#WCPSS School Board Ticked Off School Choice Is Booming

Posted on February 28, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Another day, another set of echo chamber remarks from the “equity” obsessed Wake County School Board.

At the Wake Board’s recent retreat, the board was ticked off that school choice, in the form of Charter schools, is booming in the district. Instead of asking why, their response was to sling insults at charter schools and by proxy, parents choosing charters for their children.

News and Observer; emphasis added:

“In our discussion, it frequently comes up we’re trying to compare about competition with charters,” Martin said. “I think we need to be really cautious about that comparison.

“If we look at a lot of the choice of charters, it has been a choice to resegregate. We don’t want to be involved in that competition.”

Martin was talking about how charter schools in Wake County tend to have either much higher percentages of white students or higher percentage of black students than the district. Not many charters mirror the school district’s demographics.

Martin said the district has already got enough magnet schools and innovative programming that he wanted to talk more about what they can do for most of the schools as opposed to having more one-off schools.

School board member Christine Kushner followed up Martin’s remarks by talking about how magnet schools help Wake provide choice in an “ethical way,” unlike charter schools. Like Martin, Kushner has had children attend the magnet program.

Did you catch that in the emphasized section above, parents?

Wait-whatThe subtext there is charters are racist and so are you for choosing to send your child to one.

Kushner went on to gush about the magnet program, which frankly is just slapping a label on a school in order to draw more “diversity” to any given school. It’s like slapping Common Core on a textbook that’s decades old.

Let’s break it down some more:

First, Charters in North Carolina ARE public schools.

Second, Martin is wrong. Charters are not more segregated than traditional public schools. If you’re basing the success of a school only on race, you are doing it wrong. This board’s obsession with “equity” and “diversity” is really getting old. How about obsessing about actual academics?

Third, Charters are not stealing money from public schools. Charters are generally underfunded in comparison with traditional public schools to the tune of .74 cents on the dollar. In fact, when it comes to transportation and building costs, districts save money when charters are opened.

Fourth, homeschooling is also booming in Wake county. In fact, Wake county has the largest population of homeschoolers.

Fifth, this board yet again doesn’t ask the question, why are parents heading for the exits in droves? Why, as Mr. Benton put it, are Charters ‘stealing’ students?

Hold the mirror in front of your own faces, Wake School Board. The answer is partly you.

Related viewing for the Echo Chamber WCPSS Board:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Charter Schools, EDUCATION, Video, Wake County School Board | Tagged | 1 Comment

Tolerant Left: Don’t like to pee with the opposite sex in the room? BIGOT!!

Posted on February 28, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

File this under: You will be made to care – Public Bathroom Edition.

What does ‘protect’ mean? Well, according to this anonymous account, it means lashing out at anyone disagreeing with Charlotte’s ordinance changes by calling them a ‘bigot’ and ‘hateful’ over and over.

It is not bigotry to wish for only same-sex people to pee in the same room. What “Boycott NC” is really saying is shut up if you disagree. If they can’t shut you up with insults and their special social justice shaming, they go full-on idiot.  You’ll see what I mean below.

This account wasn’t getting anywhere trying to shut me down, so they decided to glorify and sexualize the opposite sex peeing in the same bathroom:

The account deleted the tweet, but it was an image of a man convincingly made up to look like a woman who is smiling over their shoulder while peeing at a urinal.

Wait, what? It’s clear – this idiot actually thinks this is all about how someone LOOKS when they pee.

I wouldn’t care if it was the God of Hot, Jensen Ackles,  dropping down in the stall next to me, I DON’T WANT A GUY IN MY BATHROOM. 

Gollum Stupid Burns UsDoes @BoycottNC think that if they represent transgenders as attractive people we’re all going to just say, ‘hey, it’s all good – yeah! bring that body in here and let’s pee! Woo yah!’

No, you moron, it doesn’t and this attempt to sexualize a private function is beyond the pale of disgusting.

This isn’t a porno, it’s a public bathroom that people already only use if they absolutely have to.

Feel free to drop in on @BoycottNC on Twitter.
Ask them who they are. Be ready to be called a bigot for asking.

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

NC Chamber’s Mailer Gets The Nelson Treatment – #NC48 #NCpol

Posted on February 27, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

With the primary rapidly approaching, the mailer wars have begun.

