Carolina Politics Online

Wake Superintendent Del Burns, who until Tuesday ran one of the nation’s highest-profile school systems, will serve out his tenure on administrative leave for making what board members said were “totally inappropriate” public criticisms.

Members announced after a closed meeting Tuesday night that Burns, 56, will remain available for consultation and will be paid until his previously announced resignation date of June 30.

The session was the third closed meeting that board members had held on Burns’ tenure since Feb. 16, when he abruptly announced his resignation and his intention to remain in the job until June 30. At that time, Burns said he was resigning because he could not in good conscience carry out the directives of the new school board majority.

Two days later, he gave pointed interviews objecting to the majority’s plans to make extensive changes in Wake County’s diversity-based assignment patterns and other policies including mandatory year-round schools.

The N&O

Bad-mouth your new bosses in public, go bye-bye.

Del Burns has presided over four straight years of declining graduation rates, but he is being paid more than the governor of N.C. and slightly less than the President of United States. Wake County residents can thank the old status-quo board for that genius move.

Don’t let the door hit ya where the dog should of bit ya, Del.

Like I said last year and the year before they are never going to let this go.  From yesterday’s Post and Courier article, let’s start with the logical fallacies of one Dr. Charles Darby.

“The higher the taxes, the more lives that we can save. It’s time for South Carolina to do what is right for our state,” said Dr. Charles P. Darby Jr., Medical University of South Carolina professor emeritus of pediatrics and executive director of the Children’s Hospital Center for Child Advocacy.

“Those of us who do not smoke pay higher health insurance premiums and taxes to subsidize the habit of smoking,” he said. “It is time the smoker pays for some of the cost.”

The Post and Courier

So according to the good doctor the only way to possibly solve this problem is to hand over more money to the government.  There would seem to me to be a much more logical solution.  Why don’t the insurance companies simply raise their premiums on people who smoke?  What, is that just too easy?  Or is the problem if we go that route our elected officials can’t get their grubby little paws on the money and then redirect it to all of their own little pet projects so they can buy votes at election time?

“Every delay just allows more children to get hooked on cigarettes,” Darby said.

According to what data, Doc?  You think a thirty cent price increase on a pack of cigarettes is going to stop kids from smoking?  It’s a negligible amount.  I am a former smoker myself.  I started smoking in high school back in the early 1990s when Marlboros were a buck a pack.  When I eventually quite smoking in my 20s the price of Marlboros was approaching $5 a pack.  It wasn’t the price that got me to quit.  I just decided to start being more cautious of my health.

Now I am going to shock you.  Unlike in years past, I am not as vehemently opposed to this tax hike this time.  Here is why.

Rep. Chip Limehouse, a Charleston Republican and a ranking member of the House Ways and Means Committee, made the proposal to get the 30-cent increase in the budget. He said a cigarette tax increase is about the only tax increase he could support and that it’s more important than ever to pass it now. New cash for Medicaid will free up money for schools, law enforcement and other priorities.

If they give so much as a dime of this increase to the schools I am going to be thoroughly pissed.  They don’t need any more money, but other state departments do.  As one example, our jails in particular have been the recipients of excessively painful budget cuts and that effects the safety of every resident in South Carolina.  The state budget has been stripped by more than $2 billion over what it was two years ago, so the efforts have definitely been made to try and reel in spending.

There is also this.

The governor said again in his State of the State address in January that he wants a cigarette tax increase to be used to cut corporate income taxes to make the state more competitive.

“We’re very much of the same mind as we’ve been in years past — that being that we’d definitely be open to an increase in the cigarette tax if it was accompanied by a corresponding tax cut in some other area. In fact, we’ve proposed just such an action in years past,” Ben Fox, communications director for Sanford, said in an e-mail Monday.

The House on Thursday gave key approval to a plan that eliminates the corporate income tax, as a way to make the state more attractive to business, making a cigarette tax increase this year even more likely.

That is a plan I can support.  If the state were to inversely eliminate the corporate income tax in exchange for an increase in the cigarette tax then that is something I can probably roll with.  Unemployment in South Carolina just hit 12.6% and we need a more competitive business environment.  Eliminating the corporate income tax would definitely put us on that path.

The newly elected majority on the Wake County School Board made their first vote amidst a heated meeting with the community last night and moved in favor of ending the diversity busing program that has been in place for about ten years.  They’ll need to do so two more times in order to officially approve the resolution.  This is just a common sense issue to me, but I’ve always known that I’m incredibly smarter than most people.  There is no logic whatsoever in taking a child, plopping him on a bus for an hour and a half one way each morning and evening to a school 20 miles away when there are three within just a few miles of his home.  Diversity busing, whether race based or economically based, doesn’t work and studies have concluded as much.

Overall student performance in Wake County actually dropped after the program began and it makes perfect sense.  Primarily, the schools aren’t the problem.  The parents are the problem and it doesn’t matter what school the kid goes to.  If the parent doesn’t care about the child’s education, the child isn’t going to care either.  Furthermore, I guarantee you that after the busing policy began there were less parents participating in school activities because having to get involved with a school 15 miles away makes it much less accommodating.  That will certainly cause a drop in student achievement.

The cold hard facts are on the side of the good folks who want to end this asinine policy, but facts didn’t matter to the Reverends William Barber and Curtis Gatewood, two race baiting blowhards who could do nothing but pathetically echo cries of segregation and racial discrimination.  I guess they are only following through with what has worked for them in the past. Fortunately, we’ve been evolving.

