Dear Allison Mahaley of “Americans United” …

Posted on March 7, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

There is a March 2nd letter about the Opportunity Scholarship program penned by one Allison Mahaley in the News and Observer.

I’ve written extensively on Opportunity Scholarships over the last year. These scholarships hold an incredible 80% public favorability rating.  Read about this scholarship program’s details as laid out in SB 402.

The most hilarious section of Mahaley’s letter was this one, where she contradicts herself inside the first two sentences:

I believe parents should be able to choose to send their children to parochial schools if they want. I believe parents have the right to indoctrinate their children into any religious belief they choose. But my tax dollars should not be used to promote someone else’s religious beliefs. I happily pay my taxes to promote the common good, and I want my locally elected officials to oversee what happens in the schools my tax dollars support.

Indoctrinate. That’s how Ms. Mahaley views religion and how she views parental educational choice.

It’s perfectly fine for Ms. Mahaley to define Christ for the rest of us though. Note she tags “UUA” in her tweet. The UUA was the astroturf for the Moral Monday protests in Winston-Salem last year.

I have some questions for Ms. Mahaley, since she is what one would call a ‘useful idiot’.

Number One
Why does Ms. Mahaley hate low income and minority parents choosing the best education experience for their children?

First, it’s not a voucher, it’s an Opportunity Scholarship program.

Second, The Opportunity Scholarship program is for low income families.

Third, these Scholarships are wildly popular and demand far surpasses what the program can actually support. Parents are speaking loudly: they want choice.

Fourth, those taking advantage of it are mainly minority families. Who the hell are you to tell them they what they can or can’t choose for their child?  I think it will become apparent who the hell Ms. Mahaley is when we get to question three.

Number Two
Why does Ms. Mahaley incorrectly say this money was meant for public schools?

The Opportunity Scholarship program has it’s own set of funds. It’s not stealing from public education. That’s a lie.

Number Three
Why does Ms. Mahaley not elaborate that “Americans United” is short for Americans United for Separation of Church and State?

Why would Ms. Mahaley be such a giant hypocrite leave out that her organization is a 501(c)3  which receives tax payer support and in 2013 had gross receipts of 15, 926,929?

Small wonder this woman is railing about parents choosing to send their children to a parochial school. She’s part of an far Left, Progressive organization that clearly hates religion and especially hates religion being anywhere near a school. In fact, one of this organization’s main missions is to make sure parental choice in the form of ‘vouchers’ is blocked.

The Americans United for Separation of Church and State’s own history page rails about the “Religious Right”.  This is an organization so far left it has a lengthy Discover the Networks profile.

Ms. Mahaley is probably one of those wing nuts who thinks the Pledge of Allegiance should be banned in schools because it has the word God in it.

Mahaley’s letter is appalling, inaccurate and part of the reason our schools are failing in the first place.

Ms. Mahaley has made a habit of misrepresenting and in come cases, outright lying, about these Opportunity Scholarship. Anyone who thinks this letter wasn’t part of a larger strategy, think again.

Ms. Mahaley also taught in NC public schools – in one instance as a Social Studies teacher. Parents, one might have to wonder, ‘what did this woman ramble about in front of my kid’?

You know what Ms. Mahaley? God probably forgives you. But that doesn’t mean I have to.

Have faith though, Ms. Mahaley — I am sure Reverend Barber forgives you.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, Opportunity Scholarships (OSP), POLITICS NC, THE LEFT | Tagged , | Comments Off on Dear Allison Mahaley of “Americans United” …

Leader of Trans Bathroom Charge in Charlotte Has Sex Offender Status [Updated]

Posted on March 7, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Are you sitting down?

The leader of Trans Bathroom Charge in Charlotte has Sex Offender status.

Err… wait, what?!

Breitbart:

The homosexual leader of efforts in North Carolina to allow men to use women’s bathrooms is a convicted and registered sex offender, according to documents made available to Breitbart News.

Chad Sevearance is president of the Charlotte Business Guild, which describes itself as “a network of LGBT professionals, business owners, employees and individuals in the Charlotte area who meet to nurture a network of business contacts; encourage fellowship and support among community business, professional and charitable pursuits; and provide and promote positive role models in the LGBT community.”