This one is particularly hilarious:

Because she was a School Board member in Buncombe county, Lisa Baldwin is a “politician”, ya’ll.  My sides are aching from laughing.

This mailer is grasping at straws and is a really thin set of attacks. Apparently being a politician is also a bad thing, yet Mr. Edwards is seeking to become one. Man, this article is gonna write itself.

By the way, the mailer was produced by the NC Chamber of Commerce.  This mailer is just as clueless as when one of their officials  attempted to tell me, one of the biggest Anti-Common Core moms in NC, that the Chamber doesn’t support Common Core.

For the record, I was told that Edwards had renounced the NC Chamber’s support of him and if that’s true, I welcome him to decry this mailer. He can email me his statement at TheLL1885@gmail.com.  I’ll be waiting.

Let’s look at this one more closely, because it deserves the Nelson treatment.

Claim One:  “Lisa Baldwin is a politician.”
“She was on the Buncombe County Board of Education, but lost her seat when voters turned her out. She failed to bring Conservative change to Buncombe county.”

REALITY: Anyone familiar with the Buncombe County Board of Ed knows that it is dominated by Liberal Democrats. Baldwin was forced out last cycle through a coordinated campaign by both Buncombe board members and liberals in the area.

Baldwin was the only one of that board who stood up and fought against Common Core, fought for transparency and  fought for fiscal responsibility.  Even after being forced out by liberals in the area, she continued to fight and took on questionable curriculum in the area.

What the NCGA desperately needs right now is Republicans with education experience.

If Chuck Edwards is such a big awesome Conservative, where was he when Baldwin was under attack? *CRICKETS*

Claim Two: “Lisa Baldwin’s Experience consists of working as a politician. on the Buncombe county school board, where she lost a Republican district, and as a bureaucrat in the federal government. Her private sector experience consists of writing a newspaper column and blog.”

REALITY:  Well, the mailer repeats itself here, perhaps the NC Chamber is having a Rubio-bot moment. We addressed the Buncombe school board already; It’s liberal run and the only Republican with the nerve to run for it was Baldwin.  She lost because Republicans like Mr. Edwards didn’t show up maybe?

As for being a “bureaucrat”, Baldwin worked for the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture as an economist. The definition of “bureaucrat” is “an official in a government department, in particular one perceived as being concerned with procedural correctness at the expense of people’s needs.”

Gee, is scrutinizing the Buncombe board’s expenditures being concerned with ‘procedural correctness at the expense of people’s needs’? No, the opposite; it’s being a good steward of the taxpayer dollar.

As for writing columns and a blog? Well, I do that for a living. Is there something wrong with that, NC Chamber? The arrogance is astounding.

Claim Three: “Can we trust Lisa Baldwin to have the knowledge to fight for lower taxes in Raleigh?” ” On the Buncombe County Board of Education, Lisa did not have taxing authority. On her website, she does not list taxes as things she cares about or will work on in Raleigh.”

REALITY:  Did the NC Chamber miss where Baldwin has an economics degree? Does the NC Chamber realize no school board has taxing authority?  What kind of empty attack is that?

Did they miss this section on her website?

“I will call for more transparency and accountability from government agencies. Each agency should build their budget from the ground up, known as zero-based budgeting. Only core government services should be funded with valuable taxpayer dollars. All decisions must be viewed through the lens of the state constitution, North Carolina’s governing document.”

Sounds to me like Baldwin has the taxpayer’s best interest in mind and tax payers, you know, pay taxes?

Final Response to the NC Chamber’s  FAILTASTIC mailer:

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

Social Justice Crowding Out Actual Academics Should Be On The Block For Cuts

Posted on February 26, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

Social Justice Sally Liberalism ADHDEarlier this week, I wrote about how social justice is crowding out actual academics and our tax dollars appear to be funding these endeavors.

I highlighted an individual that is an Asst. Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction in the Kirkwood school district in Missouri, named Bryan Painter.

This article is a little more exploration into Dr. Painter’s social justice agenda.

Dr. Painter keeps a Storify account, which is a site used to create stories using social media platforms.

Take a look at the Storify article from 11/12/15, which highlights the ridiculous social justice warrior events and calls for “safe spaces” that took place at Mizzou University. The very first link in it is to Southern Poverty Law Center’s incredibly biased and Common Core aligned ‘Teaching Tolerance‘.

