I’ve often observed that my parents divorce was one of the best things to happen to me because it provided me with two stable, loving homes to grow into the man I’ve become.  And although my step-father Ed, a saint of a man that I will write more about later, was the head of the household I spent the most time with, there is no doubt that Carl is my father.  Although our time together has always been limited he has gifted me with vital components of my personality that only maturity and becoming a parent myself has allowed me to recognize.  I considered putting this list to music and singing about these gifts but alas one of the things he did not pass along was his musical ability. So feel free to imagine Julie Andrews in your mind while I share a few of my favorite things my dad has influenced in my life.  

I love seeing the world and experiencing the cultures of other countries and this seed was planted in my brain early on by Dad’s travels.  How he transformed himself from a high school student who needed two senior years, and help from my mom, to even graduate into an engineer in the textile industry deserves its own post but his professional growth afforded the opportunity to work abroad.  He spent a year or so in Brazil (which he loved) then after a few months stateside accepted a position in England where he worked for several months before the weather and the food drove him home.  My older brothers were allowed to visit him in London but I was too young so the FOMO in me was strong and continues to this day.  Dad isn’t a braggart, so communication about his adventures was minimal until the last few years and now I could kick myself for not asking earlier.  He has blown my mind on numerous occasions by saying “when I was living in Pakistan” or “try this liqueur I picked up in Morocco” but nothing will top when he shared the story about being offered a helicopter ride by Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.  You can’t make this stuff up and I’m pretty sure he didn’t.  All I know is that you can be from a small, mill town in North Carolina and see the world.  He did and I’m trying my best to as well.

Another gift from the old man is my sense of humor and ability to entertain, spin a tale, and hold an audience’s attention.  This is the predominant feature of my personality and probably the characteristic most folks associate with me after, of course, my tremendous height and good looks.  He is hilarious and the golf course jokes and observations of other drivers on the road have replayed in my mind innumerable times and often make me laugh out loud.  A favorite was when he was blocked in behind two drivers on a four lane highway who had evidently choreographed their trips to take up both lanes but travel at the same speed which was approximately 17 miles per hour less than what Dad wanted.  “I guess neither one of these guys wants to be the first one to the Drag Ass Convention,” he observed dryly and it took me several seconds to recognize the genius of this line.  A few years ago he called to congratulate me on a teaching honor and he said even though he didn’t have much to do with it he was still walking around with his chest puffed out.  I assured him that his gift of gab and my inherited ability to entertain had touched the lives of thousands of kids so it was actually a shared award.  

We call it soccer, the Brits refer to it as “football”, and the Brazilians call the sport “futebol” but what they really love is “Jogo Bonito” or the beautiful game and I love it too.  When Dad came back from Brazil he shared with us stories of raucous stadiums filled with delirious fans while a samba performance masquerading as a sport took place on the field.  After his return from England, tales of muddied pitches and hooligans were fascinating but opportunities to play soccer in rural North Carolina in the early 1980s were severely limited.  For an undersized, but fast, youngster such as myself, soccer presented an opportunity to compete and when I finally got the chance to play it changed my life.  I’ve been addicted ever since.  In high school I would have ridden my bicycle 100 miles to play with a broken leg after cutting the grass on the field with scissors and now that I coach I get to mentor players who feel the same.  Dad uses the internet to scout teams on our schedule and I still send him film to study and share thoughts on the beautiful game we both love. More importantly, I’ve passed the love on to my daughters and had the sweetest joy in coaching them both and hopefully implanting the same connection that I pray to have with their children.

