(video) How School Choice Benefits Students:

read the corresponding article concerning school choice and it’s benefits.

If you are a parent, how do you choose to educate your child/ren? Comment below!

from John:

Friends,

With grateful appreciation, I thank all who have supported our efforts over the past few years to strengthen the state’s largest school system and the 16th largest in America. Through strong leadership we chartered a course “from good to great” as we managed Wake County’s 165 schools, 18,000 employees, 147,000 students, and $1.5 billion budget. Together we trimmed tens of millions of dollars while we protected our dedicated teachers, raised academic outcomes, launched innovative programs and developed one of the largest parental choice assignment plans in our nation.

While these results have been good for the children and taxpayers of Wake County, community leaders from the coast to the mountains recognize that the state of education throughout much of NC remains significantly more challenged. In North Carolina we have had a proud historic commitment to education, however, over the past 10 years we have struggled to keep pace as the digital age unfolds. This reduces opportunities for our children and impacts the strength of our educated workforce. Too many of our NC children still cannot read and nearly 30% are not graduating on time. We rank 4th in the nation in suspensions while we continue to exacerbate a serious school-to-prison pipeline costing our state hundreds of millions of dollars annually.

Over the last decade our educational outcomes continued to fall behind international standards and, at best by various selected measures, have climbed only to the middle of the pack among the states. In 2008, our newly elected Governor claimed to be the next “Education Governor”. During her first two years in office, with a Democrat controlled General Assembly by her side, we lost more teacher jobs in this state than we had in the previous quarter century. Short of lotteries and repeated calls for tax increases where our children are used as shields for political gamesmanship, we have seen no real leadership or solutions on these critical issues. The future of our children and our state is too important for gambling and games. More than ever we need real leadership and our teachers need our support. Our children deserve better and our state depends on it.

During recent months community leaders whom I admire and respect from across this great state have asked me to consider bringing my dedication, leadership, and lifetime of passion for helping children to the office of State Superintendent. I am honored by their belief in my tenacity and track record of success. I truly believe that together we can strengthen education in NC. We can and must produce significant measurable results for our students, support parents, empower teachers, reduce bureaucracy, and increase local controls.

In respect to these urgent matters I plan to announce my decision by Thursday, January 26th. Over the coming week my wife and I will be joined by family and friends in serious and prayerful consideration of this state-wide campaign to champion a better education for the children of North Carolina. As I consider this run for State Super-intendent I ask that you keep me and my family in your prayers as well.

Humbly yours,

John Tedesco

Wake County Public School System

Board of Education Representative District 2

Connect with John:

facebook.com/JohnTedescoNC

twitter.com/JohnTedescoNC

It’s here! We are one step closer to having more educational freedom in North Carolina. State Senator Richard Stevens from Wake county introduced a bill this week to remove the cap on charter schools in North Carolina.

What is a Charter School?
Charter schools provide parents a choice in the education of their children — and it is a public choice. Public tax dollars are the primary funding sources for charter schools. Local, state, and federal dollars follow the child to a charter school. The schools have open enrollment with no discrimination, no religious associations, and no tuition.

How much does it cost to attend a Charter School?
Charter Schools are tuition free. They are public schools and funding for the schools come from federal, state, and local taxes.

What are the requirements for acceptance into a charter school?
The only requirement to get into a charter school is the availability at the school in the requested grade. (from the Office of Charter Schools)

Currently, we have one hundred charter schools, mandated by current law. I, personally asked my Representatives locally why there was a cap, and the answer was that Democrats in control of the general assembly were not willing to co sponsor the legislation needed to lift the cap. With 100 counties in North Carolina, that would break down to one per county, but that is not true. Forsyth County has approximately five, Mecklenburg County has at least five, Wake County has at least ten- so minimally these three counties alone have over 17 additional schools, taking away from other counties. (Why would Democrats want to deter educational success?) Lifting the cap gives North Carolina the opportunity to have charter schools in all counties.

Eddie Goodall, president of N.C. Alliance for Public Charter Schools, agreed that there should be more accountability, and he added that it should be measured by improvement in school performance in a given year.

“The cap is one of the main problems for our state, but there are many more things we want to do. We want an independent charter school commission to oversee charter schools to make sure we have effective and quality charter schools,” he said.

“The only kind of cap there should be is a quality cap.” *

Read the bill for yourself. I believe this is a good start for our new general assembly. Ideally, I would also like to see tax credits or a well written voucher program- what are your thoughts?

– Wendy
Find me on Facebook and Twitter

Be sure to send Senator Stevens an email- Richard.Stevens@ncleg.net thanking him for introducing this bill!

The Co Sponsors are:
Austin M. Allran (Catawba, Iredell);
Tom Apodaca (Buncombe, Henderson, Polk);
Stan Bingham (Davidson, Guilford);
Peter S. Brunstetter (Forsyth);
Thom Goolsby (New Hanover);
Malcolm Graham (Mecklenburg); <– the one democrat!
Rick Gunn (Alamance, Caswell);
Ralph Hise (Avery, Haywood, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Yancey);
Neal Hunt (Wake);
Wesley Meredith (Bladen, Cumberland);
E. S. (Buck) Newton (Nash, Wilson);
Louis Pate (Greene, Pitt, Wayne);
David Rouzer (Johnston, Wayne);
Dan Soucek (Alexander, Ashe, Watauga, Wilkes);
Jerry W. Tillman (Montgomery, Randolph);
Tommy Tucker (Mecklenburg, Union)

NC House Representative George Cleveland (District 14, Onslow County) introduced a bill Thursday that would prohibit illegal aliens from attending North Carolina’s community college and universities. (This bill is on the calendar Monday, January 31.) You might remember the state community colleges board voting last year to admit illegal immigrants to classrooms if they graduated from a U.S. high school, pay out-of-state tuition and did not displace a citizen. This bill would reverse that.  Read the entire bill for yourself. All one and almost-a- half pages of it.

So there’s a large debate surrounding this topic. Opponents of this bill would say it’s not fair for students who had no say so in to their legal status because it is their parents who made the decision to emigrate here illegally and put them in our school system. What do you believe is the best way to solve that issue?

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– Wendy
Find me on Facebook and Twitter

Be sure to shoot Representative Cleveland an email thanking him for introducing this bill at George.Cleveland@ncleg.net!

Co Sponsors of this bill are: L. Brown;  Current;  Frye;  Guice;  Hager;  Iler;  Ingle;  Jones; Jordan;  Langdon;  McGee;

Sanderson;  Torbett;

Presumptive Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger also spoke with reporters last week (see Thom Tillis interview). As well as social issues and the budgeting process, he also commented on taxes:

“Increases in taxes are not something that we are going to have as part of what we deal with in the budget. Continuation of the so-called ‘temporary taxes’ is not something that will be part of our proposal. I’ve said it this way: We intend to keep the promise the Democrats made two years ago when they said that they were temporary taxes.”

Redistricting:

“One of the goals that we have is to draw maps that comply with the law, that will be approved under the Voting Rights Act, and that will be in place so that the state of North Carolina can conduct elections under the maps, drawn by the people who were elected by the voters in the recent election, in time that we don’t have to delay next year’s elections.”

and the UNC School System:

“It’s hard for me to say whether or not you’ll see going forward a perception amongst people outside as to whether or not the universities are getting a better deal or the K-12 education system is getting a better deal or community colleges are getting a better deal. It seems to me that we have an obligation to make sure that all three of those legs are properly funded and perform the function for which the people of North Carolina expect those institutions to exist.”

(read the full article)