Commenting in the News and Observer, Beyer said,“It’s becoming more and more challenging to retain experienced teachers. NCAE reported it takes 15 years for a teacher in North Carolina to finally make $40,000. We can choose to invest in people, and our teaching professionals deserve our investment.”

Natalie should blame NCAE for her sour mood, because the state’s largest teacher organization is reporting isn’t the whole story.  First let’s say it’s technically true that under the current salary schedule – if a teacher received no salary supplement or received no additional pay for having an advanced degree or national certification — it would take 15 years to earn $40,000 in salary. However, what NCAE is leaving out is that many teachers receive a local salary supplement. In 2010-11 (the latest year available), the average local salary supplement was about $3,500. According to the data nearly all counties had teachers receiving some form of local supplement.

In addition, teachers also supplement their income by acquiring a masters degree or doctorate.  When teachers earn National Board for Professional Teaching Standards certification, they earn an automatic 12 percent boost in salary. North Carolina has approximately 19,800 NBPTS teachers, more than any other state. Finally, teachers also receive an additional salary supplement if they have an advanced degree (masters or doctorate) and receive NBPTS certification.

All told, the path teachers must take to earn $40,000 is in reality much shorter than NCAE claims.  And that’s the rest of the story.

1. Do you feel things in North Carolina are generally headed in the right direction or have gotten off on the wrong track?
   • 37.1%
     Right Direction
   • 48.7%
     Wrong Track
   • 14.2%
     Don't Know/Refused
2. And if the election for North Carolina State Legislature were held today, would you be voting for the:
   • 38.2%
     Republican candidate
   • 41.2%
     Democratic candidate
   • 6.6%
     Neither
   • 12.9%
     Don’t Know
   • 1%
     Don't Know/Refused
3. Now I am going to read you a list of people and organizations active in politics. After I read each name, please tell me if you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of that person or group. If you never heard of them, just tell me and we�ll go on to the next one... the first one is Barack Obama
   • 30.3%
     Very Favorable
   • 17.5%
     Somewhat Favorable
   • 9.4%
     Somewhat Unfavorable
   • 38.1%
     Very Unfavorable
   • 4.5%
     Heard of/no opinion
   • 0.2%
     Never Heard
4. Pat McCrory
   • 25.5%
     Very Favorable
   • 28.1%
     Somewhat Favorable
   • 12.1%
     Somewhat Unfavorable
   • 18.4%
     Very Unfavorable
   • 13.1%
     Heard of/no opinion
   • 2.8%
     Never Heard
5. North Carolina Legislature
   • 6.6%
     Very Favorable
   • 33.8%
     Somewhat Favorable
   • 19.7%
     Somewhat Unfavorable
   • 14.2%
     Very Unfavorable
   • 21.5%
     Heard of/no opinion
   • 4.1%
     Never Heard
6. North Carolina Legislative Republicans
   • 15.2%
     Very Favorable
   • 27.5%
     Somewhat Favorable
   • 12.4%
     Somewhat Unfavorable
   • 26%
     Very Unfavorable
   • 14.4%
     Heard of/no opinion
   • 4.5%
     Never Heard
7. North Carolina Legislative Democrats
   • 14.2%
     Very Favorable
   • 27.8%
     Somewhat Favorable
   • 16.6%
     Somewhat Unfavorable
   • 19.9%
     Very Unfavorable
   • 16.7%
     Heard of/no opinion
   • 4.8%
     Never Heard
8. Do you support or oppose a program that uses state taxpayer dollars to help pay for the political campaigns of judicial Council of State and other statewide candidates?
   • 8.3%
     Strongly Support
   • 12.4%
     Somewhat Support
   • 16.9%
     Somewhat Oppose
   • 53.8%
     Strongly Oppose
   • 8.4%
     Undecided/don't know
   • 0.2%
     Don't Know/Refused
9. Of the following fiscal policy issues, which do you feel North Carolina state lawmakers should address FIRST?
   • 35.6%
     Reducing the size of the state budget
   • 12.9%
     Spending more money on state government programs
   • 35.6%
     Reducing state tax rates
   • 7%
     Increasing state tax rates
   • 4.1%
     Other
   • 4.8%
     Don't Know/Refused
10. I'm going to read you a list of things you might purchase in any given month. Please tell me, to the best of your knowledge, if you pay the state sales tax when you purchase these things: Clothes