A final gift from my father may come as a surprise to some folks, especially my brothers, but I would have to say it is his temperament.  They are shocked because Douglas, Michael, and I love to share tales of Dad losing it like when his credit card was declined at the seafood restaurant or a guy skipped line at the Eckerd drugs in Lumberton.  And don’t even get me started on the absolute meltdown he had at the Hardee’s Drive-Thru in Asheboro circa 1981 but the vast majority of the time he was as happy go lucky as they come and I am as well.  Now don’t get it twisted because there are times when I feel the seismic activity building and occasionally the volcano explodes but my loving wife has figured out how to head off the eruption.  She simply says, “Alright Carl.”  And like a dynamite explosion snuffing an oil well fire by denying it oxygen, I smile sheepishly and think how much my girls would miss me if I was in prison and just get over it.  Most of the time Dad does too.  

Heather often observes that I am a case study for “nature versus nurture” and I know that my environment growing up had a huge impact on me but the genetics and influence from my father can’t be dismissed either.  He is far from perfect but I can’t help but think that our similarities might also be affected by how much I wanted to be like him.  I still look up to my Dad and even though his body has let him down lately that mind is humming just as hard as when he sat in the shade at Rockefeller Center doing the New York Times crossword while waiting out a 24 plus hour layover.  The gifts that he has given me I’ve tried to pass on to hundreds of young people and especially to my own children who can’t believe their sweet Papaw would ever do anything like what I’ve described but I promise it’s true. They only know him as a funny guy who loves his family and I pray that is something I’ve inherited as well.

A few days ago my youngest was regaling us with yet another tale from her childhood memories where her father lost his temper and I swear listening to my children makes me want to apologize to my parents. As she took a breath I interjected to ask what every memory of “Angry Dad” had in common and to leave anything dealing with sports out.  She didn’t even hesitate.  “When you were scared for us.”  And she’s exactly right. Nothing makes me flip my lid like when I’m worried about my kids and unfortunately I don’t just have my two biological children to worry about. I have had hundreds and Lord willing I will have hundreds more.  So as my 18th year in the classroom draws to a close I feel like it is an appropriate time to give a status update on the state of education in North Carolina. Simply put, we are in trouble and to make matters worse it seems that most people don’t care.  And that makes me mad as hell.  So I’m going to tell you some problems that I see and offer you a challenge which I pray that you will accept.  

The first problem with public education is teacher pay.  This has always been an uncomfortable subject for me because I was afraid folks would think I was being greedy but I don’t care about that anymore so check the facts.  Depending on which sources you use NC is somewhere between 38th and 41st in teacher pay and trending backwards but the General Assembly doesn’t have the normal legislative excuse of tight budgets.  As a matter of fact the current estimate for the budget surplus for this year and next is $1 billion and I shouldn’t have to remind you that it is our money.  Simply put, they don’t care about teachers and when you hear one of them brag about raising teacher pay, understand that when you adjust for inflation starting teachers are making $4,000 less than in 2008 and educators with 15 years experience are making over $6,000 less.  And if they don’t understand inflation maybe they should come sit in one of our excellent Economics and Personal Finance classes.  You can’t attract and retain new teachers without competitive pay and teachers are some of the lowest paid workers who hold four year degrees.  And what do you think happens when teachers realize they can make more money with less stress in other fields?  They do.

North Carolina saw its highest teacher turnover in decades last year when approximately 1 in 9 teachers decided to leave the profession and if that statistic doesn’t increase this year I will buy you the pack of crackers of your choice.  And as federal pandemic funding runs out local districts will be faced with the potential need to freeze hiring or God forbid cut positions.  This will unfortunately lead to several negative consequences but I want to highlight two in particular.  The first will be an increase in class sizes.  Rarely in life do dozens of gold ribbon studies and common sense arrive at the same conclusion but smaller class sizes lead to more positive education outcomes.  It’s almost as if teachers having more time to spend with fewer students makes test scores automatically go up. Crazy right?  Regrettably the inverse is also true. Larger classes lead to less learning with an increased workload and more classroom management issues which negatively impacts the mental and physical health of educators.  And when they have to be out there simply aren’t enough substitutes because they are already in the classes without teachers meaning that any planning and brain break time is now spent sprinting to cover a class that isn’t yours.  And that stack of papers now has to be graded at home which might have an unexpected positive effect.  You won’t be able to watch the evening news.

