River Bend July 4th Celebration!

CCTA WATCHDOG ALERT

June 12, 2014

Watchdog Alert! "Gay Rights" flag flyes over the American Embassy inTel Aviv

Fellow CCTA members and friends of CCTA:

Rick Hopkins, Chairman of CCTA, just received an email stating that the "Gay Rights" flag is being flown today over the American Embassy in Tel Aviv indicating support for the LGBTQ community according to US ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro.

I did a Google search to verify that and found this article on The Times of Israel. Here is the web address of that article:http://www.timesofisrael.com/us-embassy-raises-flag-in-support-of-tlv-pride-week/  

Rick asked me to get out a notice to our membership so that they can express their displeasure to the President and the Secretary of State.  Here's contact information for the White House and the Department of State:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments 

Call the President

Phone Numbers

Comments: 202-456-1111

Switchboard: 202-456-1414

Contact information for the Secretary of State:

http://www.state.gov/contact/

Call the Secretary of State

·  Phone Number: (202) 647-4000.

---

Let President Obama and Secretary Kerry know CCTA's displeasure!!!!

Hal James

CCTA Watchdog Chairman

CCTA PUBLIC PROGRAM MEETING--THIS TUESDAY!

Next Public Meeting

June 17th, 2014, 7:00-9:00 pm

 Stanly Hall Ballroom

Craven and Pollock St., New Bern, NC. 

Elevator Entrance:  249 Craven St.
or Stairwell Entrance at 305 Pollock St.

 THIS MONTH’S PROGRAM

Dr. Greg Brannon

Greg will speak about the grass roots constitutional conservative movement.

How we can move toward regaining and protecting our constitutional rights and freedoms

by engaging in the political process and exercising our God given rights

protected by the Constitutions of the United States and North  

Hosea 4: 6 (KJV) My people perish from a lack of knowledge.

We must engage, we must prepare, we must stand ready to defend those rights. We must

first understand the origin of those rights and be able to debate and defend them based on

a firm study, debate and knowledge of them. Greg is one of the most knowledgeable men

in this area and most capable of sharing that knowledge.

Come and join us for an evening with Greg and engage in a lively discussion during the QA session to follow.

Open to the public, we are non-partisan and this is not a political event or endorsement for any political candidate,

it is an educational event. Bring your school aged children and encourage them to participate.

The meeting will be held at the Stanly Hall Ballroom, in downtown New Bern

at 249 Craven Street (elevator) and 305 Pollock Street (stairs) second floor.

Adequate parking is available directly across Pollock St. adjacent to City Hall and the Tax Offices

where parking is free and open to the public after 5:30pm. A number of restaurants are within walking distance 
if you want to come early and have a meal prior to the meeting.

The meeting starts at 7:00 pm. 

Please share this invitation!

“The Constitution on which our Union rests, shall be administered … according to the safe and honest meaning contemplated

by the plain understanding of the people of the United States at the time of its adoption—

a meaning to be found in the explanations of those who advocated, not those who opposed it, “

–Thomas Jefferson

The elevator entrance to Stanly Hall Ballroom is at 249 Craven Street, and the stair entrance is at 305 Pollock Street.
There is a parking lot across the street in the north eastern quadrant of Craven and Pollock.

We meet every 3rd Tuesday for our Public Information Program Meeting.

  OPEN TO THE PUBLIC–PLEASE COME OUT AND JOIN US!

CCTA Member Business Meetings are held on the 2nd Monday of the month at
6:00 pm. Highland Park Christian Church, 905 Carolina Avenue, Trent Woods, NC 

CCTA MONTHLY PROGRAM MEETING THIS TUESDAY!

Tuesday, February 18 

7:00 pm

Stanly Hall Ballroom

Elevator Entrance @ 249 Craven St.

Stair Entrance @ 305 Pollock St.

New Bern

 LOCAL ISSUES

Are they really local?

What can we do?

Speakers:

Hal James

Tax Money Spent in Craven County  

Kim Fink

National Standards, Local Distress

Eddie McKeel

Why Fusion Centers?

