Welcome

The election is over, so let the divination begin.  I consulted my Ouija Board and you would not believe what I learned!

Bulletin Board

• Come to a Headliner Luncheon at noon on Thursday, November 15, 2012 at the Hilton North Raleigh/Midtown.  Our special guest will be Fred Barnes, Executive Editor of The Weekly Standard, who will offer a post election analysis.  Tickets are $30.00 and may be purchased online.
  
  
• The North Carolina History Project would like educators and homeschool parents to submit lesson plans suitable for middle and high school courses in North Carolina history.  Please provide links to N.C. History Project encyclopedia articles and other primary and secondary source material, if possible.  Go to the N.C. History Project website for further information.
  
  
• I would like to invite all readers to submit announcements, as well as their personal insights, anecdotes, concerns, and observations about the state of education in North Carolina. I will publish selected submissions in future editions of the newsletter. Anonymity will be honored. For additional information or to send a submission, email Terry at tstoops@johnlocke.org.
  
  
• The research newsletter archive voted Whig... straight ticket.

CommenTerry

In case you were wondering, I really do not use Ouija boards or crystal balls or Tarot cards.  None of these methods can out-predict the Magic 8 Ball (M8B).

For this week's CommenTerry, I'll use each of the 20 possible answers on the icosahedron contained inside the M8B to speculate on the post-election future of education in North Carolina.

1. It is certain that North Carolinians will see efforts by the McCrory administration, legislative leadership, and newly appointed State Board of Education to expand career and technical education right out of the gate in 2013.
   
   
2. It is decidedly so that, today, June Atkinson will have to decide what kind of relationship she wants to have with incoming members of the State Board of Education and the McCrory administration.
   
   
3. Without a doubt the director of the Division of Non-Public Education, which oversees home and private schools, is the most important education appointment that nobody is talking about.
   
   
4. Yes - definitely, the new members of the State Board of Education should "take a red pen" to the recently adopted vision statement.
   
   
5. You may rely on it, if by "it" you mean that the angry Left will declare war on the McCrory education agenda, regardless of the substance of his policies.
   
   
6. As I see it, yes, Pat McCrory will become a Jeb Bush/Bobby Jindal/Mitch Daniels-type education reformer.
   
   
7. Most likely, it will require two terms for Pat McCrory to become a Jeb Bush/Bobby Jindal/Mitch Daniels-type education reformer.
   
   
8. Outlook good for the State Board of Education to begin rolling back some of the excessive regulation imposed on charter schools.
   
   
9. Yes, McCrory should appoint a new executive director of the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE) and use that office to spearhead his career and technical education efforts.
   
   
10. Signs point to yes, Dan Forest will occupy a key, ex officio seat on the State Board of Education.
    
    
11. Reply hazy, try again, members of the State Board of Education, and formulate a policy that allows online charter schools to operate in North Carolina.
    
    
12. Ask again later whether the legislature, governor's office, and State Board of Education have the courage to withdraw from the Common Core State Standards.
    
    
13. Better not tell you now because I would have nothing to write about in subsequent newsletters.
    
    
14. Cannot predict now who Pat McCrory will appoint to the State Board of Education or choose as education advisors in his administration.
    
    
15. Concentrate and ask again or just give up...your call.
    
    
16. Don't count on it, that is, do not count on several key administrators at the NC Department of Public Instruction sticking around to see what happens when a new State Board of Education rides into town.
    
    
17. My reply is no; public education in North Carolina will not be destroyed by Governor-elect McCrory or the Republican majority in the NC General Assembly.
    
    
18. My sources say no, former Wake County superintendent Tony Tata will not be appointed chairman of the State Board of Education.
    
    
19. Outlook not so good for the education establishment in North Carolina, particularly groups like the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) and the NC School Boards Association.
    
    
20. Very doubtful that we'll begin hearing about appointments to the State Board of Education and executive offices until after Thanksgiving.

Random Thought

I think revenge is a dish best served piping hot, not cold.

Facts and Stats

Unofficial results for the Superintendent of Public Instruction race:

June Atkinson (DEM): 2,340,000 (54.24%)
John Tedesco (REP): 1,973,870 (45.76%)

Education Acronyms of the Week

SBE -- State Board of Education

Quote of the Week

"My friend smiled at my warmth, and observed, that raising ghosts, and not only raising them, but making them speak, was one of the miracles of elections."

- Washington Irving in Salmagundi (1807)

Click here for the Education Update archive.