    • 95.7%
      Yes
    • 2.3%
      No
    • 2%
      Don't Know/Refused
11. Car Repairs
    • 70.2%
      Yes
    • 18.2%
      No
    • 11.6%
      Don't Know/Refused
12. Haircuts
    • 31%
      Yes
    • 54.3%
      No
    • 14.7%
      Don't Know/Refused
13. Groceries
    • 92.4%
      Yes
    • 6.1%
      No
    • 1.5%
      Don't Know/Refused
14. Prescription Drugs
    • 43.7%
      Yes
    • 35.1%
      No
    • 21.2%
      Don't Know/Refused
15. If North Carolina were to completely eliminate its state personal income taxes while expanding the sales tax to also apply to services such as lawyers, accountants, car repair, house painting, etc., would this change make your household Better off, worse off, or about the same?
    • 27.2%
      Better off
    • 20%
      Worse off
    • 45.7%
      About the same
    • 6.6%
      Don’t Know
    • 0.5%
      Don't Know/Refused
16. Of the following state tax reform options, which do you feel would create the most jobs for North Carolina?
    • 21.7%
      Eliminate income taxes
    • 14.7%
      Eliminate sales taxes
    • 25.3%
      Eliminate the corporate tax
    • 13.6%
      Increase taxes to fund additional state government spending
    • 5.8%
      Other
    • 18.9%
      Don't Know/Refused
17. North Carolina’s unemployment rate is 9.4 percent – tied for fifth highest in the nation. Which of the following policy changes would best help North Carolina lower its high unemployment rate?
    • 38.1%
      Reducing state government regulations on businesses
    • 25%
      Increasing state spending on government programs such as education, transportation, and Medicaid
    • 16.1%
      Reducing the state tax burden
    • 6.8%
      More subsidy programs that award taxpayer dollars to specific companies
    • 3.3%
      Other
    • 10.8%
      Don't Know/Refused
18. There is a proposal being considered that would reform North Carolina's tax system. Among other things, it would not tax the first 12 thousand dollars of any family's income, would institute a flat tax rate for personal income above that amount, and lower the corporate tax rate. The proposal would also lower the sales tax rate, BUT would expand sales taxes to services not currently being taxed. Do you support or oppose this tax reform proposal?
    • 21%
      Strongly Support
    • 29.5%
      Somewhat Support
    • 13.1%
      Somewhat Oppose
    • 19.2%
      Strongly Oppose
    • 16.2%
      Undecided/don't know
    • 1%
      Don't Know/Refused
19. Now I would like to read you a list of statements in favor of this tax proposal. Please tell me whether each fact would make you more likely or less likely to support the tax reform proposal... This tax plan would result in the largest tax cut in state history.
    • 32.8%
      Much more likely
    • 29.8%
      Somewhat more likely
    • 9.6%
      Somewhat less likely
    • 11.4%
      Much less likely
    • 9.3%
      No Difference
    • 7.1%
      Undecided/Refused
20. This tax proposal eliminates loopholes and ends exemptions for special interests and big businesses.
    • 44.5%
      Much more likely
    • 28.3%
      Somewhat more likely
    • 7.1%
      Somewhat less likely
    • 9.1%
      Much less likely
    • 4.5%
      No Difference
    • 6.5%
      Undecided/Refused
21. Now I would like to read you a list of statements in opposition of this tax proposal. Please tell me whether each fact would make you more likely or less likely to support the tax reform proposal... This tax proposal applies the sales tax on services we use every day like haircuts, car repairs, and attorney’s fees that are not taxed now.
    • 12.9%
      Much more likely
    • 20.4%
      Somewhat more likely
    • 19.2%
      Somewhat less likely
    • 27.6%
      Much less likely
    • 13.7%
      No Difference
    • 6.1%
      Undecided/Refused
22. This tax proposal cuts taxes on businesses and the wealthy by shifting the tax burden onto poor people who are already struggling to make ends meet.
    • 8.4%
      Much more likely
    • 7.1%
      Somewhat more likely
    • 15.2%
      Somewhat less likely
    • 54.8%
      Much less likely
    • 7.9%
      No Difference
    • 6.5%
      Undecided/Refused

