here is his breakout in the funding difference for the 2013-14 school year :

Charter school PPE: $7,883.89 (operating) + $0.00 (capital) = $7,883.89
District school PPE: $8,477.00 (operating) + $455.86 (capital) = $8,932.86

Read the whole interview here.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Charter Schools, EDUCATION | Tagged | Comments Off on Cleveland County Charter Schools Score Big Win In NC Court

#HB657 Changes to Common Core Math Updates

Posted on June 16, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

NCGAYesterday, the Senate at the General Assembly worked on HB 657.

The bill would make changes to high school math in North Carolina by offering a traditional math alternative in addition to Common Core Integrated math.

Continue reading →

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

NCAE’s ‘Social Justice’ Caucus Teachers Block Traffic, Arrests Follow

Posted on June 16, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Organize2020The North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) Social Justice Caucus, Organize 2020, was busy yesterday.

The teachers that make up Organize 2020 held some protests that began with around a dozen teachers making a 2-day, 20-mile walk from Durham to Raleigh. According to the N&O, the march was “co-sponsored by Organize 2020, a grassroots organizing group, CAPE, and the Education Justice Alliance.”

When the walkers arrived yesterday afternoon, they were joined by other protesters including some from the NC NAACP’s Moral Monday. Reverend Barber was there, shouting the usual things, however, he was not arrested.

The group then banged on the doors of the Governor’s offices yelling ‘serve us’ and ‘HB 2’:

There was also some chanting of “we ready, we coming“. There was also Occupy Wall Street-style chanting caught on video prior to the arrests that occurred.

It is unclear from multiple news videos taken on the ground what they were actually protesting about, but there is a blog post on the Organize 2020 website blames the Islamic terror attack in Orlando on HB 2.

What is clear is that drivers were annoyed as the Organize 2020 protesters began blocking traffic. Horns were honking – loudly. They then began sitting down in the middle of Morgan street in downtown Raleigh during rush hour.

The only charges posted against those arrested were ‘impeding the flow of traffic’ and ‘resisting an officer’.

13 of the 14 Arrestees were located via Wake Mugshots* and are listed below with where they teach and other information. WCPSS is short for Wake County Public School System.

  1. Kristin Michelle Beller (Wake NCAE Board of Directors/Vice-Chair 2020 Caucus, WCPSS)
  2. Jessica Ferra Benton (Special Ed Teacher, SJW, WCPSS)
  3. Carrol Christine Olinger (Retired, Cumberland)
  4. Alexa Stambler Goff (Club Boulevard Humanities Magnet Elementary School, Durham)
  5. Lisa Ann McCool-Grime (Southern School of Energy and Sustainability, Durham)
  6. Leah Nicole Hendershot (Guilford)
  7. Donald Geofry Parker (Teaching Asst., Orange)
  8. Turquoise Parker (Eastway Elementary School, Durham)
  9. David Bryan Proffitt (Hillside High, Durham)
  10. Alyssa Breann Putt (Neal Middle School, 6th grade, Durham)
  11. Anca Andrea Stefan (Lakewood Montessori Middle, Durham Assoc. of Educators)
  12. Amy Elizabeth Swain (Durham)
  13. Dawn Angela Wilson (Teaching Assist., Morehead Montessori Magnet School, VIDEO)
  14. James Matthew Woody (Special Ed Teacher, Guilford)

*Click here and here for the mug shots; WakeMugshots.com has become defunct.

Jordan and Proffitt - Via Facebook

Via Facebook

A familiar name is in the crowd, that of Moral Monday activist and Organize 2020 leader, Bryan Proffitt.  Proffitt, in the past, has mused about Vagina’s and Hitler.

Proffitt is either married to or in a relationship with ardent Social Justice Warrior, Holly Jordan.

The two teach at Hillside High in Durham, where Jordan spending time busting up ‘heternormativity’ and ‘gender norms’ in her school.

ABC 11 interviewed Proffitt and apparently, this protest was about poor children in general:

 “Twenty-five percent of NC children live in poverty – they need and deserve health care and fully funded schools,” said Bryan Proffitt, chair of Organize 2020 and president of the Durham Association of Educators (DAE). “As educators and parents together, we understand the needs of our students better than anyone. Our students can’t wait. They deserve more.”

Proffitt works in the Durham public school system, which currently has a large budget problem. The budget is currently being set at $403 million. Perhaps asking to see Durham Public School’s expenditures, receipts and other budget documents might be something Mr. Proffitt should consider next time he talks to their board.

WRAL captured a comment from Profitt as well as Todd Warren, another Organize 2020 leader and a name familiar with the now infamous ‘walk-ins’ from 3 years ago:

“This is about teachers not being able to control the conditions in their classrooms to have learning occur,” said Todd Warren, a Guliford County teacher.

[…]

“We live in a state where 500,000 people could have access to free health care from the federal government, and they’re being denied it. We live in a state where 25 percent of our kids live in poverty. We live in a state where 16-year-olds are tried as adults,” said Bryan Proffitt, a Durham teacher.

View more coverage from WRAL.

According to WNCN’s Steve Sbraccia’s Instagram post, the Governor was not even in town but did offer a meeting to the group with his deputy chief.

According to Sbraccia’s post, Organize 2020 is upset about education funding and Medicaid expansion.

sbracciawncn: 

HAPPENING NOW: (video) teachers & supporters who’ve been marching 2 days to see the governor arrive in downtown Raleigh. Education funding and Medicaid expansion are at the top of the group’s demands.
McCrory spokesman Graham Wilson said the governor has a previous commitment and will not be able to meet with the group. McCrory is at a meeting in Wrightsville Beach Wednesday morning. Wilson said the teachers could meet with the governor’s deputy chief of staff and his senior education advisor.#WNCN #nceducation #ncga #ncpol

View more of WNCN’s coverage.

The McCrory Campaign issued a statement, asking why a group endorsing NC’s top law official, Roy Cooper, would turn around and break the law. The statement also said, “Not only did this protest inconvenience drivers, but it also wasted law enforcement resources during rush hour.”

Organize 2020 was offered meetings with the Governor’s senior staff but turned them down. They then changed their mind and were “incensed” the Governor wouldn’t meet with them personally.  Upon finding out the group changed their mind, an adviser went out to talk with them, but by that point, they were already blocking traffic.

On Twitter, I engaged various users apparently involved in the protest. I asked them why they didn’t take the meeting with the senior advisors. One user named ‘T. Kelly” said that they wanted only to meet with the Governor.

Another Twitter user named “Nicholas GarberGrace” then responded they were “locked out” when they arrived at the Governor’s offices.

Related Reading:

Organize 2020’s Mission – “We need a Union.”

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, NC NAACP, NCAE, Organize2020, Reverend Barber | Tagged | 4 Comments

How PC Zombies Are Created: Close Reading

Posted on June 15, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

I’ve written about the Southern Poverty Law Center’s ‘Teaching Tolerance’ offshoot in the past.  In a nutshell, this group seeks to indoctrinate youth starting in Kindergarten with Leftist political correctness narratives and turn them into activists.

Continue reading →

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, EDUCATION, Poltical Correctness, Racial Justice, Social Justice, THE LEFT, Video, YWBMTC | Tagged , , | 1 Comment