Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson launched his F.A.C.T.S. (“Fairness and Accountability for Teachers and Students”) website in March, touting it as a tool to help smoke out the rampant liberal indoctrination that is occurring in North Carolina’s classrooms.
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.
FACTS matter.
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.
Happy fishing!
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:
https://www.learningforjustice.org/magazine/fall-2020/min-jees-lunch
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