Broad hint about content...

No matter what we talk about - hiding tax money spent, railroading Common Core standards, or setting up fusion centers - the federal government is meddling in Craven County. We need elected representatives at all levels of government (local, state, & federal) who will resist federal intrusion. Filing for elected offices is in progress and will remain open until noon on February 28^th.

CCTA MONTHLY PUBLIC PROGRAM, FEBRUARY 18th

COASTAL CAROLINA TAXPAYER ASSOCIATION (CCTA)

PLEASE NOTE:  We have a new place to meet!

CCTA Monthly Public Program Meeting

 February 18, 2014, 7:00-9:00 pm

 Stanly Hall Ballroom

Craven and Pollock St., New Bern, NC

Elevator Entrance:  249 Craven St. or Stairwell Entrance at 305 Pollock St.

THIS MONTH’S PROGRAM

“Local issues, taxes, common core, government intrusions

and more!”

We meet every 3rd Tuesday for our Public Information Program Meeting.  

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC--PLEASE COME OUT AND JOIN US!

CCTA Member Business Meetings are held on the 2nd Monday of the month at 6:00 pm. Highland Park Christian Church, 905 Carolina Avenue, Trent Woods, NC

More info: Lynn Childs, 252-528-0500 or email, lynn.ccta@gmail.com

Due to illness, Dr. Tim Johnson, Frederick Douglas Foundation, is unable to speak to us this month.  We hope to reschedule him in the near future. 

CCTA on WITN NEWS

Your Tax Dollars are Being Spent on What?

WITN February 13, 2014

The U.S. has a $17-trillion debt, a deficit this year of $514-billion, and is giving away billions of dollars in grants for all sorts of initiatives in foreign countries.

As members of the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association gathered in Craven County to tape their weekly radio program, they are simply outraged with some of what we discovered our federal government is spending money on.

Rick Hopkins is the chairman of CCTA and says, "We're going right down the same road that's been gone down so many times that's lead to the collapse of countries."

VIDEO AND MORE!

CCTA Press Release: Classes

February 12, 2014

Like our founders, the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA) believes that only a moral, virtuous, well-informed citizenry is capable of self-government. In order to foster the kind of citizens a self-governing society needs, CCTA is forming the following classes...

THE 5,000 YEAR LEAP

Summary - For 5,000 years people lived in much the same labor intensive way. Then the American experiment brought forth a society in which there was freedom and the opportunity to live independently. In the next 200 years, invention and creativity flourished. This course teaches the principles of freedom and the ideas our founding documents are based on. The class is based on the book with the same title written by W. Cleon Skousen.

The class is free and is suitable for adults and mature young people. The class meets each Saturday at 10 a.m.

NULLIFICATION

Summary - Only laws made pursuant to the constitution are the supreme law of the land. Federal laws that fall outside the purview of the U.S. Constitution are null and void and of no effect. States can and should interpose themselves between their citizens and unconstitutional laws. The class is based on the book of the same name by Thomas Woods, Jr., PhD.

The class is also free and is suitable for adults. The class meets each Saturday at 11:30 a.m.

GRAVE INFLUENCE

Summary - This study visits the work, writing, and beliefs of 21 radicals who, although dead, are still influencing us and the rest of the world. You will probably have heard of some (Saul Alinsky, Karl Marx). You may not know others (Alice Baily, Benjamin Bloom). This class is based on the book of the same name by Brannon Howse.

The class is free and is suitable for adults. The class meets each Tuesday at 2 p.m.

All classes meet at

Highland Park Christian Church

Carolina Avenue, Trent Woods

If you have questions, please call 252-444-7272

Info provided by:

Raynor James, PR Chair, Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA)

252-288-6228 (home)

252-626-2804 (cell)

305 Calico Drive, New Bern, North Carolina, 28560

Disclaimer: Although some of our classes and events are held at local churches, the churches are not affiliated with and do not endorse or support Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA). We have simply made arrangements with them to use their facilities. All church functions and activities remain separate and unaffiliated with CCTA functions and activities. The facilities are used for educational and organizational purposes only and not for political events or endorsements.

