Below is a copy of the email I sent to Bill Harrison on Monday.
Chairman Harrison,
As you are aware, the News & Observer website published your untoward comments about North Carolina charter schools. According to the Under the Dome blog, you said,
He can’t support lifting the cap “when we get charter schools that are more about employing relatives than educating kids,” he said.?
“I need to be quiet now,” he said, as other board members laughed.?
If the News & Observer took your comments out of context, please issue a press release clarifying your statements. Otherwise, if you have evidence of nepotism within the charter school community, please direct Jack Moyer to release all public documents related to investigations of those charter schools that, according to your statement, ?are more about employing relatives than educating kids.” I request that Mr. Moyer forward the documents to the email address below.
As presiding officer of the State Board of Education, I formally request that you implement a public comment period at every State Board of Education monthly meeting. This would allow those charter schools you accuse of nepotism to respond to the allegations in a public forum. If you are going to call them out in public, they have a right to respond in public.
