Katy's Conservative Corner

Wake GOP: Keep Kids Home From School Memorial Day

Families with students on year-round calendar should keep children home from school on Monday
 Wake GOP Chairman Claude E. Pope, Jr. is assailing the Wake County Public School System’s (WCPSS) decision to send all students on year-round calendars to school on Memorial Day.  These tens of thousands of students, along with traditional calendar students, instead did not go to school the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, a convenience holiday.
 
“Memorial Day, which was established in 1868, is a national holiday of remembrance of the millions of American patriots who have fought to protect this country’s freedom.  It is shameful that the WCPSS decided to make this special day a school day for Wake students who attend year-round schools,” said Pope.  “On behalf of the Wake County Republican Party, I urge parents to keep their children home from school so that they can honor our veterans with their families.
 
“Decisions by the school board and WCPSS like this once again illustrate that the needs of Wake parents and students are not a priority.  This is why the Wake GOP and PACs like Take Wake Schools Back are working hard to recruit and elect four new school board members who will make common-sense decisions and listen to parents,” Pope added.   

Editor's Note: This issue was discussed on Friday on the Bill LuMaye show on WPTF-AM 680 in the Raleigh-Durham market.  Your blogger, streamed it online from Emerald Isle and called into the show to discuss the issue and help explain it to the listeners.

Additionally, your blogger is a Wake County GOP activist.

Guest Column: Morals Belong in Public Schools by Kevin Connor

Do you know that one-third of North Carolina’s elementary and middle school students perform below grade level expectations in such basic subjects as math and reading, while more than half perform below national standards?

Did you know that fewer than half of North Carolina schools are meeting Adequate Yearly Progress standards for No Child Left Behind, compared to 74 percent of schools nationally?

Are you aware that nearly one-third of North Carolina high school students each year do not graduate and among economically disadvantaged students, two of every five students will not graduate?

With this miserable record of failure, North Carolina legislators (i.e. Democrats) are on the threshold of adding yet another program of study to an already disastrous lesson plan, contraceptives.  

That’s right folks, with kids performing below grade level and 1/3 of high school students not graduating, we’re now left to entrust moral values to the public school system by way of the so-called Healthy Youth Act.

Sex education must be a lesson in parenting, not a job for teachers.  Obviously, it can and is often a subject of embarrassment, but nevertheless there are responsibilities that parents shouldn’t avoid.  The ramifications of sexual activity are life altering and that’s why it is portant for parents to take an active part in the proper moral education of their kids and not leave that task to an already challenged public school system.

Forbid government from seizing your parental rights!  If government can’t prudently manage our tax dollars, then they certainly can’t be trusted to properly nurture the moral underpinnings of our children.

If you want kids to prosper in America today then stop social engineering in our schools and start teaching the importance of moral principles as well as Godliness!

Editor's Note: The author, Kevin Connor,  is chairman of the Dare County Republican Party.  He asks that you please keep his father in your prayers in  last Friday's death of his step-mother, Miriam.  She was only 53. 

Guest Column: Dangerous Bills in the NC General Assembly by Andrew Dunn

A number of bad bills have begun to pop up in the North Carolina Legislature. With all the media's attention on President Obama's shenanigans in Washington, we can't afford to sit by and let the troublemakers in Raleigh go unnoticed.

Below are some of the bills that have been introduced with action items to take for defeat.  Please contact your representatives in the NC House and the NC Senate and urge them to oppose these bills.

To find out who represents you in Raleigh, CLICK HERE and use the "who represents me" search by zip code on the lower-right side.

H88 - The Healthy Youth Act (aka. comprehensive sex education)

Last year's "comprehensive sex education" bill never made it out of committee thanks to grassroots conservatives like us. But now, the bill is back and so once again we need to take action. Note how the primary sponsors have titled this the "healthy youth act." What a fraud! This revised bill tries to calm the fears of parents opposed to immoral sex education in the public schools by giving parents a choice of abstinence or "comprehensive sex education." But, as that old saying goes: the devil is in the details.