“If you expect to go to hell, don’t take our children with you,” said the Rev. Curtis Gatewood, who was gaveled out of order by school board chairman Ron Margiotta.

Gatewood, who called Margiotta a “white racist,” refused to stop speaking after his time ran out, prompting security to confront him. After a 10-minute recess, Margiotta allowed Gatewood, the second vice president of the state NAACP, to finish speaking.

“In the words of George Wallace, do you want your legacy to be segregation now, segregation forever?” said Samuel Greene, a retired Wake principal.

The Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, led supporters of the diversity policy in singing “We Shall Overcome,” a song associated with the civil rights movement.

Barber, who has previously threatened to sue the school board over resegregation, said he’s putting the board on notice that he considered the resolution to be a violation of the constitutional rights of African American children.

”Your plan is wrong. It’s wayward. It will make things worse and you know it,” Barber said. “Data doesn’t support it. Morality doesn’t support it.”

The News & Observer

Sorry Willie, but the data does support it, which you would admit if you were an honest man.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t fit into the social justice plan of Barber and his ilk.  If Barber is so concerned about black kids receiving a poor education by moving back to a community based school model then why isn’t he out in the community encouraging black parents to spend more time and involvement in their childrens’ educations and schools so that they won’t turn into ill-disciplined war zones?  This is 2010 for God’s sake.  It’s time to stop blaming whitey and start taking responsibility.

This decision should be made because it is what is best for the kids of Wake County, but sadly it is the kids who are the ones getting lost in all of this nonsense.

As reported in the News and Observer today, North Carolina Education officials will not alter the history curriculum as previously reported. Instead they will break up History into two classes.

State education officials yielded to critics of a proposal that would have limited the required high school U.S. history course to events of the last 132 years.

I’ve been asked why I haven’t written about the North Carolina Department of Public Education’s decisions to teach 11th graders U.S. history beginning in 1877.  So here it is.  The State of North Carolina wants to change the history curriculum of high school students.  Currently the curriculum is set up so that ninth graders take world history, tenth graders take civics, and eleventh graders learn about U.S. history going back to its founding.  The proposed changes are as follows:

Under the proposed change, the ninth-graders would take a course called global studies, focusing in part on issues such as the environment. The 10th grade still would study civics and economics, but 11th-graders would take U.S. history only from 1877 onward.

Fox News

The only thing that really bugs me about this is that high school freshman, rather than learning about world history, are instead going to be fed Al Gore’s lies about global warming and non-existent man made climate change.

Regarding the U.S. history lessons, I can see both sides.  Some people, mainly conservatives I’m sure, are upset that the schools will cease teaching American history going back to its Constitutional foundations and the lessons to be learned within.  I can see that as a legitimate concern, but as pointed out by Rebecca Garland in the Fox News article  students are taught U. S. history in middle school too.  Would they have as good of understanding of it that age as opposed to high school age?  That’s up for debate, but it doesn’t sound to me like it’s being completely eliminated.

On the other side of the issue, I can see Garland’s defense for wanting students to learn about more recent history in greater depth.  I can remember when I was in high school I had a year of American history and I don’t think we ever made it up to the 20th century.  It was the same deal every year that I had world history in middle school or high school.  You started with the Sumerians and learned about the ancient cultures, but we never made it up to modern day.  Every year it was the same information being taught to us and a total waste of time.

Is there a better way for the state to handle the curriculum?  Yeah, probably.  I noticed that high school seniors don’t seem to have a history requirement.  Maybe juniors should do American history from the founding up to 1877 and seniors from 1877 through today.  Just a thought.

The people of North Carolina are getting the government they have been electing for 150 years so why the shock and surprise?  The bottom line is that education starts at home with you as a parent.  It’s up to you to make sure your children have the knowledge you want them to have.  If you’re expecting their “edumacation” to be left in the hands of the gubmint schools don’t be upset when they grow up to be stupid.

Another $8.4 billion down the crapper.  The legacy of Mr. Jim Rex who wants to be our next governor.

H/T South Carolinians for Responsible Government

The 2009-10 Failing Schools List (raw data from the State Department of Education here):

Aiken County Public School District

* A L Corbett Middle School (6 years failing to met AYP standards)
* Aiken Middle School (6 years)
* Aiken Performing Arts Charter (2 years)
* Clearwater Elementary School (2 years)
* Cyril B Busbee Elementary School (6 years)
* East Aiken Elementary School (2 years)
* Jackson Middle School (5 Years)
* Jefferson Elementary School (2 years)
* Langley Bath Clearwater Middle School (6 years)
* Leavelle Mccampbell Middle School (4 Years)
* Lloyd/Kennedy Charter (6 years)
* Paul Knox Middle School (2 years)
* Redcliffe Elementary School (2 years)
* Ridge Spring-Monetta Elementary School (6 years)
* Schofield Middle School (6 years)

Allendale Public Schools (info)

* Allendale Elementary School (6 years)
* Allendale-Fairfax Middle School (6 years)
* Fairfax Elementary School (5 Years)

Anderson School District Four

* Pendleton Elementary School (3 Years)

Anderson School District Five (info)

* Homeland Park Elementary School (2 years)
* Nevitt Forest Elementary School (2 years)
* Southwood Middle School (4 Years)

Bamberg County School District Two

* Denmark-Olar Elementary School (6 years)
* Denmark-Olar Middle School (6 years)

Barnwell School District 19 (info)

* Macedonia Elementary School (6 years)

Barnwell School District 29

* Kelly Edwards Elementary School (3 Years)

Barnwell School District 45

* Barnwell Primary (3 Years)

Beaufort County School District (info)

