Education issues explored

Fallout continues this week as North Carolinians react to the State Board of Education’s plans to gut most pre-1877 American history from the public school curriculum. Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation director of education studies, discussed the issue Monday on the nationally syndicated Lou Dobbs radio program. The Civitas Review Online also cited Stoops’ efforts to publicize the proposal. Meanwhile, N.C. History Project Director Troy Kickler shared his concerns with the Sanford Herald. The Christian Action League also cited the John Locke Foundation in a report on the topic. In other education-related news, Stoops continues to attract attention for his work related to charter schools. The Richmond County Daily Journal published Stoops’ recent column on North Carolina’s refusal to lift its cap of 100 charter schools statewide, despite the prospect of losing federal education grant funding. A News & Observer letter writer responded this week to a similar column published in that newspaper. Both the N.C. Family Policy Council and District Administration, “the magazine of school district management,” highlighted Stoops’ recent report exposing the double standard applied to performance of public charter and district schools. Meanwhile, a recent High Point Enterprise article drew attention to Stoops’ work. (A John Locke Foundation study, using state 2008 figures, showed the Guilford district employs one administrator per 119 students, compared to one per 154 students for Mecklenburg and one for 227 students in Wake. The state average is 167 students per administrator. The numbers the committee reviewed showed the same discrepancy.)