EXCLUSIVE
WILLISTON PROPOSAL DOESN’T HELP
CURRENT STUDENTS, SAYS TEACHER
By Cash Michaels
Staff writer
When concerned parents, staff, school board members and others come together next Tuesday night, January 29th(6 p.m. in the media center of Williston Middle School) for a community forum on the controversial NHC School Board proposal to change Williston into a arts high school, ultimately two key questions must be asked, opponents say:
1. Whose children does the proposal help?
2. Whose children does the proposal hurt?
To alums of the historic Williston Senior High School, and retired teachers from
Williston Middle like Mr. James Hankins, the answers are academic.
“I say we need a vocational center,” the former vocational educator said in a “Letter to the Editor” in the Journalthis week. “The [school] board needs to stop pretending that most of our students are going to college because they never have, an they never will.”
“Job opportunities in the arts are very few, about the same a in professional sports,” Hankins continued. “A public school is supposed to prepare all students for higher education, trade school or the world of work.”
Mr. Hankins then recalled how his old alma mater, Williston Senior High School – the legendary all-black New Hanover County high school that the school board abruptly closed in 1968 in an over-reaction to a federal desegregation order, not only properly prepared its students academically to go on sterling careers in a segregated world, but also taught pupils marketable skills in auto mechanics, electricity, commercial cooking, horticulture, tailoring, etc.
“Over 95% of our students graduated and are successful leaders today,” Hankins maintains.
In last week’s Journal, another Williston Senior High alumna and former Williston Middle educator, Ms. Florence Johnson Warren, agreed that the sixth, seventh and eighth graders there now, and in the future, need a curriculum modeled after what the original Williston Senior High offered – strong academics with skills training.
“You, the school board approved the district lines with a certain purpose in mind,” Ms. Warren told The Journal last week, alluding to the contention that the school board’s redistricting policies have created high poverty – low performing, overcrowded schools like Williston Middle to placate demanding, anti-busing white families in the county.
“Fine Arts [high] school is appealing to what population?”
According to NHC School Board Vice Chairman David Wortman, the primary force behind the Williston arts high school proposal, “85%” of parents surveyed across New Hanover County like the idea. He’s moving ahead with an exploratory committee today at 3 p.m..
Wortman may want to speak with those not as excited about his vision as he is. Especially the teachers at Williston Middle who knew nothing about the proposal beforehand because their principal was not informed until the proposal was made public. Those teachers work with the students there, know their needs, and are extremely concerned, not only about the future of the school and what will happen to the children, but their own futures there as well.
One educator who spoke to The Journalon the condition of not being identified, was clear that despite public declarations, the best interests of the students at Williston were not the priority in the Wortman proposal.
For starters, current Williston sixth and seventh grade students would be moved to Myrtle-Grove, Roland Grise, Noble and Holly Shelter, in various capacities, by the 2019-2020, 2020-2021 school years. In Wortman’s mind, this would address overcrowding concerns.
But the Williston teacher countered, “I’m not sure how closing a middle school helps that problem. The teacher also noted Williston Middle is a Title 1 school, meaning that a considerable percentage of its students are low-income, and thus, need certain special community services that are federally funded like mental health counseling, grade specific guidance counselors and free/reduced lunch. Having access to those services in a school right in their community is key and important, the teacher notes.
This teacher also takes issue with whether a fine arts school walls ‘ould be the proper “fit’ for the community that Williston is currently in.
Wortman is basing his proposal on he calls “successful” arts schools in Durham and other places. But various recent studies have shown that a significant percentage of students who attend those schools do not go on professionally to further their instruction into trades.
According to a Dec. 2017 article in The Atlantic Magazinetitled, The Irony of Specialized High Schools, “A recent analysis conducted by the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project, an organization run out of Indiana University that surveys those who attended arts institutions, found that only about half of the respondents who graduated from arts high schools currently hold a full- or part-time career as an artist. (The project’s data does not distinguish between the visual and performing arts, but approximately 80 percent of high-school respondents were focused on the performing arts.) Of those who pursued a degree post-high school, most did study some form of the arts—but a noteworthy number (almost 25 percent) did not.”