Sevearance and his group have taken a lead role in the right to allow males to use the restrooms and showers of females, including those of little girls, described by advocates as no more than non-discrimination measures. Sevearance was quoted in the Charlotte Observer saying that because the bathroom bill did not pass, “It’s a fact that someone can ask me to leave a restaurant because I’m presumed to be gay or transgender…”

In 1998, Sevearance worked as a youth minister and in that capacity allegedly lured younger men to his apartment to spend the night where Severance showed them pornography and tried to talk them into sex. One boy testified that he woke up to find Severance “fondling him.” Severance was convicted on one charge of sexual molestation of a minor.

Good grief.  Do as I say, not as I do… or something.

My GOD, our NC media are so lazy!  This guy is cited all over the place by the Charlotte Observer and others.

According to the NC SBI, Sevearance’s registration was the results of being convicted in another state, yet he was also apparently charged in 2000 while living in Bessemer City, NC, for “three counts of lewd acts with a minor”?

He has a host of aliases:

SEVEALANCE,CHAD EUGENE
SEVEARANCE,CHAD
SEVEARANCE,CHAD E
SEVEARANCE,EUGENE
SEVEARANCE-TURNER,CHAD
SEVERANCE,CHAD E
SEVERANCE,CHAD EUGENE

Don’t Do It Charlotte uncovered that this guy is a registered sex offender and this video they posted on their Facebook page has Sevearance going by the name ‘Chad Turner’ now. That’s apparently his married name.  I guess the SBI needs to add that one to the list too.

UPDATES:

Elliot Engstrom at Civitas calls out the Charlotte Observer, who knew about Sevearance’s status and didn’t report it.

The Charlotte Observer knew that Sevearance was a convicted sex offender, and yet never mentioned it once in its reporting. The newspaper certainly knew about this since at least February 18, when DontDoItCharlotte.com put out a report. (Though, considering that this information is discoverable with a quick google search, the paper likely knew about it before then, not to mention that his advocacy group also knew he was a convicted child molester and defended him by calling reports of his convictions “mudslinging.”)

In this context, The Charlotte Observer‘s failure to disclose these facts in its reporting is inexcusable. It constitutes clear advocacy masked as journalism.

Carolina Plotthound’s leading headlines have been all over this story today:

Chad Sevearance helped propose bathroom ordinance to open legal doors for predators…
Convicted in 2000 for molestation of a minor when working as youth minister…
Chad’s offender info; exposed by NC Values Coalition…
Chad was Charlotte gay publication’s ‘2015 Person of the Year’…
Why hasn’t the Charlotte Observer ever mentioned Chad’s background??
After all, he has been quoted by them MANY TIMES…
Newspaper reportedly was given info about Chad on Feb. 8; they withheld it…
FEB. 24: Chad tells Observer that bathroom scare tactics ‘take focus off real issues…’
Would have been good (but late) time to let readers know Chad’s convicted pervert history…
Observer’s/McClatchy’s credibility totally, completely shot (if they weren’t already)…
Ann Caulkins, President/Publisher, acaulkins@charlotteobserver.com…
Rick Thames, editor/VP, rthames@charlotteobserver.com…
ENGSTROM: Advocacy more important than journalism…
What Roy Cooper did NOT say when he dismissed the transgender bathroom issue…
Dan Forest wants special session on transgender bathroom ordinance…
LET’S ALL SAY IT TOGETHER: ‘If Chad had been a conservative…’

On Twitter, Plotthound calls out the editors at Charlotte Observer:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), LGBTQ Issues, Media Bias, Social Justice | Tagged , , , | 83 Comments

March 5th, 2016 GOP Primary Results [Updated]

Posted on March 6, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Per the Decision Desk HQ, here are the results from last nights GOP Primaries/Caucuses.

Cruz took Kansas and Maine. Combining the tallies from these two states, Cruz led  Trump by 20,895 votes.

