Treating the symptom The Board of Education of the Public Schools of Robeson County last week did more than transfer fourth-graders out of Tanglewood and Rowland-Norment elementary schools and to Carroll Middle, it also set a precedent on how similar situations will be handled going forward — absent, that is, reigning in the system’s liberal transfer policy.
Our weekly poll is unscientific, but that lack of randomness can’t explain away results that were overwh...
Accountability, integrity absent in board’s decision on transfers To the Editor,
Tanglewood words of the week: “Accountability and Integrity.” The decision made by seven Robeson County school board members to transfer third-graders to Carroll Middle School lacks both.
Admittedly, it’s been quite a while since my last math course, but for seven board members, their math just doesn’t add up. After months of secrecy regarding possible transfers, this decision was made at a private retreat. I’m not sure wha...
A promise to fight abuse of power We’ve all heard the phrase that “elections have consequences.” Recent news about the IRS singling out conservative groups for extra scrutiny is a “consequence” I never hoped to see.
When I first learned the IRS had targeted conservative groups during the most recent election, I was outraged by the reports indicating a nonpartisan government agency was actually engaging in political activities and using taxpayer-funded resources. Perhaps the...
The danger that is straight ahead A hundred years ago, anyone who might have predicted in 1913 the monumental, man-made catastrophes that would occur in the rest of the 20th century would have been considered warped, if not completely mentally deranged.
Who would have believed that the continent of Europe, which had not had a major war in nearly a hundred years since Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo, would set off two World Wars that were incomparably worse than any wars b...
The bungling of big government President Barack Obama believes in the public sector. He thinks it should be made ever more expansive and entrusted with ever more complicated tasks. Its unions should be powerful. It should be hailed by all the great and good, and attract the nation’s best and brightest.
This is how the president portrays the public sector at a level of glittering generality. Then there’s the reality of all that government that is too big for him to monito...
Group asks commissioners to pay county employees equally To the Editor,
Citizens for Integrity in Government is asking the county commissioners to re-direct Tony Normand’s efforts and study the compensation of county employee across all levels. If pay and benefits of our county employees are not the fourth highest in the state as compared with their counterparts across the state, the CIG requests the county commissioners authorize pay increases in the upcoming budget to increase their compensatio...
Time will tell Our county commissioners are running out of plank — and soon enough it will be revealed whether they are serious about the slashing that is required for the commissioners in arguably North Carolina’s poorest county to no longer be the state’s best compensated when pay and benefits are totaled.
If that doesn’t happen, then it will be clear that the commissioners’ strategy — employed successfully a decade ago — was that if they stood stubborn...
Press finally getting adversarial Rarely has the White House briefing room so resembled the main ballroom at a meeting of the Conservative Political Action Conference.
After news broke of a sweeping Justice Department subpoena of The Associated Press telephone records, White House press secretary Jay Carney didn’t so much have to deal with querulous reporters pressing him on all fronts. He had to deal with citizens bristling with anger over perceived encroachments on their ...
Another one, please There are jobs — and then there are JOBS.
The 150 that were announced this week as headed to Robeson County clearly fall into the second category.
Cape Fear Arsenal, in picking Robeson County and Lumberton, says it will put the old Outer Banks building on Starlight Drive back to work with the manufacturing of ammunition — something folks around here will surely support. According to company officials, the average wage for the workers will...
The death of free speech in US Two years ago, this column, along with others, raised an alarm about the Obama administration’s decision radically to diminish the due process rights of those accused of sexual harassment on American campuses. There’s a new outrage today, but first, a recap:
In a 2011 letter to colleges, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights mandated that in cases of suspected sexual harassment or sexual assault, universities were to red...
ObamaCare handles the little things For years, conservatives have pushed for a health-insurance model emphasizing catastrophic coverage. It works as follows:
Consumers pay the cost of ordinary care, such as a checkup, a blood test or an eye exam. Insurance kicks in only for major crises — a heart attack, cancer requiring extensive treatment, a kidney transplant, intensive care for a newborn.
The Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, goes in the other direction by ex...
IRS keeps an eye on the ‘patriots’ It sounds like the plot from a dystopian libertarian novel. The word “patriot” and the phrase “educating on the Constitution and Bill of Rights” triggered heightened scrutiny from the most intrusive agency in the federal government.
We now know that the Internal Revenue Service did indeed target conservative groups, as had long been rumored and oft-denied. The news is a perverse confirmation of the groups’ worldview, and a challenge to Pres...
Presenter corrects errors in story on Orange Ribbon event To the Editor,
I would like to correct three errors that were in a story that was published concerning the Orange Ribbon luncheon by Palmer Prevention, during which I made a presentation.
I am a clinical therapist who holds a master’s degree in social work along with credentials from the North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board and the North Carolina Social Work Certification and Licensure Board.
I never stated that ba...
School board needs to tighten its liberal policy for transfers To the Editor,
As a native of Robeson County, I am disappointed to read in The Robesonian on Sunday an article titled “Smith against moving fourth graders.”
In reading the article, I was most discouraged by Mr. Mike Smith’s comments in response to moving the Tanglewood fourth-graders, suggesting that “kids adjust easily.” It is true that children have been known to adjust much easier than adults, but children have enough struggles with gr...
Legislative Wrap Following are the North Carolina General Assembly roll call votes for May 6-9.
House
HB 9 — House Speaker and Pro Tem Term Limits: Amends the North Carolina Constitution to limit the terms of the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President Pro Tempore of the Senate to two general assemblies. Introduced by Rep. Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg.
Adopted 85-34. Sent to the Senate for consideration.
YES
Ken ...
The patsy in the Benghazi coverup Nakoula Basseley Nakoula deserves a place in American history. He is the first person in this country jailed for violating Islamic anti-blasphemy laws.
You won’t find that anywhere in the charges against him, of course. As a practical matter, though, everyone knows that Nakoula wouldn’t be in jail if he hadn’t produced a video crudely lampooning the prophet Muhammad.
After the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi that killed Ambassador C...
Elementary problem Mike Smith, chairman of the Board of Education for the Public Schools of Robeson County, doesn’t think the transfer of fourth-graders from Tanglewood and Rowland-Norment elementary schools to Carroll Middle School is a big deal. Should that happen, he says, the children will adjust fine.
We are sure they will.
Dwayne Smith, a member of the board and the father of a son who would attend Tanglewood as a fourth-grader in the fall, has pledge...
Poll’s numbers on leadership in Robeson Co. are powerful To the Editor,
Although The Robesonian understandably places a disclaimer that its polls are not scientific, no one can ignore the recent overwhelming one-sided response to the question of whether the county was headed in the right direction under its current leadership.
For those interested in scientific polling, you can really make accurate predictions based on small sample sizes of large populations. Big swings like the last poll make ...
Best road to funding tranportation RALEIGH — Fiscal conservatism comes naturally to me. After all, my middle name is McDonald.
But I am also persuaded by empirical evidence that fiscal conservatism is the best policy for promoting economic growth. North Carolina governments can improve our state’s competitiveness by limiting spending, finding ways to deliver core services more efficiently, and using the resulting fiscal capacity to reduce the state’s marginal tax rates on wo...
Beware of the bouncing red ball If you are driving along and suddenly see a big red rubber ball come bouncing out into the street, you might want to put your foot on the brake pedal, because a small child may well come running out into the street after it.
We all understand that an inexperienced young child who has his mind fixed on one thing may ignore other things that are too dangerous to be ignored. Unfortunately, too much of what is said and done in politics is based...