23. Split Sample

    • If you knew this tax reform plan would be the biggest tax cut in state history for North Carolina families would you support or oppose the proposal?
      • 38.1%
        Strongly Support
      • 28.8%
        Somewhat Support
      • 5.6%
        Somewhat Oppose
      • 15.9%
        Strongly Oppose
      • 10.9%
        Undecided/don't know
      • 0.7%
        Don't Know/Refused
    • If you knew this tax reform plan would be a 500 million dollar tax cut for North Carolina families, would you support or oppose the proposal?
      • 35.1%
        Strongly Support
      • 27.2%
        Somewhat Support
      • 6.3%
        Somewhat Oppose
      • 7.9%
        Strongly Oppose
      • 21.9%
        Undecided/don't know
      • 1.7%
        Don't Know/Refused
24. Currently non-profit Hospitals get a state refund on sales taxes worth almost 150 million dollars a year. With that in mind, please tell me which of the following comes closer to your own opinion when it comes to non-profit Hospitals getting these sales tax refunds....
    • 54.5%
      (Some/Other) people say that they oppose non-profit Hospitals getting sales tax refunds because recent news reports show these hospitals mark up the prices on life saving cancer drugs by up to 500% and make billions of dollars in profits. Even though they are nonprofits, these hospitals pay their executives multi-million dollar salaries.
    • 31.1%
      (Other/Some) people say they support non-profit Hospitals getting sales tax refunds because these hospitals provide a vital service, are a business, and tax refunds can help them make improvements in medical care and equipment.
    • 14.4%
      Don't Know/Refused
25. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently adopted a policy called
    • 21%
      Strongly Approve
    • 17.7%
      Somewhat Approve
    • 10.1%
      Somewhat Disapprove
    • 41.6%
      Strongly Disapprove
    • 8.4%
      Undecided/don't know
    • 1.2%
      Don't Know/Refused
26. First, in what year were you born?
    • 5%
      18-25
    • 13.7%
      26-40
    • 30%
      41-55
    • 20.4%
      56-65
    • 25.3%
      66+
    • 5.6%
      Don't Know/Refused
27. terms of political party, are you a Republican, Democrat or something
    • 22.2%
      Strong Repubican
    • 9.6%
      Not So Strong Republican
    • 7.8%
      Not So Strong Democrat
    • 27%
      Strong Democrat
    • 31.5%
      Independent/unaffiliated/other
    • 0.2%
      Tea party
    • 1.8%
      Don't Know/Refused
28. In terms of your current employment status, would you say you…
    • 11.1%
      Are self-employed
    • 29.6%
      Work for a private company
    • 8.9%
      Work for Government
    • 5.5%
      Are a Spouse (homemaker)
    • 32.1%
      Are Retired
    • 8.3%
      Are Unemployed
    • 4.5%
      Don't Know/Refused
29. If you were to label yourself, would you say you are a liberal, a moderate, or a conservative in your political beliefs?
    • 10.4%
      Very Liberal
    • 10.1%
      Somewhat Liberal
    • 30.6%
      Moderate
    • 20.7%
      Somewhat Conservative
    • 23.5%
      Very Conservative
    • 4.6%
      Don't Know/Refused
30. What is the highest level of schooling you completed?
    • 2.2%
      Less than high school graduate
    • 23%
      High School Graduate
    • 27.2%
      2 year college technical/school
    • 29.1%
      4 year college graduate
    • 16.2%
      Post-Graduate
    • 2.3%
      Don't Know/Refused
31. Multiple Choices Accepted: Do you or an immediate family member get any government benefits such as unemployment, social security, Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, VA benefits and so on?
    • 2.3%
      Yes, Unemployment
    • 32.8%
      Yes, Social Security
    • 20.2%
      Yes, Medicare
    • 6%
      Yes, Medicaid
    • 3.8%
      Yes, Food Stamps
    • 4.8%
      Yes, VA Benefits
    • 1.7%
      Yes, Other
    • 49.3%
      No
    • 4.5%
      Don't Know/Refused
32. Which category best describes your race or ethnicity?
    • 74.5%
      White or Caucasian
    • 16.7%
      African-American or Black
    • 2.3%
      Hispanic or Latino
    • 3.3%
      Native American
    • 0.8%
      Asian or Pacific Islander
    • 1.3%
      Other
    • 1%
      Don't Know/Refused
33. Gender
    • 47.5%
      Men
    • 52.5%
      Women
34. Geographic Area
    • 21.7%
      Charlotte
    • 12.1%
      Western
    • 19%
      Piedmont Triad
    • 21.5%
      Triangle
    • 11.3%
      Northeast
    • 14.4%
      Southeast
35. Party Registration
    • 34.3%
      Republican
    • 44.2%
      Democrat
    • 21.5%
      Independent/Other

The post April 2013 Poll Results appeared first on Civitas Institute.

Recent comments from the governor’s office and House budget writers suggest the House spending plan would be more aligned with the governor’s proposal than the Senate.

The new fiscal year begins July 1.

One of the ten planks of Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto is “Centralization of credit in the hands of the State.”  Apparently of like mind is North Carolina state Senator Ellie Kinnaird (D-Orange), primary sponsor of Senate Bill 150, Study State-Owned Banks.

Basically, the “state-owned bank” would take taxpayer dollars, then loan these funds to select businesses (including privately owned banks). You don’t think there’d be any political preferences to who receives these loans, do you? And what interest rates would the state-owned bank charge — would they reflect the riskiness of the loans and the market’s rate of time preference?

