State Senator Phil Berger (and president pro tem of the North Carolina State Senate has championed budget cuts that hurt the public schools in his district. He has also championed charter schools, which have minimal accountability. Stuart Egan, a North Carolina teacher, explains what appears to be inexplicable:
“It’s getting deeper here in North Carolina. Literally.
“A recent news story in the Winston-Salem Journal highlighted once again that North Carolina’s General Assembly is bent on starving our public schools into submission with lack of funds and shortage of resources – even the most basic of necessities like toilet paper.
“Danielle Battaglia reports that the Rockingham County school system is literally having to rob “Peter to pay Paul” just to keep schools open and functioning. Classes lack textbooks; copy paper is unaffordable; basic janitorial supplies cannot be bought. You can read about that here: http://www.journalnow.com/news/state_region/rockingham-county-schools-short-on-the-basics/article_61b15a34-bcfd-5407-83a4-86a2830c5ab2.html.
“One really big irony here is that Rockingham County is the home of our current and newly reelected NCGA Senate President Pro Tem, Phil Berger, Sr. He was one of the champions of the current state budget that is crippling the very schools he serves, especially the ones in his hometown of Eden, NC. That current budget also is supporting the exponential growth of charter schools which are able to take public funds, surreptitiously hide how the money is spent while escaping oversight and eluding state standards that are in constant flux.
“One of those charter schools, Providence Charter, gained final approval from the state board this year to open in Rockingham County and will possibly enroll 500 students. Rockingham County Public high schools only have around 4200 students total. That amounts to well over 10% of available students being siphoned off to a school that can claim to be a public institution in order to get state funds, but then assert itself as a private entity so that it cannot be audited with the same transparency as public schools are. The fact that many who start and operate charter schools are financially motivated is not a secret. What makes this one charter school especially suspicious is that it is co-founded by Phil Berger, Jr., the state senator’s son. You can read about that here: http://www.newsadvance.com/rockingham_now/news/providence-charter-officially-approved-to-open/article_06f3390c-7976-11e3-904c-0019bb30f31a.html?mode=jqm.
“When small school districts lose numbers like Rockingham County, they also lose the ability to petition for adequate funds. Imagine what happens to a school system when it loses over ten percent of its students; the financial impact can be staggering. Textbooks cannot be bought; facilities cannot be maintained. Bathrooms lack toilet paper. Students suffer. Communities stagnate.
“Providence Charter in Eden, NC will be the first charter high school in Rockingham County, but there already exists a charter middle school, Bethany Community Middle School. Who is on the board of that school? Yes, Phil Berger, Jr. In essence, Sen. Berger is allowing and enabling his own son to weaken the very public schools in his home district.
“This is not only a conflict of interest, but a growing trend to “reform” public education here in North Carolina. It would make more sense to take all of the resources, energy, and funds that would be siphoned off to the charter schools and work to improve the public schools that already exist. It seems to me that an elected official would make sure that as many people in his district as possible benefit from tax-payer money, maybe even enough to get some toilet paper and even new textbooks in schools that actually reflect the curriculum (which is about to change again).
“What hurts the most is that we as citizens keep electing these people to office and allow them to do detrimental things to our public schools under the guise of civic service and school choice. And it’s not just a school level problem; it’s an overall education problem.
“We as North Carolinians are not educating ourselves well enough to sift through political doublespeak and partisan propaganda. We are voting on perceptions and not truths. But it is hard to know the truth when facts are covered and avenues to learn are blocked and tampered with. What occurs is an environment where personalities are placed before principles. That causes people to suffer, especially our students.
“For example, last August a legislative assistant for Rep. Tim Moore named Nancy Garriss had an exchange with a veteran teacher on the phone and referred to the teacher as an “idiot” for even questioning the treatment of public education in the new state budget. This did not go unnoticed (https://dianeravitch.net/2014/08/09/what-north-carolina-teachers-say-about-that-historic-pay-raise/). Yet once again, North Carolinians in Cleveland County, NC selected Rep .Tim Moore to go back to Raleigh and in another example of cruel irony, he was just elected by his GOP peers as the new House Speaker of the NC General Assembly to replace Thom Tillis, who defeated the incumbent Kay Hagan for the US Senate. Less than half of registered voters in North Carolina came to the polls for these past midterm elections and the results were not favorable to public schools. But that could change.
“The operative word here is “midterm.” As soon as one election cycle ends, another ramps up and begins to take shape, and this next one can be a great time to take back our public schools. Historically, more registered voters go to the polls during presidential and gubernatorial election years. And all NCGA members will again be campaigning (or not) to be sent back to Raleigh. Imagine if just over half of the registered voters in North Carolina went to the polls, then people who champion public education could be put into positions to help our students.