Section 5, part A of H88 reads "Teaches respect for marriage and committed relationships" - a green light for the schools to equate gay, lesbian, transgendered and any other type of relationship with the sacrament of marriage between one man and one woman.

Section 5, part D reads "Teaches about the effectiveness and safety of all FDA-approved contraceptive methods in preventing pregnancy." In other words: birth control and abortion. Bills such as H88 are a gold mine for supremacist judges and activist plaintiffs. Her

e's what could happen if H88 passes and is signed into law: A gay-rights group could sue the NC public schools, demanding that books like "Heather Has Two Mommies" be taught under Section 5, part A of the bill. Representatives from the abortion industry could also sue for their agenda to be included in the public schools under Section 5, part D. Please contact the leaders of the Committee on Education where H88 currently resides. CLICK HERE for committee members.

H207 - The Safer Communities Act (aka. hate crimes)

Like H88, the sponsors of this bill have made sure to cover up their agenda with "safer communities act." Again, the devil is in the details. Section 2 starts off with "Ethnic intimidation; teaching any technique to be used for ethic intimidation"

Part A goes on to clarify ethnic intimidation to include "real or perceived sexual orientation" in addition to the descriptions of every other human being on the face of the earth. First of all, we already have laws against assaulting, stalking and making threats, so this new bill is not needed. H207, if passed and signed into law will be another green light for militant plaintiffs and supremacist judges.

Faith-based groups who minister to convert homosexuals could find themselves prosecuted for "ethnic intimidation" under H207. Anyone who wants to play the victim could file a lawsuit charging "ethnic intimidation."

Our First Amendment rights would be assault. H207 has been assigned to the Committee on Judiciary I. Please contact members of this committee and urge them to shelve this intimidating bill. CLICK HERE for committee members.

H161 - Require Six-Year-Olds To Attend School (anti Home school bill)

Every parent who home-schools their child should get on the phone right away to their representative in the NC House and members of the Committee on Education where H161 resides.

Section 1 requires parents/guardians to make sure their child between age six and 16 attends school continuously for a period equal to the time which the public school to which the child is assigned is in session.

Section 1 clarifies "school" as  "all public and non-public schools as have teachers and curricula that are approved by the State Board of Education." Parents of children who continue to miss "school" for what the public schools deem unexcused absences must work with a "school attendance counselor" to "eliminate the problem".

This is a nanny-state, Hillary Clinton, "it takes a village" bill that will intimidate the rights of parents who choose private, parochial and home school for their children.

Section 1 could turn out to be especially dangerous if people like Bill Ayers or Ward Churchill wind up on the State Board of Education and start determining approved curricula. Please contact members of the Committee on Education and urge them to oppose this bill. CLICK HERE for committee members.

H177 - Healthy Families and Healthy Workplaces Act (anti-small business bill)

North Carolina's unemployment rate is now higher than the national average so why on earth should we pass a law that will drive more employers out of business and out of our state?

That's what H177 will do by requiring that all workers have paid sick leave to address their own health needs and those of their families.

Many small business simply can't afford to provide 32 hours of accrued paid sick leave for every employee and large businesses can afford leave North Carolina for other states (or countries) where the government won't require them to provide 56 such hours per employee. H177 is with the Committee on Commerce, Small Business and Entrepreneurship. CLICK HERE to contact members of this committee.

S14 - Create Employment Safety and Security Commission

Here's another anti-business bill that will halt entrepreneurship and chase job providers out of North Carolina.

S14 creates a new taxpayer-funded bureaucracy and intimidates employers with big-brother oversight and costly business modifications. Part III, section 9 of the bill defines this new commission's "advisory council" to include representatives from labor (unions) and a "representative with a knowledge of migrant labor" (illegal aliens).

 CLICK HERE to contact members of the Commerce Committee; tell them to defeat this job-killing bill.

Editor's Note: James Andrew Dunn is state president of the Eagle Forum North Carolina.  Your blogger thanks him for this informative, yet frightening update. 

