#DM7 Article: The Exploding NC Democrat Heads

Posted on May 10, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

This is reposting of my weekly Da Tech Guy column: The Exploding NC Democrat Heads

By A.P. Dillon

Question: On what planet do people complain about a $400 million surplus and paying off $2.8 billion in unemployment insurance debt that was racked up by a former governor?

Answer: On Planet NC Democrat.

One state legislator compared North Carolina’s budget to ‘state sponsored eugenics‘. The same legislator just couldn’t be happy until they played the class warfare card, while another used Senior citizens as a battering ram.

It leaves one scratching their head and asking, what kind of math do these Democrats use?

On Wednesday, the news broke that some of the budget and tax policies put into place by the Republican held legislature and Governor Pat McCrory have yielded a $400 million dollar surplus.

A lot of heads, like that of the ‘Moral Monday’ crowd, must be exploding.  

‘Moral Monday’s’ main shtick has been to whose mission has been to call the Republican held Legislature “regressive”. That same crowd, along with Democrat legislators warned of gloom and doom befalling North Carolina. Gloom and doom like a predicted shortfall of $270 million did not come to pass.

Republicans say the swing to a surplus shows that GOP tax changes are working. The $400 million figure equates to about 2 percent of the state budget, putting it within a long-term 2.5 percent margin of error for each year’s revenue forecast.

A memo from legislative and administration officials said there was a “significant upswing” in April tax collections. The new, projected surplus is “predominately due to higher income tax payments and lower refunds from the 2014 tax year,” according to the report. – Charlotte Observer

The lion’s share of that surplus seems to be coming from “strong growth in business income“. Yes, there seem to be many complaints from the NC Democrats, but I think this is the unsaid complaint that rings true:  

DM7 small LL1885A.P. Dillon resides in the Triangle area of North Carolina and is the founder of LadyLiberty1885.com.
Her current and past writing can also be found at IJ Review, StopCommonCoreNC.org and Watchdog Wire NC.
Catch her on Twitter: @LadyLiberty1885

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Moral Monday, NC Dems | Tagged | 1 Comment

The Common Core Weekend Reads – Mother’s Day Edition

Posted on May 10, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Arne Duncan Steps In 2These are the Common Core Weekend Reads for Mother’s Day, 2015.

This is a review of the past week of news on Common Core nationwide and in North Carolina.

Articles are organized by category.

Prior Edition of Weekend Reads: 4-25-15

Please note: Compiling and producing the CC Weekend Reads over the last year has been a useful tool for many including myself. However, due to time constraints, family obligations and other projects I cannot continue to keep these posts up.

This edition will be the last installment of the Common Core Weekend Reads.

I will be continuing to cover the NC Academic Standards Review Commission and Common Core topics in North Carolina.

NC Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC) Updates:

NC ASRC Site 
Next ASRC meeting:  May 18th. Details here.

NC UPDATES: Event Alerts below!

QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

ARNE DUNCAN: So to be clear, states are supposed to work with districts on that, and we’ll look at the numbers and whatever, and we think that most states will do that. But if states don’t do whatever, then we have an obligation to, uh, to step in. 
– NewsBusters, Not News: Obama Education Secretary Threatens to ‘Step In,’ Plays Race Card Over Common Core Testing Opt-Outs 

LEGISLATIVE/LEGAL:

POLITICAL/PROTESTS:

HIGHLIGHTED ARTICLES:

THE WEEKEND READS:

TESTING UPDATES:

VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

TWEETS OF THE WEEK:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), Common Core | Tagged , | Comments Off on The Common Core Weekend Reads – Mother’s Day Edition

Invasive Health Assessment Bill To Be Heard By Committee May 12

Posted on May 9, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Action ButtonThe bill to amend health assessments, which includes the invasive health assessment form currently used for kindergarten entry, is going to be heard by the Senate Health committee on May 12th.

 

The meeting will take place on May 12:

HEALTH CARE
11:00 a.m. 544 LOB
HB 13 Amend School Health Assessment Requirement
HB 195 Allow Substitution of Biosimilars
HB 437 Create Permit Exemptions/Home Renal Products

See the history and read the bill text for HB 13.

HB 13 hinges on the ‘health assessment form‘, which goes far beyond what the law requires and contains a signature panel that, in essence, removes the parent from conversations between their child’s health care provider and NC Dept. of Public Instruction and NC DHHS. [Read: “Parental Consent” on Invasive School Health Assessment Form OPTIONAL – Who Knew?]

Your child’s data is not confidential. This form is part of the child’s permanent record. The data collected in it is already being used in some districts to track children.

Citizens are urged to contact their Senator and those on the Health Care committee.

