Yesterday North Carolina’s powerful Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger sent a fundraising email to his supporters. The subject line? “CDC issues new guidelines to ignore.”
Berger’s message came a day after the Center for Disease Control updated its mask recommendations in the face of an alarming spike in COVID infections, suggesting among other things that vaccinated people wear masks “in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission” of the virus.
The same day Berger encouraged North Carolinians to ignore mask guidance, 2,633 new cases and a percent positivity rate of 10.8 were reported for the state–the highest number of cases in a single day since February.
Berger’s email suggested that masking guidelines should be treated with the same disregard as recommendations against eating raw cookie dough.
Five plaintiffs who sued the Charlotte Mecklenburg Association of Educators (CMAE) in September 2020 over COVID-related school building closures have been ordered by a Mecklenburg County Superior Court judge to pay $11,620 in attorney’s fees incurred by CMAE/NCAE while defending the suit.
The lawsuit claimed that NCAE members’ advocacy for remote instruction during the pandemic constituted a violation of North Carolina state law prohibiting strikes, defined in law as “a cessation or deliberate slowing down of work.” It said “NCAE has coordinated a deliberate slowing down of work of CMS by way of denying and/or delaying Active Instruction to CMS Students.”
In the likely event that you didn’t follow that absurd logic, plaintiffs were arguing that educators speaking during public comments at a board meeting and then board members voting to open in Plan C amounted to an unlawful strike.
The suit was dismissed in March 2021, but North Carolina law also allows for the prevailing party to be awarded attorney’s fees in the event of “a complete absence of a justiciable issue of either law or fact raised by the losing party in any pleading.”
In other words, if you waste other people’s time and moneyby pursuing legal action that clearly has no chance of winning, you are financially responsible for that terrible decision.
Judge Karen Eady-Williams’ order, which you can read in its entirety below, notes that the law expressly permits NCAE and its members “to advocate for workplace safety in the manner alleged in the Complaint” and that the plaintiff’s allegation that NCAE had violated the state constitution was legally insufficient because nonprofit organizations are not state actors.
I’m grateful for the efforts of NCAE’s legal team in standing up for the rights of its members and successfully arguing for the dismissal of this frivolous suit. There has never been a better time to join NCAE than right now. For any North Carolina educators who are interested, please feel free to reach out to me for more information, or visit this link.
Last week Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger unveiled an updated version of HB 324, a law entitled “Ensuring Dignity and Nondiscrimination in Schools.”
Among other things, the bill would make it illegal for teachers to promote feelings of racial discomfort and would require schools to prominently post information about diversity training on their websites for public review.
I also suspect Robinson doesn’t want you to know about the submissions I’m publishing below, which I obtained from his office through a public records request.
Many of the 506 complaints to Robinson’s task force come from North Carolinians who appear deeply concerned about what they perceive as a move away from a white Christian-centered system of public education.
These submissions include recommendations to cancel Black History Month, pleas to stop making white students feel guilty by teaching so much about slavery–which one individual remarked “is getting old”–and suggestions to end hiring practices aimed at increasing diversity of school staff.
They provide a helpful lens to understand the real motivation behind moves across the country to restrict classroom discussions on race and various types of oppression under the false pretense of fighting the boogeyman “critical race theory.”
While the outward tactics and messaging of this movement may be a bit more subtle than in years past, its underlying sentiment feels very familiar.
I’ve transcribed the submissions for your reading convenience but have also included screenshots of the originals for corroboration purposes.
...since parents are helping teach at home now, just a few weeks ago my wife was helping my daughter with a Social Studies assignment. As they were reading out loud, I was appalled at how they were portraying white people in history.
In my mind, just about every race of people throughout history has been guilty of murder, coercion, deceit, killing for gains, wars, etc. etc. Now I’m not saying that’s right or good! NO - it’s not! However, after hearing what was being read I almost felt bad for being born of European decent which was completely out of my control.
I waited until the next day, when I had a chance to chat with my wife before addressing my (now) 7th grader at Ligon Middle. We tried to put things in context, and explain to her that issues with war and slavery, etc., have been issues since biblical times and before.
Hello, Hope all is well. In listening to your speech, which I loved and support your cause. I presently have daughter in H.S. And am very concerned about her education. However, with in your speech I found the root of the problem. You brought up an example of indoctrination in the school system. A student who wanted to write a report on you for Black History month. This would never had happened if their was no such thing as Black History Month. By celebrating only one specific group of people is biased and singling out only one group of people that does not represent all children. Their are to many ethnic groups in this country and to few months in a year to designate a month to only one group of people. By removing Black History Month from the curriculum and replace and allowing the children to focus on their own ethnic background should solve this particular problem.
I’m a grandparent, and employer of parents with school age children. I will tell you that what I am told is going on in schools today is a huge problem. Be aware that the parents often will not publicly come forward b/c of repercussions. Specifically, I have been told of a middle school class being taught the virtues of homosexuality by their lesbian teacher. In Raleigh, my grandchildren’s neighborhood public school’s quality is deteriorating daily by parents pulling their children out and going to private schools b/c the curriculum agenda being pushed down by county and state school boards. This has lead to a mighty teary number of weeks as my daughter and husband try to figure out how they can afford to do what is best for their children and move to the private school sector. BTW, why has an obviously agenda focused racist person like (Dr.) Ford been placed on the important NC Education Board?
