Rant Mode On: Passing Stopped School Buses

Posted on February 1, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Rant Mode: ON.

There are some things in this world that really set my hair on fire. Watching people blow by a stopped school bus is one of them. I’ve watched people speed through my neighborhood and I yell at them to slow down nearly every day as I drop off and pick up my son from the bus stop. Often times I see that it is a parent in their mini-van, with their kids inside, blazing up my street doing 45 in a 25.  Somehow, that’s worse.

Just last week, I watched a car slow down a bit but roll right on by my son’s stopped bus. I wasn’t able to grab the plate number due to my vantage point.  I don’t believe my son’s bus has a camera either.

Dear drivers,
When you see an emergency vehicle with its lights on, you slow down and even pull over. You know it is important and you know the law.  A school bus stopped is JUST as important and also it is the law.  So, please – SLOW THE HELL DOWN AND STOP.

WFMYNEWS2 has an article about just this very thing – blowing past stopped school buses.

The WFMY article notes a problem with the current laws that are allowing for thousands of people who blow by stopped buses to essentially get away with it. There’s an issue with nailing these drivers who blow by the buses that do have cameras. Excerpt:

“2 Wants to Know discovered even if a driver is caught on camera passing a stopped bus, the video might not make a difference.

The cameras see almost everything. The stop arm out. The car passing and the driver’s license plate.

But it often does not capture the driver’s face clearly.

And state law says even with a license plate number, if you don’t have enough to identify the driver, you can’t expect a conviction.”

If you continue reading, you’ll find that these cameras are paid for by fines for breaking the law which, due to the law itself, are not being enforced. Awesome.

The law being referenced is the Nicolas Adkins School Bus Safety Act.
This act was House Bill 440 and was passed in 2009 and signed into law by Governor Perdue.

There are other school bus safety acts out there though. Here is the list of school bus safety related acts in North Carolina going back to 2005:

2005 – House Bill 1400; session law 2005-204

2007 – Senate Bill 924; session law 2007-382.

2009 – Senate Bill 440; session law 2009-147.

2013 – Senate Bill 428; session law 2013-293.

Posted in A.P. Dillon (LL1885), EDUCATION, NCGA | 8 Comments

The Common Core Weekend Reads – 2-1-15

Posted on February 1, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

how to pass a standardized textThese are the Common Core Weekend Reads for February 1st, 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: 1-25-15

 

NC Academic Standards Review Commission (ASRC) Updates:

NC ASRC Site 
Next ASRC meeting: February 16th, 1-5 pm. Be aware, location published for February is Dept. of Administration, but January’s meeting was moved on short notice to Dept. of Public Instruction.

NC UPDATES:

QUOTES OF THE WEEK:

“I don’t know what is worse, nominating someone merely because he’s been nominated twice before or nominating a liberal supporter of Common Core because he has a familiar name,” asked former New Hampshire House Speaker Bill O’Brien, who spoke at a day-long conservative forum in Iowa Saturday featuring a long list of potential presidential candidates.
-The State, ​Bush, Romney face conservative backlash in Iowa

****

“Now it’s a presidential campaign issue. A few would-be Republican candidates — notably former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush — steadfastly support the standards, proving yet again that stubborn consistency in the face of mounting evidence isn’t a virtue.

But the rest see the Common Core as polls show many parents view it: as a confounding and expensive mess that leaves their children to flounder. For any Republican who wants to win, the right side is the parents’ side.”
–Duluth News Tribune, Parents know kids don’t need Common Core, so Politicians should listen

LEGISLATIVE/LEGAL:

POLITICAL/PROTESTS:

HIGHLIGHTED ARTICLES:

THE WEEKEND READS:

TESTING UPDATES:

VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

TWEETS OF THE WEEK:

Posted in Common Core | Tagged | 1 Comment

Pearson Is Everwhere: NJ’s $108 Million Contract

Posted on January 29, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

PearsonWelcome back to Pearson Is Everywhere!

Last time we looked at Pearson’s methods of silencing opposition. Today we’re looking at their $108 million dollar contract in New Jersey associated with the PARCC tests.

 

Given the number of jobs Pearson has listed in the state, it is a darn good bet the testing is not the only contract Pearson has in New Jersey.  Some of those positions make some nice cash. Pearson is also sucking jobs out of the state.

