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PAGE 2 — WEST CRAVEN HIGHLIGHTS — NOVEMBER 9, 1989
Our Opinion
Merit Pay For Teachers
Is An Unexploded Bomb
Other Defections Probable
Unless Some Changes Made
We understand that some guidelines set by the North Carolina
Board of Education recently could scuttle a new law designed to give
local school systems more flexibility. At least the North Carolina As
sociation of Educators, through its president, Julia Kron, is upset
over the actions of the board.
The bill was sponsored in the legislature by Senator Richard Con
dor, and he says what the State Board of Education has laid out for
local school offlcials to follow is contrary to the intent of the law.
At issue is the provision which gives school principals the leading
role in deciding which teachers and staff members are to receive
merit salary bonuses. If we understand correctly, principals and
school superintendents would make recommendations to local
school boards and these boards would make the final decisions.
Now suppose that in a given school, half the teachers are given
merit salary bonuses and half are left out in the cold. Does anyone
think the 50 percent failing to get merit pay consideration will be
happy? We are building an educational bomb which will certainly
explode along the way.
We are told that in giving the merit pay bonuses, the expectations
are that the school programs will improve. But then the same ones
handing out the bonuses will be the ones deciding on the matter of
program improvements.
Such a system places principals, superintendents, and school
board members in an untenable position. If this plan goes through
as laid out now, we shall see morale among half the teachers dip
down to a new low.
Admittedly, we have excellent teachers, average teachers, and
weak teachers. We need to try to weed out the weak teachers if we
are dedicated in the effort to improve educational opportunity and
attainment among students.
Rather than leave it to human opinion as to which ones deserve
salary bonuses and which ones do not, we ought to be making a sin
cere effort to rid the school systems of the weak teachers and give the
others across the board bonuses or raises of whatever designation
we wish to employ.
Now we have a good parallel. We have just recently had a World
Series in baseball. Oakland won that series. There were 24 players
on the Oakland roster. Some of those 24 players were much better
than the others. Some were outstanding, some were average, and
some were weak. But all were given the same bonus for winning the
series.
In public education today, if we want to destroy morale and if we
want to face a continuing battle among school personnel, let us grab
off a program in which some get merit bonuses and some do not.
Regardless of where it is, we sincerely believe that this thing poli
ticians and others call “merit bonus" is an unexploded bomb about to
go off. Teachers apparently do not want it. School offlcials appa
rently do not want it as outlined by the State Board of Education.
The senator sponsoring the bill does not like the guidelines.
But a few politicians apparently do like it, and unless it is
changed, we have it for better or for worse.
When such staunch conservation Democrats as Lauch Faircloth
and Harold Hardison announce this early that they are supporting
the candidacy of Senator Jesse Helms for re-election, then we cannot
merely pass such a move off by saying, ‘Oh well, only two are
involved."
It is time Democrats learned a lesson. While we do not expect the
national Democratic party to listen to the voice of the conservatives,
it might be expected that in North Carolina some common sense
would prevail. North Carolina is just not going to support a liberal
candidate, and on the national scene, we can again in 1992 face a lib
eral Democratic candidate for president, this state will not support
that candidacy. It seems to us that this is written in the sands, and it
is there for all to see.
Here in our state we do not know the list of Democrats who will be
running for the party nomination to run against Mr. Helms next
year. A lot of names have been mentioned, several trial balloons
have been floated, but as of now no leading contender has come
forward.
It is true that Bo Thomas is out there in the field campaigning, but
his candidacy is hardly worth mentioning. He is the anti-Beaufort
County candidate who lost his state Senate seat in the 1988 election.
Mr. Faircloth and Mr. Hardison are both good men. The fact that
they are both conservative places them in a special dog house with
the national party. It is time North Carolina quit playing up to such
far out liberals as those now in control of the party. We just cannot
stomach much more ofTed Kennedy and Tip O'Neill who led the way
for the nomination of Michael Dukakis in the last election. They got
their liberal all right, but the American people spoke decisively at
the election booths.