When my daughter was in elementary school they held a "holiday" musical performance at Christmas time. They performed a Hunakkah song...a few other songs from other parts of the world related to the holiday season and then Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer...As a Christian we were highly offended at the zero reference to Jesus...they clearly went completely out of their way to keep any and all of the dozens of traditional Christ related songs out of the show...it was completely offensive and Christians where the ONLY ones slighted because it's known that we are respectful people who follow the rules and don't look for every chance to scream our heads off about injustices such as these...Jesus has been the reason for the season for 200 years in this country and it's my belief that because we were one Nation formed under God that we were so blessed for those 200 years...now we are nothing more that highly entitled rag tag groups of "individuals" and look what is happening to us!?!?!?! I feel like I'll never see another great Christian man like GW Bush in the oval office again and I am only 47...this holiday performance was several years ago and people did complain later...all this lead to was all future performances being cancelled which really isn't a solution at all. When Obama was in office our daughter came home ever other week talking about how great his policies were...per her teacher...this has never happened with any other President...so I question the fairness of classroom discussion such as these as well. Thanks
My son's ELA teacher has been talking about slavery since they came back from Christmas break. I'm not saying there is anything wrong with talking about it, but there are other topics she could be discussing. She has been talking about Frederick Douglas and he seemed like a good person, also a Republican from what I've read online because of course every body thinks Republicans were all for slavery, because slave owners were white. An article she had them read and so far has just been one, referred back to 1619 and I was really upset about this. Another person she discussed was a Hispanic named Chavez, and in reading the passage about him it basically made Republicans sound like they hated Hispanics. One thing that has been good about kids being at home is parents can actually see what is being taught. I know these kids are tired of hearing about the same thing over and over and I'm not sure what the teacher thinks she is accomplishing, especially when kids ,hopefully go back in the fall somewhat normal. Everyone knows how bad slavery was, but hearing about it for months now, is getting old. I dont hear any of these teachers talking about Hitler and how he tried to take out a whole race of people! Nor have I heard this teacher once say that blacks in Africa were the ones selling others into slavery. If I could afford Christian school my kids would definitely be there. I wish i liked homeschooling and my kids enjoyed being homeschooled but they dont.
My daughter was raised with sound biblical values (the Golden Rule, etc), but just 3 short years public school turned her into a full-blown socialist. She graduated about 15 years ago; but, even to this day, I cannot have a rational conversation with her regarding anything significant. The indoctrination and hate-mongering has gotten worse in our society. You see it everywhere. In EVERY classroom we need to remove or discourage socialism, critical race theory (etal), and anything else that promotes socialistic indoctrination (Marxism) and hatred. Or, at the very least, teach the Constitution, and the freedoms it espouses, in a positive light. Teach both sides. My daughter will not tell me any specific incidents (as a true socialist would not do); but, the fruit of public education STINKS. ****WE NEED SCHOOL CHOICE NOW!!**** That is, I should be able to send my child to a school that does not teach socialism, but teaches values consistent with my own. Thank you for asking!
In my sons 7th grade ELA class the teacher was teaching from slides. My son showed me the slide and screenshot it and sent it to me. It showed the following lessons: Racism, white supremacy, oppression, white privilege, color blindness, and ethnocentrism; with descriptions of each. One by one, the brown kids in class started speaking up and saying that they are discriminated against all the time because they are brown. Sadly, this is what these teachers in Wake county are doing making the white kids feel inferior and the brown kids feel like everything that happens in their life is about their skin color. It's creating a huge divide in the middle schools. I see it first hand, the kids are afraid to befriend kids of different skin colors because of what the school is teaching. I am in possession of this PowerPoint slide and I would love to share it with you. Also in the 6th and 7th grade classes the teachers are playing CNN for 15 minutes at the start of social studies. And during election time, I could hear the kids on the Chromebook chanting "Biden, Biden, Biden". This issue is ongoing, getting worse. The teachers say they are told the curriculum they have to teach by Wake County.
First off, I want to thank you for all the great work you’re doing and setting up this form for accountability in our state. We deliberately moved to the great state of North Carolina to escape the destruction the Democratic Party had done to our home states (PA and MA). Today I dropped off my daughter at her school, Highland Mills Montessori, a magnet school part of the Charlotte Mecklenburg School district. Apparently the school has a “Black Lives Matter'' mural at the entrance. First off, I am wondering why a public, tax-funded school is able to engage in politics, especially with young children. Second, my daughter has asked why her life does not matter and others’ lives do. It’s a hard thing to explain - what else can I say to her besides the truth - society today only believes certain peoples’ lives matter, based on skin color alone, and that she is not eligible? I really do not trust the school with my daughter since they do not value her based on the messaging they have. I am so appalled that this is allowed at a public school that I eagerly want to put her into a private school but cannot afford it. If there is anything you and your office can do to help I would greatly appreciate it - even if it’s expanding school choice in our state.
I am a preschool teacher in Charlotte, NC. I know this site is for K-12, but I wasn’t sure what else to do or where else to turn. I’m hoping my concern will find the appropriate ear. As a requirement for continuing education, I attended a Conference through Child Care Resources Inc. (CCRI). The title sounded harmless: “Courageous Conversations: Teaching for Change in Early Childhood Classrooms”. It was a class on critical race theory! I am devastated to discover that our trusted source for training early educators is now training North Carolina PRESCHOOL teachers on communism!! They are planning on furthering this topic with a “deeper dive” called “From Courageous Conversations to Culturally Affirming Early Childhood Classrooms” “on May 19th via ZOOM 6:30 - 8:30pm. Please help us stop communism from infecting our youngest children!! What more can I do to help stop communism in my community?
Indoctrination of our children. This country was and hopefully will be foundered on christian believes. Not this fables of socicalism. That through out history has caused mass mureder! Mass genocide! This form of government can only suicide with a god fearing people. Whoa to those that lead our children away from the truth. Whoa unto the decivers of iniquity!! Do not be deceived !!
Hi Mr. Robinson,
My son attends Grace Christian School. During Chapel two weeks ago the entire was spent teaching kids of terms such as micro-aggression and macro-aggression. Black students were speaking and talking about how they are treated differently due to their race and how they must act differently when approached by police officers. The Chapel concluded with a follow up discussion to go over what students felt about the chapel session. They were asked if they felt they had experienced micro-aggression or had secret feelings of micro-aggression towards others of other races, particularly the black race. When I and other parents approached we were told that we were a minority that felt strongly against this teaching. We explained that this is not comparable to the word of God and that this is not ok. We are all created out of the image of God and that no man was greater than the other. Please help us. Many are too afraid to stand and confront this issue. We need help! If this happens to our Christian Schools we are in deeper trouble than we could ever imagine. This ideology is from Satan to further divide us. I am afraid as to what this is doing to our churches, our schools, and our communities. Please help us! We need someone to come to our school to speak to the head master, [redacted] as well as staff members. I am begging you!!