The Williston teacher The Journalspoke with is concerned that the proposed Williston arts high school will amount to a magnet program for just some select students, and then standard school for “everybody else” who would happen to be the majority.
The Williston facility would also have to be completely rehabbed to conform to the demands of the new arts curriculum. Where would that funding come from?
“We don’t have studio space? We don’t have electronics and lighting. We have two stages, but one of them is in the gym?,” says the teacher.
And then, given the proposed Wortman timeline, should teachers at Williston Middle now immediately start looking for jobs elsewhere?
The manner in which the school board has handled the Wortman proposal, effectively locking the community out of the discussion/decisionmaking process, has now made any positive outcome from all of this very difficult, the Williston teacher said.
Indeed, the teacher added, the NHC School Board is not trusted.
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JUDGE REFUSES TO CERTIFY
NINTH DISTRICT RACE
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
Looks like Republican Mark Harris will have to wait for the new State Board of Elections (SBOE) to certify his tentative victory in the controversial Ninth Congressional District race, once it convenes next week on Jan. 31st.
And there’s no guarantee that the new SBOE will, in fact, do that, let alone order a new election if the Nov. 2018 race proves to be tainted.
A Wake Superior Court judge on Tuesday, after a full morning of arguments from attorneys representing Harris, his Democratic opponent Dan McCready, and SBOE, decided that there is still an investigation underway by the SBOE staff, and as long as that’s the case, he should not disrupt the process by certifying the race before all of the facts are in.
Judge Paul Ridgeway ruled that there was no imposing timeline for certification to occur, therefore the five-member SBOE is the appropriate body to determine certification, if appropriate.
Harris, a Republican minister from Charlotte who asked for Tuesday’s hearing, was not in the courtroom for the ruling. But his attorneys had argued that Harris’ 905-vote victory was indisputable, despite rampant press reports of alleged illegal mishandling of possibly hundreds of absentee ballots in Bladen and Robeson counties, which make up parts of the Ninth District.
Even though Harris admitted that he hired the person alleged to have masterminded the absentee ballot plot for his campaign, McCrae Dowless, Harris says he was unaware of any wrongdoing.
The state Republican Party buttressed Harris’ claim, urging that he be immediately certified the winner so that he can be seated representing the Ninth District in Congress.
But Democratic House have made it clear that they will not allow Harris to be officially seated until all questions about election fraud in the Ninth District race have been answered, and that can’t happen until after the SBOE completes its probe.
NC Democrats were elated by the ruling Tuesday.
“From day one, North Carolina Democrats have maintained that we need a full investigation into Republican Mark Harris’ efforts to silence voters across the Ninth District,” said NCDP spokesman Robert Howard in a statement. “ We’re pleased that Harris’ frivolous request has been denied and that North Carolina can get back to investigating allegations of systematic electoral fraud committed on behalf of Harris’ campaign.”
“Only a full, public investigation can begin to repair the damage Mark Harris and North Carolina Republicans have inflicted on our state and our voters.”
NCGOP Chairman Robin Hayes, obviously, was not pleased with the court’s ruling.”
“Nothing about today’s court hearing changes the fact that @MarkHarrisNC9won the election, has more legal votes, and no public evidence has put the outcome in doubt,” Hayes tweeted. “We are confident Pastor Harris won, will be Certified and will be seated”
Meanwhile, NCGOP Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse confirmed that Chairman Hayes will be submitting names to Gov. Roy Cooper for selection to serve on the SBOE by Friday, if not before. Cooper had asked both the state Democratic and Republican parties to submit names.
Gov. Cooper will select three Democrats and two Republicans to serve on the SBOE. It will take at least four members to decide on granting a new election.
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REP. ADAMS BLASTS TRUMP
ON GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
As the partial federal government shutdown enters its second month, Democratic congresspeople from North Carolina, like Rep. Alma Adams (D-NC-12), have joined behind their leader, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) in demanding that Pres. Trump reopen the government so that 800,000 federal workers – may of whom are black – can get back to work before any serious negotiations can begin on border security.