Does this concern you?

$600,000 MILITARY MINE RESISTANT VEHICLE FOR $4,000

Local police tool-up with surplus equipment -- 'The government is afraid of its own citizens'

Read more! 

THEN TUNE IN TO THE 'CCTA WAKE UP CALL' RADIO PROGRAM, 

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24th on WNBU 94.1 at 6:30 am!

You can also hear it afterwards online at our website, http://cctaxpayers.com.  You should also listen to the archive of yesterday's show, where the NDAA and militarization of our police was discussed.  That conversation continues on the January 24th show!

CCTA Public Service Announcement

January 14, 2014

CCTA to get Common Core Update 

Lindalyn Kakadelis, a former teacher, former member of the Charlotte Mecklenburg Board of Education, Director of the North Carolina Education Alliance (NCEA), TV and radio personality, and published author, who has also handled outreach for the John Lock Foundation and done work for Civitas will speak about Common Core educational standards at the Coastal Taxpayers Association's (CCTA) public meeting on Tuesday, January 21 at 7 p.m. at the Stanly Hall Ballroom in New Bern. North Carolina adopted the Common Core standards for kindergarten through 12^th grade, but the General Assembly currently has a joint House and Senate committee studying the pros, cons, and costs of implementing Common Core. Michael Speciale who represents many citizens in the greater New Bern area is a member of the study committee.

Questions and controversy have surrounded Common Core from the beginning. Is it a "state led" or federal program, and did "crony capitalists" like Microsoft pull a fast one? Does it represent high standards as some suggest, or will it dumb down North Carolina students as others aver? Is the kindergarten through 3^rd grade testing too hard and will it cause young children to dread school? Are high school standards so low as to make it difficult for graduates to get into good colleges and universities? What about the requirements for student data collection; are they something parents should fear, or are they harmless? Claims and counterclaims swirl. Lindalyn Kakadelis can provide the background that will enable parents, educational professionals, and concerned taxpaying citizens decide for themselves. Mrs. Kakadelis will also bring us up to date on the latest developments since Common Core is very much in a state of flux as people with strong opposing views continue to try to influence its outcome in North Carolina and beyond.

Mrs. Kakadelis' presentation will be made in the historic and lovely Stanly Hall Ballroom. An elevator entrance to the second floor ballroom is at 249 Craven Street. A stair entrance is at 305 Pollack Street.  

                                                                                                                     

Info provided by:

Raynor James, PR Chair, Coastal Carolina Taxpayers 

Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA) Monthly Public Program Meeting

CCTA Monthly Public Program Meeting

PLEASE NOTE:  We have a new place to meet!

 January 21, 2014, 7:00-9:00 pm, Stanly Hall Ballroom, Craven and Pollock St., New Bern, NC

Elevator Entrance:  249 Craven St. or Stairwell Entrance at 305 Pollock St.

Speaker:  Lynn Kakadaelis--Common Core Update. 

We meet every 3rd Tuesday for our Public Information Program Meeting.  

OPEN TO THE PUBLIC--PLEASE COME OUT AND JOIN US!

CCTA Member Business Meetings are held on the 2nd Monday of the month at 6:00 pm. 

Highland Park Christian Church, 905 Carolina Avenue, Trent Woods, NC

More info: Lynn Childs, 252-528-0500 or email, lynn.ccta@gmail.com

Disclaimer: Although some of our classes and events are held at local churches, the churches are not affiliated with and do not endorse or support Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA). We have simply made arrangements with them to use their facilities. All church functions and activities remain separate and unaffiliated with CCTA functions and activities. The facilities are used for educational and organizational purposes only and not for political events or endorsements.

NEW CCTA CLASS: "The 5,000 Year Leap" this Saturday, January 4 at 10 am

We are beginning a new class of "The 5,000 Year Leap" this Saturday, January 4 at 10 am, Highland Christian Church, 905 Carolina Ave., New Bern.

No need to preregister...just show up.  Books are available for $5, and we have some workbooks left too...they are $15.  The workbooks are optional.