My kids attend a charter school, Union Academy, in Monroe, NC. A parent survey was sent out a couple weeks ago and one page of the survey was nothing but diversity, equity, and inclusion questions. They asked if my kids would benefit from a more diverse staff, etc. Of course my answer was no, they would benefit from qualified teachers and staff. This got my agitated so I spoke at the board meeting (and sent a follow up email)...nothing. I made it clear that myself and (other parents I had spoken with were too scared to speak up) were not happy with this and the Critical Race Theory the state passed.
When I left the head master, [redacted], said he had not heard of CRT. A week later he sent a letter to the entire school that a Head of Curriculum and Inclusion position had been created and [redacted] would be in this position. She is a middle school counselor, not a teacher or even deals with the curriculum, but I guess she had the right skin color.
As a high school teacher, a parent of grown children and a grandmother of two, I am extremely concerned about the direction education is going. I can no longer be a caring teacher of all children, no matter the color of the skin. I have to listen to training that tells me I am a racist when I am not. I have to allow George Floyd to to glorified even by the superintendent. I understand what happen was totally wrong but he was a criminal too and not someone children should look up to.
I now have to worry about how I address my students using pronouns that don’t even fit is a sentence correctly. Example: please go over to “they’s” table and see they’s work. Because I cannot address all children as she, he, her or his plus I am not expected to do it in front of parents. As a parent that is wrong. These children are not ours they have parents and the parents that want to be involved should know what is going on at school. They have no idea what they are really learning.
We now have a black History course which is great but in a meeting had to listen to the teacher tell us his class was the only class the students felt safe in. That was an insult to all of us because we are all loving teachers.
We don’t do this for the money. I think of each child as our future.
I know this has been a tough year for all of us but I have never been a racist and am insulted when I am treated like I am. It is the narrative present in this country right now and I get that. I love you and your message. I like that you are concerned about what is going on in schools because I am too. I have watched it change over the years. I am concerned about the future leaders of our country because they think this is who we are as humans.
I am fine with who anyone decides they want to love and understand totally not everyone love’s the opposite sex. It isn’t that at all. I want to be a teacher and worry about how best to educate a child. Life for a child is confusing enough. We as teachers now have to watch everything we say and everything we do worried that someone will perceive us wrong. I had no idea that saying “ Y’all” is racist. I am on the Care and Equity team for SIT team and just found that out. I am born and raised in N.C. and that was born in my vocabulary. I am not the same teacher now. I don’t talk to them like I use to because I am fearful. All it takes is one child to take something wrong or make something up. Our word means nothing. Respect went out the window and the students know it.
I just want to teach my class, love all my students equally even the one that drive me crazy. It has made me fearful to speak and I think of my every word. I went back to school at 43 to become a teacher because I wanted to give something back as an artist. I am 5 year away from 20 years for retirement and that seems like forever right now. I hate I ever left graphic art because I don’t feel valued by this state. I will continue to do the best for my students because that is why I became a teacher but something needs to change. I have too many years in to stop but I want so much to be done. As a parent and a grandmother I don’t want my family attending public school now and that is really saying something because my mother was a teacher, and my sister is a teacher in public school. I don’t trust the values being taught all because of the political views. It was fine in our county to talk about Biden but not for anyone else. I never talk politics anyway but it was very evident who was allowed to speak and who were silenced.
I pray you can do something to fix what is going on so I can continue to believe in what I do. Please keep my letter private because I don’t want to lose my job so I can still get my retirement but I couldn’t just sit back and act like what is happening is okay. Thank you for you time
Lt.Governor Robinson, et al,
I watched the video on Facebook of the student assaulted in a classroom in Guilford County. I’m sure appropriate action will be taken in this case.
However, using simple troubleshooting questioning of “cause and affect” this is not a cause, it is an affect.
Face it, we spent astronomical amounts of tax dollars trying to provide public education to everyone seeking it. Yet, schools, most schools, have a percentage of their student body present who will not follow the law, disrupt, peddle drugs, threaten violence against fellow students and teachers and are just, general pains in the tail for any society to deal with.
What good are graduation rates if a typical student completes 13 years of public education, with fewer skills and less knowledge than the average student did three or four decades back?
Why can’t we get those who demonstrate that they really don’t want, or don’t deserve to be in school out? Why waste resources and time on them? Why allow them to intimidate teachers and students who need to teach
and learn? What, exactly, do we think we’re gaining by keeping them there?
The viability of public education is really being questioned by folks who value education for their children. My son in Virginia has two daughters, still toddlers, but looks at the prospects of where to school them with dread. Working class families like us, the products of public education, will be hard pressed to afford a private education for our children. But, seeing the decline of our public schools, it may be a pill that we are forced to swallow. When most of folks like us are gone to other options like private schools, home schooling, charter schools, etc., you’re going to be left with
“Thug School”.
It breaks my heart to see what we’ve allowed to happen to public education.
Newsflash, it’s not unreasonable to make people shut up and behave. It’s not unreasonable to require that they meet a minimum standard of literacy, math skills, science knowledge, history knowledge and conduct.
Do we really want a school system that mirrors what they have in inner-city school systems in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, or Los Angeles here in NC?
It appears that’s where we’re headed.
I appreciate that Lt. Governor Robinson started this task force. It’s a step in the right direction. My guess is that federal involvement is at the heart of the mismanagement problems of our schools…like everything else they touch. But, we can solve a lot of these issues ourselves - and not by throwing money at them, but by simply separating those who want to be there, from those who don’t.
Sorry to be long-winded.
May God bless what you are trying to do.