Melissa Click Mizzou

Image via EdDriscoll.com

I do not see a follow up article from Dr. Painter outlining that Melissa Click was charged with assault, was suspended, that she had a prior history of instigating incidents with police or that, as of yesterday, was fired for ‘harming the rights of others’.

No, that wouldn’t be in Dr. Painter’s Storify collection, because it doesn’t fit the narrative.

Speaking of narratives…

Have parents seen Dr. Painter’s newly formed “Civil Rights Team” made up of 5th graders? Have parents seen the ‘pledge’ they took?  Here’s the excerpt:

A new Civil Rights Team has formed at Keysor, comprised of interested fifth graders working with several Keysor teachers. When we think of civil rights, our minds often go straight to issues of race. This is important to our work, but looking at their pledge to each other we see their mission is much larger:

“I believe that Keysor’s diversity is its strength. I also recognize that treating others badly because of their differences can turn diversity into a source of loneliness and hurt. I pledge to have respect for people whose abilities, beliefs, culture, race, ideas or other characteristics are different from my own. To fulfill this pledge, I will examine my own biases and work to overcome them. I will set a positive example at home, school, and in my community. I will work to uphold the civil rights of every student at Keysor and interrupt hate and injustice whenever it occurs.”

This Civil Rights Team will also be leading the charge on “no name calling week”. One has to ask, does this include the designation of name calling free “safe spaces”?

Again, your tax dollars are funding these social justice pushes.

Let’s talk about taxes and let’s talk about the voice of the people for a moment.

One of the biggest issues in education is that people tend to believe we have to spend more and more money in order to support our schools.

This stance is ignorant of the history of education spending in this nation, which has proven without a shadow of a doubt that spending more money does not equal more success. What is has equaled is stagnation, bloat and misspending. School districts historically have been poor stewards of the tax payer dollar.

Bottom line, school districts, like any government organization, need to be held accountable. They don’t need to exponentially spend more, they need to spend smarter.

A proposed tax increase was voted down by 60% of voters last November in Kirkwood, Missouri. The voters spoke pretty loudly there — the budget needs a haircut, not an opportunity to turn into Crystal Gayle.

As a result of that vote, the Kirkwood board voted to reduce their budget by $5 million.

Some of the reactions to the increase being voted down were, at best, examples of name calling. Ironic. Maybe Dr. Painter should sic the new “Civil Rights” team on that commenter who, by the way, is a “journalist” and author… who has a huge Chez Guevara background on his Twitter page.

When discussing these budget cuts, remember, Dr. Williams is Kirkwood’s Superintendent and  is one of the highest paid in the state at around $264,000 a year. Williams  was the one who recommended Dr. Painter.  Apparently the average teacher salary there is $70k.

So, in a nutshell, the Kirkwood board listened to the taxpayers, but not by choice.

Here’s a question or two for the Kirkwood Board:

Do the citizens have to come out in droves like they did at the polls for you to listen to opinions from the taxpayers?

The same taxpayers who fund these school officials pushing social justice and these ‘diversity’ programs?

Shouldn’t programs like these be part of that budget haircut so that actual academics can be the focus as they should be?

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, Poltical Correctness, Racial Justice, Social Justice, YWBMTC | 8 Comments

ICYMI – #WCPSS Board Leaves Flaming Bag of Poo for Next Board

Posted on February 26, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

In case you missed it, according to the News and Observer, the diversity and equity obsessed Wake county school board members left a ‘poison pill’ for the next board to be elected this Fall.

Remember, Merrill’s base was increased recently by this board to $281,302.

News and Observer:

The Wake County school board approved a poison-pill amendment to Superintendent Jim Merrill’s contract on Tuesday, giving him up to two years of severance pay worth more than $560,000 if he’s fired from his contract early.

The contract amendment, unanimously approved without board comment, comes about nine months before elections in November could result in a brand-new school board. All nine seats on the Democratic-led school board are on the November ballot under new election maps drawn up by the Republican-led General Assembly.

Under the revised contract, if Merrill is fired unilaterally he’d be entitled to two years pay or the pay for the remaining time of his contract, whichever is less. His contract runs through June 2019.

Poison Pill is one way to describe it.

I think a more accurate descriptor is that of leaving a flaming bag of poo on the front porch.

