Beaufort Superintendent and School Board majority deleted Founding Fathers from curriculum requirements | Eastern North Carolina Now
And how shall they learn, but that they be taught?
By: John Steed
Until recently, the Beaufort County School Board's curriculum policy required the Superintendent to oversee county public school curriculum on teaching students about America's founding and our founding fathers. A recent amendment to that policy drafted by Superintendent Matthew Cheeseman and passed by the Board, deleted that language, so now there is no such requirement in Beaufort County Schools policy.
This was an unfortunate result of a push by conservative school board members to reduce the superintendent’s control of the curriculum process and institute more involvement of both the elected board members and the community. The conservatives' rewrite of policy .3100 on curriculum took control of the oversight on teaching about America's founding away from the Superintendent, expanded the aspects of America's founding that were required to be taught, and placed oversight in the board itself.
The proposals on policy .3100 kept running into roadblocks from the Superintendent, his six close allies on the board, and the school system's ultra-liberal Durham-based attorney, who ran interference for the Superintendent. The original proposal included requiring the curriculum to meet local community standards and have a community standards oversight board of local parents and citizens, and gave the elected school board more detailed oversight of the curriculum process. The Superintendent and his allies were dead set against this.
After several attempts at compromise by the conservatives did not alter the opposition from the Superintendent and his allies, Superintendent Cheeseman presented his own compromise. It was Cheeseman's version, read by him at a board meeting, that deleted all references to teaching about America's founding and our founding fathers. Not only was the strengthened language proposed by the conservative board members deleted, but so was even the existing language calling on the Superintendent to oversee the manner in which these subjects would be taught. As a result of the language proposed by Cheeseman and adopted by the board, there is now nothing at all in Beaufort County Schools policy on teaching about America's founding and our founding fathers. That is in spite of most school districts in North Carolina having some requirement written in their policy to teach these subjects.
Three of Cheeseman's school board allies who backed him on his positions on the changes to School Board Policy 3100 are on the ballot this November and have more conservative challengers.
The Cheeseman allies are Mack Hodges, Eltha Booth, and T.W. Allen. Voters who see them, or their opponents, out campaigning have an opportunity to express their disapproval of these actions and of course when we go to vote soon.
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If you are talking about Comments, they are posted now (the publisher was away at a Bluegrass Festival), and nothing comes between Stan and his Bluegrass.
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Beaufort NOW, I made three post on the 27th then again on the 28th.
Can you tell me why they have not posted? Thanks. |
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What we need to do is elect school boards which will enforce the state law on fluency in cursive writing even if the school bureaucracy resists it. When I see someone sign their name in block letters, it indicates illiteracy almost as much as if they signed with an "X".
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I've had teachers confide that their students either type or print. Young grownups conducting business with me admit they cannot read cursive writing. So much for an NC requirement on the subject. I suppose we now need translation pages attached to copies of the founding documents. It seems to be a foreign language for our young folks.
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Tell me you’re old, without telling me you’re old.
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According to a student at the Early College High School that I talked to most of the students there cannot even sign their names with cursive. They print their names in block letters. This is the top academic group in the county and it is sad that this life skill has not been taught better in our education system.
I also talked to a school board candidate who taught her own children cursive writing at home because they were not getting it in Beaufort County Schools, and actually had a teacher get upset at her for doing so. Personally, I think there are clearly teachers in our school system who do teach it, but also some that don't or just gloss over it. We need central direction to see that state law is complied with and that all students are fluent in reading and writing in cursive. |
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Readers keep asking me about cursive writing. I never said it shouldn't be taught or used. I said my children were taught it in school but rarely use it. Almost all their work is done on computers. I work in the business world and almost never need to use cursive writing either. But I'm all for learning it because it's better to have and not need it than to need it and not have it. Just stop saying it's not taught in schools.
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Bolshevik Bob calling everyone right of center "MAGA" is like a conservative calling everyone left of center a communist. I know his talking points tell him to do it, but it is just dishonest. Conservatives come in many stripes, from traditional Reagan-style conservatives like myself to the populist nationalist MAGA style conservatives. That is not only true in America, but in Europe as well. ONly Little Bobbie's far left taling points will not let him see that.
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MAGA - if you let these people near the schools, you will regret it. They cant govern
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Concerned taxpayer: You are correct. It is what Cheeseman intends to do long term about teaching found fathers. He is setting rules that will allow him todo as he pleases.
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Well True Republican, do you write with cursive.
I do and I find it most comfortable. If your children arent using it, I dare to suggest it is because they were NOT taught to be proficient at it. They were likely discouraged from the use of it. The truth lies somewhere other than simply that your children naturally prefer printing. They were not taught to be good at it. I can recall practicing cursive writing was a lot like art. Very satisfying. AND, I can read OLD documents. Which reminds me of how the ancient Christian churches didnt want the people to be able to read the bible for themselves. Its all about control of the peons. |
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There are ways a person can mine Bitcoin by translating cursive into print in order to teach A.I.
Could this be the reason for phasing it out?
Seems to me cursive will be one of the future methods of code talking.