“Look at this metaphorically. As a teacher, I look at midterm grades as a marker of sorts. It is not the final course grade, but an indication of what work needs to be done and a way to reflect on how teaching and learning can be improved. Our midterm grades in North Carolina are not stellar by any means. Declining support of public schools, lack of medical insurance coverage for those who need it most, voting restrictions, and lost revenue only begin to explain what North Carolina faces. Yet, it can change. The “final” grade can be much better. I just hope no more damage occurs in our state before we learn the lesson.
“By then we may need more than toilet paper to clean it up.”
Stuart Egan, NBCT
West Forsyth High School
Clemmons, NC
Diane Ravitch's blog 
All schools receiving public funds should be audited yearly with results available to the public.
LikeLike
I believe our DPI has kept good tabs on charters up to this point, but the flood gates have just lifted with new charters. This is unchartered charter territory, so to speak.
LikeLike
Not really Joanna- http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/tag/baker-mitchell/
LikeLike
Janna, that article is from June of this year. I’d say that’s pretty new.
LikeLike
He has been doing for over 5 years with no oversight.
LikeLike
Reminds me of the Johnny Carson Show when he said the country was running out of toilet paper.
LikeLike
Once these ideologues get elected, they don’t care what the majority of their constituents want. They will vote their ideology. The North Carolinians have to wake up and realize who they are electing to those legislative seats.
LikeLike
ALEC
LikeLike
Also, we need more than 44% voter turnout.
LikeLike
Here’s how one of the state’s major paper’s explained the Senate election. Note that National Democratic and National Republic committees both spent tens of millions.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/11/04/5290912/early-returns-hagan-holds-slight.html#.VJ77-sCA
LikeLike
Berg is a state senator, not a U.S. Senator—so the dynamics are slightly different than what is discussed in this article.
LikeLike
I really don’t think people think beyond their own immediate gain in this situation—-Berger and his son, charter enthusiasts. As I have said many times, these are the modular homes and trailer parks of education. . .build em up, get paid, people get excited about a shiny new something. . .and who cares if it’s unsafe for tornado weather, depreciates quickly, etc. I think they simply are not thinking long term. (I’m not defending them, but clearly they are not). NC has a lot of racism in it still. . .I think some of these conversations about charters and the enthusiasm over policies that actually hurt communities are done to simply avoid the real conversations that have to happen, which involve truly trusting and working alongside people with brown and black skin.
LikeLike
in a way, it may take things getting so bad that whitey finally has to talk to minorities as equals who are in this alongside us. Meanwhile, until that desperate point is reached, the side shows will continue, but they will not be seen as side shows. They will be seen as seeking Christ and many other twisted adaptations of the gospel so long as hands are clean and it feels like accomplishments have been made.
It is deep seated, this resistance to work with others who seem different.
At the state level, particularly in Wake and Buncombe counties, Democrats did well.
I’m not giving up on my state just yet.
LikeLike
You are correct Joanna. The racism here is alive and well. Where I live we still have an a festival with girls in antebellum dresses celebrating a time gone by. Most of the streets in town and buildings at my university are named for wonderful families from the area- many of whom were involved with white supremacy at one time or another. The sad thing is that the blacks are so used to being discriminated many are wanting to go to black charter schools so they do not have to put up with the white folk. I am not giving up either but the history here is violent and sad, and in many ways not in the past.
LikeLike
Regarding his son benefiting from the policy on charter schools and the fact that he is the representative of Rockingham County, Phil Berger should be subject to an ethics investigation. His consolidation of power and influence knows no bounds.
LikeLike
ALEC already thought of that and wrote in the law that such activity would be allowed.
LikeLike
In 2011 NC State Senator Dan Soucek visited Hardin Park Elementary School, one of the top ranked schools in the state. While there he got into a conversation with a nationally recognised science teacher in the cafeteria with students present. And in front of the students Senator Soucek told him that he did more in three days than this top scoring teacher did in a week.
How can we expect for our children to be respectful towards their teachers if the senators visit the schools to degrade teachers in this manner. Teachers are being treated like second-rate citizen’s in North Carolina, regardless of how good they are.
Unfortunately, this gifted teacher has since retired, along with about half of the state’s experienced teachers.
LikeLike
David, the statement you described clearly was deeply dis-respectful. Why do you think the state senator was elected?
LikeLike
The voting districts were redrawn by the Republicans in 2010 that pretty much guarantees elections for them over the next 10 years. Other, far larger politicians get away with much worse scandals that are well known, but it doesn’t seem to matter.
After living in Canada since 2012 and looking at the BC teacher strike, I think that democracy itself is under attack by the corporations in both countries. The corporations win by complicating democracy and making people give up on it. They don’t have to win the discussion, just undermine it.
The less people vote, the more corporations win. The key is for people to not give up on democracy and vote.
LikeLike