My son was taken from an elective this year and told he was now required to take a class called the Human Experience. It was taught by a {redacted} at Middle Creek High School. Although I was not able to sit in an observe this class, he was taking the class virtually so I would stand outside of the room and listen as the teacher instructed. The class almost entirely was concerning the racism in the state of North Carolina. I heard him speak about changing the name of schools because they were named after slave owners, that the New & Observer was started by racist slave persons. The classes final project was to take action that would change the world. My son is not a political person and told the teacher he was going to do his on providing food to homeless. The teacher told him that isn't world changing. My son said I know he wants me to do a political action but I don't care if my grade suffers at this point I am not doing it. This class is very much skewed to the left and to teach these kids to focus on the ugly past of NC. I am so glad he is out of this class and if I had any idea at the beginning of the semester what this class was about I would have forced the school to take him out.
I just want you to be aware of this class and its existence in case other parents reach out to you too.
Thank you for all you are doing to help our state!
The recently approved Glossary for the new Social Studies Standards have reintroduced the words "systemic racism" under the definition of "racism". These were the words that were removed from the standards as they were deemed too divisive. Systemic Racism is part of Critical Race Theory which has no place in our schools. Below is the link to the meeting agenda where the PDF of the newly approved Glossary can be seen. Thank you.
At its Monday meeting, the Cabarrus Board of Education unanimously adopted a “Resolution to Ensure Dignity and Nondiscrimination in Schools.”
The resolution notes that the board “recognizes the importance of diversity of backgrounds, opinions, and expression as foundational to providing students with the opportunity to receive a sound basic education” before stating that student learning should not result in any “discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress.”
The board’s action comes after North Carolina’s State Board of Education adopted new, more inclusive social studies standards which teach history from more diverse perspectives. Some language in the standards documents has resulted in charges that the standards teach that the United States is a racist nation and that news could be distressing for some of our children.
The Cabarrus resolution states that, while the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction is responsible for standards, it’s up to the local school board to determine which curriculum is used to teach those standards.
You can watch the board and superintendent’s brief discussion of the resolution here.
As a teacher I feel it’s important to add that learning and growing as an individual involves discomfort. That’s an inherent part of the learning process.
This resolution isn’t really about ensuring that all students are treated with dignity in schools at all. It’s about ensuring that white students don’t learn that their country has a long history of systemic oppression towards people of color and a whole host of other traditionally marginalized groups.
After all, if you want to ensure that a system continues to center you and afford you every advantage possible, the first thing you’d do is squash any efforts aimed at teaching people that such inequity exists.
In a petition released Friday, some of North Carolina’s leading voices on racial equity are calling on state lawmakers to end to efforts to whitewash history through legislation such as HB 755 and HB 324:
We, the undersigned individuals and organizations, universally condemn the widespread attempts to whitewash our education system in North Carolina by undermining efforts to better respond to the cultures, lived realities, and learning needs of Black, Indigenous, Latinx and Asian children. What children learn and the information they are exposed to shapes their understanding of the world around them. We recognize this as a transparent disinformation campaign that uses fear, intimidation and othering as tactics for impeding progress. We fully recognize the intentional perversion of so-called “Critical Race Theory” as a scapegoat, intended to delegitimize Black and brown scholarship and excite a base of voters for upcoming elections. These futile attempts are sadly part of a historical pattern. We will not sit idly by as racial resentment and dog-whistle politics are deployed to slow national momentum toward social justice.
As stated by Malcolm X, “Education is the passport to the future”. Rather than prepare students for how to share power in a multiracial democracy with a rising majority of people of color, bad faith actors in our state have instead chosen to follow patterns of the past — backlash politics. We’ve seen this movie before. We know what is happening.
The attempts to prevent any serious teaching about systemic racism, identifying groups with structural advantages or investigating historical inequality are designed to preserve the status quo and keep us trapped in a bygone era. The bills presently being considered in the North Carolina General Assembly (HB 755 & HB 324) are the latest examples of the law being used to preserve white supremacy and prevent students from learning the truth. Nearly 200 years prior, the same state legislature passed a statute outlawing enslaved Africans from reading due to the belief that “teaching of slaves to read and write, has a tendency to excite dis-satisfaction in their minds, and to produce insurrection and rebellion”. Today, they seek to prevent students of color from learning about themselves and keep white children from learning about themselves as well as hard history for fear they will look upon their communities harshly. This is educational malpractice and intellectually dishonest.
As those who champion the causes of anti-racism, racial equity, and inclusion, we are steadfast and unmovable in our conviction to teach the truth no matter what. We will advocate for the educational needs of all children, but most especially those who are historically excluded. Just as the United Daughters of the Confederacy used school systems to rewrite the story of the Civil War and spread “Lost Cause” propaganda, the rash of “anti-CRT” bills across the country are about protecting white feelings at the expense of everyone else. With more access to information than ever before in human history, these efforts at indoctrinating the youth will not be successful. We know what this is. We know they are coming for us, seeking to undermine teachers, demoralize families, and disrespect students who want better. Nevertheless, we declare our right to equal educational opportunity and commit to creating this reality. In the words of Ella Baker, “we who believe in freedom cannot rest until this happens”. If you support this statement, add your name to the petition and send it to others in your personal/professional network.
Signed,
Letha Muhammad, Education Justice Alliance
Tehia Starker Glass, Associate Professor; and Founder/Director of Anti-Racism in Urban Education Graduate Certificate Program, UNC Charlotte
Christina Cole Spears
Janeen Bryant, Co-Founder and Director of Operations at the Center for Racial Equity in Education
James E. Ford, Co-Founder and Executive Director at the Center for Racial Equity in Education
Marcus Bass, NC Black Alliance
Erin T. Miller, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina at Charlotte
But if you see any smoke, it’s more likely from the copious roasts of the F.A.C.T.S. project and Robinson’s extreme politics that have been submitted through the portal.