Communist Executioner Statue in New York - Paid for by Taxpayer $

Only in New York: Communist executioner Che Guevara, a man who killed many who dared to stand up against him, now has a statue in New York City.  This is not a joke, folks. 

This man even planned terrorist attacks against the city that now honors him.  Read more at the American Thinker website.

According to the blog, Right Wing News,

"Appropriately, the statue was financed with funds expropriated by force from taxpayers, courtesy of the Public Art Fund, the City of New York, the NEA, and the New York Council for the Arts."

The sad part about all this is that teens and twenty-somethings don't know what Che actually did.  They just know he was a "revolutionary" and they think that's cool, so they wear his photo on their T-Shirts. 

Your blogger partly blames the public school system and their socialist teaching for failing to get the message across that this was a horrible man, in the same vein as Stalin, and Hitler.  Also, people want to forget that Communism is still a threat, with Putin making moves in Russia, and with the numerous governments behind the "bamboo curtain" in Asia.  Also, Communism is once again on our back door in South America.

Even a 50-something U. S. Marine didn't remember who he was.  We cannot forget the lessons of the past. 

KCC Endorses Eric Smith, as he announces Video Town Hall

Despite any previous reservations your blogger may have had regarding the candidacy of Eric Smith for Superintendent of Public Instruction, she feels that his platform is right out of a "conservative playbook" and  is exactly what the doctor ordered for North Carolina's schools.  Thus, Katy's Conservative Corner endorses him for this important office.

Why the about face?  Smith has won our endorsement, in part, because he is the strongest candidate to hold off RINO Richard Morgan. 

The classless Morgan left our state in a true lurch when he sold his soul to the liberal Democrats when he created a power-sharing deal with the now jailed Democrat, Jim Black. 

For some reason, Morgan believes he can come back from his political death bed and win this office.  Though this blogger has to hold her nose when going to the polls to vote for a (former?) Libertarian, we still think Eric Smith is the best man for the job.

Get to know Eric by participating in the video town hall, explained in the press release below. The primary election day is May 6th and KCC calls on all registered Republicans and Unaffiliated voters to select Eric Smith in the primary election.

An Open Letter to the Wake County Board of Education by Kent Misegades

Members of the Wake County Board of Education:

On February 14th, 2008, the Wake Educational Partnership released a position paper in support of a policy pursued since the 1970s by the Wake County Public School System to obtain demographic balance in its schools. Following two months of research of the information contained in this paper, and with the support of staff members of WCPSS and leading experts on education policy in our County and State, I published a rebuttal to the WEP’s position paper on April 1st. The full text may be found here:

www.ullisart.com/images/Misegades_Balance_rebuttal.pdf

Referring to the conclusions of this rebuttal, I respectfully request from the Wake County Board of Education an explanation for the following facts regarding the performance of our schools and details regarding socioeconomic assignments of children attending Wake County public schools:

1. Data obtained shows an inexplicable and increasing gap between the percentage of children living in poverty and those receiving free and reduced-price meals, contrary to the general decline in child poverty in recent years in Wake County as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. As the percentage of school-aged children living in poverty has dropped, the percentage receiving free and reduced-price meals has surprisingly increased. Currently nearly 30% of all school children in Wake schools are qualified for free and reduced-price meals; however the U.S. Census Bureau reports only 10 % of children between the ages of 5-17 living in poverty. Please explain the significant difference in these percentages, since the Federal meals program is intended only for children living in poverty.
2. In 2007, the high school cohort graduation rate in Wake County reached its lowest point since 2000, the same year that the WCPSS began its policy of socioeconomic assignments. Please explain why, despite assignment policies aimed at increasing academic performance and graduation rates, combined with significant increases in per-pupil funding since 2000, the percentage of children graduating from Wake public high schools has decreased, in particular among minorities and the poor.
3. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) abolished socioeconomic assignments in 2001 in favor of policies supporting community schools. Since then, the academic performance of CMS students has improved significantly, rivaling that of students in Wake County, despite a larger percentage of poor students in CMS schools. How then can WCPSS continue to claim advantages to its current socioeconomic assignment policies?