Moreover, the bill states that “excess earnings” of the bank could be “used to supplement General Fund purposes.” But what if the bank loses money? By definition a state-owned bank would primarily be lending to investments deemed unworthy by private lending institutions, meaning the state-owned bank’s loan portfolio would be especially high-risk. Is there any doubt North Carolina taxpayers would be forced to bail it out? Have we learned nothing about the dangers of the system of socialized risk from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

Worse still is this: Kinnaird’s bill represents another shift of power from individuals to the political class. By establishing a state-owned bank, decisions over creditworthy business investments would be centralized to a purely political organization, rather than left in the hands of private citizens. In a free society, however, the use of scarce resources and means of production is dictated by consumers – based according to their purchasing decisions. Capital goods, land, labor and other resources are directed toward satisfying the most urgent needs of consumers.

Under a state-owned bank, unaccountable political appointees will determine which investments are funded, and in turn determine the use of the means of production. Scarce resources are used not in response to the needs of the masses, but rather according to the whims of the political class. More power is taken from the many and concentrated in the hands of the few.

Because it takes a page out of the Karl Marx playbook, and would further erode freedom by politicizing more of our economy, SB 150 is this week’s Bad Bill of the Week.

The post SB 150: Paging Karl Marx appeared first on Civitas Institute.

The Zhou children will be relocating with their family to Hong Kong. Their mother Leah Zhou faced the challenge of finding the right school for her children there. According to Leah, sending her children to Thales was a solid decision. Both students excelled as a result of their preparation at Thales.  The school was also extremely helpful in assisting the Zhou family with transcripts, recommendations, and overall support from the faculty and staff.

Stories like this one reaffirm the benefits of innovative education and creative approaches to learning such as Thales has. Thales students outrank their peers nationwide and on average perform above their grade level. The academy fosters academic achievement, civic responsibility, and holds high standards of accountability, and the Zhou family has benefited from Thales’ approach to education.

Congratulations to the Zhou family, to Thales Academy and to Thales founder, Bob Luddy. We’re proud to have him as a member of the Civitas Institute Board of Directors.

House Judiciary Subcommittee B met Wednesday to discuss several bills but the one that caught most people’s attention was SB 306 “Capital Punishment/Amendments.” There are many people that were heard while the bill was only up for discussion today.

Jim O’Neill is the District Attorney for Forsyth County and he gave everyone a few points to think about and talks about a case that he has worked on and will continue to work on. In the video above he tells a victim, “you will never live long enough to see justice done.”

House Judiciary B will meet again next Wednesday to vote on the Bill.

Specifically, in the Senate’s proposed budget bill, it is Section 35.15(b) that lets us know what the taxpayer contribution to retiree benefits will be.

SECTION 35.15.(b)

Effective July 1, 2013, the State’s employer contribution rates budgeted for retirement and related benefits as a percentage of covered salaries for the 2013-2015 fiscal biennium are (i) fourteen and sixty-eight hundredths percent (14.68%) – Teachers and State Employees;

Of course for teachers and state employees, the “employer contribution” comes from state agencies, i.e. taxpayer dollars. Of that 14.68%, 8.69 percent goes toward the pension plan, 5.4% goes toward retiree health plan benefits, the remaining amount goes to disability and death benefits.

With a General Fund “covered salaries” total of just under $10 billion, this means that roughly $1.5 billion taxpayer dollars in the coming fiscal year will go toward funding state retiree benefits, specifically about $870 million contributed to the pension fund and $540 million to state health plan coverage for retirees. And this doesn’t count several sub-groups of state retiree benefits like the UNC optional retirement program, judicial retirees and state law enforcement officers.

For sake of comparison, we can look at the FY 2011-12 budget, under Section 29.22(c). In that year, total taxpayer support amounted to 13.12% of covered salaries, with 7.44% of that going to the pension fund and 5.0% going to retiree health benefits.

So during that brief time, the taxpayer contribution will rise from 13.12% to 14.68% of covered payroll – marking an increase of 17% of the share of state payroll dedicated to funding retiree benefits in just two years.

While it is difficult to state this change in dollar terms as the state payroll will have changed during the last two years, it is likely the payroll has not changed  significantly (with a slight pay raise in last year’s budget to offset minor net decreases in personnel) so we can estimate the overall increase in taxpayer support for state retiree benefits will be roughly $156 million in two years – again not counting smaller sub-groups of retirees mentioned above.

I offer several suggestions of how to stem this rising tide of taxpayer-funded benefits in this series of articles.

The post Viewpoints Radio appeared first on Civitas Institute.

Last night, the North Carolina state Senate unveiled its two year state budget proposal. Total spending included for FY 2013-14 comes to $20.58 billion, which would be roughly $400 million higher than the current year’s budget, good for a 2.3 percent increase. The Senate’s plan is about $17 million less than Gov. McCrory’s budget proposal released in March, less than a one percent difference.

