Public Policy Bootcamp Looks More Like Social Justice Warrior Training? #nced

Posted on October 22, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Public Policy Bootcamp? It looks more like Social Justice Warrior training.

The video speaks for itself:

The kid in the beginning of the clip sets the tone for the rest of this ‘montage’:

“First, we should stop referring to girls in high school as girls and instead refer to them as young woman. This is something that really is demeaning and patriarchal.”

We’re so doomed.

Obligatory: Ban all Things - Easily offended

This clip is the second video. The first video was more of the same…

This “Public Policy Bootcamp” event looks like it sprang out of a SAS STEM camp. It was apparently held at the ‘Institute for Emerging Issues‘ at NCSU, at least according to the teacher who wrote the article about it for EducationNC, George Barilich.

In the video, Barilich says what they are doing is to get ‘real world experience’.

In a follow-up article, we see Mebane Rash, the CEO of EducationNC, involved in the event.  The article is written by Nation Hahn – who is also in the video clip above.

Hahn is a ‘consultant and columnist‘ for EducationNC. Read his full LinkedIn profile, he basically does media and branding for a living – what is he doing leading a talk at an alleged education event?

Hahn also sits on the Community Leadership Council for the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. Reminder: Blueprint NC’s biggest donor, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation, has given EducationNC $350,000 over the last few years.

Also of note, Hahn’s  wife was murdered by Jonathan Broyhill a few years ago.

Also in the video is the COO of Education NC. Gee, where there any staffers who weren’t in on this “public policy” event allegedly created by teachers?

The Question Remains
How is an outlet that is supposed to covering education news in NC going to remain unbiased and non-partisan when they are in the story?

The first rule for news outlets is you don’t become the news.

Again, this is just more proof EducationNC is not a news outlet, but a PR firm with the express purpose of driving specific narratives.

Related Reading

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), BlueprintNC, EDUCATION, Media Bias | Tagged | Comments Off on Public Policy Bootcamp Looks More Like Social Justice Warrior Training? #nced

McCrory Announces New Ed Adviser, Same As Old One?

Posted on October 22, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Governor McCrory announced his new Education Adviser this week to replace Eric Guckian.  Her name is Catherine Truitt and no one I’ve spoken to knows much about her.

That doesn’t bode well.

Some details From the Press Release:

Prior to joining the International Center for Leadership in Education in 2012, Truitt was an English teacher at West Johnson High School in Benson. She came to that position after teaching English Literature and Media Studies at Uxbridge College Academy in London, England where her husband was stationed with the JAG Corps at US Naval Activities in Ruislip.
 
Truitt was also a co-founder and served as Curriculum Director for Ridge Academy, a private, parent-founded elementary school.
 
Truitt and her husband have three children who attend schools in the Johnston County Schools system.

Ok, well that gives us a little something to go on but her LinkedIn page gives us more:

“Skilled at assisting schools in implementation of Common Core State Standards Initiative and Essential Learning standards.”

Well, of course, Governor Rebrand would pick someone who backs Common Core and comes from an outfit that is into the “digital learning” push.

Here’s what I pieced together on Ms. Truitt on the fly:

  • Her full name is Catherine Lauterbach Truitt.
  • There is a question as to whether she is related to Dr. Cathy E. Truitt who ran for Wake School board unsuccessfully in 2009. Cathy E. Truitt, according to a bio of her that I found, also was with the International Center for Leadership in Education at one time.
  • She, unlike Eric Guckian, is a Republican.
  • Her husband is Jeffrey James Truitt; also a Republican. He is an attorney with Smith Anderson Law firm. He was also appointed by Governor McCrory to the North Carolina State Board of Certified Public Accountant (CPA) Examiners in February 2014.

Nothing earthshattering, but it would be nice to know who else made the list to replace Guckian.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, Pat McCrory | Tagged | 3 Comments

ICYMI – #WCPSS Board Attacks Parents Speaking Out On #CommonCore

Posted on October 21, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Your tax dollars, paying for attacks on Wake county parents who dared to advocate for their children.

See my Storify article:  #WCPSS Board Attacks Parents Speaking Out On #CommonCore

UPDATE: News and Observer has an article up now. The arrogance and ignorance of these board members is on full display.

The exchanges below made me bang my head on my desk.  Arm-chair quarterbacking the lives of the families in your district must be really fun.