Trump took Kentucky and Louisiana.  Combining tallies from these two states, Trump led Cruz by 20,650* votes.

 

Last night’s results clearly show this is a two man race. Will Rubio and Kasich get out  of the way or continue to erode support that would probably go to Cruz?

Below each percentage return, I’ve noted how many votes either Cruz or Trump had over the other in each state.

The delegate count as of last night’s primary/caucus results is as follows:

Real Clear Politics has a breakdown of these numbers by state and includes the type of allocation and whether or not it was an open, semi-open or closed primary.  Real Clear Politics also includes how many delegates each state has.

We haven’t hit any winner take all states, but the first of them are coming up fast on March 15th. They include Florida (99), Illinois (69), Missouri (52), Ohio (66) and U.S. Territories like Samoa (9) and the Virgin Islands (9).

3-7-16 Update:
Louisiana’s 46 delegates are allocated as follows:
Trump: 18
Cruz: 18
Rubio: 5
Unbound Delegates: 5

Check out The Hayride’s article on the exact breakdown above as per the Louisiana GOP’s statement.

*Correction: Decision Desk numbers I originally included for Louisiana were off a bit.
According to Louisiana Secretary of State it’s Trump: 124,818  and Cruz: 113,949

That means there were 10,869 votes separating them in Louisiana; which is off by three from Decision Desk HQ’s 10,866.  Why post an update on that? Because the amount of votes separating these two overall was very small.

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

More reMARKable Spin – #nced #ncpol

Posted on March 4, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

TFA capitol memeOh brother.

First it was reMARKable selective editing, now an Alinsky style attack.

Here we go with more reMARKable spin from Teach For America’s Superintendent Candidate, Mark Johnson:

PRESS RELEASE
DATE:  Thursday, March 3, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

What do Hillary Clinton, Jim Hunt, Roy Cooper and Rosemary Stein All Have in Common?
Big Government Smart Start!
Dr. Stein Strongly Supports the Same Program Hillary Clinton Praised in “It Takes a Village”

 

(Raleigh, NC) – Mark Johnson, Republican candidate for NC Superintendent of Public Instruction, today continued his push for more local control in public education and criticized one of his opponents for supporting the traditional Democrat big government position of more state control.

“I’m running for Superintendent of Public Instruction because I believe local education leaders best know how to address local education challenges,” said Johnson. “If we want to improve public education in North Carolina, we need to get rid of the Raleigh-Bureaucrat’s-One-Size-Fits-All approach that June Atkinson has encouraged during her 40 years at DPI.”

Johnson criticized one of the Republican primary candidates, Dr. Stein, for claiming to be a conservative Republican while at the same time openly supporting Smart Start, a program started by Democrat Governor Jim Hunt and so liberal that Hillary Clinton praised it in her book, It Takes a Village.

“When an ACC point guard fakes right but goes left, that’s a good thing,” Johnson continued. “But cynical politicians faking Right but governing Left are why so many Republicans are so frustrated this year. Dr. Stein claims to be a conservative candidate, but she serves on the board of Smart Start, a program so liberal that even Hillary Clinton praised it! Hillary Clinton’s playbook is not where Republicans need to be if we want to change public education for the better in North Carolina.”

Dr. Stein, on her campaign literature, touts her service on the statewide board of Smart Start. Hillary Clinton praised Smart Start in It Takes a Village, promoting her vision of big government programs, for “creating high-quality” government programs to “help prepare children.”

The News & Observer also recently noted that likely Democrat gubernatorial nominee Roy Cooper was who Jim Hunt depended on when he needed someone to “handle” getting Smart Start passed when Republicans tried to stop it. Stein is glad that Roy Cooper was successful?

There’s more, but let’s stop here for a moment.

Dear Mr. Johnson,

Does Saul Alinsky know you’re using his Rules for Radicals? Hillary Clinton was a big fan of his too. Does that mean you’re a big liberal democrat in republican clothing?

By the way, have you read Dr. Stein’s book?  The title of which mock’s Hillary Clinton’s?Here you go: Who Needs a Village?: It’s a Mom Thing

Dr. Stein is a pediatrician by trade and was appointed to the Smart Start board for her expertise in childhood development. She is the only Republican on it and we should be thankful to have her appointed to it so that Conservatives can have a voice.