This is an informative fun class; we always allow plenty of time to talk and discuss.  I promise you will learn and think in this class!

Please come join us!

DESCRIPTION:

Discover the 28 fundamental beliefs of the Founding Fathers which they said must be understood and perpetuated by every people who desired peace, prosperity, and freedom. These beliefs have made possible more progress in 200 years than was made previously in over 5,000 years. Thus the title "The 5,000 Year Leap". The following is a brief overview of the principles found in The 5,000 Year Leap, and one chapter is devoted to each of these 28 principles. Principle 1 - The only reliable basis for sound government and just human relations is Natural Law. Natural law is God's law. There are certain laws which govern the entire universe, and just as Thomas Jefferson said in the Declaration of Independence, there are laws which govern in the affairs of men which are "the laws of nature and of nature's God." Principle 2 - A free people cannot survive under a republican constitution unless they remain virtuous and morally strong. "Only a virtuous people are capable of freedom. As nations become corrupt and vicious, they have more need of masters." - Benjamin Franklin Principle 3 - The most promising method of securing a virtuous people is to elect virtuous leaders. "Neither the wisest constitution nor the wisest laws will secure the liberty and happiness of a people whose manners are universally corrupt. He therefore is the truest friend to the liberty of his country who tries most to promote its virtue, and who ... will not suffer a man to be chosen into any office of power and trust who is not a wise and virtuous man." - Samuel Adams Principle 4 - Without religion the government of a free people cannot be maintained. "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports.... And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion." - George Washington Principle 5 - All things were created by God, therefore upon him all mankind are equally dependent, and to him they are equally responsible . The American Founding Fathers considered the existence of the Creator as the most fundamental premise underlying all self-evident truth. They felt a person who boasted he or she was an atheist had just simply failed to apply his or her divine capacity for reason and observation. Principle 6 - All mankind were created equal. The Founders knew that in these three ways, all mankind are theoretically treated as: Equal before God. Equal before the law. Equal in their rights. Principle 7 - The proper role of government is to protect equal rights, not provide equal things. The Founders recognized that the people cannot delegate to their government any power except that which they have the lawful right to exercise themselves. Principle 8 - Mankind are endowed by God with certain unalienable rights. "Those rights, then, which God and nature have established, and are therefore called natural rights, such as are life and liberty, need not the aid of human laws to be more effectually invested in every man than they are; neither do they receive any additional strength when declared by the municipal [or state] laws to be inviolable. On the contrary, no human legislation has power to abridge or destroy them, unless the owner [of the right] shall himself commit some act that amounts to a forfeiture." - William Blackstone Principle 9 - To protect human rights, God has revealed a code of divine law. "The doctrines thus delivered we call the revealed or divine law, and they are to be found only in the Holy Scriptures. These precepts, when revealed, are found by comparison to be really a part of the original law of nature, as they tend in all their consequences to man's felicity." - William Blackstone Principle 10 - The God-given right to govern is vested in the sovereign authority of the whole people. "The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of the consent of the people. The streams of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original fountain of all legislative authority." - Alexander Hamilton Principle 11 - The majority of the people may alter or abolish a government which has become tyrannical. "Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ... but when a long train of abuses and usurpations ... evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security." - Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence Principle 12 - The United States of America shall be a republic. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America And to the republic for which it stands...." Principle 13 - A Constitution should protect the people from the frailties of their rulers. "If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.... [But lacking these] you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." - James Madison Principle 14 - Life and liberty are secure only so long as the rights of property are secure . John Locke reasoned that God gave the earth and everything in it to the whole human family as a gift. Therefore the land, the sea, the acorns in the forest, the deer feeding in the meadow belong to everyone "in common." However, the moment someone takes the trouble to change something from its original state of nature, that person has added his ingenuity or labor to make that change. Herein lies the secret to the origin of "property rights." Principle 15 - The highest level of prosperity occurs when there is a free-market economy and a minimum of government regulations. Prosperity depends upon a climate of wholesome stimulation with four basic freedoms in operation: The Freedom to try. The Freedom to buy. The Freedom to sell. The Freedom to fail. Principle 16 - The government should be separated into three branches . "I call you to witness that I was the first member of the Congress who ventured to come out in public, as I did in January 1776, in my Thoughts on Government ... in favor of a government with three branches and an independent judiciary. This pamphlet, you know, was very unpopular. No man appeared in public to support it but yourself." - John Adams Principle 17 - A system of checks and balances should be adopted to prevent the abuse of power by the different branches of government. "It will not be denied that power is of an encroaching nature and that it ought to be effectually restrained from passing the limits assigned to it." - James Madison Principle 18 - The unalienable rights of the people are most likely to be preserved if the principles of government are set forth in a written Constitution. The structure of the American system is set forth in the Constitution of the United States and the only weaknesses which have appeared are those which were allowed to creep in despite the Constitution. Principle 19 - Only limited and carefully defined powers should be delegated to government, all others being retained by the people. The Tenth Amendment is the most widely violated provision of the bill of rights. If it had been respected and enforced America would be an amazingly different country than it is today. This amendment provides: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Principle 20 - Efficiency and dispatch require that the government operate according to the will of the majority, but constitutional provisions must be made to protect the rights of the minority. "Every man, by consenting with others to make one body politic under one government, puts himself under an obligation to every one of that society to submit to the determination of the majority, and to be concluded [bound] by it." - John Locke Principle 21 - Strong local self-government is the keystone to preserving human freedom. "The way to have good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many, distributing to every one exactly the functions he is competent [to perform best]. - Thomas Jefferson Principle 22 - A free people should be governed by law and not by the whims of men. "The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings, capable of laws, where there is no law there is no freedom. For liberty is to be free from restraint and violence of others, which cannot be where there is no law." - John Locke Principle 23 - A free society cannot survive as a republic without a broad program of general education. "They made an early provision by law that every town consisting of so many families should be always furnished with a grammar school. They made it a crime for such a town to be destitute of a grammar schoolmaster for a few months, and subjected it to a heavy penalty. So that the education of all ranks of people was made the care and expense of the public, in a manner that I believe has been unknown to any other people, ancient or modern. The consequences of these establishments we see and feel every day [written in 1765]. A native of America who cannot read and write is as rare ... as a comet or an earthquake." John Adams Principle 24 - A free people will not survive unless they stay strong. "To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving peace." - George Washington Principle 25 - "Peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations -- entangling alliances with none."- Thomas Jefferson, given in his first inaugural address. Principle 26 - The core unit which determines the strength of any society is the family; therefore the government should foster and protect its integrity. "There is certainly no country in the world where the tie of marriage is more respected than in America, or where conjugal happiness is more highly or worthily appreciated." Alexis de Tocqueville Principle 27 - The burden of debt is as destructive to human freedom as subjugation by conquest. "We are bound to defray expenses [of the war] within our own time, and are unauthorized to burden posterity with them.... We shall all consider ourselves morally bound to pay them ourselves and consequently within the life [expectancy] of the majority." - Thomas Jefferson Principle 28 - The United States has a manifest destiny to eventually become a glorious example of God's law under a restored Constitution that will inspire the entire human race. The Founders sensed from the very beginning that they were on a divine mission. Their great disappointment was that it didn't all come to pass in their day, but they knew that someday it would. John Adams wrote: "I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth."