I hope this flaming poo stunt ends up sinking them.

2015 Merrill and KushnerIsn’t that mature? This board is possible the most spiteful I’ve ever seen. But hey, what else would we expect from an apparent collection of dolphins?

Well, I think it will be incumbent upon the next board to release Merrill’s full contract, including the list of performance goals set for him that the board refused to release.

I requested that set of performance goals and the Wake county attorney told me that was ‘part of his personnel file’ and ‘not covered by a Freedom of Information Act request’.

Really? A list of goals tied to a highly compensated, taxpayer funded public employee is not allowed to be seen by the public?

Wake County schools also denied my request for materials used to create a “Five Pillars of Islam” flip book and other in class activities. The Wake attorney claimed it was student work and was covered by FERPA.

Ok, fine, but my request was for the teacher’s materials, which are not covered by FERPA. When pressed on it, the answer I got back on that was ‘the teacher doesn’t have any’.  Gee, is Wake County schools telling me that the teacher taught how to make that flip book  out of thin air and her newsletter was just made up? Seems like it.

This instance is yet another taxpayer funded item which the public should be able to inspect at will. It’s also worth noting Wake county schools sat on that Islam flip book request for nearly a year until I got an attorney involved.

By the way, I am still waiting on the full line item budget from Wake County Schools. That request was made at the end of last October.

Posted in EDUCATION, Wake County School Board | Tagged , , | Comments Off on ICYMI – #WCPSS Board Leaves Flaming Bag of Poo for Next Board

ICYMI – Charlotte City Council Voted To Let People Pee Where Ever They Want

Posted on February 25, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

TransBathroom
In case you missed it, the Charlotte City Council voted 7-4 to allow people to pee basically wherever they want. I captured key tweets from the meeting in this Storify article.

I warned you it was coming, remember.

Oh, and Charlotte City Council’s  new “anti-discrimination” ordinance ironically does discriminate. Allow me to explain, keep reading.

They way it’s worded, it basically makes single sex bathrooms or facilities illegal for businesses to have or enforce and pretty much allows for anyone to use any facilities they want.

The city’s attorney say’s that interpretation of the new ordinance is wrong.

Where did the city attorney get his law degree? Cracker Jack?

The ordinance, as worded, CLEARLY makes having a single sex facility illegal to maintain.

“It shall be unlawful to deny any person the full and equal enjoyment of the goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages, and accommodations of a place of public accommodation because of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or national origin.”

If adding “gender identity” and “gender expression” to the list means they can use whatever facility they want; therefore the same definitions have to be applied to “sex”. Not only that but the original bathroom/shower portion of the original ordinance is gone.

Rep. Dan Bishop has been all over this issue since it raised it’s head and he’s got a helpful little video presentation which lays out this key point:

The city has just made it possible for anyone to use any facilities they want and made it illegal for businesses to stop them. That would technically include schools, would it not? Good going, Charlotte. You’ve just discriminated using a non-discrimination ordinance!

If you think this won’t make it’s way into other school districts, you’re already behind the eight ball. Wake county schools are ‘allowing it‘ on a case by case basis. Meanwhile, the Wake board says they ‘have no knowledge of requests’.

A a woman and a mother of young children, I don’t want some guy sauntering into the ladies room because, well, today he “self identifies” as a woman… in his own mind.

Proponents call the transgender community ‘at risk’ and ‘marginalized’ and that this ordinance is needed to protect them.  It’s all about them. So how many of them are we talking about here?

Starting around 2011, there were some solid estimates that 3.5% of the U.S. population identifies as lesbian, gay or bisexual. Of that 3.5% only about .3% identify as transgender. That’s around 33,495 people in a nation of over 319 million.

Flash forward to 2014.  The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) reported that 2.3% identified as gay, lesbian or bisexual out of 319 million or so people. Of that 2.3%, only about .7% “self-identified” as transgender. That .7% subset translates to about 51,359 people nationwide or roughly around 1,027 people per state.

But by ALL MEANS, let’s accommodate the few who ‘self identify’ in their heads as the opposite sex over the vast majority who know that having twigs and berries means you’re a guy.

For those out there thinking or  saying this ordinance isn’t about an “agenda”, you would pretty much be wrong.  You will be made to care.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Government, LGBTQ Issues, Social Justice, YWBMTC | Tagged , | 4 Comments