* Beaufort Elementary School (2 years)
* Broad River Elementary School (2 years)
* James J Davis Elementary School (3 Years)
* Joseph S Shanklin Elementary School (3 Years)
* St Helena Elementary School (2 years)
* Whale Branch Elementary School (6 years)
* Whale Branch Middle School (6 years)

Berkeley County School District (info)

* Berkeley Intermediate (6 years)
* Boulder Bluff Elementary School (4 Years)
* College Park Elementary School (6 years)
* Cross Elementary School (2 years)
* Cross High School (2 years)
* Devon Forest Elementary School (6 years)
* Henry E Bonner Elementary School (6 years)
* J K Gourdin Elementary School (2 years)
* Sedgefield Intermediate (4 Years)
* St Stephen Middle School (6 years)
* Whitesville Elementary School (6 years)

Charleston County School District (info)

* Alice Birney Middle School (6 years)
* Baptist Hill High School (6 years)
* Burke High School (6 years)
* Charleston Progressive (2 years)
* Chicora Elementary School (2 years)
* Edith L Frierson Elementary School (2 years)
* Edmund A Burns Elementary School (5 Years)
* Greg Mathis Charter High School (2 years)
* Haut Gap Middle School (6 years)
* James Simons Elementary School (3 Years)
* Jane Edwards Elementary School (3 Years)
* Ladson Elementary School (2 years)
* Mary Ford Elementary School (3 Years)
* Memminger Elementary School (2 years)
* Midland Park Elementary School (6 years)
* Military Magnet Academy (4 Years)
* Mitchell Elementary School (6 years)
* Morningside Middle School (6 years)
* North Charleston Elementary School (6 years)
* North Charleston High School (6 years)
* R B Stall High School (5 Years)
* St James-Santee Elementary School (3 Years)
* St Johns High School (2 years)
* Susan G. Boykin Academy (4 Years)
* W B Goodwin Elementary School (5 Years)

Cherokee County School District (info)

* Blacksburg Elementary School (5 Years)
* Limestone/Central Elementary School (3 Years)
* Luther Vaughan Elementary School (4 Years)
* Mary Bramlett Elementary School (5 Years)
* Chester Park Elementary School Fine Arts (2 years)
* Chester Park Elementary School Literacy/Tec (3 Years)
* Chester Park Elementary School Of Inquiry (4 Years)
* Great Falls Elementary School (6 years)
* Lewisville Elementary School (3 Years)

Chesterfield County School District (info)

* Jefferson Elementary School (5 Years)
* Pageland Elementary School (6 years)

Clarendon School District One

* Scotts Branch Middle School (6 years)
* St Paul Elementary School (2 years)

Clarendon School District Two

* Manning Elementary School (6 years)
* Manning Primary (2 years)

Clarendon School District Three

* Walker-Gamble Elementary School (2 years)

Colleton County School District (info)

* Bells Elementary School (6 years)
* Colleton Middle School (6 years)
* Cottageville Elementary School (3 Years)
* Forest Circle Middle School (6 years)
* Forest Hills Elementary School (3 Years)
* Hendersonville Elementary School (3 Years)
* Northside Elementary School (5 Years)
* Ruffin Middle School (3 Years)

Darlington County School District (info)

* Brockington Elementary School (4 Years)
* Brunson-Dargan Elementary School (6 years)
* Darlington Middle School (6 years)
* Rosenwald Elementary School/Middle School (2 years)
* Spaulding Elementary School (6 years)
* Spaulding Middle School (6 years)
* St Johns Elementary School (4 Years)
* Washington St Elementary School (2 years)
* West Hartsville Elementary School (6 years)

Dillon School District One

* Lake View Elementary School (2 years)

Dillon School District Two (info)

* Gordon Elementary School (5 Years)
* Dillon 02 J V Martin Jr High School (6 years)

Dorchester School District Two (info)

* Knightsville Elementary School (3 Years)
* Summerville Elementary School (3 Years)
* William M Reeves Elementary School (2 years)

Dorchester School District Four (info)

* Clay Hill Middle School (3 Years)
* St. George Middle School (6 years)
* Williams Memorial Elementary School (6 years)

Edgefield County School District (info)

* Douglas Elementary School (3 Years)
* Johnston Elementary School (2 years)
* Merriwether Elementary School (2 years)

Florence School District One

* Briggs Elementary School (2 years)
* Greenwood Elementary School (4 Years)
* Henry Timrod Elementary School (2 years)
* Moore Intermediate (6 years)
* North Vista Elementary School (5 Years)
* Savannah Grove Elementary School (5 Years)
* Theodore Lester Elementary School (2 years)
* Wallace Gregg Elementary School (4 Years)

Florence School District Two

* Hannah-Pamplico Elementary School/Middle School (6 years)

Florence County School District Three

* J Paul Truluck Middle School (6 years)
* Lake City Elementary School (6 years)
* Main Street Elementary School (5 Years)
* Ronald E Mcnair Middle School (6 years)

Florence County School District Four

* Brockington Elementary School (5 Years)
* Johnson Middle School (2 years)
* Timmonsville High School (2 years)

Florence School District Five

* Johnsonville Elementary School (2 years)

Georgetown School District (info)

* Andrews Elementary School (6 years)
* Carvers Bay High School (2 years)
* Carvers Bay Middle School (6 years)
* Mcdonald Road Elementary School (2 years)
* Rosemary Middle School (5 Years)

Greenville County School District (info)