For more information contact Nancy Murdoch at 252-665-2679

CCTA Members Attend Legislative Committee Hearing in Raleigh

Public Service Announcement / Press Release

December 19, 2013

CCTA Members Attend Legislative Committee Hearing in Raleigh

Nine members of the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA) attended the joint Study Committee on Common Core State Standards held in the Legislative Office Building in Raleigh on December 17th.  There are 7 North Carolina Senators and 7 North Carolina House members, including Michael Speciale who represents much of Craven County, on the Committee.  Senator Soucek presided.

Staff members made presentations about what the committee has been charged with doing, what is and will be on the committee's website, and reviewed what North Carolina law says about "standards," "curriculum," and "Common Core."

Several people made opening statements.  The committee asked short-answer questions during the presentations, but reserved their more probing questions for after the presentations were completed.  The two presenters with the longest, most detailed content were Michael Brickman and June Atkinson.  Mr. Brickman is a former educational policy advisor to Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin, and is currently a policy director with the Fordham Institute.  Dr. Atkinson is North Carolina's Superintendent of the Department of Public Instruction.

Of the 9 CCTA members in attendance, 7 are members of CCTA's Common Core Committee which is chaired by Kim Fink.  That committee met with Dr. Atkinson for 2 hours the preceding week and thus were aware of some of Dr. Atkinson's vast knowledge about Common Core.  As a matter of fact, Dr. Atkinson quoted things said at that meeting by 3 of our members (Nancy Murdoch, Kim Fink, and Glenn Fink) during her presentation.  Surprisingly, some of Dr. Atkinson's answers to questions asked by Senators and Representatives shocked CCTA members. 

For example, when she was asked if there were more testing or less testing of students under Common Core, Dr. Atkinson said that there is less testing in high schools, then went into a long statement about testing, but failed to acknowledge the increased testing for kindergarten through third grade.  Pre Common Core, North Carolina had no comparable testing in grades K-3 except for a recently instituted "pre-test" in the third grade.  The stress caused young children by testing is one of the areas in which Common Core has been criticized, and Dr. Atkinson is well aware of that.  One wonders why she avoided sharing that information with the legislative study committee.

At another time, Dr. Atkinson was asked about what data will be collected under Common Core, and Dr. Atkinson mentioned only those items of data that are currently being collected, and those items sounded relatively harmless.  However, Dr. Atkinson failed to add that the chain of documents bringing North Carolina into Common Core and related U.S. Department of Education regulation changes will force North Carolina to submit ever more intrusive information that is personally identifiable by name of student without the necessity to obtain that student's parents' permission to the U.S. Department of Education.  Further, the U.S. Department of Education has made it plain that they will release that information to third parties.  There is even a requirement that North Carolina change any state law which is in conflict with Common Core implementation.  Again, Dr. Atkinson is well aware of these things.  Why did she not see fit to mention them?

The joint legislative Study Committee on Common Core State Standards plans to have 3 more public meetings at which it will receive information.  CCTA's Common Core Committee will be happy to share in depth information with the legislative study committee and show them the government documents which make the veracity of the information provided clear.

CCTA members in attendance were Kim Fink (CCTA Common Core Committee Chairman), Glenn Fink, Rick Hopkins (CCTA Chairman), Kathryn Blankley, Nancy Murdoch, Terrie Winter, Ryan Meadows, Hal James, and Raynor James. 

Info provided by:

Raynor James, PR Chair, Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA)

CCTA Elects New Officers for 2014!

If you missed last night's meeting and Christmas Party you really missed a good time! After a brief meeting that included election of officers--we adjourned for conversation and a lot of wonderful food!  We had a great turn out and thanks to all who brought food!  ~Lynn

New CCTA Officers for 2014

Chairman:  Rick Hopkins

Vice Chairman:  Glenn Fink

Secretary:  Terry Winter

Treasurer:  Don Murdoch

Chairman Hopkins announced last night that we have found a new place to meet for our public program meeting!  So starting in January we will be meeting at the Stanly Hall Rivertowne Ballroom.

CCTA Monthly Public Program Meeting

 January 21, 2014, 7:00-9:00 pm

 Stanly Hall Ballroom, Craven and Pollock St., New Bern, NC.  Elevator Entrance:  249 Craven St. or Stairwell Entrance at 305 Pollock St.

Common Core Update 
Speaker:  Lynn Kakadaelis

We meet every 3rd Tuesday for our Public Information Program Meeting.  
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC--PLEASE COME OUT AND JOIN US!

CCTA Member Business Meetings are held on the 2nd Monday of the month at 6:00 pm. Highland Park Christian Church, 905 Carolina Avenue, Trent Woods, NC

More info: Lynn Childs, 252-528-0500 or email, lynn.ccta@gmail.com

Disclaimer: Although some of our classes and events are held at local churches, the churches are not affiliated with and do not endorse or support Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association (CCTA). We have simply made arrangements with them to use their facilities. All church functions and activities remain separate and unaffiliated with CCTA functions and activities. The facilities are used for educational and organizational purposes only and not for political events or endorsements.