The Senate plan designates a $217 million “finance package” for FY 2013-14 and $553 million for FY 2014-15, referring to the net revenue impact of their tax reform proposal. The details of the tax plan, however, are not included in the Senate’s budget proposal, and should likely be introduced in separate legislation.

Highlights of the Senate budget plan include:

Education

• Elimination of the LEA “adjustment” utilized in recent years. This practice involved the state sending LEAs higher amounts of money only to have the LEAs return part of the funds. Under the Senate plan, $376 million is increased for LEA funding, but offset largely by reductions reflecting the actions of LEAs in recent years
• $286 million of that reduction comes in the form of lowering classroom teachers, part in parcel with a slight increase in student-teacher ratios for classrooms. The reduction reflects the cost-saving measures used by LEAs in recent years
• Another $142 million reduction in K-12 spending comes from reducing the overall allotment for teacher assistants, with remaining TA funding directed more heavily toward kindergarten and first grade
• Extra $18.6 million to fund provisions of the Excellent Public Schools Act, which passed last year
• Changes are made to the work agreement contracts for teachers. Under the Senate plan, new teachers would sign one-year contracts, and teachers with more than three years experience would sign contacts ranging from one to four years. $10.2 million is set aside in FY 2014-2015 to allow superintendents to provide $500 pay raises to teachers signing four year contacts
• Increases Community College tuition by $2.50 per credit hour for both in-state and out-of-state students
• Implements a UNC management flexibility reduction of $48 million, with no change in tuition

Medicaid/HHS

• Sets aside an extra $306 million to fill current year Medicaid shortfall
• Includes a net overall increase of $340 million largely due to calculation errors last year requiring larger than expected increases for the coming year
• $49.7 million increase in FY 2013-14 and $114 million in 2014-15 to accommodate more Medicaid enrollees due to provisions in Obamacare. While the state refused Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, tens of thousands of additional enrollees are expected in response to other provisions under the law
• Transfers 2,500 slots from Pre-K (formerly More at Four) in FY 2013-14 and a total of 5,000 in FY 2014-15 as well as $12.4 million and $24.8 million respectively to the child care subsidy program. Under the subsidy program that funding will serve 2,600 and 5,200 children in each year

Commerce

• Allocates $27 million for Global Transpark debt repayment
• Establishes a new Rural Economic Development Division to address rural needs, at a cost of $7 million. But also eliminates state support for the NC Rural Economic Development Center – saving $16.6 million
• Appropriates $9 million to the  One North Carolina Fund – the Governor’s corporate welfare fund
• Allocates $51.8 million to the Job Development Investment Grant program (JDIG)
• Eliminates the Clean Water Management Trust Fund, establishes a new water and land conservation trust fund
• Creates a new “Water Infrastructure Authority” (WIA) to consolidate funding efforts for public water and wastewater infrastructure needs
• Appropriates $1.5 million for agriculture marketing and the Wine and Grape Growers Council
• Reduces by 50 percent the operational support for the NC Biotechnology Center – saving $8.6 million
• Eliminates operational support for the Biofuels Center – saving $2 million
• Includes $1.8 million in nonrecurring funds for the North Carolina Symphony and The Bridge Down East nonprofit

Justice & Public Safety

• Transfers the State Bureau of Investigation to the Division of Law Enforcement in the Department of Public Safety. Also shifts to the direct control of the Attorney General the NC State Crime Laboratory, Public Corruption Investigation Unit, and DOJ Information Technology Positions
• Closes 7 correctional facilities to reflect declining prison population

Elections

• Repeals the NC Public Campaign Fund for Superior Court judges, saving $2.3 million
• Appropriates $1.5 million for the implementation of a voter photo ID program

State Employees

• No pay raise for state employees and teachers
• Allocates an additional $36 million to the state retirement system to keep up with rising state pension costs
• Appropriates an additional $34 million to cover rising costs of the State Health Plan for state employees

The post FY 2013-14 Senate Budget Proposal: Large Tax Cut, Spending Nearly Identical to McCrory’s Plan appeared first on Civitas Institute.

Click on an answer and see if you are correct!

1. Who can participate in the North Carolina Public Campaign Fund?

   • Candidates for the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the North Carolina Supreme Court
   • Candidates for the North Carolina Court of Appeals and District Court
   • Candidates for Council of State offices
   • Candidates in all statewide races
   In 2002 the N.C. General Assembly passed legislation to establish the North Carolina Public Campaign Fund for candidates for the North Carolina Court of Appeals and the North Carolina Supreme Court

2. Who manages the North Carolina Public Campaign Fund?

   • State Board of Elections Board Members
   • State Board of Elections Administrative Staff
   • North Carolina Public Campaign Fund Advisory Council
   • North Carolina Legislature
   According to North Carolina General Statute and the 2012 Campaign Finance Manual, the State Board of Elections was to provide oversight with the advice of a five-member Advisory Council. Interesting to note the Advisory Council has not met since 2003.