* Alexander Elementary School (4 Years)
* Armstrong Elementary School (4 Years)
* Berea Elementary School (4 Years)
* Cherrydale Elementary School (2 years)
* East North St Academy (6 years)
* Grove Elementary School (5 Years)
* Hollis Academy (6 years)
* Lakeview Middle School (6 years)
* Monaview Elementary School (6 years)
* Sue Cleveland Elementary School (3 Years)
* Tanglewood Middle School (6 years)
* Thomas E Kerns Elementary School (3 Years)
* Welcome Elementary School (2 years)

Greenwood School District Fifty

* Hodges Elementary School (2 years)
* Lakeview Elementary School (2 years)
* Woodfields Elementary School (2 years)

Hampton School District One

* Fennell Elementary School (2 years)
* Hampton Elementary School (3 Years)
* Varnville Primary (3 Years)

Hampton County School District Two (info)

* Estill Elementary School (4 Years)
* Estill Middle School (6 years)

Horry County School District (info)

* Daisy Elementary School (6 years)
* Loris Elementary School (2 years)
* Loris Middle School (6 years)
* Pee Dee Elementary School (3 Years)
* South Conway Elementary School (5 Years)
* Waccamaw Elementary School (2 years)
* Whittemore Park Middle School (6 years)

Jasper County School District (info)

* Hardeeville Elementary School (6 years)
* Ridgeland Elementary School (6 years)
* Ridgeland Middle School (6 years)

Kershaw County Schools (info)

* Jackson Elementary School (3 Years)
* Midway Elementary School (3 Years)
* Pine Tree Hill Elementary School (4 Years)

Lancaster County School District

* Brooklyn Springs Elementary School (4 Years)
* Buford Elementary School (2 years)
* Clinton Elementary School (3 Years)
* Kershaw Elementary School (5 Years)

Lee County School District (info)

* Bishopville Primary (3 Years)
* Dennis Intermediate (6 years)
* Lower Lee Elementary School (6 years)
* Mary L. Dinkins Charter (3 Years)
* West Lee Elementary School (4 Years)

Lexington County School District One (info)

* Pelion Elementary School (6 years)
* Saxe Gotha Elementary School (5 Years)

Lexington County School District Two (info)

* Congaree Elementary School (4 Years)
* George I Pair Elementary School (3 Years)
* Herbert A Wood Elementary School (5 Years)
* R Earle Davis Elementary School (3 Years)

Lexington County School District Three (info)

* Batesburg-Leesville Elementary School (6 years)

Lexington-Richland School District Five (info)

* Harbison West Elementary School (4 Years)
* Leaphart Elementary School (2 years)
* Nursery Road Elementary School (3 Years)

Marion School District One (info)

* Johnakin Middle School (6 years)
* Marion High School (6 years)
* Marion Intermediate (5 Years)

Marion School District Two (info)

* Mccormick Elementary School (2 years)

Marion School District Seven (info)

* Creek Bridge High School (2 years)

Marlboro County School District (info)

* Bennettsville Elementary School (6 years)
* Bennettsville Middle School (6 years)
* Blenheim Elementary School/Middle School (6 years)
* Clio Elementary School/Middle School (5 Years)
* Mccoll Elementary School/Middle School (6 years)
* Wallace Elementary School/Middle (6 years)

McCormick County School District

* McCormick Elementary School (2 years)
* McCormick Middle School (6 years)

Newberry County School District (info)

* Boundary St Elementary School (3 Years)
* Newberry Elementary School (3 Years)

School District of Oconee County (info)

* James M Brown Elementary School (2 years)

Orangeburg School District Three (info)

* Elloree Elementary School (5 Years)
* Holly Hill Elementary School (6 years)
* Holly Hill-Roberts Middle School (6 years)
* Vance-Providence Elementary School (3 Years)

Orangeburg Consolidated School District Four (info)

* Carver Edisto Middle School (6 years)
* Edisto Elementary School (6 years)
* Hunter-Kinard-Tyler Elementary School (6 years)
* Lockett Elementary School (5 Years)

Orangeburg School District Five (info)

* Brookdale Elementary School (2 years)
* Rivelon Elementary School (3 Years)
* Robert E Howard Middle School (6 years)
* Whittaker Elementary School (2 years)

School District of Pickens County (info)

* Mckissick Elementary School (3 Years)

Richland County School District One (info)

* Burton Pack Elementary School (3 Years)
* Carver-Lyon Elementary School (3 Years)
* Hyatt Park Elementary School (5 Years)
* J P Thomas Elementary School (6 years)
* Watkins-Nance Elementary School (2 years)

Saluda County Schools

* Saluda Elementary School (3 Years)

Spartanburg School District One

* O P Earle Elementary School (3 Years)

Spartanburg County School District Four

* Woodruff Middle School (2 years)

Spartanburg County School District Six

* Jesse S Bobo Elementary School (2 years)

Spartanburg School District Seven (info)

* Cleveland Elementary School (4 Years)
* Park Hills Elementary School (5 Years)
* Whitlock Jr High School (2 years)

Sumter School District Two (info)

* Cherryvale Elementary School (3 Years)
* Mayewood Middle School (4 Years)
* Pocalla Springs Elementary School (4 Years)
* R E Davis Elementary School (2 years)
* Shaw Heights Elementary School (2 years)

Sumter School District Seventeen

* Alice Drive Elementary School (3 Years)
* Crosswell Drive Elementary School (3 Years)
* Lemira Elementary School (5 years)
* Wilder Elementary School (2 years)
* Willow Drive Elementary School (4 Years)

Union County School District (info)

* Buffalo Elementary School (2 years)
* Foster Park Elementary School (2 years)
* Jonesville Elementary School (3 Years)
* Monarch Elementary School (3 Years)

Williamsburg County School District (info)

* Cades-Hebron Elementary School (3 Years)
* Hemingway High School (4 Years)
* Kingstree Elementary School (6 years)
* Kingstree High School (6 years)
* Kingstree Jr High School (6 years)
* Youth Academy Charter (5 Years)

York County School District One

* Hunter Street Elementary School (5 Years)

York County School District Three

* Childrens Attention Charter (2 years)
* Independence Elementary School (3 Years)
* Northside Elementary School Ni
* Sunset Park Elementary School (4 Years)

U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, criticized for a string of polarizing statements made last year on the floor of Congress, drew attention this week for saying that the U.S. government should not pay for education.

