Tag Archives: public schools

Accountability in Public Schools

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 Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D.

Let’s face the truth. The public school system in this country (including North Carolina) is not meeting reasonable expectations. For example, recent reports show that nationally reading proficiency is being met by less than 40% of students in public schools:  4th grade, 31%; 8THgrade, 30%; and 12th grade, 37%. The results for basic math proficiency are equally discouraging. This in spite of the cost per student of public education in this country being one of the highest, if not the absolute highest, of any other country, at a shocking average of $17,187  per year. With, say an average of 20 students per class, the cost is $242,740 per class per year. I would be happy to sign up as a tutor for that kind of pay. Proficiency in reading is such a basic and fundamental component of education; that overall educational achievement, must be profoundly negatively affected. Another shocking statistic is that of the approximate 10 million staff working in public education in the United States, less than 50% are teachers!

There are only two possible explanations for the poor performance:  either the people in charge of public education in this country, do not know how to teach or are not motivated to ensure that effective teaching practices are being followed. Obviously, there is no effective accountability in the public school system, and throwing more money at the problem will not fix it. No private business could afford to operate this way, unless like the public schools, they had no effective competition.

The NC General Assembly will be considering a bill this session that is designed to increase teacher pay. While increasing pay may be positive for teacher recruitment and retention; the question is, will it improve the academic performance of the students, which of course should be the main objective? Here is where the concept or meritocracy enters the picture.  Should pay increases be granted to existing teachers across the board, or rather, depend on the teacher’s effectiveness instructing their students?  Most private businesses award pay increases and bonuses based on an employee’s demonstrated ability to do their job. When I first started working for the N.C. Department of Correction in the 1970s under Republican Governor James Holshouser, supervisors could only grant pay increases to a percentage of their employees and were required to rank order the employees based on job performance. When Democrat Governor Jim Hunt was elected that system of awarding pay increases based on merit was eliminated and replaced by across-the-board salary increases. Supervisors were no longer able to reward their employees according to their work performance.

Human nature being what it is, workers are much more likely to be motivated to do a good job if their pay depends on their performance.  Actually, the school system could easily initiate a performance-based pay system since student learning is assessed using standardized tests.  Any fair system would have to take into account the existing differences between students’ proficiency. This could easily be done by testing all students at the beginning of the school year and then using year end testing to evaluate their level of improvement. This difference would provide a reliable measure of the effectiveness of individual teachers and serve as the basis for salary/bonus increases. Such a system would encourage teachers to improve their own teaching skills as well as experiment with new instructional techniques.  Not only would the teachers be accountable and rewarded for their performance, but school principals and administrators could be evaluated in a similar fashion.

Accountability and rewarding the effort and effectiveness of teachers is critical to improving a public school system that should not be allowed to continue failing.

Governor Cooper Has Vetoed The Expansion of Opportunity Scholarships Bill

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On September 21, The Carolina Journal reported that North Carolina Governor Cooper has vetoed a bill that fully funds Opportunity Scholarships, requires sheriffs to cooperate with ICE, and includes adjustments to the budget proposal. The North Carolina legislature is expected to override his veto.

The article reports:

Just a day before, Cooper spent most of his time as the keynote speaker Thursday at the Legislative Session of the 151st Annual North Carolina Press Association (NCPA) Convention blasting Opportunity Scholarships, insisting they will hurt public schools.

“That veto can be upheld if enough legislators in both parties tell Republican leaders that they don’t want to vote on a veto override this year,” he said at a press conference Friday.

Cooper noted at the NCPA Convention that he, his children (although at least one had gone to a private school), and more than 84% of the state’s students go to public schools, and as the pillars of the free press need to be safeguarded, so do public schools.

“Unfortunately, those public schools are facing the biggest threat in decades from the legislature that is pillaging taxpayer money from them and using it for private school vouchers that even the wealthiest families can use for children already in private school,” he said. “These hundreds of millions of dollars in vouchers come with no accountability.”

Cooper said that legislators plan to spend $4 billion on school vouchers over the next decade and that rural schools would be hurt the most because there are fewer private schools in those areas.

The article concludes:

Incoming Speaker of the House, Rep. Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, told CJ that while he couldn’t comment directly on Cooper’s comments since he arrived later in the session, he thinks parents ought to make their own decisions about where their children go to school, pointing to the 55,000 backlog of students waiting on the list.

“I think those results speak for themselves,” he said. “The money that we put towards Opportunity Scholarships is towards education because it’s to help those kids get to the school that their parents want them to go to. I’m proud of the program and glad to continue it.”