After obtaining and reading all 506 F.A.C.T.S. submissions through a public records request, I can report that a significant number of them are complaints from people who see the lieutenant governor’s effort as a shameful political witch hunt or tongue in cheek reports intended to mock his project. In addition, many of the submissions are from North Carolinians who more generally object to his homophobic, xenophobic views.
The submissions are not all criticisms and roasts, and they do include a good bit of generic bashing of public schools, wild accusations of teachers being satanic communists, and pleas to end the persecution of white people by Robinson’s fringe base. Stay tuned for more on those.
For now, here’s a sampling of Mark Robinson FACTS roasts for the public’s information. I’ve transcribed the submissions for your reading convenience but have also included screenshots of the originals for documentation purposes.
Lieutenant Governor, Mark Robinson, publicly posted false, manipulative, and hyperpartisan political rhetoric to his constituents on Facebook, including a comparison of LGBTQ individuals to pedophiles. I do not agree with a public servant using their platform to spread divisive, false, and scientifically dishonest information in his public-facing post. Public figures, such as teachers and politicians, should not spread dishonest and scientifically inaccurate information, like calling First Lady Michelle Obama “he.”
To resolve this issue, Robinson should immediately issue an apology, take classes on human psychology/biology and resign.
I think the make up of your task force is politically charged and working in conflict with your words. You are worried about indoctrination...but yet you mainly have conservative representatives on your task force. If you agree with a course of action or a lesson in a classroom happening currently, then chances are it’s because it is a conservative or nationalistic stance. If you TRULY care about the education of our children, the makeup of your task force should represent that - and not be “irrelevant,” as you said during your press conference. You represent ALL of North Carolina...not just the red voters. In 1997, the North Carolina Supreme Court held, as a result of the Leandro v. State of NC case, that the state constitution’s right to education “is a right to a sound basic education” for EVERY student. If you are going to form an educational watchdog group, then it better be representative of the ENTIRE state, and the ONLY purpose should be improving the QUALITY of their education and NOT perpetuating a political fishing expedition. I urge you to dig deeper into this “so-called” indoctrination that you feel is running rampant in this state...because, as a veteran educator in this state, I guarantee you this “problem” is a figment of your political imagination. This is just more governmental overreach and a waste of taxpayer money from a party that is supposedly against governmental overreach and wasting taxpayer money. Thank you for your time, and I hope you read this the way it was intended. I want you to hear from someone who disagrees with you, and I hope you grow this task force with more balanced political and ideological voices. Have a good night.
My son has the most amazing teachers and staff at his school. I am SO incredibly thrilled that he is in such wonderful and loving hands. This “FACTS” initiative is completely ludicrous. You should be commending our teachers for the amazing work they have been doing during the hardest time in our nation’s recent history. Shame on you for this. We love our NC educators and support them for EVERYTHING they do to support and educate our children.
This task force is a travesty that flouts open-minded thinking and seeks to have a witch hunt against educators. Education is about the free exchange of all ideas, not just those you agree with.
I submit the concern and complaint that the very formation of this committee is a dangerous step toward indoctrination within our public school system. I’m among many who are concerned that the F.A.C.T.S. committee, under the obviously tainted leadership of Lt. Gov. Robertson is unbothered by, but not unaware of, the dangerous irony in forming a committee to stand against “indoctrination” while denying Science and History.
There was no mask in sight at the podium today, nor any semblance of social distancing. Choosing even the word “indoctrination” is a loaded and inflammatory decision that belies you true intent. This Committee will not stand.
I know of a state that has Lt. Governor who wants to inject hatred toward school teachers as his first task in office. I know that in NC the LT. Governor has no real duties or authority, but this seems an absurd publicity stunt. Please look into this guy’s attempts to destroy public education in NC.
Our NC Lt. Governor, who advertises himself as having “traveled the state and nation spreading the conservative message”, and members of our SBOE, have an ongoing attempt to indoctrinate students into popular right-wing talking points through the manipulation of NC Social Studies Curriculum. As a parent, this is much more concerning than individual classroom teachers parroting these same ideas, as this attempt to enforce partisan indoctrination is on a much broader scale. These include, but are not limited to: perpetuating a myth of American exceptionalism* in all areas, minimizing the historical impact of majority communities in the systemic oppression of minority communities, refusal to acknowledge current government systems that perpetuate racial and socioeconomic power inequities, and the denial of generations of scientific and anthropological study that acknowledge gender fluidity.
*This* attempted indoctrination of our students is of profound concern, as I send my daughter to NC Public Schools in hopes that she will be taught a genuine reflection of her state and nation’s history, and not a whitewashed/glossed over approximation that seeks to protect those in the seats of power from experiencing any discomfort--or maybe worse, experiencing a moment of genuine reflection.
This issue is ongoing, and the Lt. Governor seems to be taking no steps to resolve the problem. If anything, he appears to be doubling-down on this right-wing indoctrination. It is deeply disappointing, particularly coming from a brazenly-partisan politician who has never served his state as a public school teacher.
*#18th standard of living, 11th in healthcare system performance, 15th in economic opportunities for women, etc. #1 in defense spending though, by almost 300%! We’re number one?(!)
I wanted to do a report about Tupac Shakur, but my teacher made me do a report about Mark Robinson since he is the first Black Lieutenant Governor in NC history and the first Black Republican elected to any major office since Reconstruction. I did my research, and it turns out Robinson is a huge homophobe, Islamaphobe, and antisemite. I complained but my teacher insisted I be exposed to conservative thought. If you can’t fire my teacher, you should at least get Lt. Gov. Robinson to resign since he’s a hateful bigot.
My daughter’s teacher recently Ms. Peffercorn was teaching the kids about left angles in her 4th grade math class. Now I’m concerned that she is being indoctrinated with liberal propaganda because they never taught her about right angles! I’m concerned and really nervous for our children.
My daughter is a freshman and in her class last week she was told by her History teacher that she had to use Times New Roman font in her essay. We are offended because the Romans killed Jesus! I can’t believe her school hates the lord!!