“Most of the things that have been done by the federal government which are unconstitutional have been done for good reasons,” Foxx said. “They’re not malevolent reasons, but they’re wrong. We should not be funding education, for example.”

Foxx also said she did not believe that the federal government should mandate people to buy health insurance.

Aaron Groen, a spokesman for Foxx, said that, on the education question, what the congresswoman meant was that the federal government should leave the financing of education — and the policy decisions of how to educate — to state and local governments.

The W-S Journal

Foxx got skewered for her truthful and accurate comments on heath care, and she’s going to be skewered for her truthful and accurate comments on education too.  But all the skewering and name-calling won’t change the fact the 10th Amendment backs her up, as does simple reality. Anyone care to make the argument that the feds have done a good job with education over the last few decades? Anyone want to argue that our schools would be better if Congress Critters got even MORE involved?

This is the status quo that Jim Rex and most of your state legislators want to preserve.

In 2009, SAT scores dropped for the third year in a row, as did the number of students passing the Exit Exam and the Advanced Placement tests. South Carolina was ranked 50th in high school “promoting power” by the Southern Regional Education Board. That study indicates that half of South Carolina’s public high schools are now categorized as “dropout factories,” where graduation rates remain below 50 percent. A third report estimated that the on-time graduation rate is just 40 percent at the public high schools serving South Carolina’s lowest income communities.

The Beaufort Tribune

According to South Carolinians for Responsible Government, the source of the above piece, the public schools in South Carolina spent an average of $12,258 per student.  That’s almost twice as much money as many European countries who are blowing us away in education.  Still think education in this state is underfunded?

The following is a press release from the Voice for School Choice

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Neil Mellen
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
(803) 212-1051

The public schools in Fairfield County have been placed on “probation.”

That’s according to the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), the accreditation organization tasked with reviewing district policies and procedures.

SACS evaluators identified a lengthy list of concerns ranging from excessive spending on travel, wasteful spending on redundant bureaucratic positions, to misuse of authority by board members, and exceptionally low student test scores. The Association has placed the district on “probation,” with the understanding the schools could lose all accreditation if the school board fails to comply with the SACS inquiries and recommendations.

State Representative Boyd Brown (D-Fairfield) is now calling for an investigation of the Fairfield County School Board.

In a public statement Brown explained “It’s a sad day in Fairfield County. For us to finally see evidence that our school board and administrators are robbing our students and teachers of a better education and learning environment” Brown went on to say, “I just can’t think of anything more disgraceful.”

Data from the South Carolina Budget and Control Board indicate the Fairfield School district spent over $44 million dollars in fiscal year 2008, or, over $15,000 per-pupil. The statewide average for that year was $12,000.

Brown is just the latest in a series of Democratic lawmakers to voice frustration with shortcomings in the administration of South Carolina’s public schools.

In November, Bakari Sellers (D-Bamberg) publicly called for the elimination of the Education Oversight Committee (EOC) a controversial state assessment program he characterized as siphoning money away from classrooms. State Senator Robert Ford (D-Charleston) has advocated a program of tuition tax credits, noting that 247,000 children in the state are trapped in failing public schools.

Randy Page, president of an education watchdog organization in Columbia, praised Brown’s announcement and called on other lawmakers and education officials to join in. “Jim Rex, our state superintendent, lives in Fairfield County but has remained silent on this tragic situation. Superintendent Rex, the School Administrators Association, the School Boards Association, the Education Oversight Committee, and other lawmakers have an obligation to the students and parents in Fairfield to act decisively and correct the failures.”

Page, whose South Carolinans for Responsible Government (SCRG) advocates expanded parental choice, remarked that the accusations of waste and bureaucratic excess indicate the accreditation crisis is due to “a lack of leadership, not a lack of funding.”

###

$15k per student for a school district about to lose their accreditation.  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 2007, the nationwide average spent on education per student was $9,666.  It’s certainly more than $10,000 now.  So Fairfield County school district spent 55% more money on education than the nation average from two years ago and they are about to officially be declared a failure.  Oh, can we please have more of this!

In my opinion, if it’s taken this long for SACS to put them on probation, then they have the bar set really low.  The above information also supports what I have been saying for a long time about how money is wasted by school districts.  Education spending doesn’t need to be anywhere near the amount it is.  School districts just don’t manage their money and they waste it on bureaucracy and bloated administrative costs.  The U.S. spends more on public education than any other country, yet we aren’t getting the bang for our buck.  When will people demand a change from the status quo.

You might remember a month ago after the Republicans swept the Wake County School Board elections that Clay Aiken came out and publicly denounced their plans to do away with “diversity” busing.  His words caused him a minor controversy of his own as he was outed (yet again) as still being a registered voter in Wake County even though he no longer lives there.  His vote in the election was then challenged.  He announced before the Wake County Board of Elections that he intends to change his registration now to Chatham County, but he still knows more about what is better for Wake County children than their own parents do.