“Today’s announcement was an embarrassment,” Rep. Adams said in a statement issued Saturday after Trump announced that he would extends protections for so-called “Dreamers” immigrants, in exchange for $5.7 billion for his controversial “wall” at the Mexican border.
The Republican president and his party, led by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) have vowed to keep the federal government shuttered until Pelosi and the House Democratic majority give in. McConnell has refused to allow a Senate vote on House ratified measures to fund affected federal agencies, unless Trump signals otherwise.
“President Trump and Senator McConnell must stop the antics and reopen the government now,” Rep. Adams continued. Thousands of families are suffering, and our nation’s security and economy is at risk.”
Adams then reminded all that Trump had earlier ended the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) immigration program for those who came to the country as children. “Today he backtracked and proposed three-year, temporary protections for Dreamers and those seeking TPS (Temporary Protected Status) in return for his permanent wall. This is unacceptable and offensive.”
Last week, Rep. Adams was joined by North Carolina congressional delegation colleagues congressmen G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-1) and David Price (D-NC-4) in expressing outrage over the shutdown that has forced many unpaid federal workers, especially in North Carolina, to go to food banks just to feed their families.
“More than 7,000 North Carolinians who serve as federal employees are currently furloughed or working without pay because of President Trump’s petulant demands to build a border wall and Senate Republicans’ kowtowing to the President’s wishes over the needs of their constituents,” the joint statement said. “These workers, many of them veterans, include essential national security and law-enforcement personnel, critical air traffic controllers and TSA agents, and hard-working employees responsible for ensuring tax returns are processed in an accurate and timely fashion, among other key services.”
The statement continued, ““As the shutdown drags on…, critical Hurricane Florence disaster relief funds cannot be disbursed to the state, federally-supported research at our local universities is now stalled, lines at major airports across the country are increasing every day, and housing for seniors, veterans, and the disabled is at risk.”
In her own statement issued Saturday, Rep. Adams did not mince words.
“Democrats want stronger border security and we are willing to work with this Administration to achieve it. However, an ineffective and unnecessary physical barrier that symbolizes hate will not be tolerated.”
Rep. Adams continued, “ It is time for McConnell to end this political grandstanding and bring the House passed appropriations bills to the floor for an immediate vote and send them President’s desk.”
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STATE NEWS BRIEFS FOR 01-24-19
KKK FLYERS TURN UP IN ASHEVILLE DURING KING WEEKEND
[ASHEVILLE] Recruiting flyers for the “Loyal White Knights” of the Ku Klux Klan began showing up in residential areas of West Asheville and Montford, according to Asheville police. After saying that the Loyal White Knights “wants you,” the flyers go on to say, “ Rest well knowing that the Klan is awake!” Many of the flyers were found in ziploc bags in the yards of various residents. Residents believe the flyers were thrown from a moving car. Police, who note that the hate literature was distributed during the weekend prior top the federal and state Martin Luther King holiday, are asking residents with tips to call the local Crimestoppers line.
CITIZENS DEMAND THAT ROCKY MOUNT CITY MANAGER BE FIRED
[ROCKY MOUNT] Rocky Mount’s city manager, Rochelle Small-Toney is under fire after serious allegations of fiscal mismanagement. Reportedly Small-Toney hired a friend in January 2018 who allegedly still lives in Virginia a year after employment, and made errors in the funding of a local housing project that cost taxpayers
$182,000. Add to that a claim that Smalls-Toney spent $90,000 decorating her office. The City Council met in special closed session Monday, but came to no agreement about Smalls-Toney’s future employment with the city. The council will meet again next Monday.
DEMOCRAT TREVOR FULLER WILL OPPOSE SEN. THOM TILLIS IN 2020
[CHARLOTTE] The former chairman of the Mecklenburg County Commission Board, Trevor Fuller, a Democrat and African-American, has announced that he will seek to unseat first-term North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis in 2020. Fuller is now the second Democrat to announce. Attorney Eva Lee of Raleigh first announced in 2017. Fuller, 52, says Tillis “…refuses to stand up for North Carolinians,” and is too close to Pres. Donald Trump. Fuller is an attorney, and a native of Buffalo, NY.
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