I would like to report that Lt. Governor Mark Robinson engaged in an attempt to indoctrinate the students of North Carolina with a politically motivated, non-factual, specific interpretation of American and North Carolina history In modifying the NC State Social Studies standards which were adopted on February 4, 2021. The proposed version of the standards reflected the consensus view of professionals in the field, including conservative, lifelong registered Republicans such as myself, but the Lieutenant Governor used his position to override these recommendations and replace them with a skewed, alternate version of the past that is not supported by the historical evidence.
Additionally, I would like to report bullying and coercion attempted by the Lieutenant Governor against educators in the state through the creation of this reporting system as a tool to force his preferred version of history on the students in North Carolina in an attempt to indoctrinate them.
This is an ongoing issue that I hope to help remedy with my vote in the next Lieutenant Gubernatorial primary and, if necessary, general elections.
This is ridiculous. What a waste of tax payers money. You all can’t handle the truth. There is much ugliness in this country’s history. As there is good in our history. Stop trying to white wash it. There is no indoctrination going on in our schools. Shame on you for trying to control what our teachers can teach. This smacks of McCarthyism. Not to mention intended polarization of our society. Try putting your efforts to something positive that draws communities together rather than dividing. 🤦♀️
I have multiple situations I'd like to report to the Task Force. In my 8th grade class (I am currently a high school senior) my social studies teacher had us run down the hallway and scream a Confederate War cry. Also in 8th grade, a speaker came in to present to the entire 8th grade class that a Confederate General and slave owner was a good and honorable person. I was also taught in some of my classes that the civil war happened because of "states rights," rather than slavery or the right to own slaves. I never learned about the experiences of slaves other than 'it was bad and they suffered.' There were no presentations given from the perspective of slaves. To me this is a form of indoctrinating students because it teaches a bias that ignores an entire group of people in the US who endured hundreds of years of slavery and implies the Confederacy had a legitimate cause. Later, in high school, when learning about the Cold war and communism, we only learned history that didn't include what communism actually is or what life was like for people in those communist countries. When learning about the Vietnam war, we learn that the US was like a savior for Vietnam against communism but don't learn about the war crimes, nor the atrocious dictators the US supported, and I only learned about The Pentagon Papers in my last year of High School. Lastly, throughout my middle school and some of my high school education I was told that Christopher Columbus was a good person and I wasn't taught the true history of Thanksgiving until I educated myself. I love America, but I think the the lack of teaching multiple perspectives in our history courses causes students to resent our great country. If we teach students multiple perspectives, we can learn from our history and prevent the negative aspects from re-occurring. It will help students accept our country's history and be patriotic in that they will want to work together to improve the United States, rather than resent it.
The teachers at my daughter’s school are convinced that the Lt Gov is an alien and that he is bent on destroying tolerance and truth in historical teachings. This is very offensive to me. Please review.
I'm reporting a racist individual spewing hate and intimidating as well as harassing teachers to push his political agenda. This anti-semitic individual is using his position of power to garner the support of white supremacists and push his radical right agenda on our curriculum in NC. Here is a YouTube video of his antisemitic racist verbal diarrhea: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCwR4sbXBcs&t=544s
His name is Mark Robinson. I've taken steps to report his words and racist slurs to the local media and speak out against him as much as possible. Politics don't belong in schools, but he is working hard to disenfranchise students of color with his racist hate speech. He has yet to condemn anti-Asian racism in America right now, and that radical right denial of racism just has no place in our schools. Please use your Jim Crow Task Force with its Spanish Inquisition tactics and taxpayer-funded resources to self-investigate rather than harass and intimidate teachers. The parties involved are Olivia Oxendine and Catherine Truitt, working to promote a radical right agenda in public schools.
Students are being indoctrinated into believing that there is no such thing as systematic racism that has been foisted upon people of color due in part to red lining, pay gaps, education gaps through tracts, or discrimetory policing and selective law enforcement.
Instead, they are forced to sit through countless lecture focusing on Euro-centric and sanitized history rather than presenting facts agreed upon by actual historians rather than two bit politicians with an agenda and a lack of candor when discussing civics, history or society
Hello - I am disheartened by this blatantly political attempt to foment further partisanship by the lieutenant governor. By promoting this anti-teacher task force, the lieutenant governor is exhibiting his own bias and discrimination regarding education: it’s clear he is interested in indicting hard-working teachers based on hearsay, ignorance and innuendo.
Plus the lieutenant governor’s outright dismissal of proposed social studies standards demonstrates that he is more interested in promoting his partisan politics than properly educating North Carolina’s students.
Therefore I respectfully ask that the F.A.C.T.S task force investigate the lieutenant governor and his role in promoting political partisanship in education. However I would much prefer that the F.A.C.T.S task force spend their time spotlighting teachers who are tirelessly working to go above and beyond to educate their students. There are many, many teachers doing this despite what the lieutenant governor believes.
Since you're using this form to find potential donors & voters, but also to find sensational stories that you can point to as extreme examples of a problem that doesn't exist, I decided to waste your time by reminding you that this racist task force emerged due to Mark Robinson's precious feelings being hurt when a child couldn't write about him for a school report. You are working on a task force because a grown man had his ego hurt by a child not being able to write about him. You must be so proud of yourself. Keep fishing. Maybe one day, you'll find that example from this form of someone doing something so just, fair, liberal, socialist (or whatever it is you're looking for) that you can have a follow-up news conference about it to emphasize your point. Or maybe continuing to talk about Tupac will end up actually working for you. Good luck finding indoctrination (aka, antiracist teaching).
I teach my students that calling other people "slaves" is wrong. I know that this is my opinion and your big bad Jim Crow Task Force is gonna waste taxpayer dollars coming after me now because I am not spewing hate like your racist leader, Mark Robinson, who said this: "half of black Democrats don't realize they are slaves and don't know who their masters are. The other half don't care." https://www.wral.com/on-facebook-nc-s-republican-candidate-for-lieutenant-governor-lashes-out-insults/19304590/
Since you align yourself with a man who calls people who disagree with him "slaves," it appears that you only want teachers to teach the Mark Robinson curriculum, which is hate, bigotry, and racism. Oh, and to blame all of the world's problems on socialism (not to mention fail to use apostrophes correctly). Please advise: exactly which students should we "hate" and which parents should we call "slaves?" A man with the moral authority of Mark Robinson should be able to clarify that since he believes he is capable of determining what is right and wrong to share in classrooms.
