Hey Parents, Remember the DPI Common Core Surveys?

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

Hey, Parents… Remember the Common Core ‘survey‘ that NC DPI put out for the Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC)?

You know, the one that took HOURS to complete.

The one that was so scientific that anyone from anywhere could complete it?

The one we NEVER saw the results of?

The one which the raw data I asked for and that DPI still hasn’t handed over to me and of which DPI didn’t even present on to the ASRC?

Yeah, that one.

Well, NC DPI isn’t the only state defending Common Core by ‘zeroing out parents’  in this manner.

Take the time to read this article at TownHall. It describes almost exactly the same process NC DPI put parents through last year.  The article includes several examples, including Kentucky (first adopter of Common Core) and Louisiana.

Check this section out — nearly IDENTICAL to NC’s:

A look at instructions for Louisiana’s online review of hundreds of standards shows how parent-unfriendly big data can be. The options given for reviewers are:

1. I agree with the Standard as written. (Comments are optional.)

2. The Standard should be in a different grade level. (Grade selection is required.)

3. The Standard should be broken up into several, more specific Standards.(Suggested rewrite is required.)

4. The Standard should be rewritten. (Suggested rewrite is required.)

5. Delete this Standard. (Comments are required.)

This methodology clearly favors those in AB’s Common Core community who wish to preserve the status quo; it takes only one click to agree, and no comment is required. That lends itself to organized amen choirs. Conversely, those who think the educrats should amend or delete standards must offer extensive rewrites or commentary.

Money quote:

“I am an experienced educator and it took me two hours to comment on just one of the subject areas,” former Louisiana teacher Tiffany Guidry told The Hechinger Report for its January 18 story on the Pelican State’s review process. “They made the process so difficult that it was like you were getting penalized if you wanted to make a change to the standards.”

Well, parents in North Carolina know who to thank for this survey farce.

StuffAtkinsonSays You know who is to blame for bringing the nightmare of Common Core to our state and then defending these flawed standards like they were made of gold  — SUPT. JUNE ATKINSON.

Parents, you have CHOICES this year for Superintendent.

Anyone of these candidates would be an improvement over the the politician and long-time educrat we have now.

Of these candidates, however, only ONE has come out fighting on Common Core.  Have a look at who else is out there: A Look At The NC Superintendent Race

Related Reading: #StuffAtkinsonSays

Posted in Academic Standards Review Commission, Common Core, June Atkinson, NC DPI | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Hey Parents, Remember the DPI Common Core Surveys?

Not a “Top 10” That NC Should Want To Be In For Education

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

The Bluegrass Institute has an interesting list of how deep each state is into the federal funding trough.

The Bluegrass Institute pulls the numbers from the most recent US Census Bureau’s Public Education Finances documents.

North Carolina made the top ten. In fact, we are actually number ten. This is not good.

money trapIn an age where everyone seems to think throwing more money at education is the solution, however  history and experience have proven that’s not the case.

Federal money is often a trap with strings attached and states needs to pay attention.

In fact, there’s an argument to be made that the more money we are on the hook for to the Fed, the more they control what the state does. Also, the cost of applying for these federal dollars by the state overall often exceeds the amount received.

Here is the break out of the North Carolina numbers via the 2015 published report.

Total revenue: $12,729, 402
Federal: $1,579,889 (12.41%)
State: $7,891,977 (62%)
Local: $3,257,536 (25.59%)

Bear in mind that this report was based on 2013 information and published in 2015.

Below is a look back over the last ten years via the US Census historical data.

Remember that under Supt. Atkinson’s watch, NC took over half a billion dollars in Federal funds in 2010 — $499 million of which was in just one grant, Race To The Top. Race To The Top brought us Common Core.

The grant was actually received in 2011, which shows the biggest federal money total over the ten-year period.  Atkinson has been Superintendent since 2005; she was first elected in 2004.