3. In 2012, what part of the North Carolina Public Campaign Fund was terminated?

   • Contribution limits
   • Mandatory $50 surcharge on attorney's privilege license to practice law in N.C.
   • Distribution of Voter Guide
   • Matching funds
   According to the 2012 Campaign Finance Manual, due to a recent US Supreme Court decision deeming matching funds unconstitutional, the State Board has directed that no matching funds be released for the 2012 election.

4. In 2007 a new taxpayer-funded campaign program was implemented by the legislature. The new program was called the North Carolina Voter Owned Elections Fund Program. The funds for this program come out of North Carolina's General Fund, unlike the North Carolina Public Campaign Fund which is taxpayer money redirected by a positive check-off of three dollars on the individual's tax form. Who can participate in the Voter Owned Elections Fund Program?

   • Candidates for the North Carolina Court of Appeals and District Court
   • Candidates for some Council of State offices
   • Candidates in all statewide races
   Candidates seeking the offices of State Auditor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Commissioner of Insurance.

The post Public Campaign Financing Quiz appeared first on Civitas Institute.

HB 722, “Capital Punishment/Severe Disabilities,” would mandate that a killer who suffered from a “severe mental disability” when the crime was committed would not be sentenced to death. Sponsored by Reps. Paul Stam (R-Wake), Chuck McGrady (R-Henderson), Sarah Stevens (R-Surry), and Jonathan Jordan (R-Ashe), the law addresses “post conviction procedures for a person with a severe mental disability.” But the details of the bill suggest that the families of murder victims would almost surely be put through yet another trial if the accused was found guilty and sentenced to death, yet could appeal on the grounds he had a severe mental disability.

Stam said the issue of executing the mentally disabled is “nothing new,” quoting 18th century legal scholar William Blackstone: “A madman shall be punished by his madness alone.”

“You don’t deter crime by punishing those that everybody knows can’t be deterred – the people who are clearly mentally disabled or deficient,” Stam said in committee. “That’s what this bill is about. It’s not – not, not, not – about weakening the death penalty on capital crimes.”

If HB 722 is not about weakening the death penalty, then why are so many DAs against the bill?

North Carolina Conference of District Attorneys Director Peg Dorer spoke on the issue.”DAs oppose this bill,” she said. “The issue of mental disability should be weighed by the jury, not by the judge. It only takes one juror to make that decision, and the death penalty is not found.”

Here’s the law’s definition of severe mental instability: “any mental disability or defect that significantly impairs a person’s capacity to do any of the following: (i) appreciate the nature, consequences, or wrongfulness of the person’s conduct in the criminal offense; (ii) exercise rational judgment in relation to the criminal offense; or (iii) conform the person’s conduct to the requirements of the law in connection with the criminal offense.”

No murderer is conforming to the laws of society, so wouldn’t one be able to say that anyone who commits a murder is not mentally stable? And how many murderers could be said to be “exercising rational judgment” when they take an innocent victim’s life?

No murderer fully appreciates the wrongfulness of his acts. And if a lawyer says the accused would do it again, then would a killer be immune to the death penalty?

Dorer said the change would encourage “judge shopping” and would cost more money, as opposed to saving it, as proponents claim. She predicted that all the current inmates on the state’s death row would seek relief under the measure, forcing the state to re-litigate those cases.

That concern was echoed by Rep. Debra Conrad, R-Forsyth, who said her local DA “compared the bill to the Racial Justice Act,” predicting that “it will the end death penalty as a punishment in North Carolina.”

Almost all NC death-row convicts have appealed under the Racial Justice Act, regardless of the race of the killers or their victims. It’s easy to see that under HB 722, almost any convicted murderer would claim a mental deficiency, if only to delay the day of reckoning.

I spoke to Stam the other day and he was not confident the bill would make crossover and get to the Senate, meaning that the bill would die.

HB 722 sounds like lawmakers simply don’t have the guts to push for full repeal of the death penalty. Why else punish the families, courts, and DAs with all this nonsense? That is why HB 722 is this week’s Bad Bill of the Week.

The post HB 722: Racial Justice Act, Part 2? appeared first on Civitas Institute.

Last fall public schools in North Carolina along with 44 other states began implementing Common Core Standards. The standards — developed by academic experts and private trade associations with the financial backing of several large foundations — have unleashed a brushfire of criticism, fueled in part by the controversial ideas behind Common Core, parental anger over the lack of input and dissatisfaction over how the standards are implemented in our schools.