Here is the information on the Health Care committee:

Members
Co-Chairman Sen. Ralph Hise
Co-Chairman Sen. Louis Pate
Co-Chairman Sen. Tommy Tucker
Vice Chairman Sen. Jeff Tarte
Members Sen. Chad Barefoot, Sen. Stan Bingham, Sen. David L. Curtis, Sen. Don Davis, Sen. Jim Davis, Sen. Fletcher L. Hartsell, Jr., Sen. Paul A. Lowe, Jr., Sen. Floyd B. McKissick, Jr.,Sen. Ronald J. Rabin, Sen. Shirley B. Randleman, Sen. Gladys A. Robinson, Sen. Bob Rucho, Sen. Terry Van Duyn, Sen. Trudy Wade, Sen. Andy Wells, Sen. Mike Woodard

Related reading:

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, NCGA | Tagged | Comments Off on Invasive Health Assessment Bill To Be Heard By Committee May 12

See the Education Bills That Made It Through #NCGA Crossover Date

Posted on May 8, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

NCGAApproximately 46 education related bills made it through crossover. This list has all the bills proposed, but the ones in bold are the ones that made it through.

I’ve plucked a few off the list to go over.

Given the national movement to opt out of standardized testing and the objection to these exams being used to evaluate teachers, HB 248 is worth looking at. The bill is titled, “Eliminate NC Final Exam”.  Let’s hope this means the calls to end EOG’s and shift to formative assessments which have immediate instructional value is gaining attention.

The full text of HB 248 is very short; here is the opening summary:

AN ACT TO ELIMINATE THE NC FINAL EXAM AND THE ANALYSIS OF STUDENT WORK PROCESS AS THE MEASURES USED TO POPULATE STANDARD SIX OF THE TEACHER EVALUATION INSTRUMENT AND INSTEAD USE SCHOOL‑WIDE GROWTH VALUES FOR TEACHERS WHO TEACH LESS THAN SIXTY PERCENT OF THEIR TIME IN END‑OF‑GRADE OR END‑OF‑COURSE SUBJECTS.

HB 439 ( Competency‑Based Assessments) is also worth one’s time to read. It is a bit vague, but the main thrust is as follows:

“It is the intent of the General Assembly to transition to a system of testing and assessments applicable for all elementary and secondary students that utilizes competency‑based learning assessments to measure student performance and student growth, whenever practicable.”

HB 673 (Modify Read To Achieve) also made it.

Unfortunately, HB 401 (Authorize Data Sharing for NCLDS) made the list. I’ve warned about this bill and the unprecedented sharing of student data it proposes. It appears a related bill, HB 767 (SB 560), did not make it.

HB 632 (Study Student Data privacy) also made it, but this study might come too late given other bills expanding data collection and sharing that are in the mix.

HB 13, which contains the invasive student health assessment form, did not make it. Score one for privacy! The battle isn’t finished there though, this form still exists and is still being used. Parents with rising Kindergarteners need to know they should not relinquish their parental rights by signing the consent panel.  The legislature should be reviewing this form and taking action; it goes far beyond what the law requires.

One that I recently wrote about is SB 561 (Career and College Ready Graduates).  From what I gathered from this bill, it looks like ‘Read To Achieve’ for Community Colleges. Remediation will now be known as ‘developmental courses’?

SB 546 alters requirements on Charter schools. The number of students served has been raised from 65 to 80 unless the school can show cause for a lower number.  It also includes a provision that charter school applicants have to adhere to an anti-nepotism policy.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION | Tagged | Comments Off on See the Education Bills That Made It Through #NCGA Crossover Date

ZOMG! #SB480 Is Eeeeevil!

Posted on May 8, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

WALK IN ORGANIZE 2020I’ve written many times before about the rising levels of politicking going on in our public schools. I’ve witnessed it first-hand when my son brought home a protest flier in his homework folder.

SB 480 seeks to end such politicking in our schools and bring education officials and teachers into alignment with the laws other state employees already have to follow.

Well, this has upset many people. I’ve already deconstructed one op-ed which ran over at the education PR firm, EducationNC.  Well, here comes another one.

The imagined example of SB 480 in action is in a blog post ‘Women Advance’ written by Melissa Geil; It is pure fiction with the intent of stirring up hysteria.

The title is, ‘NC Bill Could Send Teachers to Jail For Wearing a Red Shirt‘.

Here’s the opening of the article, where the article’s title is literally derived from.

Your child sits in their high school 10th grade Civics and Economics class. The teacher, dressed in a red shirt, is teaching North Carolina state learning competency goal #4: “the learner will explore active roles as a citizen at the local, state, and national levels of government.”

The door opens, and two police officers enter. They place the teacher under arrest.

The crime? Violation of a law, SB 480, currently under consideration by the North Carolina General Assembly. The teacher was wearing a red shirt in honor of “Wear Red 4 Ed.”

Lawmakers are considering this law, which would effectively serve as a “gag rule” during work hours for teachers, superintendents, and principals, and would forbid them from “engaging in political activity… while on duty.” Violation “shall be a Class 1 Misdemeanor.”

Wow.

Wait-whatI have a low tolerance for BS as it is, but this is a pile of weapons grade stupid — and I am not talking about the bill.

I’m talking about the use of ridiculous hyperbole to hide the massive logic fail on the part of the author.

