Public Schools First NC Education Position Questionnaire
A loaded questionnaire from a decidedly liberal racist (DEI, CRT infested) organization who are working to destroy the NC public school system from the inside.
All,
They phrased their questions in a yes/no format declaring, either I supported their position as written or not. Hardly a nonpartisan honest desire to find out candidates positions. I hope you enjoy my responses, and feel free to use them in your discussion with these clowns, or their supporters. I wrote this as a retired College educator in Chemistry, mathematics and physical sciences.
These challenges (which I rephrased into the form of a real question) and my answers follows their format for the lame PDF they sent me and “required” me to use.
Here is their stupid pdf template, which I will NOT fill out as is:
Responses by Eugene F Douglass, MS, PhD
Republican Candidate for US Congress North Carolina District #2
These questions, in italics are LOADED with partisan political content, and your organization claiming it is nonpartisan is just being dishonest. My responses will follow your statement, and my answers cannot be given as yes/no answers, but need to be made clear, as someone who taught many students who were products of North Carolina schools, as I came to North Carolina in 2005 to teach Chemistry at UNC – Pembroke, in Robeson County, which is affected by the partisan lawsuit Leandro mentioned below. These problems in North Carolina education cannot be solved by more money thrown at the problems, but a wholesale removal and revamping of the public educational establishment, which has resorted to indoctrination vs proper teaching of reading, writing, critical thinking, and mathematical, and problem-solving skills which will properly prepare students for public life, as employed educated adults.
1
Do I support raising per pupil funding for all public schools to at least national average and I support fully funding LEANDRO?
I DO NOT support “AS IS”, per pupil funding for all public schools, in North Carolina, as with most school districts the administrations are full of overpaid prima donnas who do not know how to educate their own children, let alone others kids. Those incompetent administrators need to be removed from public education. Decreasing their pay while increasing the pay of properly educated faculty will solve many of these problems, even in Robeson County.
2
Do I support raising pay for public school teachers to at least the average and reinstating master’s and other relevant advanced degree pay.
Furthermore, I SUPPORT additional pay for teachers who achieve nationally recognized certifications and pay for teachers who take on additional duties and responsibilities (such as coaching or tutoring after school)?
I DO NOT support the above as written. As averages do NOT mean anything, as various parts of the country the standard of living required for faculty is at a higher or lower level. I do support pay increases for teachers/faculty who are effective at teaching the students to do well at the next grade level, for those properly educated, and can show by the quality of their teaching, they have earned pay raises, based on their efforts and success with their students. I believe the ONLY higher education masters and other advanced degrees should be towards their subjects of teaching. In other words, a HS biology or chemistry teacher, earns a MS or PhD in their subject area, Biology or Chemistry automatically gets them compensation at a higher level. Them learning about their subject will make their subjects more interesting to their students, and serve as an example for them as well. Useless Master’s or Doctorates in “Education” should not qualify, as those graduate schools are infested with “educationalists” most of which have never taught in a classroom for any real length of time to know what growing children need. The nationally “recognized” certifications are largely useless, as they do NOT measure competency in the faculty subject area, to teach it to others.
I do support extra pay for those that take on additional responsibilities like coaching, at least at the hourly prorated rate they would get as faculty for their normal pay level.
3
Do I support increasing the numbers of school counselors, school
psychologists, school social workers, and school nurses for all public schools to at least the recommended national ratios per pupil?
I DO NOT support this, as too many administrators whose design is to “diagnose” normal kids, with short attention spans, as needing special treatment. The only ones doing the diagnosing for kids with REAL disabilities should be medical doctors, and child psychologists outside the public school system, to manage those who really need it as individuals. Too many school counselors undermine parents, or attempt to indoctrinate kids that are “different” as being defective, or broken, when the reality is the kids need people who really care about them as individuals. “Recommended ratios” also is meaningless because who decides the “ratios”, people whose interest is in adding to administrators instead of equipping parents to educate and assist with their own children.
4
Do I support providing full public funding for pre-K for all eligible
North Carolina?
