NC Teacher Who Pushed Trump-Hitler Comparisons Resigns in Wake of Investigation

Posted on September 27, 2016 by

A North Carolina high school English Teacher has apparently resigned in the wake of an investigation into politically charged lessons that included comparing speeches by Adolf Hitler to that of Presidential candidate Donald Trump.

At the Orange County School Board meeting this past Monday, the Board Chair, Dr. Stephen Halkiotis, issued a statement about recent turn of events at Cedar Ridge High School.

Dr. Halkiotis stated that, While our teachers are free to educate students about political issues, when relevant to the curriculum, there is a fundamental difference between educating and advocating; between informing and voicing personal views.   Our policies are clear on these points.“

In the statement, Dr. Halkiotis alludes to an investigation that was prompted after this site revealed audio of  one of a series of lessons involving the insertion of questionable and biased political opinions.

The statement also indicates that the teacher in question has resigned.

The Orange County Board’s statement follows an email sent to all employees on the topic, which was previously reported by this site.

Read Halkiotis’ full statement:

“At the outset, I would like to make a few comments about what has now become a public issue on political speech in our school system.  We all know this is a tense topic given the election season.  Please know that our Board of Education has clear policies that prohibit staff from promoting or denouncing a particular candidate or party.   While our teachers are free to educate students about political issues, when relevant to the curriculum, there is a fundamental difference between educating and advocating; between informing and voicing personal views.   Our policies are clear on these points.  As an example, Board policy 7720 prohibits staff from making “ use of an official school position to encourage or to coerce students or other employees of the district to support in any way a political party, candidate or issue.”

The Orange County Schools takes seriously any allegations raised about violations of this policy.   The school system conducts a full and fair review of any such allegations and takes appropriate action based on the results of the review.  While the details of any such review are confidential based on personnel laws, I am permitted to state that the teacher in question made the voluntary decision to resign from her employment with the school district effective today.      

Orange County Schools hires and retains teachers that are second to none, who are dedicated to accomplishing the goals of our strategic plan for the benefit our students.  Our teachers day in and day out provide educational opportunities at the highest level  and do so without promoting or denouncing a candidate or party, in compliance with our policies.  If an exception to this high level of excellence and compliance may occur, the school system takes it seriously, conducts a full and fair review, and addresses the matter appropriately.  While this matter has been concluded with the teacher’s voluntary decision, and without any personnel decision on the part of the school district, please know that our district has once again reminded all staff about the importance of following our policy on this topic.”

Related Reading:

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Soros Funded NC Non-Profits Violating IRS Laws – #CharlotteUprising

Posted on September 27, 2016 by

Last week, riots erupted in Charlotte, North Carolina after Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed by police.

The protests and riots continued for multiple days and continued on into the weekend.  A curfew was finally imposed by Charlotte’s Mayor Roberts.

Dozens of arrests were logged in relation to these protests and riots, including the apprehension of one protester who shot another protester in the head.

Image via WCCB Charlotte

Image via WCCB Charlotte

The News and Observer reported on September 22nd that ‘Black Lives Matter’ leaders from Ferguson to Baltimore were “flying in” for the protests that would be taking place over the weekend.

Charlotte police told media that somewhere close to 70% of the arrests made were of individuals from out-of-state.

While the publicly available records at from the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s office do show some arrestees from out-of-state, the majority of those thus far appear to have given a North Carolina address at the time of their arrest.

Video from both body and police dash cams was released on Saturday, September 24th. This footage follows cell phone video taken by Scott’s wife, which the family gave to The NY Times exclusively.

This past weekend, a website called “Charlotte Uprising” was created, which has a list of protester demands similar to what has been seen in other city occupations of Black Lives Matter.

The Charlotte Uprising website is attempting to raise money for bail and ‘supplies’ through  another North Carolina based organization known as the Durham Solidarity Center.

According to the Durham Solidarity Center website they, “oppose any state repression of dissent, including surveillance, infiltration, disruption, and violence. We agree not to assist law enforcement actions against activists and others.”

The Durham Solidarity Center is funded by yet another organization known as “Action For Community In Raleigh” or ACRe for short.  Both organizations are non-profits.

ACRe’s records show that the organization is also doing business as the name Youth Organizing Institute.

ACRe’s creation documents on file with the North Carolina Secretary of State show the organization was originally founded in 2005 and the registered agent was Attila Nemecz with the point of contact for ACRe is Elena Everett.

ACRe was a 501(c)3 at one point, however the North Carolina Secretary of State lists the organization as “expired”. The expiration date listed is 5/15/2014.

ACRe dropped ‘Raleigh’ from it’s name in June 2016 and became “Action for Community“.  This incarnation of ACRe is listed by the North Carolina Secretary of State as active.