CCTA Public Service Announcement / Press Release

December 13, 2013

Raleigh Meeting of Taxpayers and Superintendent of Public Instruction

The Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association's (CCTA's) Common Core Committee, chaired by Kim Fink, left New Bern at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, December 12 for a 1 p.m. meeting with June St. Clair Atkinson, North Carolina's Superintendent of Public Instruction, in her Raleigh conference room.

After introductions were made, Chairman Fink opened the meeting by giving an overview of the reason the committee had asked for Dr. Atkinson's time (concern about many major aspects of Common Core), and how we planned to proceed (an approximately 10 minute presentation by each of 6 other members of the committee, followed by feed-back from Dr. Atkinson). Dr. Atkinson nodded her assent as she had graciously committed a 2 hour block of time to the committee in advance. Chairman Fink then introduced her husband, Glenn Fink, to lead off the committee's presentation.  

Mr. Fink covered North Carolina's Race to the Top application which is the mechanism by which North Carolina initially became involved in Common Core. Mr. Fink noted the $400 million dollars of federal taxpayer money which was sent to North Carolina as a result of that application, the time line and what person, or entity, signed or passed what. His presentation made it abundantly clear that the application pledging North Carolina's participation in Common Core was made in advance of common core standards' being published; thus North Carolina "bought a pig in a poke;" we agreed to thembefore the standards were known.

At the conclusion of his presentation, Mr. Fink handed off to BG (Ret) Hal James for the next segment. BG James began by quoting a federal law that prohibits the federalization of curriculum and programs of instruction. He then laid out a case for Common Core's reaching beyond standards and going so far as to be de factocontrol of curriculum. He did this in part by quoting Craven County's Superintendent of Schools and the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's own website on which a pertinent page can be accessed at http://www.dpi.state.nc.us/curriculum (emphasis added). Secondly, BG James suggested that we "follow the money" and pointed to several beneficiaries of taxpayer money via Common Core implementation. One of the obvious beneficiaries is Bill Gates' Microsoft. You will remember that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation contributed money to the 3 entities that developed the Common Core standards. Was that seed money provided by a skilled "crony capitalist?"

BG James' wife, Raynor James, covered the data mining aspects of Common Core next. Mrs. James pointed out that, in making application for Race to the Top funds, North Carolina agreed to do data mining for the U.S. Department of Education. Mrs. James then explained that the U.S. Department of Education has altered its regulations relative to the Family Educational Rights Privacy Act. It now says that personally identifiable information may be released to third parties without prior written parental consent. It also has changed the definition of "personally identifiable information" included in the regulations to include "fingerprints; retina and iris patterns; voiceprints; DNA sequence; facial characteristics; and handwriting." The U.S. Department of Education also encourages the use of facial expression cameras, posture analysis seats, wireless skin conductance sensors, and other devices to measure students' emotions and assess personality traits and beliefs. To support this, Mrs. James referred Dr. Atkinson to page 44 of the DOE pamphlet entitled, "Promoting Grit, Tenacity and Perseverance."

Terrie Winter's focus was on the Common Core testing. Ms. Winter noted that federal taxpayer money had gone to the two consortia (Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium and the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers) tasked with developing the tests for Common Core. Two years into the program when the testing was done at the end of the 2012-2013 school year, North Carolina students' scores were down by 37.3%. Ms. Winter wonders why this is, and what makes us think our money is being well spent. If you instituted a new program in your business, and two years into it your receipts were down by more than one-third, would you continue that program?  