When asked about Cooper’s promise to veto it, Hall jokingly said he made that announcement for him last week, so it’s not breaking news. He added that the GA will override his veto sometime shortly, possibly before the election, if not shortly after that, and probably with some Democratic support, making it a bipartisan effort.

North Carolina needs a veto-proof legislature to protect the interests of its voters. Hopefully that pattern will continue.

When Did Americans Become Second-Class Citizens In America?

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On Saturday, Red State posted an article about some changes to the plan for transporting children to school in Stoughton, Massachusetts.

The article reports:

Another day, and another example of taxpayers getting hosed while illegal immigrants get free handouts. This time, it’s the Boston-area suburb of Stoughton, Massachusetts, where parents of 150 schoolchildren have been informed at the last moment that their kids won’t be able to ride the bus to school. The school district has cited “a lack of funding and a shortage of buses.” But is that really it?

The article quotes The Boston Herald:

The 150 students at Stoughton Public Schools will have to find a new way to get to school ahead of the academic year’s September 4 start date, the Boston Herald first reported. The news comes at the same time that the state has started paying for buses for the migrant students of the more than 200 migrant families that recently moved into their community. 

“Unfortunately, for the upcoming 2024-2025 school year, 150 secondary students who signed up to ride a bus were not able to be placed on a bus,” a letter sent to parents from Superintendent of Schools Joseph Baeta read. “Those families not receiving bus transportation were notified this week. Those receiving bus transportation will receive their bus postcards the week of August 19.”

…There is no requirement in the state of Massachusetts to provide transportation for students in grades 7-12, but the district is required to provide busing to students living in hotels and shelters, the letter said. However, according to the superintendent, the arrival of migrant families in Stoughton is not the reason for the shortage of buses.

“We are utilizing funding the state provides to the district to bus the students living in hotels/shelters,” the letter said. “The funding for these two buses does not come from our operational budget. It is inaccurate to suggest that these children receiving busing is the reason yours did not. If we were not receiving the funding from the state for the students living in hotels/shelters, we would not be able to have these two additional buses.”

The article concludes:

This, folks, is why we have school board elections – and elections in general. The Biden/Harris administration hasn’t just been bad on this issue of illegal immigration, they haven’t shown up at all. Their policy has been a non-policy, except when it comes to processing illegal aliens into the country even faster.

As for the taxpayers in Stoughton, Massachusetts, there is an old military acronym that applies: BOHICA.

School Board Elections matter and Presidential elections matter.

Stopping Transgenderism

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Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D

The United States was once known for introducing the rest of the world to technological improvements that benefited all mankind. We are now, sadly, known for introducing destructive ideas. One case in point is transgenderism, which is the doctrine that a person can be any gender they choose, regardless of whether they were born male or female. America is leading the charge on this false doctrine. Now, other countries are choosing not to follow this absurd notion.

A recent article appearing in the Epoch Times reported that in April, the Cass Review was published in the United Kingdom. Described as “The most comprehensive summary on transgender youth medicine,” the review, chaired by Dr. Hillary Cass, British honorary physician and president of the Royal College of Pediatrics and Child Health, stated that there was “insufficient evidence to demonstrate the long-term benefits of medicalizing children who want to identify as a different gender”. In short, they concluded that children should not be given hormones, puberty blockers, and other medical treatments that alter the physical characteristics of their birth gender. Instead, they should be considered for psychotherapy to address why they are dissatisfied with being their birth gender. It was noted in this extensive study that many of the children who express a desire to change their birth gender have other identifiable mental disorders such as depression and autism. It was also reported that most children grow out of their gender dysphoria over time, many without any treatment. Evidence also did not support the belief that prescribing hormones reduced the risk of suicide; quite the opposite is true, with children going through gender transition having a higher rate of suicide than non-transitioning children.

As a result of this science based information, the United Kingdom joins other countries such as Sweden and Norway in banning hormone treatment for minors. The Cass Review noted that the United States remains the main driver of hormone treatments for gender dysphoria, even though 18 conservative controlled states have implemented laws prohibiting this practice. The recent trend to place mental health social workers in public schools should raise a red flag to parents, since most of them would undoubtedly favor facilitating children’s expressed desire for gender change. The Biden regime’s recent efforts to change the wording of Title IX to prevent gender discrimination rather than the original intention to prevent discrimination based on biological sex must be stopped since it takes us further down the path of encouraging the idea that gender is a choice rather than a biological reality.