To help our readers learn more about Common Core, we’ve asked Jane Robbins, a Senior Fellow with the American Principles Project and someone actively involved in the national fight to stop Common Core, to share with us her thoughts about Common Core Standards and what these changes mean for students and parents in North Carolina. What follows is a transcript of Jane’s responses to our questions.

Tell me why North Carolina parents should be concerned about Common Core.

Common Core is an attempt by private interests in Washington, DC, aided by the federal government, to standardize English language arts (ELA) and math education (and ultimately, education in other subjects as well) throughout the nation. By adopting Common Core, North Carolina has agreed to cede control over its ELA and math standards to entities outside the state. Not only does this scheme obliterate parental control over the education of their children, but it imposes mediocre standards based on questionable philosophies, constitutes a huge unfunded mandate on the state and on local districts, and requires sharing students’ personal data with the federal government.

Specifically, how will Common Core impact a child’s education?

In ELA, the child will be exposed to significantly less classic literature – the books and stories that instill a love of reading – and significantly more nonfiction “informational texts.” The idea is not to educate him as a full citizen, but to train him for a future static job. In math, the child won’t learn the standard algorithm (the normal computational model) for addition and subtraction until grade 4, for multiplication until grade 5, and for division until grade 6. Until then, the child will be taught what we used to call “fuzzy math” – alternative offbeat ways to solve math problems. He probably won’t take algebra I until grade 9 (meaning he’s unlikely to reach calculus in high school, as expected by selective universities), and will be “taught” geometry according to an experimental method never used successfully in K-12 anywhere in the world.

Aren’t Common Core standards supposed to be better than existing school standards?

That’s the claim, but it simply isn’t true. Even the Fordham Institute, which has been paid a lot of money by Common Core-financier the Gates Foundation to promote the standards, admitted that many states had better standards and others had standards at least as good. The Common Core website itself no longer claims that the standards are “internationally benchmarked,” and the Common Core Validation Committee was never given any information on international benchmarking. And one of the drafters of the math standards admitted in 2010 that when Common Core proponents talk about “college-readiness,” they’re aiming for a nonselective community college, not a four-year university.

How are teachers impacted under Common Core?

Seasoned teachers are likely to be unhappy with the educational “innovations” described above. And once the SMARTER Balanced national test is implemented in 2014-15, teachers will have to teach to this test because their performance evaluations will be tied to the test scores. The national test will be completely online, which means schools without sufficient technology will have to rotate their students through computer labs. (SMARTER Balanced suggests a 12-week testing window). This means students who are tested in the first week will have significantly less instruction under their belts than students who are tested later – but all teachers’ evaluations will be tied to the scores.

Is it true that local districts will be able to choose their own curriculum under Common Core? If all curricula will ultimately be tied to the standards, does that really matter?

The point of standards is to drive curricula. While local districts still have some choice over curricula, they are already seeing that their choices are narrowing, because all curricula must be aligned with Common Core. And the federal government is funding the two consortia that are developing the national tests and that have admitted they are creating curriculum models. Two former U.S. Department of Education officials concluded in a comprehensive report that, ultimately, the Common Core scheme will result in a national curriculum – in violation of three federal statutes.

Tell us more about the student database and what parents need to know.

Both the 2009 Stimulus bill and the Race to the Top program required states to build massive student databases. It is recommended that these databases ultimately track over 400 data points, including health-care history, disciplinary history, etc. Any of this data that will be given to the Smarter Balanced consortium as part of the national test will be sent to the U.S. Department of Education. USED can then share the data with literally any entity it wants to – public or private – because of regulations it has issued gutting federal student-privacy law.

North Carolinians should also be concerned about a new initiative called inBloom, which is a pilot program designed to standardize student data and make it available to commercial vendors creating education products. North Carolina is one of the nine states involved in the inBloom pilot.

How did all this happen?

Very stealthily. Private interests in Washington, funded largely by the Gates Foundation, decided in 2007 to try again (as progressive education reformers have in the past) to nationalize standards and curriculum. Thus began the development of Common Core. When the stimulus bill passed in 2009, the U.S. Department of Education used the money it was given to create the Race to the Top program. To be competitive for Race to the Top grants, a state had to agree to adopt Common Core and the aligned national tests. The commitments were due before the standards were released, and without the opportunity for involvement by state legislatures. So most states that adopted Common Core did so for a chance at federal money, and without legislators’ and citizens’ knowing anything about it.

In your view who’s behind the development of Common Core Standards and what are they trying to accomplish?

