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Page McCullough says:

February 21, 2014 at 1:15 pm

sometimes we feel a bit of hope here!

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Joanna Best says:

February 21, 2014 at 1:24 pm

That thing called the State Constitution doesn’t seem to matter to our General Assembly. I’m glad our judicial branch still honors it.

I think the problem with Libertarians is they don’t think down the road. I have a little trouble, in my mind, distinguishing them from anarchists, philosophically. And I am not calling them names. I really don’t understand where the line is drawn between what they think is good for our state and no leadership or collective effort via an elected government at all is. If any libertarians reading this wish to chime in, please do (but don’t do it in a way that attacks. . .I’m not interested in fighting. I’m just interested in hearing the full vision of this no tax, no services, no regulations on anything mindset is going to take us. I get the feeling they have not thought about it.

I am very happy to see this post. I’m not giddy, though. There is too much else to protect and preserve and recover.

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concerned mom says:

February 21, 2014 at 1:39 pm

I have to admit, I didn’t think the judge would rule against these vouchers. That’s a little ray of sunshine on this rainy day in my part of NC!

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- neanderthal100 says:
  
  February 21, 2014 at 1:54 pm
  
  Same here!
  
  Reply
Chiara Duggan says:

February 21, 2014 at 1:56 pm

Well, the only reason the Obama Administration doesn’t back vouchers is because they “don’t work” (by which they mean increase test scores, I guess):

“PRESIDENT OBAMA [OVERLAP] – Bill — you know . . . I’ve taken a look at it. As a general proposition, vouchers has not significantly improved the performance of kids that are in these poorest communities —”

So the drafters of the North Carolina constitution were actually MUCH more pro-public school than our modern-day ed reformers. The drafters said ed money can go “exclusively” to “free public schools”.

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- Dee Dee says:
  
  February 21, 2014 at 6:53 pm
  
  Chiara, look at this!!! A series of stories coming out! Yea!! Now this needs to be done in Michigan. Detroit has a couple of channels owned by hedge fund managers so you know the truth won’t come out. I wonder if eclectablog could start doing some digging and reporting about Michigan charters???
  
  http://www.nbc4i.com/story/24778722/nbc4-investigates-taxpayers-left-holding-bill-for-charter-schools
  
  Reply
  - Chiara Duggan says:
    
    February 21, 2014 at 8:11 pm
    
    Thanks so much. It was only a matter of time in the midwest states. It’s completely out of control.
    As you know, I’m not a teacher nor am I a union member (although I am a supporter of organized labor, generally).
    When charters started in Ohio, the public was told that teachers unions had “captured” our education policy, and we needed to focus on children.
    In the decade since, a huge cadre of charter supporters, lobbyists for EMO’s and other privatization enthusiasts have embedded themselves into state government.
    John Kasich is as “captured” by lobbyists for privatization as any labor-friendly governor ever was. It’s a joke. He gives them anything they demand.
neanderthal100 says:

February 21, 2014 at 2:18 pm

Have the lawmakers in Raleigh literally lost their minds???? Obviously!!

Do they really think the citizens of NC will allow them to spend our money for a student to attend a Private School???????????????

Do they understand what Thomas Jefferson meant by Separation of Church and State or did they have a Brain Freeze????

These vouchers, as I see it, is a way for the Elite Group of $$$$$$ Men in NC to keep Private Schools in business…….

Go Judge!!!!!

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- Chiara Duggan says:
  
  February 21, 2014 at 2:27 pm
  
  They have two arguments.
  One is that they aren’t giving the money to schools, they’re giving it to parents. You’d be surprised how often that flies, although it seems ridiculous to me.
  The other is that they took this money out of the general fund (actually, out of university funding) so it doesn’t count 🙂
  
  Reply
  - neanderthal100 says:
    
    February 21, 2014 at 2:56 pm
    
    OMG..
    
    The arguments are so very ridiculous.
    
    They need to put the money where their mouths are and provide the Best Public Education for each and every child in this state.
    
    Does that make too much sense?
Daniel Spaniel says:

February 21, 2014 at 2:52 pm

If they give the money to the parents can they use it to buy groceries, pay bills, buy clothes, etc? Or does it have to be earmarked for educational purposes?

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- neanderthal100 says:
  
  February 21, 2014 at 2:59 pm
  
  I was wondering the same Daniel……I asked ….
  
  Answer..Yes …they can buy whatever they want with the money.
  
  Reply
- concerned mom says:
  
  February 21, 2014 at 3:37 pm
  
  I read the law and, as I understood it, the state gives the school a check (worded as the “scholarship grant funds”) that the parent has to endorse.
  
