Issues
Common Core and Ernest Hemingway
I’m very, very nervous… Democratic State Representative Marcus Brandon said. Disagreeing, Republican Representative Michael Specialecountered, What’s the price of selling our souls? When it comes to keeping ‘Common Core’ the politicians in Raleigh have divided into two armed camps. Rep. Michael Speciale is dead-set against it. Rep. Marcus Brandon is for it. …
Read MoreWho’s the Boss?
Governor McCrory is starting to look like Bev Perdue without the dress. He started out this legislature saying he’d be more assertive. Then Senator Berger released his budget and showed everybody who’s the Real Boss in Raleigh. McCrory clearly doesn’t like Berger’s budget. But it’s not clear what he’s going to do about…
Read MoreThe Origin of Teacher Assistants
Here’s some history on teacher assistants – and a hint about why Senate Republicans want to get rid of them: They’re Jim Hunt’s creation. In his first race for Governor in 1976, Hunt proposed what he called the Primary Reading Program. As Lieutenant Governor and ex-officio member of the State Board of Education, he…
Read MoreTax for Teachers?
As Democrats look to counter Senate Republicans on teacher pay, they should look outside the revenue box. The 11 percent raise/end tenure plan caught the headlines and seemed to catch Democrats (and Governor McCrory) off guard. Democrats responded that the plan would gut education, UNC and Medicaid to fund an election-year pay raise that…
Read MoreTenure Trap
If you did a poll – and Senator Berger surely has – you’d probably get overwhelming support for this proposition: “Should public school teachers get an 11 per cent raise in exchange for giving up tenure?” Therein lies the challenge to Senate Democrats. Berger says: “You say you want higher teacher pay. Here it…
Read MoreCore Problem
California Governor Jerry Brown put his finger on the syndrome in 2012: “Everybody went to school, so everybody thinks they know how to teach, or they think they know something about education.” Especially politicians. So, every couple of years, a new education reform takes hold in politics. And the politicians dictate a new set of…
Read MoreTempting Women, Again
To get their votes, the politicians are up to a lot more than just promising women the ‘power’ to fulfill their heart’s desires – listen to the serenade Democrats are singing: If you vote for Kay Hagan, Democrats say, you’ll get more pay and equal pay and health care and birth control and education and,…
Read MoreTempting Women
According to the newspaper one super powerful group is going to pick the winner in the Senate race: Women. Not money. Or virtue. Or sin. But Women. Which, of course, if you’re a woman, may sound like floozy flattery. Or if you’re a woman, and a tad skeptical, you might be wondering,…
Read MoreNew Wrinkle, Old Politics
There are scads of Super PACs running around attacking Thom Tillis or Kay Hagan so one more came as no surprise except when Planned Parenthood said it was going to whack Tillis I thought, Whoever heard of a government-funded group spending $3.3 million on a Super PAC? It didn’t seem quite right. Planned Parenthood spending taxpayers’ money…
Read MoreFrick and frack
Gary is taking a break from blogging. Here’s one from a Tapster. The Senate’s headlong rush this week to jumpstart hydraulic fracturing in North Carolina proves they’ve learned absolutely nothing from the Dan River coal ash spill. Senate Republicans say they want to create jobs and stimulate home-grown energy, and the sooner the better…
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