2012
Total revenue: $12,788,659
Federal: $1,831,095
State: $7,648,102
Local: $3,309,542

2011
Total revenue: $14,409,515
Federal: $2,046,954
State: $7,488,570
Local: $4,873,991

2010
Total revenue: $16,621,268
Federal: $1,927,843
State: $7,451,302
Local: $7,242,123

2009
Total revenue: $15,410562
Federal: $1,376,661
State: $8,229,140
Local: $5,803,761

2008
Total revenue: $13,610,362
Federal: $1,240,410
State: $8,009,636
Local: $4,360,280

2007
Total revenue: $13,051,906
Federal: $1,584,934
State: $7,481,148
Local: $4,395,824

2006
Total revenue: $11,708,667
Federal: $1,184,622
State: $6,846,954
Local: $3,677,091

2005
Total revenue: $11,708,667
Federal: $1,184,662
State: $6,846,994
Local: $3,677,091

2004
Total revenue: $10,567,443
Federal: $1,019,981
State: $6,115,388
Local: $3,432,074

2003
Total revenue: $9,905,507
Federal: $888,996
State: $5,970,302
Local: $3,046,209

Posted in EDUCATION, June Atkinson, NC DPI | Tagged , | Comments Off on Not a “Top 10” That NC Should Want To Be In For Education

#WBOC Is Really On A Roll Lately, Hits Debunked ‘Wage Gap’

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

MoreWithFourNotOneCentBackWBOC14The Wake County Commissioners certainly are on a roll lately.

First it was shifting from their campaign promises that education spending was their top priority to transit being their big hair deal.

Now they are taking up the long debunked ‘wage gap’ myth.

News and Observer:

RALEIGH
Shortly after the White House moved to address the income gap between men and women, Wake County leaders say they want to do the same.

Members of the Wake County Board of Commissioners on Monday said they want to find a way that the government and community can help ensure that women achieve the same academic and professional success as their male counterparts. Their comments came after hearing a report that the income gap in Wake County is worse than the national average.

Wake women on average earn 69 percent of what men make, according to Jackie Terry Hughes, an attorney who helped author the report presented to commissioners. Nationally, women earn 79 percent of what men make.

Way to revive a long debunked myth, Wake County Commissioners! You’re about a year behind the news cycle, there guys.

Let’s go to crazy, right wing site, CBS news:  The Gender Pay Gap is a Complete Myth

If that article has just WAAAY too many words for the Commissioners, perhaps video is more their speed:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Government | Tagged , | Comments Off on #WBOC Is Really On A Roll Lately, Hits Debunked ‘Wage Gap’

Senate Wants Atkinson’s Documentation On DPI Budget Cuts [UPDATED]

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

Last month, I wrote about the little bombshell Superintendent Atkinson dropped that no one seemed to really pick up on other than Alex Granados at EducationNC.

Quick recap:

Alex Granados at EducationNC picked up on it:

State Superintendent June Atkinson and State Board of Education Chair Bill Cobey were given the power by the State Board last month to implement the General Assembly-mandated 5 percent ($2.5 million) reductions at DPI. This month, they turned into the Board a document that cuts about 18 positions. But those 18 positions aren’t really going away. Three are currently vacant, and those positions will disappear, Atkinson said. But the rest will move to handle work under the General Assembly’s Excellent Public Schools Act, for which DPI received $3.8 million from legislators this past session.

“Please remember that it’s a matter of moving from state funding to state funding,” Atkinson said.

Do you see what Atkinson did there? She moved jobs that were slated to be cut under the $2.5 in budget cuts ordered by the General Assembly to a program that was given $3.8 million in funding.

So in a nutshell, Atkinson took jobs from DPI that should have been in the ordered budget cuts and shifted them to the budget of a new program.

The Senate is calling her out on it.

Via the News and Observer:

Senate leader Phil Berger charged education leaders with planning to divert to state jobs money that was meant to help students read, but the state superintendent said that isn’t so.

In a Monday letter to state Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson and State Board of Education Chairman Bill Cobey, Berger said the state Department of Public Instruction’s spending plan ignores the legislature’s intent.

The state budget called for $2.5 million in DPI reductions. The budget has an additional $3.7 million going to implement the Read to Achieve law, which requires that most third-graders read proficiently before they’re promoted.

The $3.7 million was to go to the local districts for tutors, Berger said, but DPI is using it to maintain its “bloated bureaucracy.” The department plans to disguise the spending by relabeling existing jobs and work, he wrote.

Of course, Supt. Atkinson says Berger is wrong. I don’t think he is though.

DPI cut some jobs — three of which were vacant and the other 15 were shifted from one budget to another. Atkinson played a shrewd shell game there.