SB 480 is very specific in its language. Simply wearing red isn’t going to cut it and Geil knows it.  This is just an inflammatory lede to get as many eyes on her article as possible because… outrage! Free Speech!  ZOMG! SB 480 is eeeeeeeevil! Rabble.. rabble…

Let’s look at being arrested for ‘wearing red’ through the hypocrisy lens. How about all the kids sent home for violating dress codes? Is this suppressing their free speech?

The article continues; emphasis is mine:

In theory, the law makes sense. You want the employees of the local school boards to be doing the work that they are paid to do; you do not want them doing other jobs while they are supposed to be teaching. But this law isn’t making it a crime for someone to teach and simultaneously promote their lawn care business (which we also don’t want). The law makes it a crime when that “other activity” is political.

Well, DUH? 

 

Let me ask a few questions of Ms. Geil.

Are laws just for the little people, Ms. Geil?

Are educators and education officials somehow a special class of citizen or elite class of state employee?

Do you suppose all parents are just fine with a teacher promoting their political views in the classroom?

Do you believe it is ok to be using the taxpayer dime to conduct political related activities on campus and do so using taxpayer funded resources?

 

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, NCGA | 3 Comments

What They’re Saying About Education In NC (5/8/15) #NCed

Posted on May 7, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

NCED Icon

Here are a couple of quick hits in NC Education news, mostly dealing with Wake County.

1. New Principal appointed at Lead Mine Rd Elementary after parents complained about Principal April Hill.  Kenneth Branch will take over for Hill.  About mid-way down in the ABC 11 story, we get to the heart of the matter:

“A teacher working condition survey compiled by the N.C. Department of Public Instruction shows teacher morale was also a problem when Hill was principal at Carpenter Elementary.

In 2014, 49 percent said there was not an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect in the school.

In 2012, only 15 percent felt that way before Hill took on the role.

59 percent said they did not feel comfortable raising concerns important to them.

Before Hill was appointed…just 17 percent felt that way in 2012.”

Three other elementary school appointments were made by the Wake School Board and include: Derrick Evans, L. Roy Teel and Luther Thomas.

2. Wake County Snow Days plan was approved and so was the $1.4 Billion dollar budget.  WCPSS’s website will likely have the new snow day plan up on their site in the coming weeks.

Here’s the bit about the budget from TWC news, which has to go to the Wake County Board of Commissioners next:

“The budget calls for an extra $48,000,000 to be used for staff pay raises, new academic programs and enrollment growth.

Wake County Board of Commissioners will be asked for nearly $400,000,000 and increase of 14 percent from last year.

The budget will now head over to county commissioners. They are expected to host a public hearing on June 1.”

I would expect the Commissioners will approve it. Wake residents should probably expect to see a tax hike.

3. Twenty six Charter schools were recommended by the NC Charter Advisory Board and seventeen Charter schools appear to have made it into the pipeline for approval. Four of them are in Wake county.

The four in Wake according to the News and Observer are:

Included in the News and Observer article is this disingenuous and inflammatory set of statements from Yvonne Brannon:

“We keep getting more charter schools, but we’re not doing much to make sure they’re running well and are accountable to the taxpayers and the students,” said Yevonne Brannon, chairwoman of Public Schools First NC, which opposes expansion.

Brannon pointed to a study released in April by three Duke University professors that found that North Carolina charter schools are much more likely than regular public schools to be racially unbalanced. The study also found that the percentage of students in predominantly white charter schools had doubled over time to 47 percent.

The Duke study made the statement “that many white parents are using the charter schools, at least in part, to avoid more racially diverse traditional public schools.”

Really? 
Brannon jumps right on the Charter school false narrative bandwagon.  You people out there exercising your parental rights to school choice are all racists… or something.

Via Travis Photo Log http://www.travislongphoto.com/2011/02/07/school-board-in-turmoil/candlelight1-ne-032210-tel/

Caption for this photo reads: Yvonne Brannon, chairwoman of Great Schools in Wake Coalition sings with NAACP President Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II at Martin Street Baptist Church. More than 500 opponents of the Wake School Board’s proposal to end busing for socioeconomic diversity gathered at the church for a candlelight vigil.

Scroll to the bottom of this article and read more about Brannon and Public Schools First NC.

What else would one expect from Common Core backing, Moral Monday attending, public school protecting Yvonne Brannon though?

After all, she represents Public Schools First NC.

Or is it NC State?

10. Contract with NC State University
Purpose: To revise, maintain, and host modules developed for the Race to the Top Professional Development Initiative which includes Accountability and Curriculum Reform Effort
(ACRE), Common Core State Standards, Accountability and the Instructional
Improvement System, NC Educator Evaluation System, and Professional Development.
Primary Contact: Yevonne Brannon
Amount: $165,000.00 Federal
Time Frame: 9/3/2013 to 6/30/2014
DPI Coordinator: Lynne Johnson, Academic Services & Instructional Support
Contract No: 10089882 (Service)
Total Approved Contracts This Fiscal Year: 9
Total Cost: $16,796,086.43 Federal

Posted in BlueprintNC, Charter Schools, EDUCATION, School Choice, Wake County School Board | Tagged , | Comments Off on What They’re Saying About Education In NC (5/8/15) #NCed