RALEIGH — Pop singer Clay Aiken announced Tuesday that he plans to change his voter registration but still speak out against the new Wake County school board’s plans to eliminate the current diversity policy.

Aiken made the announcement before the preliminary hearing today before the WakeCounty Board of Elections into whether he is qualified to vote under his mother’s Raleigh address even though he has a home in Chatham County. Aiken said he still considers Raleigh to be his home but wrote that he’ll change his voter registration “rather than get into a technical dispute.”

“I may not be able to effect change through my vote, but I will join other concerned citizens in speaking truth to those who would reverse decades of progress in Wake County schools,” Aiken said on his blog. “I stand by my opposition to policies that threaten to resegregate schools and eliminate diversity. These policies will not prepare children for the larger world.”

The News & Observer

What the hell would Clay Aiken know about the larger world?  He barely lived in it before shooting to stardom, a world where reality is masked by breakfast  mimosas and limousines.  Can Aiken name one, just one city that has shown undeniable benefits to having children spend three hours a day on a school bus as they are bussed clear across the county to a school 15 miles from their house?  Just name one, Clay.  It shouldn’t be that hard if it’s such an overwhelming success.  Aiken’s time would be better spent worrying about his own child rather than butting into the parenting of others.

Pope says his challenge to Aiken’s vote on Oct. 6 was based on a News & Observer story about the blog post, in which a conservative activist was quoted saying that Aiken did not live in Wake County.

Aiken responded to Pope’s challenge.

“It just goes to show the lengths to which some folks will go to silence an opposing view,” Aiken said on his blog.  “I’ve remained registered at the permanent address that I’ve long used here in Wake County because I consider Raleigh home.”

No, it just goes to show that you have to follow the damn law.  The election law is pretty clear.  You vote based on where you live, period.  You don’t get to choose to vote in a city you no longer reside in just because you grew up there.  Talk about being a selfish idiot.  It’s really not that hard to understand.  He, himself, must be a product of that phenomenal diversity busing program.

I didn’t think the girl in the pink was going to fall for it.

Congressman Watt was quoted in the News and Observer about black unemployment.

U.S. Rep. Mel Watt, a Charlotte Democrat, is among the ten members of the Congressional Black Caucus criticizing the Obama administration for not doing more for African-Americans in the recession.

He should know by now that the key to success in life is education. It is a shame that African-American males only have a graduation rate from high school in the mid 50% range. And it is even less at the next level of college education.

Encouraging ALL children at a early age to include making school fun. Increasing vocational training and encouraging our children to seek out their interests along with exceeding achievement of the basics. And most of all teach our children basic personal finance so they know what they can afford and what they need to save for.

Personal responsibility is a term that applies to all of us in life. And until we get out of the government knows best and will take care of me mentality, we are doomed to continue in this vicious unfair cycle.

Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman plunged into one of the most contentious topics in public education last month by announcing his intention to begin basing teacher pay on effectiveness in the classroom, rather than on experience and academic degrees. But if experience is any guide, he’ll face plenty of opposition from teacher groups and their political allies.

The Carolina Journal

Oh, make no mistake- I back the guy 100%. I think this is a great idea. But that’s why it will never happen. The educrats and their lackeys in the Democrat Party will belch solar systems if this proposal even comes close to fruition. Pay-based performance? Competition? Consumer (parental) choice? Gasp!

Teachers’ groups nationally and in North Carolina have opposed adamantly the use of student test scores to measure teacher performance or set teacher pay. They argue that wide differences in the academic preparation, discipline, and motivation that individual students bring to the classroom make comparisons of educational outcomes useless.

Moreover, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators President Mary McCray told WFAE-FM that pay for performance wouldn’t work in North Carolina because the state doesn’t allow teachers to unionize. She said flagging high-school graduation rates are a national problem that an isolated local program could not reverse.

Yes, they do have a point. The best teacher on Earth can’t make someone learn who doesn’t want to learn. A legion of teachers-of-the-year can’t do much if parents aren’t out there helping them out. But that doesn’t mean that instilling a little competition into the teaching ranks won’t be an improvement over the status-quo.

Now if this guy really wanted to shake things up, how about attaching $8000 to every student and giving parents full choice of where to send their little ankle-biters to school? That way, parents themselves reward the best teachers and administrators, while simultaneously punishing schools that don’t get the job done.

The big news out today in Charlotte are the record level of students enrolled in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system living in “poverty.”  Around 68,000 students in the school district, or roughly 51% of the school population, get taxpayer funded lunch aid, according to the Charlotte Observer.

First off, I want to verbalize my disgust at how we so loosely throw around the word poverty in this country.  I get incredibly annoyed as to whom we refer to as living in “poverty.”  Go to a third world country where people are living in mud huts and eating flies and rice and then come back and tell me that there are Americans living in poverty.  It isn’t happening.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, how many of these children getting subsidized meal are from families who are truly at the “poverty” level?  According to the same article, not all of them.  CMS has a higher income threshold than the federal “poverty” level they use to determine which kids get a free ride on your dime so the school district is spending more of your money on this than they need to in the first place.  I also wonder how many of these students would still be living in “poverty” if the school district quit subsidizing the lifestyle with your tax dollars and the parents of these kids would instead actually have to be responsible for them.

Here are some facts about America’s so called “poor”.  This is an excerpt of a publication from The Heritage Foundation using data straight from the Census Bureau.