This entire effort by the left to push transgenderism points out the serious error of basing decisions on “consensus” rather than demonstrated scientific facts. Beliefs, based on the consensus of experts, led us to implement mask mandates and shutting down our economy during COVID19, neither of which did any good. Similarly, we are destroying our economy by eliminating fossil fuels, again based on consensus not facts. We must not allow ourselves to be persuaded by those who have an ideological agenda and use consensus to control us. Freedom can only survive when we demand rigorous scientific facts before taking any action. Otherwise we are being led by the Pied Piper to our own destruction. Truth has never been a leftist value!

 

Funding Homeschools

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Author: R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D

School choice has become an increasingly important issue as parents observe the overall unacceptable academic performance of public schools and the exposure of their children to socialist indoctrination inconsistent with their values. School choice includes public, charter, private, and homeschools. Most clear thinking people applaud school choice and recognize that competition in any endeavor leads to improved performance. It is also important to recognize that parents, like the rest of us, pay the taxes that support public schools that have been a monopoly.

In 2023, the General Assembly expanded the existing Opportunity Scholarship Program that allows parents to apply for funds to support attending private schools. This revision expanded the income eligibility requirement by raising the income limit. That is the good news. The bad news is that they did not include homeschools in the Opportunity Scholarship Program. Having homeschooled my youngest daughter, I am fully aware of the significant personal and financial sacrifice that parents make when homeschooling their children. The General Assembly needs to correct this error by making parents of homeschoolers eligible for this scholarship program. In truth, the solution is simple: the money should follow the student.

It is my understanding that some homeschooling parents are reluctant to accept government taxpayer’s money for fear that the government will impose restrictions and regulations on how they conduct their homeschools. This is a valid concern since that government almost always tries to exert control anytime they issue funds. However, we should not throw out the baby with the bath water. The law adding homeschools to the Opportunity Scholarship Program must be written in a way that preserves the independence of the homeschools In addition, homeschooling parents should always have the right to decline to accept a scholarship.

One final concern is the whole idea of an income limit that is part of the Opportunity Scholarship Program. When I was a senior in high school, I was awarded a N.Y. state four year college scholarship. It was awarded, not on the basis of my parent’s income, but rather based on the results of a standardized test. That was an example of meritocracy, where the scholarship was awarded based on achievement. We have come a long way in the wrong direction. The idea of awarding scholarship funds based on income is the Marxist idea of taking from the higher income people and giving to the lower income people. I truly wish that our conservative Republican legislators would see this for what it is and do away with the lower income requirement. The country would be much better off. We need to stop the slide towards Marxism before it is too late.

Board of Education Resolutions 

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Author:  R. Alan Harrop, Ph.D    

As I have mentioned in prior articles, the local Boards of Education are the only elected body that we have direct influence over when it comes to our county public school systems. The State Board of Education is made up of appointed members. It is incumbent on us to make sure that the local Boards of Education members know how we want the schools to operate. We can let them know by attending the Board meetings, contacting individual board members, or by formal resolutions directing them to take specific actions.  An example of the latter is the four resolutions that will be presented to the Craven County Board of Election on Thursday November 16 at their public meeting.    

The four resolutions consist of the following:  Resolution #1:   Removing identity focus (i.e. Critical Race Theory) from the curriculum in the schools in all grades. Removing all books, etc., that advocate CRT.  American is not a racist country and should not be portrayed as such. People should be judged by the content of their character and achievement and not their ethnic/racial identity.  Resolution #2:  Removing Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) teaching and practices from the schools. DEI is based on Marxist principles that advocate equal outcome instead of the American principle of equal opportunity. This teaching not only breeds distrust and hostility between the races, but undermines the notion that everyone should strive to achieve their best and should be rewarded appropriately.  Resolution #3:  Removing transgender instruction. The notion that any student can choose their gender rather than live consistent with their gender at birth is destructive and amounts to child abuse.  All children should be addressed by the pronoun consistent with their biological gender at birth and any child exhibiting gender confusion should be referred to their parent(s)–not to school counselors.  Resoution #4:   Climate Change. Children in public school are being indoctrinated with the unproven belief that climate change is being caused by man’s burning of fossil fuels and that the earth will become uninhabitable if drastic action like wind and solar are not implemented. This has become the ideology of the Left and anyone challenging their radical beliefs is labeled a “climate denier”.  This resolution would require that both sides of this issue be covered as part of regular science classes and not used as indoctrination. The climate has never been static and has always been changing. They are frightening our children with their unproven ideology. 