Government here to help common core

Let’s break it down.

“Do we have any sense as to how that’s going?” school board member Jim Martin asked Tuesday about what the commission is hearing. “The report I heard on the news this morning was a mother saying that last year my daughter was outstanding in math and this year she’s failing.”

“Like that’s Common Core’s fault,” interjected school board Vice Chairman Tom Benton.

The first mistake there, Jim, was listening to the report on the news. They have never gotten it right on Common Core.   And Tom, yes, it is Common Core’s fault… don’t strain yourself trying to protect a line item standards from a living, breathing mom in your school district.

“And it’s Common Core’s fault, yeah,” continued Martin, a N.C. State chemistry professor. “I get that with freshmen. I was great at high school chemistry and I come to your class and I’m failing.

“Well in my class you actually have to understand and relate things and I don’t give you the study guides that say here if you memorize all these things you’re done.

“So I guess my concern is where is that kind of anecdotal, no educational data stuff going? Is it having an impact in the hearing or are we actually going to get some sound educational analysis?”

Since Martin couldn’t be bothered to find out what the forum was about, I’ll tell him. The ASRC requested that parents come and speak to them about how Common Core has impacted their child. That would mean what the board kept referring to as ‘anecdotes’.  You know, stuff we’ve seen with our own two eyes?

By the way, where is YOUR educational data and analysis? Isn’t that your job to know this

Since you seem to believe that we parents sit around pulling together spreadsheets of non-existent Common Core data all day, the Wake board should should show us their analytic data on how Common Core is working. Just like they are showing the public the goal list set for Superintendent Merrill… Oh wait, that’s right. The board is refusing to share that.

Crowder responded that the commission is charged with getting feedback from parents and other stakeholders who have a perspective on Common Core.

“That’s a perspective on something other than the curriculum,” Martin replied.

Mr. Martin, it’s a set of standards, not a curriculum. However, the curriculum is dictated by the standards.  It’s a perspective on Common Core’s IMPACT ON OUR KIDS.  We see it every day, you don’t. This is a rehash from last year when the Wake Board again showed how clueless they were.

Ya’ll are doing a stellar job. What,  with fights breaking out on Wake campuses being recorded and thrown all over Twitter, angry parents protesting you over student assignment and school buses that still aren’t running on time –and that’s just in the last month.  

But please, go ahead and attack parents for standing up for their children on a topic that, clearly, none of you know a thing about.

 

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core, Wake County School Board | Tagged | 8 Comments

FayObserver Cites Progress NC’s Protest Astroturf Group As ‘Teachers’

Posted on October 21, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Aim Higher Now, the Progress NC astroturf protest outfit, held a protest where about all of 6 people showed up.

FayObserver seems to lump Aim Higher and teachers together.

A small group of teachers, led by Aim Higher Now NC, an initiative to draw attention to education policies in North Carolina, met at Luther Nick Jeralds Middle School on Ramsey Street on Sunday to call out lawmakers. The group sounded off on inadequate pay that’s remained stagnate for most teachers and substandard resources necessary for students to receive quality education.

Small group? I guess that means the 9 people in the photo with the article –not including the kid on the ground.

‘Substandard resources’. I can get behind that part of the complaint.

Inadequate pay? Do they mean re-instituting step pay that was frozen under the Democrats? Increasing beginning teacher salaries?

Luther Nick Jeralds Middle is in Fayetteville in Cumberland County. The average teachers supplement there is $3,569. That’s almost half of what Wake County’s is.

Perhaps Aim Higher should as for the district’s line item spending as a good start instead of attacking the legislature who has no control over how the districts spend their funds.

Aim Higher Progress NC apparently can afford staff with fancy titles who like to make threats.

“We can do better and our students deserve better,” she said. “We can not ask for a change, we must demand it.”

Evan Degnan, digital director for Aim Higher Now NC, said the state’s teachers are unhappy. He urged lawmakers to construct a serious plan to raise teacher salaries, as well as increase per-student funding.

“If current leaders can’t do that, you might see some new faces in Raleigh.”

Of note, Tamika Kelly, one of the ‘teachers’ mentioned in this FayObserver article has also protested alongside Moral Monday. Both Progress NC and Moral Monday track back to BlueprintNC, the non-profit created to assault any and all Republicans holding office in the state of North Carolina.