Because if teachers do happen to watch the evening news they will be shocked to learn that their daily reality doesn’t seem to match the description offered by many politicians.  I never realized that I worked in a “socialism center” or “indoctrination center” where people shouldn’t send their kids since our mission from day one “has been to kind of control the thinking of young people.” To the best of my knowledge I haven’t done it but evidently some of my colleagues have been “feeding your children a steady diet of communism and pornography.” I am able to put these tidbits in quotations because they are the actual quotes from people seeking to take charge of education in our state.  These same folks will tell teachers that they work in failing schools even though the courts ruled all the way back in 1994 that the public schools in our state are chronically underfunded.  Unconstitutionally so.  Fortunately, the General Assembly was able to ignore that part of the state constitution while they pointed at the part that said they alone were responsible for funding public education.  They were more concerned about the “constitutional crisis” that would be brought on by the judicial branch forcing them to do their job than actually doing their job.  Their escape plan for failing schools has turned into the biggest educational scam in state history as they seek to funnel hundreds of millions of dollars away from public schools and into private schools.  

So for these three major reasons and a couple dozen others I regretfully report that public education is under full attack from some corners and apathetically ignored from others.  So what can we do?  It’s time for that challenge and I’m going to do something that I almost never do in the classroom; assign homework.  Find out who your state legislators are and send them a message asking what they see wrong with public education and what their plan is to remedy the issues I mentioned.  If they try to rest on their “accomplishments” share the statistics above and any others that you can easily Google.  And if you don’t like their answers then hold them accountable at the ballot box.  I can hardly think of anything more important to the future of this great state than our children and now that your eyes have been opened I hope you won’t ignore them.  You’ve been warned.

In May of 2021, the finale of teacher appreciation week was a catered meal, provided by our parent organization, served in individual styrofoam containers due to Covid protocols. Unfortunately, these containers (specifically the banana pudding) became the point of infection for an intestinal bug that hit over 50 staff members, caused the school to shut down for two days, and whose symptoms have become the stuff of legend.  I will not burden you with a description of the physical effects but I jokingly refer to this incident as the “Great Teacher Appreciation Week Massacre.” After reading proposals for instructional changes and the public education budget from the North Carolina General Assembly, I believe I would rather have that meal every Friday than see what our elected leaders are attempting to do to our children.  I’m not sure when public schools became the enemy, but I’m about to tell you some truths. And if you disagree with me, or you have heard something different, please take me to task in this open forum.  

Things You Won’t See

Part of the issue is that most of our citizens seem to think that the schools they attended have changed drastically from what they saw in their formative years, so let me share with you some things you won’t see in a public school.  

1. You will not see drag queens reading to small children.  If you do happen to volunteer at an elementary school you may see some of our high school students who are studying early childhood development reading to students. This “laboratory of learning” benefits both groups because small children relate to other students far better than adults, and I love the unintended wake-up call that my high schoolers get when they realize how difficult it is to keep a classroom under control. The books are approved by the elementary teachers who are experts in reading.  Also, no visitors are allowed on any campus without the permission of administration and I doubt very seriously anyone dressed like Divine would be allowed through the door.  
2. You will not see anyone teaching Sex Ed, gender exploration, or alternative lifestyles to elementary-age children. The curriculum used to teach healthy lifestyles to that age group is primarily about nutrition and exercise, and it is open to every student’s parent in the state to peruse at their leisure.  In later years, students are taught how their bodies function, how pregnancy occurs, and the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases.  If you find any of this objectionable then just let your child’s teacher know and they can be given another assignment.  All curricula are vetted and approved through a rigorous process by experts, but your personal choice to withhold information from your child is your own, as it should be.  Keeping it from other people’s kids isn’t your choice.
3. You will not see anyone teaching students to hate America, embrace communism, or feel guilty about being white.  We social studies teachers typically set up the Cold War as a battle between communism and capitalism and (spoiler alert) capitalism wins. Our Civics curriculum teaches the superiority of American Democracy but it does provide for different perspectives because not all Americans have shared equally in its bounty.  And if learning about slavery or the plight of disadvantaged Native Americans makes you feel guilty, then that is unfortunate, but developing empathy may come at the cost of comfort.  
4. You will not see a litter box in the bathroom or principal’s office for a student who “identifies” as a cat. I can’t believe I had to type that sentence but in the last week, I’ve had two college-educated adults tell me they have heard it as a fact.  This made-up story has become a throwaway line for politicians and pundits who are trying to convince you that our schools are going to hell in a handbasket. Anyone who passes this ridiculousness off as truth is too stupid or malicious to deserve your vote and you can quote me on that. As a side note, I did see a student with a fox tail a few weeks ago and I’m sure she didn’t look any more silly than my Dad in a coonskin cap.