  It seems as though the authority is writing checks to the “nonpublic schools”.
  
  Reply
  - neanderthal100 says:
    
    February 21, 2014 at 5:35 pm
    
    If that is the case..then it is illegal.. I do not understand how they would even think they could get away with this.
    
    Yes.. Private Schools do have a better Math Curriculum because the CC$$ is the worst ever……and you can not get any worse..
    
    I wonder sometimes ……if they did not throw out the chaotic CC$$ so the teachers and students would fail and therefore they could then justify moving kids from failing schools to Private Schools.
    
    A bunch of muck…
  - concerned mom says:
    
    February 21, 2014 at 10:10 pm
    
    Below is the text from the bill. I don’t understand how they can claim they aren’t giving checks to the school. Is it because the parents endorse the checks?
    
    Also, what’s the deal with “nonpublic schools”? Why are they afraid to use the word “private”?
    
    ———————————————————————————-
    The Authority shall remit, at least two times each school year, scholarship grant funds
    2 awarded to eligible students to the nonpublic school for endorsement by at least one of the
    3 student’s parents or guardians. The parent or guardian shall restrictively endorse the scholarship
    4 grant funds awarded to the eligible student to the nonpublic school for deposit into the account
    5 of the nonpublic school. The parent or guardian shall not designate any entity or individual
    6 associated with the nonpublic school as the parent’s attorney-in-fact to endorse the scholarship
    7 grant funds but shall endorse the scholarship grant funds in person at the site of the nonpublic
    8 school. A parent’s or guardian’s failure to comply with this section shall result in forfeit of the
    9 scholarship grant. A scholarship grant forfeited for failure to comply with this section shall be
    10 returned to the Authority to be awarded to another student.
  - concerned mom says:
    
    February 22, 2014 at 2:01 pm
    
    Maybe they use “nonpublic schools” to open the door for home schools?
21st Century Poet says:

February 21, 2014 at 4:08 pm

Reblogged this on 21st Century Theater.

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Rickj Glazier says:

February 21, 2014 at 5:27 pm

The lawyers who put together this case for the plaintiffs, including Burton Craige and his firm, lawyers for the NC Justice Center, Eddie Speas, and former Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, among others, did a great job in preparing, briefing and arguing the case before the Superior Court. They made clear what many of us, including a number of House Democrats, had argued on the House floor last year against this bill and provision–that it patently violates the NC Constitution. Public funds for vouchers is, on its face, inconsistent with our constitutional mandate that public money may only be spent on a uniform system of PUBLIC schools. Not only is this public money to fund private schools, but even at that— a nonuniform system of them since the voucher provisions contain no accountability for the funds or schools, no non-discrimination protections, no teacher licensing requirements, no curriculum mandates, no supervision of the use of the funds, no EC requirements and the list goes on. And, no shell game movement of funds by the legislative majority or Governor makes it any less illegal under NC law. Shy of a constitutional amendment approving vouchers, which would never pass in this state, our state constitution forecloses private vouchers funded by public money and the Judge simply recognized what our legislature refuses to understand–no matter your ideology, and policy beliefs, there are some actions the Constitution forbids and using public money to fund private school choices is one of them. Maybe now we can really get back to our job as state legislators and look to truly assist public schools, public school educators, and the students of this state. Vouchers are not reform; they are an abdication of public education. If we want to assist pubic schools, lets start by professionally compensating teachers and educators, repealing the elimination of masters pay, adding time and resources for top notch and targeted professional development, recognizing the role of poverty in educational disadvantages that need time, attention and resources to overcome, restoring a career status system for teachers that rewards good teaching over time. expanding the richness of curriculum in all public schools, ensuring the involvement of the business community in the commitment to and improvement of public schools, and by our words reminding the public daily of the overriding importance of outstanding public schools and public school educators to our state’s economic success. It has been a good day, for a change, in North Carolina! Rick Glazier

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- Joanna Best says:
  
  February 22, 2014 at 3:51 am
  
  Or if Berger wants it that badly he can pony up and propose an amendment instead of the surreptitious way he and his ALEC peeps try to bring about their agenda.
  I hope you guys can get back to the duties you describe instead of having a front row seat to the plundering of our state through its education policies (of course many folks will want those vouchers because of the awful contracts signed with the company who makes M-Class which is currently aiding and abetting the education malpractice that is occurring in the public schools across our state by mandate.
  
  Reply
  - Joanna Best says:
    
    February 22, 2014 at 3:55 am
    
    This company. Brought to us by Race to the Top.
    http://www.amplify.com/
    
    This battle for our schools ain’t just about vouchers (to speak colloquially).
    This is a two parent abuse situation (mama Democrat, at least on the federal level, and daddy Republican).
    