If Messrs. Faircloth and Hardison are set to go out and campaign
actively for Mr. Helms, if they are set to try to convince other Demo
crats to follow their lead, then surely they will be met with some
measure of success. We cannot say how much, but it will be some.
While we regret that they have found it necessary to bypass the
Democratic party in this matter of electing a senator before they
even know the name ofthe Democratic opponent, they had the right
to do so, but we must question the wisdom of doing this so early.
Their lead might cause some others to defect. We expect such, and
if we are completely honest, we see no available Democrat now who
can beat Mr. Helms. Mr. Faircloth and Mr. Hardison could have
kept quiet and Mr. Helms would still be the favorite to win.
What seems so impossible even in our state is to convince liberal
Democrats to move a step to the right and conservative Democrats to
move a step toward center. If the party does not realize together
ness, then the senatorial election of 1990 will be a Helms celebration
and the election of 1992 will bring on another gala event for the na
tional Republican ticket.
CjClif
1/i^inds
Okay. So you're having a bad day. If it wasn't for bad luck you'd
have no luck at all. Well, let me ease your load for a moment with a
few cases of others whose luck is far worse than yours;
Adragline operator in Florida was so proud of his new Honda that
he invited a neighbor over to show it off. As he and the neighbor were
admiring the machine, the owner pressed the electric starter button
to prove how quiet the engine ran. The motorcycle was in gear, it
plunged through a glass door into the living room, dragging the
owner along with it. At the hospital, he received treatment for
numerous cuts on his arms and face. Meanwhile, back at home, his
wife sopped up gasoline seeping from the motorcycle which was ly
ing on its side in the living room. She flushed the gasoline-soak^
paper towels down the toilet The man returned home and went to
the bathroom. He lit a cigarette as he sat there on the john^^d
dropped the match into the toilet bowl. The paper towels had clogged
the pipes, and the match detonated the gasoline. The explosion blew
the commode to pieces and propelled the man into the air, infleting
third-degree burns on bis exposed behind. The ambulance atten
dants had to carry the man spread-eagle, face down on the stretcher
because of his new wounds. As he was being carried into the hospi
tal, one of the attendants tripped, and the stretcher crashed to the
ground, leaving the owner of the new Honda with a broken leg, as
well.
Feel all better now? NO! Well, then lets push ahead...
Virginia owned a 1966 Volkswagen valued at $200. It was stolen
from her place of employment in New York and driven three-
quarters of a mile onto a frozen bay and burned. By the time Virginia
could locate her car, it had drilled off on a large ice floe and eventu
ally sunk to the bottom ofthe bay. The Army Corps of Engineers in
formed Virginia that the Volkswagen was a navigational hazard
and that she was obligated to retrieve it at her own expense otss^r
$1,000. Her insurance did not cover a loss of this type, and if she
failed to remove her vehicle, the Coast Guard would place a buoy
over it and bill her $230 a month...forever.
He Is Struggling
Reasonable Request
U.S. House Democrats have asked that a special prosecutor be ap
pointed to investigate the activities offormer Housing Secretary Sa
muel Pierce.
A letter from 19 members of the 20-member Democratic majority
on the House Judiciary Committee went to Attorney General Ri
chard Thornburgh. It was said that Mr. Pierce might be implicated
in conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government and also of perjury.
The law requires that in such cases a mqjority of the party in con
trol of the committee must make the request.
Mr. Pierce has refused to date to answer questions about his activ
ities as Housing Secretary. He had hid behind the fifth amendment
on advice of his attorney. His very refusal to talk begets suspicion,
and a special prosecutor to find the truth appears to us to be a rea
sonable request.
We have just read a story about an outstanding high school ba
sketball player. He is now in his senior year in school, and he expects
to graduate next June.
This boy is being recruited by several colleges over the country.
And it seems strange that he is not being recruited by several col
leges within North Carolina. But there is a reason.