Nancy Murdoch covered the age inappropriateness of the Common Core standards with special emphasis on the excessive inappropriateness for young children in kindergarten through third grade. While concerned about all children, Mrs. Murdoch confessed that her bright six year old grandson, Luke, who is a student in New Bern sharpened and deepened her concern. Mrs. Murdoch pointed out that a large number of credentialed young child development experts (there were none on the committee that developed that portion of the Common Core standards) have gone on record as stating that the standards require skills that a young child's brain is not yet capable of achieving. Mrs. Murdoch quoted from a letter signed by some five hundred such experts in New York State this fall listing a variety of ways the stress of being tested for things impossible for them to master was being exhibited by young children they were seeing. These included vomiting, losing control of bladder and bowels, and scratching themselves until they bled.

Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association's Chairman, Rick Hopkins, made the last segment of the presentation by discussing the costs of implementing Common Core. The money that came with Race to the Top has been spent. Additional costs will have to be born by the taxpayers of North Carolina. How high will they be? Mr. Hopkins pointed out that, although there have been estimates (some of them astronomically high), the truth is no one knows how much implementation of Common Core, the associated computer-based testing, and so on will cost. He also pointed out that whatever the additional cost, it's too much. Our state is on a tight budget. Teachers want raises we've been unable to give them. Increasing other school related expenses on an untested and unproven experiment to be conducted on all the grade school and high school students in our state makes no sense.

CCTA Chairman, Rick Hopkins, closed by presenting Dr. Atkinson with a resolution from CCTA expressing opposition to the Common Core.

During the presentation, June Atkinson made no notes, but appeared to be listening attentively, and made strong eye contact with each presenter. Following the presentation, Dr. Atkinson discussed most of the key points and directed her remarks to the presenter who had raised that issue. Each time, she talked to the correct person about the topic he or she had covered previously. It was an amazing demonstration of engagement and retention. Dr. Atkinson exhibited great charm and brainpower. However, since the committee had (at the insistence of its chairman, Kim Fink) worked from original documents wherever possible, Dr. Atkinson's attempts to persuade us to view Common Core differently failed.

For example, Dr. Atkinson mentioned that New York State had had a program prior to Common Core that had given young child development specialists pause, and inquired of Nancy Murdoch when the letter from which she quoted was written. Both Mrs. Murdoch and Mrs. Fink were able to retrieve the date (November of this year) within seconds.

In another instance when attempting to refute the effects of stress caused by Common Core testing of young children, Dr. Atkinson made the point that North Carolina had done "end of grade" testing since the 1990s with no ill effects. When asked what was the youngest grade tested in the 1990s by Mrs. James, Dr. Atkinson admitted that it was not done before grade 3 and that pre-testing for reading at the end grade 3 had only been done recently. Similar testing for younger children was tied to Common Core.

When attempting to refute the need to change North Carolina law to relieve us of Common Core, Dr. Atkinson assured us that was not true and passed out copies of one paragraph of the law that had been mentioned. Chairman Fink did not directly contradict Dr. Atkinson, but after she had left to attend another meeting, Mrs. Fink pulled out her copy of the entire law and read from the next several paragraphs following the one provided by Dr. Atkinson. As she read, the reason for doing so became abundantly clear. The impression given by the first paragraph was altered by the subsequent paragraphs. The committee found it interesting that Dr. Atkinson had copies of the first paragraph alone instantly available for us. Perhaps others have raised the issue of changing the North Carolina law?

At her request, two people from other parts of North Carolina who had appointments with Dr. Atkinson that day to discuss Common Core sat in on CCTA's presentation and Dr. Atkinson's subsequent remarks. As we were telling the two good-bye just prior to leaving, they asked for and received the CCTA contact information they requested. They were kind enough to praise the work of our Common Core Committee and say they wanted our help to get something similar active in their part of the state.

Additionally, CCTA Chairman and Chairman of CCTA's Radio Program Committee, Rick Hopkins, announced that since Dr. Atkinson had given us permission to record the entire session and he had done so, excerpts will be played over time on our radio program (6:30 a.m. on each Friday on 94.1, WNBU). Immediately after each program is aired, it is posted at www.cctaxpayers.com.

  

Info provided by:

Raynor James, PR Chair, Coastal Caroling Taxpayers Association (CCTA)

252-288-6228 (home)

252-626-2804 (cell)