It also appears that Governor Christie in the past liked giving Pearson a subsidy? Would be interesting to see if that practice is still going on. More on the subsidy story: Chris Christie can’t afford to pay public teacher pensions… but still hands education megacorp $82m in subsidies

Citizen in New Jersey fighting Common Core and PARCC would do well to send a Freedom of Information Act request to the NJ Department of Education for copies of all contracts and purchase orders for Pearson going back at least to 2009.

Wall Street Journal:

The state Department of Education says the new exams will take about 10 hours of a 1,200-hour school year, and most of the tests that children take aren’t mandatory standardized exams but are chosen by local teachers.

New Jersey’s exams are being devised by the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, a consortium of 11 states and the District of Columbia.

Mr. Hespe said the state Department of Education would be fair in reviewing how the PARCC process unfolds. He said the intensity of the anxiety is partly driven by the power of the tests to hold teachers accountable for student performance.

“PARCC has to deliver on its ability to drive learning,” Mr. Hespe said. “If it delivers on supporting learning then this is going to be an excellent marriage” with the state’s new standards, instruction and evaluations, he said.

The state Department of Education has a contract with Pearson PLC for $108 million to administer the tests for four years, through the 2017-18 school year, though officials said that total might fluctuate as New Jersey adjusts its options.

As a counterweight to criticism of the tests, a coalition called “We Raise NJ” emerged last week to encourage people to give them a chance. Led by the New Jersey PTA, it includes the state Chamber of Commerce and associations representing school boards, principals, superintendents and community colleges. The group says it wants to promote accurate information about the transition to new tests and help “children put their best feet forward.”

“We Raise NJ” is the same type of outfit that springing up to defend Common Core. Without these tests, Common Core will shrivel and no data will be collected.

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Sen. Tillman Moving Forward With NC Superintendent Bill

Posted on January 29, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Senator Jerry Tillman has proposed the idea of making the NC Superintendent an appointed position instead of an elected position.

As I noted before the holidays, in June of 2014, Senator Tillman filed Senate Bill 880 titled the Education Simplification Amendment.  It passed the first reading and was sent to the Education/Higher Education committee. (Current incarnation is SB 94)

In that prior article, I also gave my personal objections to a position of this importance being decided by a single person via appointment rather than the people voting on it. While the Department of Public Instruction arguably needs more oversight and transparency, this is not the way to do it.  My objections still stand.

In his latest newsletter, Tillman covers the topic and his intent to file a bill on it which would amend our state’s Constitution. Will this be a new bill or the same thing we saw in SB 880?

Related text of the newsletter:

State Needs Appointed School Leader

I will file legislation this session to amend the State Constitution to replace the current system of electing our State School Superintendent. 

Presently our Community Colleges and our Universities operate exceptionally well with appointed presidents.  Our K-12 schools now operate with an elected State Superintendent of Schools.  They are far from exceptional in their operations. 

We currently have a system of K-12 schools who lack much in their management and the results expected from them.  Test scores and achievement have stagnated and/or declined.  There will be a myriad of reasons for this decline.  One of them is the three-headed and at times conflicting, roles of management.  You have the Governor, the State Board of Education and the State Schools Superintendent calling the shots.  This doesn’t work in business and it won’t work in education.  An appointed State Schools Leader would streamline the process and hopefully align all forces, making real progress and change possible.  With the Governor and the State Legislature working in concert, positive and meaningful reform is possible.  We’ll see…

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VIDEO: Mapping The Left

Posted on January 28, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Civitas recently unveiled a new site dedicated to Mapping The Left in North Carolina.

Today, there was a video released highlighting the site:

 

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NC Bill ” Magistrates Recusal of Civil Ceremonies.”

Posted on January 28, 2015 by A.P. Dillon

Arguably a reaction to North Carolina’s Amendment One being overturned?  Also arguably protecting religious freedom an objections of conscience.

“Magistrates Recusal of Civil Ceremonies.”

“A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT TO ALLOW MAGISTRATES AND REGISTERS OF DEEDS TO RECUSE THEMSELVES FROM PERFORMING DUTIES RELATED TO MARRIAGE CEREMONIES DUE TO SINCERELY HELD RELIGIOUS OBJECTION.”

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