The following are facts about persons defined as “poor” by the Census Bureau, taken from various gov­ernment reports:

• Forty-three percent of all poor households actu­ally own their own homes. The average home owned by persons classified as poor by the Census Bureau is a three-bedroom house with one-and-a-half baths, a garage, and a porch or patio.
• Eighty percent of poor households have air conditioning. By contrast, in 1970, only 36 percent of the entire U.S. population enjoyed air conditioning.
• Only 6 percent of poor households are over­crowded. More than two-thirds have more than two rooms per person.
• The average poor American has more living space than the average individual living in Paris, London, Vienna, Athens, and other cities throughout Europe. (These comparisons are to the average citizens in foreign countries, not to those classified as poor.)
• Nearly three-quarters of poor households own a car; 31 percent own two or more cars.
• Ninety-seven percent of poor households have a color television; over half own two or more color televisions.
• Seventy-eight percent have a VCR or DVD player; 62 percent have cable or satellite TV reception.
• Eighty-nine percent own microwave ovens, more than half have a stereo, and more than a third have an automatic dishwasher.

Still interested in subsidizing those “starving” children in Mecklenburg County with that multi-million dollar price tag each year?

The current laws took effect following overwhelming voter approval of a 2006 constitutional referendum.

The changes eliminated most school taxes on owner-occupied homes, raised the statewide sales tax by 20 percent in an attempt to make up for that lost revenue, and capped increases in the taxable value of any property that hadn’t been sold or substantially improved to 15 percent every five years.

Any property with a change in ownership, however, is immediately reassessed and taxed at full value the following year.

Those “point-of-sale” reassessments keep the tax base growing and help pay for the tax relief enjoyed by others because a larger tax base means a lower tax rate is needed to raise a certain amount of revenue.

The State

I don’t see the problem, frankly.  I bought my place in 2008 and when I saw how low my property tax bill was my jaw dropped.  I came here from the northeast where property tax bills were several thousand dollars a year on homes that were worth less than $100k.  My property tax bill in South Carolina is less than $700 on a home that I bought for a little under $120k.  Amazing.

I do realize that many businesses have complained of having to shoulder an unfair burden in property taxes.  If that’s the case and it’s hurting our state’s competitiveness, then raise the sales tax again.  A sales tax is the fairest there is because everybody has to contribute, which is the way it should be.  We shouldn’t have half the population getting a near free ride off the backs of the other half.

But legislation awaiting action in the state Senate would put a 15 percent cap on the assessment changes that follow a change in ownership. Supporters say the change would spur economic development. Capping point-of-sale reassessments would remove an estimated $44 million in revenue from schools and local governments annually, the state estimates, resulting in possible property tax rate increases that would affect all property owners, cuts in school budgets and local services, or both.

Oh well we can’t have that.  We can’t take money away from the children, regardless of how carelessly it’s been spent by the school districts.  I’ve touched on that plenty of times here.  The schools in this state have all the money they need to function and educate children.  The problem is that the bulk of the money they are getting isn’t making its way to the classroom and that is the fault of those administrating the school districts.  It’s not a taxation issue, but don’t worry, they’ll scream like Chicken Little as soon as any cuts look to be on the horizon and there will be weak-kneed politicians who will cave.

          It looks like the head of the Wake County NCAE had a fit of anger before writing a email to her members. Who was she angry at when she decided to write the email in question? The voters perhaps. Perhaps she just has anger issues when she does not get her way. Granted this is just speculation on my part, but they are worth asking.

News and Observer

“They don’t care about children and it [is] now clear that they don’t care about teachers…WE HAVE [to] PLANT OUR FLAG IN THE SAND HERE AND NOW,” Lanane wrote.

          Wow, you should have heard the stuff she said before the election and before John Tedesco’s runoff. This shows her lack of judgement and fairness when people go to her organization seeking endorsements. Lanane, Sutton, and many others truly need to apologize to the voters in Wake County. If not I expect the 2010 N.C. Legislative races to get really nasty when those supporting Democrats chime in.

While Republican and Democrat fortunes varied around the country, Democrats made out fairly well in Charlotte last night.  Anthony Foxx was the first Democrat to be elected mayor of Charlotte since 1985, breaking a Republican hold on the office.  Democrats also increased their majority on city council to eight, with Susan Burgess, Patrick Cannon, and David Howard claiming three of the four At-Large seats.

In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board races two seats changed parties and that was the predictable District 3 and District 5.  James Ross, a Republican, was appointed to this very heavily Democrat seat when former board member George Dunlap won a seat on the Mecklenburg County Commission last year.  The odds were against Ross winning his own term, but it didn’t stop him from trying.  Rhonda Lennon (R) won the District 1 seat being vacated by Larry Gauvreau.  Richard McElrath (D) defeated appointed board member Kimberly Mitchell-Walker, which was the result I wanted to see.  Districts 5 went to Independent candidate Eric Davis and District 6 remained in Republican hands with political newcomer Tim Morgan winning that seat.

In Chapel Hill, Mark Kleinschmidt narrowly defeated Matt Czajkowski in the mayoral race.

There were no surprises in York County last night as former State Representative Ralph Norman (R) reclaimed his old House seat in District 48, easily defeating Democrat Kathy Cantrell by a huge margin.

In the school board run off race in Wake County, Republican John Tedesco trounced his opponent by 50 points to solidify the Republican majority on the Wake County School Board.

In Asheville, Democrats swept the City Council races there as well with Esther Manheimer, Gordon Smith, and Cecil Bothwell winning all three At-Large seats.  Incumbent Republican Carl Mumpower came in fourth with 14% of the vote.