Respectfully yours,

Kent P. Misegades.
Cary
[email protected]

Editor's Note:

Misengades is a founder and chairman of the Board of Trustees of Thales Academy in Apex. 

Thales is a low-cost private school, created to provide parents with an alternative to the government-run, poorly managed school system.  Misengades is a leader who has put his money where his ideas are and your blogger will proudly enroll her son in the Thales kindergarten class of 2010.

Of Note: Homeschools in NC

As of February 6, 2008, there are 37,915 homeschool families in North Carolina.  This is according to the North Carolina Division of Non-Public Education.

Hood Produces Another Winner - Public Supports Real Education Reform: No Conservative in State Race For SPS

The Locke Foundation's John Hood has done it again.  This time, he's produced another winning report that  speaks for conservatives statewide - public school reform.  Yet sadly, there is no true conservative seeking the office of North Carolina Superintendent of Public Schools.

In the report, Hood explains why North Carolina's citizens support meaningful education reform.  He states his case with three major points: adopt meaningful tests, pay for performance, and empower parents via parental choice.

Please share his report with your friends and colleagues, as it is interesting and timely.

Sadly, Katy's Conservative Corner could not locate a conservative candidate running in this year's statewide election for Superintendent of Public Schools.  June Atkinson, in nearly four years on-the-job, has produced little and demonstrates a business-as-usual attitude.  Why she deserves another four years is beyond us.   A nice lady, yes, but an effective leader, no.

Her Democrat primary opponent, Eddie Davis, is inaccessible.  He apparently has no website, as none is listed on the State Democrat's List of Candidates.  Additionally, Google turned up listings for boxers and artists, not a candidate.

Republican candidate Joe Johnson seemed like a good match until he notified this blogger that he helped form an anti-gun group in the knee-jerk days following the Columbine tragedy.  We were all saddened by what happened then, but the crimes were committed by mentally ill people and Katy's Conservative Corner does not know what could have been done to prevent this tragedy, other than better parental oversight.  Sadly, those two killers would have gotten access to firearms, no matter what, unless their parents had intervened.

Your blogger is active both locally and nationally in the National Rifle Association, and found his group unneeded. Under North Carolina law, 18-year-olds cannot legally purchase handguns, and would-be criminals will never sign a pledge not to resolve their differences with firearms.  Even if they sign the pledge, they could still commit a crime.  Are we missing the point?

Johnson is a former public information officer with the Henderson County Sheriff's Department, and a well-liked one. But in a series of e-mail messages, the candidate came across as bureaucratic and not interested in issues that Hood discusses in his report. 

For the record, your blogger likes Johnson personally, and will support him in the Fall elections.  But she feels that the Republican Party and the conservative movement still have not found the right candidate that is conservative enough to follow the wishes of the majority of North Carolina voters.  Until then, perhaps we conservatives can all share our concerns with Joe and encourage him to support the initiatives that John Hood so clearly explains.

Thales Academy Campuses Offer Alternatives to Public School System

Thales Academy, a low-cost series of private schools, announced exciting changes and events today:

Thales Academy of Apex will hold its next Community Meeting on Wednesday, January 16th at 7PM in the Apex Community Center.

Officials from the school and its new Board of Trustees will be on hand to discuss the status of school construction, to answer any and all questions, and to accept applications for enrollment. 

Additionally, state Representative Marilyn Avila (R-Wake) has joined Thales Academy of Apex as the Project Manager. She will serve to coordinate the activities from the early stages of fundraising by the parents through the construction of the facility.

  Plans are for the school to be open for the 2008-2009 academic year. Avila (left) is a chemist by education, having worked in the North Carolina textile industry. Avila has been a business owner, advisor to Wake County Public Schools, a Director of the John Locke Foundation and an officer in the Wake County Republican Party.

Further, the Thales Academy of Apex has kicked off a million dollar capital funding campaign this week to provide financing for its first building, a two-story structure located just north of the Apex Town Hall.