Both Tamika Kelly and Pattie Griffin are affiliated with the Cumberland county NCAE. Why are these two women then associating with the politically questionable Aim Higher Now? Is the NCAE that ineffective they have to look elsewhere for advocacy?

Related Reading:

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

For the LULZ… Founding Member of Hope Street Group Attempts Trolling. Fails.

Posted on October 21, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

One has to laugh when a founding member of an alleged ‘education non-profit’ attempts to troll someone for exposing them as Bill Gates backed Common Core shills.

Get ready to laugh because that’s what’s happened.

So much for civil conversation with Common Core supporters

Right now, my readers as asking WTF is Dmitri Mehlhorn?

Well, Dmitri is a founding member of Hope Street Group.  In case you missed it, here are the first two articles I wrote about Hope Street Group and of which Mehlhorn clearly didn’t really read.

  1. Another House In the Common Core Potemkin Village: Hope Street Group
  2. Common Core Potemkin Village: Hope Street Group – Money and History

So, Mehlhorn is a “Democratic donor, activist, and seed investor” among a long list of things related to screwing up education.  So long as he can make money off our kids, all is well, right Mr. Mehlhorn? But it’s for the children though right?

Mehlhorn took some time out of his oh-so busy schedule to attempt a troll column, titled Hilarity on The Fringe.   Gee, you mad bro?

Clearly, he thinks he’s hilarious — because hilarity, it’s right in the title, guys!

Petrilli GadflySo much for civility, eh? Use facts, get labeled “fringe”.

What a wild world we live in these days where educrats and money men resort to mocking people on the internet as their primary line of self-defense.

What evidence based arguments they make! Truly compelling stuff.. or something.

Yeah…. no. You’re doing it wrong.

You know what your blog post tells me, Mr. Mehlhorn?

Everyone but you was (and still is) doing it right.
Your own blog post admits that you’re being picked apart by people on the Left and Right, even though you’re spinning it as you engaging them.

I think my favorite part was according to Mehlhorn, I am a “self-proclaimed Glenn Beck HEHconservative ”.  Err… what is that, exactly?

I bet poor Mehlhorn thinks that because I participated in Glenn Beck’s live Common Core event last year, that somehow I’m some sort of acolyte of Beck’s?  Now I get it! I gotta admit, now that is hilarious.

Keep your day job, Mr. Mehlhorn. Trolling clearly isn’t in your wheelhouse. There will be no cuing of “SCARY MUSIC” here, just some golf claps… because that’s how you do it.

Related Reading

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), OPINION | Tagged | Comments Off on For the LULZ… Founding Member of Hope Street Group Attempts Trolling. Fails.

BEST NC Wants Your Feedback

Posted on October 20, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

BEST NC is soliciting feedback on their ‘Facts and Figures’ document.

It’s worth taking a moment to look through some of the charts they’ve assembled. I admit, it’s far more comprehensive than anything the Department of Public Instruction has put out.

I met with their CEO, Brenda Berg, about a week ago to look at some of this information.

I noted that the poverty charts should probably include a disclaimer that the Free and Reduced lunch threshold has shifted higher for each of the last five years. This arguably is a component of the data presented that should be considered, i.e, is poverty really skyrocketing or are more families just meeting the criteria as it is adjusted upwards?

From my inbox:

Dear BEST NC Friends and Advisors,  

We are excited to announce that a draft 2016 version of our popular Facts & Figures booklet is now available on our website by clicking here. We would like your feedback to make the final 2016 booklet as helpful, relevant, and comprehensive as possible.

Will you take a few minutes to review the booklet and send us your suggestions? You can email any changes, revisions, or recommended updates to FactsandFigures@BEST-NC.org. Feel free also to reply to this email if you would like to talk about your suggestions, or arrange a time to hand-off your notes.

All edits need to be shared by Friday, November 20, 2015.

We hope you will also share the draft version with your colleagues. Thank you in advance for your help in making this resource the best it can be!

Best,

Katie
Policy Fellow
BEST NC
Katie.Hagan@BEST-NC.org
www.BEST-NC.org
757.589.0490 (cell)
Facts & Figures booklet available on our website: http://best-nc.org/resources/

 

Related Reading

 

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION | Tagged | Comments Off on BEST NC Wants Your Feedback