My teacher tried to get me to think for myself. That scares me because I want you, the illustrious lieutenant governor of North Carolina to do that for me.
Since you refuse to name the members of your Racist Task Klan and prefer to cowardly hide behind Mark Robinson’s website and this re-election mailing list disguised as a POC reporting tool, I will leave my name anonymous, too.
I “indoctrinated” my kids by telling them not to call people insulting names. I know that Mark Robinson loves to bully and insult people by calling them Kamala the Chameleon and Barbed Wire Joe, but I just prefer to indoctrinate my kids into treating people with a little more kindness. I know that doesn’t sit well with racist, radical Republicans who are threatened by 9 year olds learning about our nation’s history, but I just prefer to teach kids to avoid sinking to such pathetic tactics as the ones your fearless leader likes to employ. I also know that you prefer that we only teach reading, writing, math, science, and social studies (well, social studies that paints America as the best country on Earth that never did anything bad), but I managed to squeeze in some time to indoctrinate my students about kindness. Please come after me and my teaching license for this blatant act of indoctrination.
Lieutenant Robinson,
As a North Carolina public school teacher, this form sickens me. What it proves, once again, is that our state legislature does not care about our public schools. It does not care about teachers like me that are trying to teach our state’s children--and by our state’s children, I mean ALL children--something that only non-charter public schools can truly offer. The sad truth is, I will be leaving teaching after next year primarily because of how this legislative body treats my profession. I am someone with a Masters degree from one of the top universities in the nation. I stay up late grading assignments and creating lesson plans, and I make $40,000 a year. Enough is enough. I love my kids, but I also like having my own life and decent pay to live it. It’s just not worth it anymore.
Stop disrespecting and distrusting teachers. Treat us like the professionals we are and pay us what we’re worth. Then maybe people like me would stick around. Do you not understand that you’re making teaching in NC even more of an abysmal prospect for college graduates than it already is with these kinds of offensive measures? How dare you call me and teachers like me indoctrinators--teachers who are trying to teach about actual history, actual science, and actual truth. Teachers who would never, *ever* tell a student what to think or do, but who understand that their job is to unlock students’ potential to make up their own minds through sound reasoning, reflection and self-awareness.
Soon, there’s going to be no one left that's willing to take abuse and belittlement from you or your colleagues. The children of North Carolina will be the ones that take the hit when teachers skilled in their content and research-based pedagogy start leaving in droves. And if that sounds unlikely to you, you can mark my words that it will happen if you continue to maintain these kinds of punitive, unjust, absurd policies. And the future of our state will be endangered because of you.
There’s still time to use your power for good. Taking down this form would be a start.
How disappointing. Is this actually an issue in schools, rather than an issue to pander to a particular constituency? By indoctrination, do you mean the actual teaching of facts and real history that happened? Said another way, is it indoctrination if it goes against one’s personal belief systems?
We can’t cancel or erase the facts just because we don’t like them.
F.A.C.T.: History repeats itself and one of the best ways to avoid repeating past mistakes is to learn from them and the only way to learn from them is to learn about them.
F.A.C.T.: We, as a country, have an abysmal history when it comes to dehumanizing others who don’t conform to the white anglo-saxon ideal. Pretending the things we’ve done to others never happened doesn’t mean they never happened.
Forms like this, as well as HB 755, serve to do nothing but degrade, demean and demoralize teachers who work incredibly hard, only to be vilified by people with political motivations. A year ago, teachers were hailed as heroes as they quickly pivoted to begin teaching remotely at the beginning of the pandemic. Within a few months, the hero talk gave way to “those greedy, indoctrinating teachers” talk. One treats teachers as professionals, the other is unfair and untrue. You have the power to help treat educators in the professional manner they have earned the right to be treated in.
Our state is being misled and misinformed by Mark Robinson’s attempts to indoctrinate the citizens of NC with this nonsense. Our tax dollars pay his salary, and he is choosing to wage war on the amazing school teachers who bend over backwards trying to provide the best quality education under horrific conditions. If he was a smart man, or even half way decent of a man, he would invest time into finding out what teachers need and then providing it. He’s a joke, and people in our county are ready to get rid of him.
Today, I indoctrinated my kids by teaching them to accept a set of beliefs about how it is not okay to make fun of someone's food, particularly if it is part of their cultural or ethnic heritage. I know that you prefer that we don't even discuss or teach about race or ethnicity since it is all divisive in your fragile minds, which is why I am reporting this blatant example of indoctrination so that you can waste time and money investigating it. Here's the resource, just in case you're interesting in a good old fashioned book burning or the censoring of free speech or your group's big government overreach into the classroom:
It indoctrinates kids into thinking it's bad for them to make fun of the food people eat and that we should respect other cultures and other people's choices. Feel free to call this "Critical Race Theory" since everything about race is Critical Race Theory in your mind, and all of it is therefore bad. I'm sure the white supremacists who support your racist task force will be happy to have you go after this resource.
Have you thought about perhaps having an "Endorsed by the F.A.C.T.S. Task Force" sticker to put on any of the whitewashed, race-neutral, non-indoctrinating books by white authors that you actually will allow people to use? That should keep your task force busy and preoccupied. It will also let me know which books NOT to use in my classroom. Happy fishing! I hope you're finding some sensationalized stories to use as examples of indoctrination that you can use for your fear-mongering campaign. Enjoy your racist witch hunt.
