Comments for Relaxed Elected Officials | Eastern NC Now

ONe wonders what minefields lie in city of Washington's budget and spending. The former city manager did not get his records in on time to do an on time audit. Who knows what will be found when the documents finally do get pulled together. No wonder he beat a hasty retreat in resigning. The city needs to claw back the outrageous sum of money he was paid in that sweetheart deal on his resignation.

Commented: Thursday, December 11th, 2025 @ 3:21 pm By: Concerned Taxpayer

I learned a very long time ago that what the schools wanted, was my child, my money, and for me to BUTT OUT!
How do they get parents to butt out? Well one easy way is to inflate grades. You young parents should know that if your child is getting A's, B's C's on the report card, dont believe that they are doing that level of work. They are NOT. Not even the A students.
I recall my son was in a 9th grade level math class and that N.C. required students to take a state issued exam on that subject at year end. I called to ask how my child did on that state exam, the employee said he got a C on the class, I said, but what did he do on the state exam? She replied, Well he failed that!
I exclaimed: THEN, what good did it do him to give him a passing grade? He doesnt know the subject!

Commented: Wednesday, December 10th, 2025 @ 11:09 am By: Befuddled

Bath parent: You certainly do not teach civics or history or you would know that it is the responsibility of elected officials to keep the pressure on the education system to make sure they are actually educating children.

You are clueless a to what my responsibilities are to the public. Defending the "relaxed elected officials" shows me that we are not getting our money's worth from you.

Commented: Wednesday, December 10th, 2025 @ 6:58 am By: Hood Richardson

Steve funny how you say cursive was not taught and now it is? So now you are on the board and know the truth and not listening to Hood you believe it!! Mmmmm The funny is a previous comment you said cursive was not taught but started back teaching. That is accusing teachers of not teaching standards I hope you got proof because we are licensed to teach the standards. If not you are now doing the Hood thing talking before you think

Commented: Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 @ 7:09 pm By: Bath parent

County voter, you are correct that teaching cursive writing is required, as is teaching the multiplication tables. This was mandated by the state legislature in statute, rather than from DPI. School districts are required to make certifications to the legislature annually.

Given the polling of college freshmen who say they cannot read and write cursive, I wonder if some districts may just go through the motions on cursive, or perhaps not teach it at all. In our state, beyond that certification, there is no further process to determine if cursive is actually being taught.

I was pleased with our own teachers that when I commented on the cards with cursive letters, they tended to be spontaneous in expressing the importance of teaching cursive. I believe our own teachers are genuinely committed to doing so.

One aspect, though, is that when one learns something but does not use it, their skills tend to get rusty. I would like to see us develop some methodologies that would promote students using cursive to a sufficient extent throughout their school years to maintain their skills.

Commented: Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 @ 6:51 pm By: Steven P. Rader

This has been my experience also. I believe we as a society had been moving in the wrong direction thinking cursive writing was outdated. It finally dawned on those thinking that way that we were producing a generation that, for example, could not read historical documents or would run into difficulty signing contracts. In my opinion, cursive writing is an important skill for an educated person. I'm pleased that we are now working on that skill with our young people, but I think we need to stay on it. We did lose something in those years we discounted the importance of cursive writing.

Commented: Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 @ 4:11 pm By: Charles Hickman

Buzz, when I was touring schools during the Open Houses this Fall, I was pleased to see a series of cards showing each letter of cursive writing posted around the walls in each of the 3rd grade classrooms. When I got a chance to have a few words with teachers in those classes, I expressed that I was pleased to see those cards posted. The teachers expressed their own sense in the importance of teaching cursive. One indicated that in some previous years, it had not been, but it is now.

I know this has been a problem in the past because a high school student in my family was telling me how many of his classmates could not read or write cursive. I think one of the things we need to look at is how we can develop programs to keep these skills active throughout the education process.

Commented: Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 @ 11:47 am By: Steven P. Rader

Glad to hear from our Bath Parent that all kids in Beaufort County are learning Cursive. Wonder if we could get some help for the 65% of our students who are not at Math and reading Level? How are we doing on multiplication tables? I bet they know a lot about DEI. A little help with real American History would be good too.

Commented: Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 @ 10:58 am By: Buzz Cayton

Bath Parent, I talk to parents and students, so I do not have to be in schools to know what is actually being taught as opposed to having to believe your Cheeseman Party line.

Keep groveling at the bottom of the gutter, you look good down there.

Commented: Tuesday, December 9th, 2025 @ 6:59 am By: Hood Richardson

How come this Republican majority county commission always elects a Repub that was a Democrat before he ran for office as Chairman, paired with a Democrat as Vice Chair? With this Republican majority, has a Republican EVER been allowed in a leadership position. This is OK with the local Republican Party?

This is simply one-party rule that is opposed to any Republican aligned with the Republican Party platform. If it meets the definition of fraud, perhaps it is.

Commented: Monday, December 8th, 2025 @ 7:57 pm By: Van Zant

Well Hood let’s discuss your inaccurate article again. This must be your aging mind or lack of knowledge. Cursive writing is taught my kids learned it well. I was sitting in the meeting you referenced behind you and had the position wrong dean of students. From what I saw you were asleep. As for CRT there is a policy on not teaching CRT in our schools. If you personally witness this being taught you should report the teacher to your board member. You would have to go a school that have not been inside one in 20 years as stated earlier this year in a meeting. So as you can see I used an alias name as all of your buddies Ray, Adam, Steve, Charles

Commented: Monday, December 8th, 2025 @ 4:39 pm By: Bath parent