In 2013, records indicate four board members were added: Elena Everett, Cathy Stanley, Bryan Proffitt and Ben Carroll. The same records indicated Everett was in charge of solicitations.   Of the four listed board members, two have extensive activism backgrounds.

Elena Everett is also affiliated with radical elements including World Workers Party of Durham, Blueprint NC, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Ignite NC, Youth Organizing Institute, Institute for Southern Studies, Wake Youth Organizing Institute, Southern Vision Alliance, Fair Vote NC, Durham Solidarity Center and the NC Green Party.

Bryan Proffitt is a teacher in Durham, North Carolina who has been involved with a group called Organize202o, which is the Social Justice Caucus of the North Carolina Association of Educators. In June, Proffitt was arrested with Organize2020 members for sitting in the middle of traffic in front of the Old State Capitol building. Proffitt has also been a notable attendee of Moral Monday.

An attempt to locate the required IRS 990-N filings for the organization yielded zero results in the ProPublica Non-Profit database.  The IRS Charitable organization database, however, did contain limited information on ACRe.

According to the IRS, ACRe would not have to file a 990 if their income was less than $50,000. Based on the information recorded by the IRS, ACRe reported they received less than $50,000 for years 2009 through 2015.

However, records filed with the North Carolina Secretary of State in 2013 show the group reported over $125,000 in “support and revenue”. Nearly $77,000 of the revenue was in the form of grants.

By tracing ACRe’s tax ID number (20-2921055), multiple funding sources were located:

  • Southern Partners Fund (2012) -$7,500
  • Network for Good (2012) -$8,025
  • Neo-Philanthropy (2013) – $36,600
  • Tides Foundation (2014) – $41,392 for ‘Moral Summer Freedom Program’

Any monies collected by ACRe or it’s sub-organizations after ACRe’s tax exemption status expired on 5/15/14 may be in violation of the law.

Related Reading: The Basics of North Carolina’s New Police Body Camera Law

Posted in BlackLivesMatter, Elections, LadyLiberty1885, Protests, The Articles | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

NC High School Issues Reminder After Questionable Trump-Hitler Lesson

Posted on September 26, 2016 by

Last week, this site reported on a high school English teacher’s controversial lessons involving comparisons between Presidential candidate, Donald Trump and Adolf Hitler.

National and international outlets, such as FOX News and The Daily Mail UK, picked up the story.

In the wake of these lessons, this site has obtained an email that went out to staff at the school. The email reminds staff of the district policies on politics in the classroom, stating that, “There are some places that personal, political viewpoints do not belong.”

Parents tell this site that the principal of Cedar Ridge High has assured them that the teacher, Amanda Harder, has been spoken to and also had district policy number 7700 reiterated to her. The principal has indicated that the English II class should proceed with the approved curriculum and that there should be no more biased discussions on political candidates.

A parent tells this site that they are not a Trump supporter but that, “I can’t believe what this woman was saying to these kids” and that they wonder what the reaction would have been had the teacher, “replaced Trump with Clinton or Obama” in the lessons.

According to a timeline given to me by students at the school  which spans from  September 13 to the 20th, every single lesson Harder taught centered on Hitler and Donald Trump.

On September 12th, the timeline of  events says that, “Mrs. Harder was explaining Ethos, Paths and Logos and asked the class if she can think of anybody who shows a lot of Pathos. One of the kids says, ‘Trump’ and she agrees and says how much she hates him and thinks he’s an idiot.”

The next day, the 13th, was the date of the recording of another lesson on Ethos, Pathos and Logos.

On the 15th,  “We watch a Hitler speech and several Nazi propaganda videos and she compares Trump to Hitler and says during one of Hitler’s speeches about Marxism to replace the word Marxist with terrorist.”

The next day, Harder gives the same lesson but is aware now that at least one student was upset and recorded her. Phones are collected and kept at the front of the class.

On Monday, September 19th,  Harder shows more Hitler videos to the class.  Among them is a TED video entitled, ‘Rise of Hitler’. According to the students the teacher, ” has us take notes on how easily it could happen again and to compare Nazi rhetoric with that of the Trump campaign.”.

One student took a screenshot of the course materials for the 19th, which includes the reviewing and comparing of rhetoric used by the Nazi’s only to that of the Trump campaign.

screenshot-english-ii-course
The lesson on the 20th of September is similar, and the students reported that they, “Watched some video then she talked for a long time comparing Trump to Hitler over and over again.”  Harder switches subjected at some point and one student tells me that Harder,  “started talking about HB2 and said if she and her kid were in a bathroom and a transvestite walked in, then she wouldn’t be scared but [be] worried about the safety of the transvestite .”.

*This article has been updated to include a correction on language used with regard to HB2.
Posted in Education, Elections, EXCLUSIVE, LadyLiberty1885 | Tagged , | 5 Comments