FORUM
N.C. NAACP and Forward Together
Moral Movement: Our response to
so-called achievement schools
Gov.
William J. f, r 1 c 5
Barber ^cCtory and
the extremists
in the General
Guest Assembly
Columnist have ,5een
engaged in an
p * t r p m p
attack retro
gressive campaign against public schools
since the day they came to power.
As of July 2, Governor McCrory has
on his desk another ideologically-driven
attack on public education. House Bill
1080, which would allow for a back-door
corporate takeover of public schools
through so-called "Achievement School
Districts."
Just like the voucher system the
extremists put into place, this scheme
would drain public education money into
unaccountable private hands.This is con
trary to the intent of our state constitution.
In other states, Achievement School
Districts have been plagued with corrup
tion, fraud and mismanagement due to this
lack of accountability. Studies in
Louisiana, Michigan and Tennessee have
shown these virtual districts to decline in
student achievement or to show negligible
improvement. High staff turnover pro
duced chaos and a decline in the number of
experienced teachers. These schemes also
WHO ELSE HAS TRIED ASDs?
? New Orleans. LA. Recovery School District -
controversial results
? Michigan's Educational Achievement Authority - an
abject failure
? Tennessee's ASO - not as successful as dtsirict-led
efforts
foster more re-segregation.
North Carolina's constitution explicitly
bars the use of public school funds for any
thing but public education. Giving those
funds to private corporations plainly vio
lates the state constitution and also drains
money away from proven programs that
support parent engagement, inclusive lead
ership, expanded pre-K programs, and
professional development and coaching
for teachers.
In this scheme, a politically-selected
superintendent would create a virtual dis
trict comprised of five of North Carolina's
lowest-performing public elementary
schools. That superintendent would grant
charter school operators multi-year con
tracts to take control of these schools.
The charters could be for-profit corpo
rations based in other states. They would
take control of the schools away from local
elected school boards. The same rules and
standards that the state demands of other
public school systems would not apply to
these "Achievement School Districts," so
that the charter operators would get tax
dollars without any public accountability.
North Carolina's Department of Public
Instruction already has a program to turn
around failing schools that has produced
proven results.. Turning Around Lowest
Achieving Schools or TALAS has been in
place for five years. Sixty percent of
schools operated under TALAS outper
formed the state average performance
change and 75 percent outperformed the
state average growth, proving that strug
gling schools can make significant
improvement. Unfortunately, funding for
TALAS has been cut so low that it can
only reach a fraction of our hardship
schools. Instead of funding a proven pro
gram, the extremists in the General
Assembly seek to channel public school
funds into private and unaccountable
hands.
? Our public school dollars would be
better spent on proven programs like Pre
K for every child, greater instructional
time, teachers' aides for individual atten
tion to struggling students, and recruitment
and retention of our best teachers. We also
know that poverty is the real problem; all
of our struggling schools are high-poverty
schools where nutrition, mental health,
healthcare and social services could make
the most difference.
Instead, a cynical game of politics and
an unbending devotion to extremist ideol
ogy continue to suffocate research-based
approaches to education and undermine
the foundation of public education in
North Carolina. It is time for voters to
hold elected Governor McCrory and the
extremists in the legislature accountable.
The North Carolina NAACP and the
Forward Together Moral Movement are
based in Durham and are led by Rev. Dr.
William J. Barber II.
Are Black Farmers in 2016
the New Dred Scott of 1857?
Black farmers to protest at U.S. Supreme Court
Oh Friday, July 8, at 9
Eddie a.m., farmers from the
Southern Region and others
Saughter who believe in justice and
equality will descend on the
Guest U- S. Supreme Court to once
, again seek and demand jus
C olumnist tice through the courts and to
bring to light and awareness
- ? ? f , i .
of the unfairness 01 me set
tlement of the Pigford Class Action, and the continued dis
crimination by the USDA, "The Last Plantation." The
theme is "Are Black Farmers in 2016 the New Dred Scott
of 1857?"
The protest will be held on the First Street NE side
walk directly in front of the Supreme Court. The com
plaint at the Supreme Court is regarding Eddie and
Dorothy Wise, farmers from North Carolina, who were
foreclosed on and evicted from their 106-acre farm on
January 20, 2016, by 14 militarily-armed Federal
Marshals and several Nash County, North Carolina deputy
sheriffs without ever being granted a hearing.
Farmer Eddie Wise is a retired Green Beret and his
wife, Dorothy Wise, is a retired Grants Manager. The
Wise's situation is akin to the Dred Scott Decision of
March 6, 1857 (http://www.ushistory.org/us/32a.asp)
because black farmers are still being denied full due
process. This is one of the most important issues that
should be brought before the United States Supreme
Court.
While many people in this country think that black
farmers across the nation got justice during the Pigford
Class Action (Pigford v. Glickman 1999), the opposite is
the truth. Black farmers who have been discriminated
against by the Farm Service Agency (FSA), formerly
called Farmers Home Administration (FmHA), continue
to be put out of farming, denied opportunities to make a
living, and lose land that impacts the quality of life for
them and the rural black communities in which they live.
The time has long expired on the unremitting discrim
ination and breach of The Pigford Consent Decree. Black
farmers are continuously denied due process; in particular,
a right to have a formal hearing on the merits of their case
before the Administrative Law Judge of The USDA.
Congress has expressed its intent for the Agency to
hold the formal hearing on the merits in the 2007 Pigford
Remedy Act, which was incorporated in the 2008 Food
Energy and Conservation Act or "Farm Bill." In addition,
the USDA is denying all claims and hearings by black
fanners, fomen farmers, Hispanic farmers, and Native
American farmers. This denial of the formal hearing
before the Administrative Law Judge allows 180 days for
the Agency to correct its own mistakes, is unlawful, unjust
and contrary to Congressional intent pursuant to the
Administrative Procedures Act and The Pigford Consent
Decree.
If you are a supporter of justice and equality, support
black farmers, seek healthy and safe food, join with the
?black farmers and Eddie and Dorothy Wise, other speak
ers from the American Agriculturalists Association, the
North Carolina-based national Black Farmers &
Agriculturalists Association (BFAA), The Cowtown
Foundation, Lawrence Lucas, President Emeritus, USDA
Coalition of Minority Employees, and others to bring this
issue before the United States Supreme Court. These
farmers are asking the question: Are black farmers in 2016
the New Died Scott of 1857?
Eddie Slaughter is president of the American
Agriculturalist Association.
r i