The standards were created primarily by a nonprofit called Achieve, Inc. in Washington, DC, and released under the auspices of two DC-based trade associations (the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, neither of which had a grant of legislative authority from their members to create national standards). Funding and support came from the Gates Foundation, as well as from other foundations including the Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy and Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education. The common denominator seems to be a belief that very smart elites in Washington are better able to direct our children’s education than we are. As for what they are trying to accomplish, two points: first, Bill Gates seems to favor a “Common Core operating system” that can be imposed on every school, everywhere, to increase efficiency: and second, the initiative seems directed at workforce development, not true education.

What have you learned from traveling around the country working with parents and groups who are fighting Common Core?

That Goliath should be very, very concerned about David! Parents and other concerned citizens have stood up to the lavishly funded special interests and have demanded a return of their constitutional right to control their children’s education. Common Core is not inevitable, and patriots can still prevail if they refuse to give in. I’ve also learned that the forces behind Common Core are wedded to certain buzzwords and talking points that have absolutely no evidence to support them – “rigorous,“ “college- and career-ready,” etc. – and that the promoters frequently resort to outright deception to get what they want. The ends justify the means, apparently.

How do you respond to concerns that withdrawal from Common Core will threaten Race to the Top funding or the No Child Left Behind waiver?

Regarding Race to the Top, several points: 1) nothing in the grant requires paying back the money if Common Core is discarded; 2) even if repayment were demanded, it should be only a fraction of the money actually paid out (since the commitments to Common Core and the SMARTER Balanced tests were only a fraction of the Race to the Top commitment); 3) even if full repayment were required, this would be much cheaper than continuing to implement the Common Core unfunded mandate; and 4) it is highly unlikely, from a political standpoint, that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan would require repayment, since he has claimed for two years that nothing about this program is a federal mandate – if he now imposes a huge penalty for North Carolina’s exercise of independence, he will be proving the point of the Common Core critics. Regarding the No Child Left Behind waiver, there is a way within the waiver application itself that allows a state to use standards other than Common Core. If North Carolina has its alternative standards certified by its major institutions of higher education, it can still qualify for the waiver (assuming it wishes to do so – the waiver simply exchanges one set of federal shackles for another).

Do you have any final advice on how parents can be actively involved in fighting Common Core Standards in North Carolina?

Yes. Educate yourselves and your friends by visiting truthinamericaneducation.com and stopcommoncore.com. Talk to your local school officials and school board members. Call your state legislators, your state school board members, and your Governor, and demand that they take action to restore North Carolina control over North Carolina education.

(For North Carolina, also visit stopcommoncorenc.org.)

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RALEIGH – Supporters of public campaign financing have long claimed that it would never have a partisan slant. But the latest Civitas Institute investigation has found how one liberal activist has taken control of the process in North Carolina.

In “Guiding the NC Elections Board – to the Left,” the latest in a series of articles, we turn our attention to the involvement of liberal activist and lobbyist Bob Hall in public campaign financing.

Civitas elections analyst Susan Myrick illustrates the extent to which the SBOE staff has, for years, surrendered their official duties to Hall, head of the liberal advocacy group Democracy NC. In combing through more than 5,000 emails to and from the SBOE and Hall, it is evident that Hall controlled and directed the North Carolina Public Campaign Fund Program (NCPCF), the vehicle for public campaign financing in the Tar Heel State.

To read the article, “Guiding the NC Elections Board – to the Left,” click here.

More information on the Civitas Institute is available at www.nccivitas.org, or contact Jim Tynen at james.tynen@nccivitas.org or (919) 834-2099.

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RALEIGH – The latest Civitas Poll shows that North Carolina voters strongly favor developing the state’s natural gas resources, including offshore reserves.

The poll of 500 NC registered voters had a margin of error of plus-minus 4.36 percent.

“Voters want to see North Carolina develop the natural resources lying right under our feet, or just off our seacoast,” said Civitas President Francis X. De Luca. “Legislators should heed these beliefs, and pay less attention to the scare tactics often used to block energy development.”

Actual text of question from the Civitas Statewide Energy Survey:

Should North Carolina be more aggressive in exploiting its natural gas reserves, both onshore and offshore, to help North Carolina become energy independent?

69%     Yes
21%     No
6%       It Depends/ Only some
4%       Don’t Know

For crosstabs from these questions, click here.

About the Poll:

This poll of 500 registered voters in North Carolina was conducted May 2, 4 and 5, 2013 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of registered general election voters in North Carolina. Fifteen percent of the respondents were cell phone-only users. For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in at least one of the past two general elections (2010, 2012) or be newly registered to vote since November 3, 2012.

The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 500 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4.36% of the “True Values.”

For more information on Civitas polling, see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.

More information on the Civitas Institute is available at www.nccivitas.org, or contact Jim Tynen at james.tynen@nccivitas.org or (919) 834-2099.

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