Should she have said no and let Democrats continue expanding their cradle to grave agenda unopposed?  And just what would YOU do about Smart Start? You fail to mention that.

June Atkinson does have a big government, top down, one-size-fits-all approach. So does Teach for America, which you are an alum of and who is coincidentally helping to advise, fund and direct your campaign.

Somewhere there is a Pot who wants to meet you, Kettle.

Continuing on..

 Mark Johnson | Biography

Johnson taught at West Charlotte High School before attending law school at UNC Chapel Hill. He serves as an elected leader of one of North Carolina’s largest school districts and is corporate counsel at an international technology company based in Winston-Salem. Johnson decided to run for Superintendent of Public Instruction after hearing from constituents and school leaders across NC about their frustration with the lack of urgency at the top of the agency to reform education.

 Johnson’s top priorities if elected:

  • Teachers NOT Testing! – reform the system of over-testing created by the incumbent;
  • 21st Century Preparation! – increase the smart, measured access to technology in all classrooms;
  • Trust Locals NOT Bureaucrats! – greater support for local education leaders instead of the one-size-fits-all approach from Raleigh.

Ok, that’s the last of the press release.  Let’s finish this up.

Dear Mr. Johnson,

How long did you teach at West Charlotte High? Aren’t you proud of your politically driven Teach For America training?  Why isn’t that in your biography?

21st Century Preparation? You talk about technology, but you’re clearly clueless about what that means. Because to parents it means Common Core and more data collection on their kids, which can in turn be sold to whoever.

Trust Locals? Again, is that why Teach For America is advising you on your campaign? Is that why Michael Bloomberg has given your campaign over $5,000?
DO TELL.

By the way, I don’t see you hitting June Atkinson at all. All I see you doing is mimicking the food fight style of the current presidential campaign. How’s that workin’ out for the GOP, by the way?

Best regards,

AP Dillon

P.S. – I can’t wait to see you on Saturday so I can ask you all of this in person.

030316 FB Johnson DM To APD - Stein Video full

 

Posted in EDUCATION, ELECTIONS | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Some reMARKable Selective Editing – #ncpol #nced

Posted on March 4, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Well it appears that reMARKable Mark Johnson has decided to go negative against Dr. Rosemary Stein in the NC Superintendent’s race.

I received an email from him titled, “Talking Down To Teachers?”.

Go get the popcorn.

The email reads:

I’m Mark Johnson, and I’m running to be your NC Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

If you no longer wish to receive emails from Mark Johnson for Superintendent of Public Instruction, click here to unsubscribe.

I started my career as an NC public school teacher, so I’ve seen firsthand the challenges that our teachers face.

I’m also a father. My wife and I have worked hard to ensure that when our daughter starts school, she knows to respect her teachers.  Respect for teachers – I think it’s safe to say that’s something we can agree all students should have.

Shouldn’t we expect the same respect for teachers from the Superintendent of Public Instruction?

Unfortunately, Dr. Stein (who is also seeking this seat) does NOT give teaches the respect they deserve, suggesting that teaching is easy.  On Facebook, Dr. Stein writes that “Education is not rocket science.”

Then, at a recent candidate forum, Dr. Stein doubled-down, stating that “Teaching is not that difficult.” (click to watch)

This continues Dr. Stein’s troubling trend of insulting North Carolinians.  Previously, Stein criticized vocational education students, comparing them to “second class citizens.” When confronted with her statements, Stein did not deny them and, in fact, embraced her viewpoint.

I’m Mark Johnson, and I am running to be your NC Superintendent of Public Instruction because we need to lift up teachers – not talk down to teachers.

With your help, we can make NC public schools reMARKable!

So I watched the clip.

It’s a loop of Dr. Stein saying, “Teaching is not that difficult.”

Gee, sounds bad, right?

However, I know a load of crap when I see it — all 9 seconds of crap to be exact.