Contrary to popular belief, not all the Wake Co. School Board races were decided on Oct. 6th. Three of them were, but the fourth, covering the 2nd District in Southern Wake, will be decided on Tuesday because no candidate got a majority of the votes during the Oct. 6th election.

And this race is getting weirder -and sadder- by the day.

On Oct. 6th, reform candidate John Tedesco received 49.5% of the votes. Had he received about 40 more votes, he would have had an outright majority and this race would be over. Tedesco, like the victorious candidates in Wake’s other three school board races, wants to amend Wake’s insane “diversity” policy that buses kids half-way across the county so our local liberals can feel better about themselves. Bane mentioned that the Mecklenburg School races are having the same debate.

Supporters of the diversity policy believe that a “socio-economic balance” in schools will make school better. Mention that those same socio-economically disadvantaged students currently have a paltry and shameful 54% graduation rate under this wonderful diversity policy, and they’ll stick their fingers in their ears and loudly hum hippie protest songs from the 60’s.

If you’re a parent and want your children to attend a local school you’ll be called a racist by out-going school board member Lori Milberg, a “re-segregationist” by the NAACP, or a bigot by the editorial page of  N&O. But you can also call yourself victorious, because 3 of the 4 change candidates won by large margins on Oct. 6th, and the aforementioned Tedesco almost won outright in a 4-way race.

Here’s where it gets weird.

Continue Reading »

Each of the six geographic districts of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board is up for reelection on Tuesday. CMS is in terrible shape.  The performance of the schools are getting worse.  The superintendent is awful and ineffective.  There are a lot of reasons for the deterioration of the school system, but the status quo of the school board hasn’t been helping make it better.  So here are my recommendations for Tuesday’s elections:

District 1 – Rhonda Lennon

Rhonda Lennon is a Republican from Huntersville.  She has been active in the school system for a few years now and is the founder of F.U.M.E. the Families United for Northern Mecklenburg Education.  She has been an active voice in bringing attention to the overcrowding going on in the suburban county schools and she is advocate for getting more parents involved in the school system.  Parental participation is key if the school district is ever going to improve.  Her opponents, Gail Summerskill and Robin Bradford are way out of touch with the district.  Summerskill is a San Francisco raised Obamabot who does not support the idea of  your child attending schools in your own neighborhood, but rather forced busing to achieve a leftist wet dream of “diversity.” As for Bradford, she has been endorsed by Nick Mackey.  Enough said.  This is a Republican district and I think it’s likely Lennon will win the race.

District 2 – Richard McElrath

The District 2 seat is currently occupied by Kimberly Mitchell-Walker who was appointed to fill the rest of Vilma Leake’s term.  Mitchell-Walker should not be elected to her own term.  This woman will have your kids being bussed half way across the county under this fantasy that mixing children of different income levels and races in the schools translate into a better education for minority students.  This practice is done in a lot of cities around the country and it’s had zero positive effect.  Instead it has been harming children by having them sit on a bus for two hours each morning and evening in order to integrate a school ten miles away from where they live.  Many parents, including minority parents, have sued to get this practice stopped.  So if you’ve worked hard to provide you and your family with a good income and lifestyle and bought a place in Cornelius to get your kid into a neighborhood of decent schools, Mitchell-Walker will steal that education by having your kid shoved off to the inner city of Charlotte every morning.

McElrath seems to understand that the gaps in education have to do with the home and neighborhood itself.

He says he’d still redraw boundaries where high- and low-poverty school attendance zones sit side by side. But the link between poverty and failure won’t end, he says, while children return to “neighborhoods where you can’t get fresh fruits and vegetables, but you can get fortified wine and beer.”

Changing housing patterns is his latest quest, but reform for failing schools remains his primary passion.

McElrath says that requires setting high expectations for poor students and acting forcefully to get the best teachers into those schools. At a debate, he gave Superintendent Peter Gorman a “D,” saying his efforts to reassign teachers have been “a shell game” that lures them from one high-poverty school to another.

Charlotte Observer

Democrat Richard McElrath is the right choice.

District 3 – James Ross

James Ross was also appointed to the school board to fill the vacancy of George Dunlap.  Ross has an uphill battle in winning his own term because he is a Republican in a black and heavily Democrat district.  Ross isn’t dissuaded by that, however.  He has been very active in the district holding meetings and getting to know the people.  He deserves four years to show the district what he can do.

District 4 – You’re screwed

Incumbent Tom Tate is running unopposed which is unfortunate because he sucks.  He’s had four years to show that he is not up to the job.  He expresses concerns about the achievement gap between schools and wants to redraw lines to mix students up better.  Of course, that’s just a game of numbers.  It won’t actually change the achievement level of each student and may actually hurt better performing students who get thrown into a school with a low educational success rate.

District 5 – Susan Walker

Susan Walker is an advocate of responsible school spending and kids being able to attend the school closest to their house in order to encourage parental involvement.  It’s just common sense, but that’s been lacking in CMS for a long time.  She believes in customized education for each child, being that not all children learn the same way or have the same interests and in doing more to stave off the drop out rate.

District 6 – John Ross

John Ross wants to get more money to the actual classroom and cut out a lot of the administration and bureaucracy in CMS, like CMS-TV for instance.  He also wants a zero tolerance policy for assaults on teachers by students.  That is a huge issue and something that needs to happen.  Any kid that assaults a teacher should be expelled from the school district permanently.  Ross has a financial background that will serve well in a school system that hasn’t wisely spent its money.