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The Chronicle
Winston-Salem, NC^2710l|
Volume39,Number42 WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. THURSDAY, June 13, 2013
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Photo* by Lay la Garrm
Rev. Steve Boyd speaks at Shiloh Baptist Church as fellow protestors (from left) Rev. Ron LaRocque, Norman Hill, Patrick
Donnelly and Derick Smith look on.
NAACP tour aims to recruit
more warriors for justice
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
The spirit of protest was alive and well
when the N.C. NAACP's Forward
Together tour rolled through Winston
Salem last Thursday.
Dozens gathered in the sanctuary of
Shiloh Baptist Church to hear about the
latest pieces of controversial legislation
being shopped around the Republican
controlled General Assembly and learn
how they can get involved in the growing
Moral Mondays movement, a weekly non
violent protest at the state legislature.
NAACP Field Secretary Rob Stephens
reported that the six week-old Moral
Mondays initiative is growing by the
week; more than 400 people have been
arrested for civil disobedience in connec
tion with the effort since the first Moral
Monday on May 6. Stephens said the
number of people who are actively partic
ipating in civil disobedience is unprece
dented.
"That has never happened in North
Carolina's history - not in the 1960s, not
anytime before," he said, noting that
Moral Mondays arrestees have ranged in
age from 18-92.
The movement has attracted thousands
of protestors and supporters, and Stephens
said that the citizens across the state have
been equally receptive to the tour, which
covered 26 stops in eight days.
The tour was organized to help raise
North Carolinians' awareness of the host
dftal Is state lawmakers have cranked out
since Gov. Pat McCrory took office in
January, cinching a Republican superma
See NAACP on A2
m?um, .
Sen. Eartine Parmon addresses the
audience. ? t
Brotherly Love
Phoin by Todd Luck
Union Baptist Church Pastor Dr. Sir Walter
Mack Jr. embraces his sister, Walteria Mack
Spaulding, Union's masic director. She was
among the local music legends honored last week
at the church. Read more on page Bl.
Charter school students
headed to Kenya
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONICLE
Carter G. Woodson School of
Challenge students are headed to
Kenya next week for a month-long
excursion.
It will be the first international I
trip for the local charter school, U
which educates students in grades I
K-12.
"That's one of the things I I
dreamed about when I started Carter I
G. Woodson," said Hazel Mack, ?
who started the school in 1997. "I
wanted our children here in the
inner cities of Winston-Salem to not ^
be limited to Winston-Salem, to not H
be limited to North Carolina, to not I
be limited to the shores of the U.S. K
of A " ^
Carter G. Woodson's student I
body is nearly 100 percent black |
and Hispanic and many come from
low income households, but the
school has found a formula for sue
cess that eludes other public and charter schools. Its graduation rate is con
sistently 100 percent, and 94 percent of its graduates go on to college or
See Kenya on A10
mm ?? i
Photo by Todd l uck
Principal Ben Harris
Vouchers
making
strange
bedfellows
Controversial bill has
support among Dems
and the GOP
BY LAYLA CARMS
THE CHRONICLE
Some call it opportunity; others say
it's anything but.
House Bill 944, otherwise known
as the Opportunity Scholarship Act,
has been the source of controversy and
debate on both sides of the political
aisle in the North Carolina Legislature.
If approved, the bill would divert funds
from public school budgets and invest
them in a vouch
er program, pro
viding up to
$4,200 a year for
eligible public
school students
to attend private
schools.
"I am encour
aged that the
members of the
House Education
Committee stood
with parents and
justice by pass
ing the
Opportunity
Scholarship
Act," State Rep.
Marcus Brandon,
a black
Democrat who is
a primary spon
sor of HB 944,
said following
the House
Education
Hants
Martin
Committee s approval ot it on May 2s.
"We are one step closer to creating the
opportunity and access for thousands
of parents across the state."
Proponents of the bill, many of
whom are conservative Republicans,
say it would allow low income stu
dents an unprecedented opportunity to
reap the benefits of a private educa
tion.
"Today's passage of House Bill 944
by the House Education Committee
was for that parent and the hundreds of
thousands of other low-income moth
ers and fathers across our state who
desire to provide a quality education
for their children but are prohibited by
their income." said Darrell Allison,
president of the pro-voucher organiza
tion Parents for Educational Freedom,
in a statement.
Dissenters argue that the project
will cripple an already struggling pub
lic school system and fail to provide
for the poorest students, whose fami
lies won't be able to bridge the gap
between the voucher and the actual
cost of tuition, which exceeds $19,000
annually at some local schools. The
NC Justice Center, which bills itself as
"a leading progressive research and
advocacy organization" with a mission
of eliminating poverty statewide, was
See Vouchers on A10
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Grad leaves principal who has been omnipresent
Beverly Davis
BY LAYLA GARMS
THE CHRONICLE
?
Eighteen-year-old Sterling Jones crossed the stage at K.R.
Williams Auditorium Sunday to become one of Winston-Salem
Preparatory Academy's newest alumni.
"It's been a long journey, and I'm just basking in the moment,
because once I walk across that stage, I can never come back and do
it again," the standout student-athlete said last week.
Jones has a distinction that none of his other fellow graduates can
claim: he's had the same principal, Richard Watts, for almost his
See Jones on A7
Photo by Lay la
Gam*
Sterling
Jones (left)
and
Richard
Watts pause
for a photo
after grad- -
u a t i o n
practice
last week.
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