I reached out to Dr. Stein. Once I heard what was fully said, it was clear that Mr. Johnson had done some reMARKable selective editing — both with the video and with her statements on vocational students.

Stein elaborated on what she had been saying just prior in the video. Stein said that her comments centered on the many burdens, bureaucracy and red tape were being placed on our teachers and that it was making it nearly impossible for them to just simply do their job.

You know what is “talking down to teachers”,  Mr. Johnson? A Teach for America grad who blows out of the classroom like a Summer wind after a few short years.

The News and Observer article Johnson links to really doesn’t say what he thinks it says.

Embracing education that elevates the student to make their own choices is not a bad thing, Mr. Johnson. It’s the point of education.

If anything, the News and Observer piece acknowledges that Stein, unlike Johnson, has a plan she’s willing to talk about and rightly notes that our current system is locking them into an education that is dictating what students should become. Stein is correct: What we have in place now is increasingly becoming a hindrance to striving for the American Dream.

Johnson’s answer is puzzling, “The American dream is for everyone, Johnson said.”

Did he even listen to what Stein said? It appears not. Apparently, Johnson disagrees and thinks school should be about pigeonholing kids into particular skill sets?  Really?

Then again, what should we expect from a guy getting money from a  gun grabbing nanny like Mike Bloomberg? This is par for the course for a Teach for America man who got his training then ditched teaching like a bad habit.

What’s more Johnson’s campaign filings show that he is continuing to get campaign directions from Teach for America’s political arm, Leadership in Educational Equity (LEE).

Let’s be clear about who Mr. Johnson is taking his marching orders from here:

TFA capitol memeBoth Teach for America and Leadership in Educational Equity are ardent Common Core supporters.

Teach for America is a political outfit masquerading as sub-par teacher training school.

Leadership in Educational Equity is not about Education. It is not about Equity. It is about taking Teach for America grads and placing then in state and federal political Leadership.

I am sure Mr. Johnson has read this and I’ll dispell any ambiguity on where I stand for him:

No.
No to you.
No to your backers.
No to your corporate, politically driven, top down view of Education.

Your little selective editing stunt represents what  parents like me have been fighting since Common Core came along.  And you’ve officially ticked me off.

Congrats, that’s really a reMARKable accomplishment.

Folks, read about Dr. Stein. Go give her a donation.

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

Fed Court: Plaintiffs Failed To Prove Anything in Wake District Map Case – #ncpol

Posted on March 3, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

A Federal Court Judge rejected the challenges to the Wake county school board and Wake county commissioners maps yesterday.

Not only were the challenges rejected, but the judge ruled that the plaintiff failed to prove either of their claims.  Ouch.

WRAL with emphasis added:

RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge has rejected challenges to how North Carolina lawmakers redrew the maps for Wake County school board and county commissioners races.

“In sum, plaintiffs have failed to prove that either the 2013 Wake County School Board Plan or the 2015 Wake County Commissioners Plan violates the one person one vote requirement in the United States and North Carolina constitutions,” U.S. District Judge James Dever wrote at the end of a 108-page order he signed Friday. “Plaintiffs also have failed to prove that the 2015 General Assembly racially gerrymandered District 4 in the 2015 Wake County Commissioners Plan.”

The challenge to the districts was brought by the Raleigh Wake Citizens Association, an organization that promotes the interest of black voters in Wake County, as well as individual plaintiffs.

The case judgement is here.

Wake School Board crying here.

About the Raleigh Wake Citizens Association

There is very little out there on this group, however a Google search on them produced Left leaning website links, Democrat candidate endorsements, references to Moral Monday and other related activities.

Allegedly in existence since 1932, there is no official paper trail on this group. Where does their money come from? Are they a non-profit?

President: Dr. Earl Johnson

According to their Facebook page:

Welcome to RWCA’s official Facebook Page. We are a nonpartisan, political advocacy organization based in Raleigh, NC. Our goal is to empower minorities in Raleigh and Wake County.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), ELECTIONS, LEGAL, Voting | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Fed Court: Plaintiffs Failed To Prove Anything in Wake District Map Case – #ncpol