NCAE

My last blog was heavily focused on politics. I'm going to try to avoid that issue unless it comes up in something that I'm reading. That said, I wrote this a few days ago in response to something I read in the paper. It's not meant to be political. I'm not trying to support a candidate or cause, rather I'm trying to point out some things I see really wrong with NCAE's latest video. Here ya go:

I was reading in the paper this morning and saw an article about NCAE that sparked my interest. Apparently they released a video this week, alleging that there is a "pact" between a Wake County School board member (Chairman Ron Margiotta), NC House Majority Leader Paul Stam, and a couple private citizens to destroy public schools. Naturally, I wanted to watch the video. The video can be seen at their website, NCAE. It's the first video on the page today. 

I was shocked. I can't believe that a public organization like NCAE would take time to put together random clips and a few facts to claim a conspiracy. I'm simply stunned. They show the amount of money donated to Chariman Margiotta's campaign and Stam's campaign and then make the extraordinary jump that there's a conspiracy to end public schooling. What is more, NCAE didn't explain all their facts, just edited clips to suit their needs.

They say at one point "Luddy and Pope spent $38,000 on the 2009 Wake School Board Races to transfer resources from public schools to private schools." That money didn't all go to Ron Margiotta, it was spread across candidates. If you'd like to point fingers at contributions, one of the people who had the most contributions (notably one donation from an employer of a George Soros company) was Rita Rakestraw. You can see her financial report here. She had contributions from a state Senator and state Congresswoman, as well as several former school board members. Not only did Rakestraw report raising over $14,000, John Tedesco (who has since lost his job) reported raising only $3,764. Tedesco has largely supported Margiotta, but if there's a conspiracy to close public schools why didn't Luddy and Pope buy out Tedesco too? (And why did Tedesco win and Rakestraw lose their respective districts if money is everything?) Tedesco's report is here. I don't see Pope's or Luddy's name on it. Let's treat contributions like they are: everyone got them, and that doesn't mean there's a conspiracy there. Luddy and Pope do want something from the school board, but that's no different from other contributors. People contribute to campaigns because they support what the candidate wants. Contributors want their voices heard.  Rakestraw got donations because people believed in her cause and supported her. That doesn't mean there was a government conspiracy behind her campaign just because she had several donations from Public representatives. Rod Brind'Amour also donated to the Wake County schoolboard campaigns in 2009. Does that mean there's a conspiracy to make everyone in schools play hockey? No, he just supports what one of the candidates believes. I'm just shocked that NCAE pointed to campaign contributions and failed to mention that one of the people who received the most contributions was Rakestraw, who likely wouldn't support Margiotta's ideas. This isn't the only bias statement in the NCAE video. 

The "Vouchers" they refer to, for example, aren't actually vouchers-they're tax credits. Same thing right? No, they're not. Paul Stam is dealing with a budget issue-right now it costs (on average) about $8500 a year to educate one student in North Carolina. Add that up for all the students in NC, and you get a lot of money being spent on education. Paul Stam's proposal was to offer a tax credit, which would give money back to the parents of students who enrolled in private schools. That money could be spent on anything-you could buy a car, a dog, or even donate it to the public school system. A voucher, however, would simply go from North Carolina government to a private school. Stam's proposal would save the state about $6000 a year per student whose parents chose to enroll him or her in a private school. That's not destroying public education, that's saving it money.

Their suggesting that businessmen own Charter schools is also misleading. Charter schools are funded by the government, not run by one man. They aren't like private schools, because they still receive public funding, though they make it seem that Luddy owns and operates Charter schools solely as private business venture. 

Finally, I was most appalled about the subject of this video: politicians and board members. Not kids. Not educators. NCAE  limply and lamely claims at the end that all this is "at our children's expense". If it was about students, NCAE, you should have started with that, not tacked on a small bit at the end with a cute little girl to rile up emotions. I can see the video watchers now: "Damn those people! They took from poor little Suzy! She'll grow up so stupid being in those private schools." Wait, wait. If NCAE is about furthering education, shouldn't it (a good education) be supported in any way possible?  Stam's just saying "Listen, if you put little Suzy in a private school, we'll give you (the parents) some money." I don't think the parents are going to be outraged that Suzy won't get a good education from Cary Academy or Ravenscroft or wherever. I can't imagine any parent saying "You mean our child will be in private school and we're getting $2500? You got a lot of nerve." In addition the video says nothing about teachers. NCAE wasn't advocating for teachers or even trying to say teachers will lose jobs. Rather than focusing on the students, teachers, and education, NCAE revealed their real purpose: politics. In two minutes, fifty-four seconds there is a three second clip of a student and nothing about educators. Everything else is about politics. 

My purpose in this isn't too support the Wake County school board or any particular politicians. I have mixed feelings about some of the people mentioned in NCAE's video. My point, rather, was to call out NCAE for making an irresponsible, biased video which focuses more on campaign contributions and politics than educating children. That, to me, is outrageous. If you'd like to pick a fight with public representatives, do it somewhere else and don't cowardly hide behind your title and claim you're "doin it for the kids".