Dear Members of the Anti-Indoctrination Clown Show (and your racist leader, Mark Robinson): I just want to alert you anonymous racist task force members of another indoctrination attempt in the classroom. I told kids that Columbus didn't discover America because indigenous people already lived there. I'm assuming that the members of this racist task force believe Native Americans are savage and uncultured, much like your colleage, Rick Santorum, who said nothing was here before Columbus got here, and that Native American's don't have culture. I also assume that your clown show ring-leader Mark Robinson has some choice, racist things to say about Native Americans given the fact that he has awful, bigoted things to say about every non-white race. Since your task force is so afraid of 9 year olds learning about our actual history, I figured I'd share that I'm one of the many teachers you can try to write a sensationalized news story about so you can get enough votes to keep you in office for years to come. There are enough uneducated, racist white supremacists who believe the jargon you are spitting out, and who are attacking a 1970s sociological theory nobody is even teaching in k-12 schools (Critical Race Theory) that you will surely be able to leverage racism into votes. Congratulates on sinking so low to stay in office.
This description has been censored to remove any words that your w**t* sup*****y task force objects to seeing or hearing in K-12 schools.
I am aware of teachers talking about r*c* and rac*is* in schools. This goes against my beliefs as a Christian and what is taught in the Bible. I know that DPI is currently a Christian organization under the helm of grandmaster Truitt, blessed be her name. We also honor Mark Robinson, for teaching a new generation of rac**** and big*** how to be new-rac*is**. The new-rac**m he preaches and teaches makes it safe to be a rac*st conservative again.
We also support the ban on C*T, even thought we don't know what it is and it isn't being taught in schools. A hallmark foundation of the new Trumpist conservative movement is to attack anything too difficult for us to comprehend if we can use it as a scapegoat to mobilize the base.
Thank you for censoring our teachers. We need bodycams and conservative classroom observers in every classroom. We need to be able to live stream and punish teachers who teach democratic ideas and honor teachers who teach the new conservative ideals of whi** suprema**, censorship, scapegoating, lies, and unconditional support of Tucker Carlson.
I saw a teacher who had a copy of Ibram Kendi's book: How to Be an Antiracist, in her classroom on her personal bookshelf. I know that Phil Berger says that Ibram Kendi once criticized capitalism and the senate leader then said that the fact that a school system in NC paid to have him speak, that means there is CRT in the classrooms. Since you and your unnamed anti-CRT clique meet in your little treehouse to stop CRT, please advise on what actions I should take. If you are thinking a good old-fashioned book burning, please indicate which form of charcoal or kindling to use to burn Ibram Kendi's book. Please also indicate what other titles we should burn. Like you, I don't think for myself, so please tell me if we do or don't support Dr. Seuss anymore. I need bigots like Mark Robinson to tell me what to believe. If he says burn it, I will. I imagine he wants us to shoot the books with our assault rifles first, then burn them. Please advise.
Recently your boss, the lieutenant governor, issued a statement denouncing Ibram X. Kendi’s recent webinar with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. Mr. Robinson’s statement made many presumptions and offered thoughts based on those presumptions which were wrong. It seems as if the Lt. Governor has a rather weak understanding of what Critical Race Theory really is, and he wrongfully presumes school districts across the state are pushing to teach it. He also presumed Professor Kendi spoke extensively about CRT in his talk, this was also wrong.
It needs to be documented that public officials like our Lt. Governor plus the leader of the NC Senate are pushing false narratives about education and our schools. This needs to stop. These comments are crafted solely to get the attention of your supporters, they do not educate or further any debate about race relations.
I request that Mr. Robinson stopped trying to push false narratives and condemning people, and school districts, before he has all the facts. The FACTS group needs to fully examine Mr. Robinson’s statements regarding education and let the public know that he is trying to indoctrinate NC citizens to follow his beliefs and not facts.
I have strong concerns about the efforts of certain leaders to limit the knowledge of our children. In the introduction to this form, it states the purpose is to hold public schools accountable “… by exposing indoctrination in the classroom and ensuring that our students are taught how to think - not what to think.” How can our students be taught HOW to think when people/leaders within our state are attempting to limit the facts that they need in order to use critical thinking skills and draw conclusions? It also speaks that its purpose is “To assist in holding local and county-level education officials accountable for what occurs in their schools.” Who is holding our state leaders accountable for attempting to destroy both our true history and our public education system? Under “what to submit” it states, “Examples of students being subjected to indoctrination according to a political agenda or ideology, whether through assigned work, teacher comments, or a hostile classroom environment.” I am reporting you and much of our Republican leadership for attempting to subject our students to indoctrination due to your political agenda. Indoctrination occurs through the use of Memory Laws where leaders attempt to control the masses by not allowing them to know/learn the actual and complete truth, such as the history of white supremacy and racism in our country. Sound familiar? If parents want their children to only learn what makes them comfortable, they have the option to find a private school that only teaches those tenets. Public schools are for the public, and as such, all of our children and their cultures should be reflected in the curriculum. I find it ironic that this “Taskforce” uses F.A.C.T.S. as its acronym. There is nothing about its underlying goal that deals in facts. As a tax paying citizen and voter who believes in actual FACTS, democracy, critical thinking, and making sure our children are not being indoctrinated by those actually supporting indoctrination, I expect you to reflect and look into what you are doing
Dear White Folks Intent on Censoring Teachers of Color and Canceling History:
I indoctrinated my 5th graders this year when I taught the Revolutionary War. I taught the American History, and according to small-minded racists like the ones on this Witch Hunt Pro-Censorship Task Force, teaching history is Critical Race Theory. I included words like "Black" and "Freedom" as I talked about our nation's founding. Also, as a teacher of color in a public school (something you folks want to get rid of and privatize anyway), that must mean I did everything wrong. I did not live up to your white standards and I taught curiosity, not censorship, which seems to be the ideal you appreciate more than inquiry and inquisitiveness. Thanks so your work on this racist task force and for reminding us why we need to work harder in public schools to prevent people from growing up and becoming as biased, racist, and gullible as yourselves. I want my students to learn to actually think about things, rather than doing what you all do by blindly believing anti-history nonsense by political operatives