I DO NOT support the above, as I believe that pre-K children should be taken care of by their mothers, parents, or grandparents, instead of farmed out to school professionals who are often under-educated themselves and do not have kids of their own.
5
Do I support providing full funding for K-5 enhancement teachers
music, physical education, and world languages?
I DO NOT support the above as K-5 teachers should already be teaching music and physical education, those who are trained to do that. The term “full funding” is too general. Who decides what “full funding” should be? Overpaid administrators? Or politicians? K-5 kids should be learning how to read and write in ENGLISH, as that is the official language of the United States, if elementary schools, want to start teaching of a foreign language, it should be voluntary, and up to the parents and outside of what they need to learn and write in English. Immigrant children are very able to learn to read and write English as kids, spending time with them in their “native” tongue, does not help them assimilate into their American classmates who are fluent in English from early childhood.
6
Do I support increasing per pupil funding for textbooks and other
instructional resources (digital and hard copies), supplies, etc. to pre-recession levels?
I DO NOT support the above as written. Textbooks should be reused, and the student taught to take care of them as they go through the year. Too much money is wasted on materials that are thrown away or used once to address some new “fashion” in teaching. And books/textbooks chosen should be ones that have a history of being effective at helping kids be prepared for the next level, NOT money being spent to teach kids about subjects best left for their parents to teach them, based on the family values. Too many agenda driven children bring in irrelevant, even obscene materials for kids, that do not promote them to learn, enjoy reading, and even writing about subjects they like to think about.
7
Do I support programs that have been demonstrated to reduce the
achievement gaps for economically disadvantaged students, including programs to improve public school equity, integration, and inclusion?
I DO NOT support DEI, and CRT programs that essentially teach kids that somehow “equity”, equality of outcome NOT based on merit is somehow a good thing, those policies/agendas are inherently racist. And based on racist stereotypes with roots in Communism, and Eugenics, that teach/preach that certain tribal groups are inherently inferior or others superior, so certain kids need “extra help”, instead of all students being encouraged to learn as individuals designed and created by God for His purposes, not the values and hopes of teachers who believe that their standard of beliefs is superior to the kids parents.
8
Do I support fair and equitable evaluation of teachers and schools variety of metrics for student and teacher performance, not just
standardized test scores?
I DO NOT support the above as written, because standardized test scores are valuable to show students are ready for the next level, particularly to helping students discover whether they should go onto to college or into the work place upon graduation. #8 is often used as a cudgel to avoid removing incompetent faculty with tenure who are uninterested in preparing the kids in their charge for the next grade level.
9
Do I support phasing out school vouchers for private schools, and ensuring
that existing private schools receiving public voucher funds meet accountability and performance standards as public schools?
I DO NOT support the phasing out of school vouchers, I believe that legislators have a right and responsibility to provide taxpayer funding for students in their charge who are NOT being properly educated in the public system, to use their tax dollars to be spent in private schools. Where the private and charter schools have a much better record of meeting students needs, the students earning their promotion to the next school grade, and onto the work force, technological training or college education. Many private schools, have High school teachers with BA/BS, and higher Degrees, in Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics and the earth sciences subject areas. Whereas a BS in Education with perhaps a minor in a science or math, is supposed to qualify them to teach high school, which is on it's face perverse. A degree in education with a minor in a subject area, does NOT provide enough education in the subject to teach it properly to get students interested in pursuing those subjects in higher education.
10
Do I support a moratorium on new charter schools until stronger
accountability standards and better authorization mechanisms are implemented; including empowering local school boards with the to create charters and keep them under their governance?
I DO NOT support any such moratoriums, as I believe charter and private schools, competition, are the ONLY ways to encourage, make public schools to change their priorities to properly educate children in their charge. Parents have a right to decide how their kids should be educated, and legislators can use any means, to promote any REAL efforts to properly prepare kids to excel in life as competent adults.
1/19/2024
Eugene Farley Douglass, MS, MDiv, PhD
I am seeking the office of
Congressman for the Second District of North Carolina in the United States Legislature.
If you wish to donate to my campaign please use the link, scan or click, below:
To Donate to my campaign for the US House NC #2.