    Foster care for the public schools anyone? (Indeed, I think that’s what charters are).
    
    When can we actually get this family back together in a healthy way?
  - Joanna Best says:
    
    February 22, 2014 at 4:55 am
    
    I wish M-Class were just a cool series of Mercedes.
    
    But from what I can tell from talking to teachers, M-Class is what has taken over.
    
    Everyone needs to learn what it is. If you want to know what is going on in NC elementary classrooms, you need to know about MClass.
- neanderthal100 says:
  
  February 22, 2014 at 7:03 am
  
  Rick, are you serious about this.??
  I had to tear your statement apart as I needed to absorb
  Rick’s Quote
  ” Maybe now we can really get back to our job as state legislators and look to truly assist public schools, public school educators, and the students of this state.
  
  Vouchers are not reform; they are an abdication of public education.
  
  If we want to assist pubic schools, lets start by
  
  1.professionally compensating teachers and educators,
  
  2. repealing the elimination of masters pay,
  
  3. adding time and resources for top notch and targeted professional development,
  
  4. recognizing the role of poverty in educational disadvantages that need time,
  
  5. attention and resources to overcome,
  
  6. restoring a career status system for teachers that rewards good teaching over time.
  
  7. expanding the richness of curriculum in all public schools,
  
  8. ensuring the involvement of the business community in the commitment to and improvement of public schools
  
  , and by our words
  
  9. reminding the public daily of the overriding importance of outstanding public schools and public school educators to our state’s economic success.
  
  It has been a good day, for a change, in North Carolina! Rick Glazier”
  
  May I add,. It has been a good day for the Beginning of a Much Needed Change in NC!!!!!!!!!!!
  
  Sir…I see you speak on the richness of the curriculum …..now in the most chaotic state known in my lifetime.. CC$$ implementation is a Nightmare and I continue to help teachers sort it out each and everyday.
  7. expanding the richness of curriculum in all public schools,
  
  When I look at the code gibberish standards and the way they threw this mess at the teachers without resources via a bunch of mumbo jumbo jargon …it is a set up for failure. for the students and for the teachers…..and I can say mess because I am a certified mathematician with many years of experience…
  
  I can teach math to you so that you would understand every concept and you would be able to apply these concepts.
  
  They have gone off the ledge when they adopted this jargon and gibberish. …I know this because I am an expert but the people who poured this mess into thousands of pages of gibberish do not know how to teach!!!
  
  You do need to check out the nonsense they are throwing at our children in the name of Rigor..It is not!
  
  Would you also address the Unfair and Flawed VAM Evaluations and the over-testing in NC?
  NC has more tests than any State in this USA the last time I checked. …Maybe I missed one..
  
  Thank You
  ,
  
  Reply
Ms. Cartwheel Librarian says:

February 21, 2014 at 6:40 pm

I am confused.

If Mr. and Mrs. Brat decide to enroll their son, Barnaby at Our Lady of the Voucher School and voucher monies are paid to the school, does the money remain at the school if little Barnaby is “asked to leave”? If the Brats are unhappy and pull him out? Is the money refunded to the state? Usually public school money stays at the school after the tenth day even though the student leaves, but apparently the money comes from other funds. Who will monitor the funds if for example the child leaves the state? There is a lot of room here for funny money.

I

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Yevonne Brannon, Chair Public Schools First NC says:

February 21, 2014 at 10:14 pm

This has been an incredible journey since July 2013 when the awful School Voucher Bill was passed in NC. Public Schools First, NCAE, NC Justice, NCSBA, Progress NC and more — worked tirelessly during the legislative session to keep this law from passing. When it did, it was a hard blow to us all. But thousands and thousands of supporters across the state kept up the protest and lifted up their complaints through letters to the editor and Op Eds, through Moral Mondays…our citizens gave their support, their time and donations to numerous nonprofits to keep this fight going. The TEACHERS all across the state supported the NCAE’s legal actions and they were joined by NC Justice Center and the NCSBA….many education advocacy groups and individuals all worked to keep the fight against school vouchers alive and keep the public informed about this issue. Well, today the stars of our CONSTITUTION aligned and the Judge agreed that we had a case worth making and the preliminary injunction was granted. NO SCHOOL Vouchers for now. I was almost unable to stand at the end of the court session — it was stunning to be able to leave the court room with HOPE that maybe just maybe the LAW will rule….our constitution will not be trampled and will prevail for the good of every child – very uplifting! Working together works! These battles to protect public education can be won when our teachers and parents and grandparents hold the line together and have the great legal minds of the community at their backs waving the constitution!! NOT ONE STEP BACK IN NC!

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