Initially to house children in grades K-5, the school will eventually expand to grades K-8. The money will also be used to establish a scholarship fund for needy families in the community. The total cost for the completed school will be roughly 1/3rd that for Wake County Public Schools System schools housing the same number of students.

Thales Academy of Apex is the newest campus of Thales Academy Inc., a 501 (c) 3 not-for-profit school founded by Raleigh industrialist Robert Luddy.

Making Thanksgiving Meaningful Again by Newt Gingrich

Editior's Note: Your blogger is a huge fan of American history and wishes she could have been taught by Professor (and former US House Speaker) Newt Gingrich.  Please enjoy Thanksgiving post for 2007.

Thanksgiving: The First Uniquely American Holiday

The history of Thanksgiving goes all the way back to the second decade of English-speaking people in North America. Thanksgiving was the first uniquely American holiday.

Yesterday, President Bush visited the site in Virginia -- Berkeley Plantation -- where the first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1619 -- 12 years after the founding of the Virginia colony at Jamestown.

The first Thanksgiving was a religious celebration -- an occasion to thank God -- that featured only a modest meal. It wasn't until two years later, in 1621, that Thanksgiving was expanded to include a banquet by the pilgrims in Massachusetts.

President Washington Makes Thanksgiving a Day for a Free People to Acknowledge Their Debt to God

During his first year in office, President George Washington issued a proclamation calling for a day of "public thanksgiving and prayer." Washington had been a general who had spent eight years on the field of battle winning our freedom from Great Britain. Then he spent another six years creating the Constitution and the government that we still have 218 years later (the longest continuing constitutional government in the world).

So Washington understood well the nature of a free society and its obligation to both thank God and seek His guidance. In his Thanksgiving proclamation, Washington wrote: "It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits and humbly to implore His protection and favor."

Continue to Lincoln Builds on Washington's Tradition below.

Supporters Hold Rally, Press Conference for "Mr. Esco"

Raleigh -- Students, parents, and supporters joined together this evening to show their enthusiasm for embattled teacher, Robert Escamilla.  Popularly known as "Mr. Esco", the rally on his behalf was a combination of religious testimony, support for freedom of religion, and support for freedom in public schools.

Former students, their parents, and others took the stage in support of Escamilla and "the American way of life".  Many in the crowd had no affiliation to Enloe high school at all, but supported what they deemed to be "an excellent teacher who deserves better." 

The event was moderated by popular public television host, Chuck Campbell.  His show, "Take A Stand", is revered in conservative Christian circles. 

According to supporters, Escamilla was suspended, reprimanded, and transferred to another school after inviting a Coptic Christian guest speaker to his "World Religions" class, and other classes. 

Escamilla's advocates argue that the Copts are an ancient Egyptian group of Christians who have been persecuted by the Muslim majority in that country.  The guest speaker reportedly told students how he had personally experienced that persecution.

The Coptic Christian guest speaker's visit resulted in complaints by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).  CAIR has been linked with Islamic terrorist group, Hamas.

Supporters had difficulty understanding the turmoil, as Mr. Escamilla had invited guest speakers from other faiths, including Buddhists, Jews, and Muslims, without controversy.

Following the visit by the Coptic Christian speaker, Escamilla was suspended from teaching, and received a scathing performance review from  principal Beth Cochran.  It was Escamilla's only negative performance review in 18 years of teaching in the Wake County Public Schools.

There were a number of mainstream television media present, as this story has attracted national attention.  However, on Tuesday's late newscasts only provided scant coverage.

Video from the press conference will be posted online Thursday. (Your blogger will attend the NCSpin Growth Forum in the morning and take her toddler trick-or-treating in the afternoon/evening.) Sorry for the delay, but family always comes first for this writer.

For more information:

• FreeEsco site
• More video of the event will be placed on your blogger's YouTube site, http://www.youtube.com/katyscreations. Please check there Thursday or later.  For your wait, you will be rewarded with more video than any other news outlet would DARE share!