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WILSON LIBRARY
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DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA - SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2015
TELEPHONE (919) 682-2913 PRICE: 30 CENTj
OLUME 94 - NUMBER 6
NC schools assigned A through F
grades on student results
The school board will ask the
General Assembly - which man
dated the A-through-F school-
house grades - to increase state
funding for poor schools to
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sate and frankly our nation. So
it’s a problem that we need to
address, and we need to solve,”
said state school board chairman
Bill Cobey, a former state Re
publican Party chairman.
By Emery P. Dalesio
RALEIGH (AP) - About one
out of 20 North Carolina public
schools are getting an A while
about 6 percent brought home
an F on new statewide school re
port cards released Feb. 5 using a
generous grading curve.
All schools receiving a D or
F must send letters to students’
parents informing them of the
grade.
School officials pointed to
a correlation between school
grades and the economic condi
tions of the children they teach.
All the schools landing Fs and
nearly all those drawing Ds had
a majority of students receiving
free or discounted lunch. Almost
90 percent of the schools collect
ing As had less than half of their
students in poverty.
“Unfortunately what we see
in these results is that perfor
mance tracks with poverty rates
across North Carolina. This
problem is not a new problem.
It has become systemic and em
bedded in too many parts of ou
North Carolina Central University is partnering with PNC Bank to host a series of events begin-
ng in Black History Month that honor the contributions and accomplishments of historian and
rmer professor of history at the university, Dr. John Hope Franklin. Franklin, who died n 2009,
mid have turned 100 on January 2, 2015. All the events are free and open to the public.
“A Closer Look into the Life of Dr. John Hope Franklin” discussion led by students from NC-
J’s Department of History, Feb. 18,1 p.m., A.E. Student Union, Room 146. was former “Dr. John
ope Franklin: Friend and Colleague” discussion led by Dr. Walter Brown, former dean, NCCU
hool of Education. (NCCU Photo by Chi Brown)
REP. LARRY HALL
Hall’s speech responding
to NC State of the State
address
RALEIGH (AP) - The prepared text of the Democratic response
to Gov. Pat McCrory’s State of the State address on Feb. 4 by House
Minority Leader Larry Hall, D-Durham:
Good evening North Carolina, I'm Larry Hall and I am honored to
serve as Democratic Leader for the N.C. House of Representatives. I
have always been proud to be a North Carolinian. We’ve always been
a state where anyone willing to work hard could succeed.
My father was a career Army officer and our family lived at Fort
Bragg before moving to Durham. I am proud to have attended and
graduated from North Carolina public schools and to have earned
a law degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
My teachers here in North Carolina gave me the foundation need
ed to succeed in a 16-year career as an Infantry Officer in the United
States Marine Corps and as an attorney while my wife worked as
public school teacher. When I left active duty in the Marines at Camp
Lejeune in Jacksonville, I chose to remain here and make my home in
North Carolina. I began practicing law, and eventually ran for public
office.
THE JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN SCHOLARS FROM DURHAM PUBLIC SCHOOLS. See story on page 2 and related story on
age 2)
Latest Attack by Extremists Is More Smoke and Mirrors to Distort the
Facts, and Deflect from the Extreme Policies They Cannot Defend
Statement from Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, President of the North Carolina NAACP
t is ridiculous, but typical, that the primary Republican response to Saturday’s Moral March on Raleigh has been
) once again deflect from the issues and to distort the Forward Together Moral Movement. Rather than debating us
n their regressive public policies - policies that activated upwards of 80,000 North Carolinians to unite at the state
capitol last weekend in continued mass protest - extremists in the legislature are instead trying to divert attention
by misrepresenting a standard event flyer.
Throughout the North Carolina NAACP’s long history of peaceful, nonviolent direct action, people who are op-
osed to our principles have often challenged our demonstrations with violence and other disruptions. To prepare
articipants, we have always recommended various security measures, including looking out for the elderly, remain-
ig calm in the face of any altercation and bringing a photo ID for safety reasons. Photo ID is not required to partici-
ate in marches or other direct actions, and event officials have never checked for ID. To suggest otherwise is more
fthe same smoke and mirrors from lawmakers who pass vicious, unconstitutional policies that they simply cannot
efend.
What is in fact hypocritical is for extremists in the General Assembly to lie about widespread voter fraud, which
oes not exist in the state of North Carolina, in order to pass a monster law that suppresses the right to vote at every
:vel of the democratic process. This law not only implements a strict voter ID requirement; among other provi-
ions, it also cuts a week from early voting, bans same-day registration and eliminates the pre-registration of 16- and
7-year-olds - all successful programs that had dramatically increased voter participation in the state. And as an
.ugust 2013 Public Policy Poll shows, the people of North Carolina decidedly oppose these attacks on democracy,
'ith just 39 percent of voters supporting the voter suppression bill.
■ Furthermore, this legislature has also raised taxes on poor and working people, denied the expansion of Medicaid
to half a million sick North Carolinians, made draconian funding cuts to public education and drastically restricted
ccess to women’s health - all after having sworn to legislate for the good of the whole. To claim to have moral
onvictions and then ram through policies that hurt the sick, the poor, and our children is among the pinnacle of
ypocrisy.
As the enormous turnout and indestructible resolve at the Moral March on Raleigh showed this weekend, North
'arolina will continue to fight back against this harmful, extreme agenda. We are here to stay; we will not give up;
nd no amount of distortions, distractions and deflections will stop us from moving our great state forward togeth-
I want to ensure my children and grandchildren, and your children
and grandchildren, have the same opportunities I had and more - a
shot at a good job, the chance to succeed, and the ability to provide
an even better life for their families. As a Marine Corps Infantry Offi
cer, I’ve served with America’s best and brightest, most patriotic and
dedicated. Our Motto is Semper Fidelis - Always Faithful. Although
the recession of the past few years has been tough, I believed that,
digging deep, we would bounce back. I never lost faith that we could
come back. I was always faithful in North Carolina.
Today, middle-class families in other states are finally a little
more optimistic about their future, more secure in their mortgages
and more confident in their ability to provide for their families. But
the fact is too many families here in North Carolina are still living
paycheck to paycheck. Too many moms and dads are staying up at
night worrying about creating a better future for their children. For
them, the recovery just isn’t complete yet. Now is the time to focus
on building an economy that works for everyone, not just the very
wealthy and a chosen few.
Here in North Carolina, quality public schools have always been
the foundation of our economic prosperity. In 20 years, our children
and grandchildren will be competing for jobs that don’t even exist to
day. We need to make sure they get a quality education that prepares
them to compete for the jobs of the future.
But the fact is Gov. McCrory is failing our students. Under his
administration, North Carolina now ranks 48th in classroom spend
ing. Our teachers are among the lowest paid in the nation and states
like Texas are holding j ob fairs here and convincing some of our best
and brightest to move away. We owe it to ourselves and our state to
do better.
We have great teachers and we must give them the support they
deserve.
If you really want to know how our schools are doing, just ask
a teacher or parent. I’ve heard story after story of teachers buying
supplies out of their own pockets or students working with outdated
textbooks.
We need to stop cutting and start investing in our students. It’s
time to stop asking our students and teachers to do more with less -
year after year. We need to make sure our children are given the tools
to compete in the 21st century and that is something Gov. McCrory
and the Republican legislature have simply failed to do.
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