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Nearly three years ago, Eddie Davis, then-president of the NCAE and Democratic candidate for superintendent of public instruction, had an idea. According to an April 2008 article in The News & Observer, "Davis is pitching a 10-point plan that included holding a public comment period before state education board meetings …" The fact that Mr. Davis is a Democrat did not bother me. I care about ideas, and he had a very good one. Now some are defending the State Board of Education’s prohibition on public-comment periods during their monthly meetings.

Bulletin Board

  • The Federalist Society will hold their bimonthly Law & Public Policy Luncheon on Thursday, March 10, at 12 noon at the John Locke Foundation office in Raleigh. Daren Bakst and Philip Romohr will highlight the findings of the John Locke Foundation’s new annual Supreme Court Review that is designed to inform citizens, in an accessible manner, about the decisions, voting patterns, and implications of cases recently brought before the North Carolina Supreme Court. The cost is $10.00 per person. For more information or to sign up for the event, visit the Events section of the John Locke Foundation website.
  • The John Locke Foundation is sponsoring a Citizen’s Constitutional Workshop on Saturday, March 19, from 11:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Lord Auditorium-Pack Memorial Library in Asheville, NC. Historian Dr. Troy Kickler and political science expert Dr. Michael Sanera will discuss "What the Founders and the State Ratification Conventions Can Teach Us Today." The cost is $5.00 per participant, lunch included. Pre-registration is strongly suggested. For more information or to sign up for the event, visit the Events section of the John Locke Foundation website.
  • The John Locke Foundation and the Campbell Law School Federalist Society are sponsoring a lunchtime discussion, "Neighborhood Schools, Diversity, and the Wake County Controversy," with education experts Abigail Thernstrom and Richard Kahlenberg. The event will be held on Tuesday, March 22, at 11:45 a.m. at the Campbell University Law School in Raleigh. The event is free and open to the public. For more information or to sign up for the event, visit the Events section of the John Locke Foundation website.

  • 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 NC History Project encyclopedia articles and other primary and secondary source material, if possible. Go to http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/edu_corner for further information.

  • You will find wisdom, knowledge, and purpose at our research newsletter archive.

CommenTerry

The State Board of Education is arguably one of the most powerful entities in North Carolina state government. The North Carolina Constitution authorizes the State Board of Education to establish policies and spending priorities that set the course for public K-12 education in North Carolina. The policies and priorities established by the State Board of Education determine how the state spends billions of dollars in state, federal, and local funds every year. Moreover, their decisions ultimately affect every one of North Carolina’s 1.5 million public school students and over 180,000 full-time public school employees across the state.

Monthly State Board of Education meetings are not forums that welcome debate. They are echo chambers that reinforce the policies of the status quo. Board members approve proposed measures unanimously and enthusiastically. To minimize the threat of debate and dissent, the chairs of the board do not provide a public-comment period before, during, or after their meetings. Last week, that practice prompted me to call members of the State Board of Education cowards. I stand by that charge.

At their March 3, 2011 meeting, State Board of Education member John Tate (a businessman who has represented Anson, Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Stanly, and Union counties on the board since 2003) spoke out against charter school, testing, and educational tax credit bills making their way through the General Assembly. During his lengthy monologue, Mr. Tate explained that, while the board would not make their opposition to these bills official, they (the collective) were not pleased. Regardless, it is easy for board members like Mr. Tate to criticize legislation and policies proposed by members of the General Assembly. The closed structure of State Board of Education meetings ensures that neither he nor his colleagues need to worry about individuals challenging his views publicly. If you ask me, that is cowardly.

My confident position did not sit well with Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch, who defended the State Board of Education’s prohibition on public comments. (It must have been a slow week for the Watchers.) He noted that the board and its staff provide plenty of opportunities to be "involved in the board’s policymaking process." Curiously, Mr. Fitzsimon later complained that opportunities for public comment were not available during the General Assembly’s Obamacare debate. This is not inconsistent, just pragmatic.

In the spirit of Eddie Davis’ original plan, I have a modest proposal for the State Board of Education. Give well-meaning folks — parents, educators, researchers, and lowly policy wonks — a monthly, 30-minute public-comment period to participate in the process of developing educational policies for our public schools. The board would benefit by hearing opinions and perspectives that may not be represented by the NC Department of Public Instruction personnel and others who are granted an audience with the board.

Random Thought

March is National Peanut Month. According to the Peanut Butter Lovers website, "National Peanut Month had its beginnings as National Peanut Week in 1941. It was expanded to a month-long celebration in 1974." Finally, the 1970s got something right.

Facts and Stats

0.00 — The number of minutes during each meeting of the State Board of Education set aside for the public to comment on board business.

Mailbag

"I am a teacher with over 10 years experience and a parent of a special needs child. My son will be in the Occupational Course of Study in high school. DPI has determined that in order to graduate my son has to take all EOC tests required by regular ed students, Algebra I, English I, Civics, Biology. He does not have to pass them, just take them. What is the point in that? In the old system, students like him were not required to take these tests which makes sense because many of these students don’t have basic math skills and limited reading skills. In reality, the English I test for him is equivalent to giving a regular ed[ucation] student a test in Chinese."
— Michelle Milliken, Overhills High School

Education Acronym of the Week

TCS — Twenty-First Century Systems

Quote of the Week

"The State Board of Education exists to make sure that the opinions of the public are considered. The Board provides adequate checks and balances to maintain a clear line of authority, to provide a balance of power for the education system, and to avoid total control by the executive and legislative bodies."
— History of the North Carolina State Board of Education, http://www.ncpublicschools.org/stateboard/about/history/chapters/nine

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