That reason is that this boy has not yet been able to score .700 on
the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). And so many institutions are
bypassing him. But it is strange to read the list of outstanding insti
tutions which are camping at his door. Wake Forest, Georgetown
and Temple universities are seeking the service of this young man.
Now if this boy had an SAT score of800 or better, he would be in a
real active position with regard to which college to attend.
Suddenly, it is dawning upon a lot of people that colleges are pay
ing more attention than ever to academics.
Now do you feel better? WHAT! Okay dokey...
A twenty-two year old steel worker was hospitalized with a frac
tured skull, broken pelvis, broken leg, and other injuries after being
struck by four vehicles within two minutes. It seemed that Bob was
crossing the street when a taxi struck him and flung him over its
roof. The taxi drove away, and, as he lay stunned in the road, a car
ran over him, bowling him into the gutter. That car drove on, too.
While pedestrians gathered at the scene, a small van plowed
through the crowd, leaving behind three injured bystanders and an
even more battered Bob. When a fourth vehicle came along, the
crowd scattered, and only one man was hit. Guess who that was?
And then there was Steve, of Virginia, who was forced to declare
bankruptcy after losing a $35,000 lawsuit. A few days later, he
crashed into a truck, severely injuring himself and destroying his
car. While he was recovering in4Ml6>spttiri,4hieves looted $2,000 in
camera equipment and $4S011irtltBlt'ii>&^ffl^jj^recked car, burglars
stole $10,000 worth of furniture from his home, and his wife di
vorced him. Steve attempted to bounce back by placing the following
ad in a local newspaper: “I'm 39, just lost my family, my home, my
business, and my car, but not my sense of adventure. Seeking part
ner for mutual beneficial ventures." Steve had no response, how
ever, because the paper misprinted his phone number.
NOW, have a nice day.
Obituary
Are you a
Smoke Detector
Ncglector?
William Webster Butler, 78, died
Sunday in I^tt County Memorial
Hospital. He resided in Vanceboro.
The funeral service was con
ducted at 2 p.m. Tuesday in the
Wilkerson Funeral Chapel in Van
ceboro by the Rev. Dan Hall. Burial
was in the Vanceboro Cemetery
with Masonic rites.
He is survived by his wife,
Ethelene Farrell Butler; one
daughter, Linda Butler Harrington
of Kinston; two sisters, Hollie Butler
Everette of Robersonville and Helen
Butler of Vanceboro; seven grand-
children and four great
grandchildren.
Butler, a native and lifelong resi
dent of the Vanceboro area of Cra
ven County, was retired from the
United States Post OTHce with 20
years of service. 1 (e was a member of
the Vanceboro Christian Church
were he served as en elder, trustee,
member of the choir and served as
president of the Christian Men’s
Fellowship’s Pamlico District Con
vention. He also served as Sunday
school superintendent for 19 years.
Test your smoke
detector regularly and
change the battery
once a year.
He was a member of the Vanceb
oro Rotary Club, served as
secretary-treasurer of the Vanceb
oro Volunteer Fire Department. He
was a charter member of the Van
ceboro Medical Center board of di
rectors and served as a committee
member of Boy Scout Troop 58.
A life pfekvnlion mnuKC
Ifom >Hjr lKJl fire depAfimenl.
He was n d2nd Degree Mason, a
member of the Vanceboro Masonic
Lodge No. 433, AF & AM, the Scot
tish Rite Bodies of New Bern and
the Order of the Eastern Star.
Memorials may be made to the
Vanceboro Christian Church, Van
ceboro, N.C. 28586.
ATTENTION!
ADVERTISERS
The West Craven Highlights will pub
lish on Wednesday, Nov. 22 instead of
Thursday, Nov. 23 (Thanksgiving
Day), to allow our employees to be
with their families.
To observe this holiday, we are ad
justing our deadlines as follows:
Deadline for Wed., Nov. 22 will be:
Friday, Nov. 17 - Noon.
Thank you for your cooperation
West Craven
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