Remember, she did the same thing when Race To The Top funding dried up.

UPDATE: Atkinson backtracks at the NCGA Ed Committee meeting.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, June Atkinson, NC DPI, NCGA | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Charlotte Officials Push To Let Anyone Pee Where They Want

Posted on February 2, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

The city officials for Charlotte are treading on some creepy ground.  Last night, while everyone was paying attention to the Iowa Caucuses, Charlotte’s Mayor hosted a “non-discrimination forum”.

What was the forum really about?

Changing public policy in Charlotte to let those who “self-identify” as whatever gender be allowed pee in whatever facilities they want to.

By discrimination, they mean people self-identifying as the opp. sex upset they can’t pee bathroom of their choice. I am not over-simplifying this.

What this ordinance change would allow for is one to decide where one pees or changes –  in public facilities.

TransBathroomIt’s saying that a girl who at any given time decides, ‘hey, today I think I’m a guy’.  Or the reverse, a guy decides that today, in my head, ‘I believe I am a girl’ can pick the facilities of their choice.

This is a substitution of the reality of one’s biological sex for that of what any given person at any given time thinks their sex is in their head. 

New Mayor In The Hot Seat
The newly elected Charlotte Mayor actually ran on this idea, yet has softened her tone when asked by media about it. She’s actually promoting a policy that benefits less than 1% of the population.

Well, Rep. Dan Bishop (R-Mecklenburg)  isn’t having any of this nonsense. He’s penned a letter firing back at Mayor Jen Roberts and the Council.

In the 4 page letter, Bishop emphasizes that the city officials are overstepping their authority, citing numerous examples, all of which are backed up with legal citations.

Right up front, Bishop’s letter hits hard, reminding the council how long the current policy has been in place and that North Carolina cities have powers granted to them by the State of North Carolina, and the legislature has never delegated to any city, including Charlotte, the power to ‘create its own special classes of citizens.

Read the whole thing.

EqualityNC was of course on hand at the Charlotte meeting. This was their biggest talking point:

One can dismantle that argument in a single sentence: And sexual organs haven’t changed since then.

Your Child Will Be Made To Care

The U.S. Dept. of Ed has been engaged in lawfare in many states, using Title IX to force school districts to change their facilities policies to accommodate students who ‘self-identify’ as transgender.

I’ve been covering this situation with the U.S. Dept. of Ed over at Civitas:

This issue is not going away. From the looks of it, the legislature is going to have to step in.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Government, LGBTQ Issues, Social Justice, YWBMTC | Tagged , | 3 Comments

NC Board Of Ed Still Not Taking Up Common Core Recommendations

Posted on February 2, 2016 by A.P. Dillon

A brief update on the state of Common Core in North Carolina — the NC State Board of Education will apparently NOT be taking up the recommendations from the Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC) during their February meeting.

The subcommittee dealing with the recommendations do not list Common Core on the agenda as one of the topics they will cover:

11:05 – 11:50 a.m.
•  Educator Standards and Practices Committee
State Board members Olivia Oxendine, chair; Eric Davis, vice chair

Discussion items: Program Approval Modifications for Institutions of Higher Education, Policy Recommendations for the Teacher Licensure and Evaluation Process and Proposed Student Perception Surveys
New Business item: NC Teachers at Work Initiative

I’ve also gotten wind of a particular “education non-profit” person attempting to influence the work on these recommendations.

CC ED Potemkin VillageThe person directly involved in this influencing was totally absent from all 15 of the monthly meetings of the ASRC, however did write a letter to the commission at one point. I’m sure their letter had the BEST of intentions.

I was given assurances that this “education non-profit” was not really “focusing on standards”.

Silly me, this person is the head of a group that is closely tied to Pro-Core SAS and is an affiliate Common Core proliferator, America Succeeds. The 100K  in 2014 from Common Core backing Rockefeller Foundation likely helped out too.

I have put in a Freedom of Information Act request for all emails between this person and those involved in the subcommittee which will address the recommendations from the ASRC.  Stay tuned.

Posted in Academic Standards Review Commission, Big Ed Complex, Common Core, EDUCATION, NC Board Of Education, NC Ed Updates | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on NC Board Of Ed Still Not Taking Up Common Core Recommendations