Under the Dome: Truitt says education ‘must move back to the middle’
Good morning! ☀️ Here’s what you need to know in North Carolina politics today.
Michele Morrow defeated state Superintendent Catherine Truitt in the Republican primary election in March. Now Truitt is throwing some not-so-subtle shade at Morrow.
– Stephanie Loder, correspondent, and T. Keung Hui
MICHELE MORROW DECLINES FORUM, BUT SHE’S A TOPIC OF COMMENTS ANYWAY
State Superintendent Catherine Truitt took shots Tuesday at Michele Morrow, who is seeking to replace her as the leader of the state’s public schools.
Morrow, a conservative activist and homeschool parent who accuses public schools of indoctrinating students, defeated Truitt in the Republican primary in March. Morrow did not join Democratic nominee Mo Green in attending Tuesday’s Eggs and Issues breakfast in Raleigh sponsored by the Public School Forum of North Carolina.
“I hope we can rally behind education leaders who take time to show up and share their vision independent of buzzwords,” Truitt said during her speech at the event. “Our students deserve that. Our teachers and administrators deserve that. Let’s be sure that we support a person who is going to do that.”
The Public School Forum says Morrow declined the option to speak at the event in person or to record a presentation. Green had the stage to himself during the superintendent’s candidate forum.
Morrow did send a campaign truck that was parked outside the event at N.C. State’s McKimmon Center. And on Tuesday, she tweeted: “Since I could not be at today’s event, I sent this message directly to attendees: I am grateful for our teachers. I will work to improve their working conditions by making schools the safest buildings in the state.”
During her speech, Truitt said the state needs education leaders who go beyond “buzzwords” like indoctrination and Critical Race Theory to “un-wedge education from the political football it has become.” She said education “must move back to the middle.”
“I hope you ask future education leaders questions like, when was the last time you met with educators, a local superintendent, or a principal?” Truitt said. “Or even more importantly, when was the last time you entrusted your child to a North Carolina public school?” – T. Keung Hui
NEW BILL WOULD TAKE AIM AT CRIMINALS WEARING MASKS
Do you still wear a mask in public because you fear the spread of germs?
Or, are you trying to conceal your identity to commit a crime?
The Unmasking Mobs and Criminals bill presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday by Sen. Buck Newton, a Wilson Republican, would repeal the health and safety exemption from the state’s longtime ban on masking-up in public.
The bill, he said, is in part a response to recent college campus demonstrations where protesters wore masks.
Protests aren’t the only reason for the proposed law. Newton said he believes people wear masks “to break the law” and “to keep their identities hidden, and it’s time for that to stop.”
Some exemptions to the bill include:
Tradesmen.
Actors.
Halloween.
The bill would increase criminal penalties for anyone wearing a mask while committing another crime.
The bill also would change existing law to impose penalties on anyone blocking traffic or impeding motorists during a demonstration.
Get the full story from Avi Bajpai here.
NC DMVA SECRETARY WANTS REPAIRS FOR SANDHILLS STATE VET CEMETERY
The Sandhills State Veterans Cemetery has been in disrepair and the state’s new secretary of the Department of Military & Veterans Affairs plans a visit to see what still needs to be fixed.
Secretary Grier Martin, appointed in April by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, said Tuesday he wants to see improvements at the Sandhills cemetery. Lawmakers allocated $300,000 for maintenance at the cemetery as part of the 2023 state budget.
Sandhills is one of four veterans’ cemeteries in the state that have been behind in maintenance.
Martin said he also plans a visit next week to a recently closed state veterans home in Fayetteville.
Get the full story from Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan here.
NC LICENSE PLATE READERS SPREADING; SO ARE PRIVACY CONCERNS
While they might have been hard to find a few years ago, automated license plate readers are everywhere on North Carolina roads.
They can be difficult to spot, but the devices are on hundreds of streets capturing data from passing motorists.
The data obtained by automated license plate reader cameras can be made accessible to law enforcement officers throughout the nation.
How widespread have these cameras become in North Carolina?
An investigative series by The News & Observer entitled Private Eyes shows the cameras have helped law enforcement to:
Find missing children.
Recover stolen vehicles.
Arrest a murder suspect.
However, the use of the cameras also have raised privacy concerns from groups worried about cases of misuse and misidentification that can lead to bad arrests.
In 2022, Fayetteville police arrested Jacqueline McNeill because the city’s license plate readers had picked up her white Nissan Versa a short distance from a Fayetteville shooting scene.
McNeill was handcuffed to a chair and interviewed for four hours before police let her go, realizing she wasn’t the person they wanted and the vehicle descriptions didn’t match.
Fayetteville officials settled with McNeill for $60,000 after she filed a lawsuit saying that police violated her civil rights.
McNeill isn’t the only person who has been wrongly arrested after police in North Carolina used data from license plate reader cameras.
Read the latest installment of the series Private Eyes from Tyler Dukes here.
REVIEW BOARD VOTES AGAINST CHILDREN’S VILLAGE CHARTER RENEWAL
The N.C. Charter Schools Review Board unanimously voted this week against renewing the charter for Children’s Village Academy in Kinston when it expires next month.
Wilma Troublefield, chair of the Children’s Village board of directors, told the Review Board at the Monday meeting that the school is “still in compliance” but admitted that “there’s room for improvement in internal controls, enrollment and academics.”
Here’s what we know happened leading up to the Review Board’s decision:
The school faced multiple state investigations during the past school year.
The state Department of Public Instruction ordered the school to repay $162,597 in tutoring program funds.
The school had agreed to repay $152,050 in federal grant money it was accused of spending, and the repayment amount is due today.
The school wants to use an installment plan to repay the money with a $50,000 down payment this week and a final payment in November.
Children’s Village can appeal the non-renewal decision to the State Board of Education.
Get the full story from T. Keung Hui here.
That’s all for today. Check your inbox tomorrow for more #ncpol news.
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