Most clear thinking conservatives will agree that the above issues need to be removed from the public schools. They represent a communist inspired threat to our way of life and American values. The public schools should be focusing on doing a better job teaching traditional academic skills.  For example, the recent report about the Craven County Schools showed that 57% of students are not reading at expected grade level and a whopping 65% are not achieving at the expected grade levels in math. Meanwhile, it is costing the  taxpayers close to $12,000 per year per student. It is high time that the Board of Education force the school administration to focus on improving academic performance and stop indoctrinating our children.  If you agree you should let your Board member know. It should be noted that these four resolutions were drafted by the Craven County 20th Republican Precinct, and endorsed by the Craven County GOP Executive Committee and the Craven County Republican Men’s Club.     

Some Of Our Elected Representatives Have Forgotten Who Elected Them

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On Tuesday, The U.K. Daily Mail posted an article about some recent comments made by Michigan Democrats regarding the education of children.

The article reports:

Michigan Democrats were heavily criticized over the weekend for telling parents that they are not ‘clients’ of public schools and that public education teaches kids what society ‘needs them to know.’  

A Facebook post on Saturday shared by the state’s Democrats on their official page blasted the idea that parents should be involved in what public school teach their children. The post was taken down on Monday morning following heavy disapproval.

This is the post that was taken down:

In case you can’t read the small print, this is what it says:

‘Not sure where this “parents-should-control-what-is-taught-in-schools-because-they-are-our-kids” is originating, but parents do have the option to send their kids to a hand-selected private school at their own expense if this is what they desire.

The purpose of a public education in a public school is not to teach kids only what parents want them to be taught. It is to teach them what society needs them to know. The client of the public school is not the parent, but the entire community, the public”

There was a time when elected officials considered themselves ‘public servants.’ It seems as if we have lost that concept. The parents have every right to tell schools what to teach. Almost all parents want their children to graduate with a basic knowledge of math, reading, and history. It is not too much to ask that our schools prepare our children to become contributing members of American society. By the time a child graduates from high school, he should know how to fill out a job application, how to balance a checkbook (manually or on a computer), how to create a budget, and generally how to take care of himself. That’s why home economics and shop used to be taught in school. We need to go back to the concept of actually teaching our children things that are useful in navigating the world around them.

A Good Solution To A Problem In A School

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The Daily Wire posted an article yesterday about a high school in Shreveport, Louisiana, that was having a problem with fights among the students.

The article reports:

Last month, a video of several brawling Southwood students went viral on social media. More incidents over the next few days led to police arresting twenty-three students and charging them with disturbing the peace. One student was additionally charged with battery on an assistant principal.

Over the past few weeks, the Shreveport community — disturbed by the violence — has rallied around the school. As featured by CBS News, a group of local fathers began patrolling the school to provide a tender, yet firm, presence:

They formed Dads on Duty — a group of about 40 dads who take shifts spending time at the school in Shreveport, Louisiana, greeting students in the morning and helping maintain a positive environment for learning, rather than fighting.

The students say it’s working — and the numbers prove it. There hasn’t been a single incident on campus since the dads showed up.

“We’re dads. We decided the best people who can take care of our kids are who? Are us,” explained Michael LaFitte, who started Dads on Duty. The dads saw that “not everybody has a father figure at home.”

The article also notes the flight of parents from public schools to other options to educate their children. During the past year, homeschooling has increased, charter school enrollment has increased, private school enrollment has increased, and parochial school enrollment has increased. Parents are paying attention to what is being taught in our public schools and wherever possible, removing their children from those schools.

The article concludes:

In a July interview with The Daily Wire, conservative commentator Allie Beth Stuckey advised parents that everyone — from “Blue’s Clues” to government schools — is seeking to indoctrinate their children.

“They want to cultivate your child’s mind and form your child’s mind in their image — in the image of progressivism,” she explained. “They might not call themselves religious, but they are in every sense of the word. They’ve got their own dogmas, they’ve got their own kind of theology and their own worldview.”

“We have to teach our kids stuff that you and I probably didn’t even have to learn. Our parents didn’t have to teach us the difference between a man and a woman. But I also think it’s an exciting opportunity for parents to think through our faith. Why do we believe what we believe about gender, sexuality, abortion, God, creation, our bodies, and the government? Why do we believe these things? We can’t take anything for granted.”

Most parents are now awake and paying attention to what their children are being taught.