These aspersions have led many to believe that our schools are out-of-control dens of sin where transgender advocates indoctrinate their God-fearing children with CRT and alternative lifestyles, but my students aren’t even allowed to have holes in their jeans above the knee.  And as outlandish as these ignorant culture war lightning rods make schools appear, I’m even more offended by a belief more commonly espoused by politicians; that our schools are failing. What makes it more painful(and personal) is the attempt to bleed public education dry with a “death by a thousand cuts” budget proposal from our State Senate being put forth by someone I went to high school with.  A high school where he received an education sound enough to carry him through an undergraduate degree at our state’s flagship university, then onto a prestigious law school, and a successful career that positioned him for a leadership role as Senate Appropriations Chair.  A powerful position where he could use his own testimony to advocate for public schools but instead has treated them with disdain or as a political prop.

And our schools aren’t failing.  Even with the losses from the pandemic, North Carolina’s scores on national tests are almost all higher than they were when I was in high school but you won’t hear that from our State Senate.  What you will hear is that they offered me a $ 20-a-month raise, which might not sound like much but it will buy a lot of banana pudding.  Who’s hungry? 

It seems like folks are concerned about social studies again and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Normally we are only in the spotlight every four years when someone needs the Electoral College explained and the rest of the time we are like those cologne hawkers at the mall. “Would you like to try Eau de Separation of Powers? It smells like democracy.” I can’t count the number of times someone at a dinner party hasn’t asked me about popular sovereignty; about teaching certainly but never about the standards. That is why I have looked on with a bemused smile as politicians take to cable news to ramp up attacks on Critical Race Theory and social media filled with condemnations.  And the Old North State seems to be ground zero for a perfect storm. 

The state revises and updates all curriculum standards on a regular basis to ensure their effectiveness and new social studies standards were set to be implemented in the Fall of 2020. The standards were complete by Spring 2020 and although Covid slowed down disseminating the teacher training information the real roadblock came with the murder of George Floyd. With coronavirus casting a shadow over the upcoming school year and social justice protests boiling over into the streets, DPI and the state school board decided, wisely in my opinion, to delay implementation for one year.  The fact that this review occurred during a global pandemic, roiling protest against police brutality and systemic racism, and the backdrop of the ugliest election cycle since 1860 all but guaranteed conflict in North Carolina. Post-election our state government remained divided and our new Republican lieutenant governor, who has an advisory role in education matters, began to take issue with the new standards. He and the other GOP members’ talking points seemed to mirror the dire warnings issued by Fox News and other conservative media outlets about Critical Race Theory.  Through gubernatorial appointments, however, the Democrats controlled the revision committee and the standards have officially been approved although with continued complaints.

So I won’t pretend to be an expert on the new social studies standards but I’m willing to bet that I’ve looked at them more than 99.9% of North Carolinians and I can all but guarantee more than anyone else on your Facebook feed. More importantly, I was looking at the preliminary standards last year practically before anyone else and before our Lt. Governor had even won the nomination, much less election, for his position and I can tell you that the changes are hardly noticeable. So why is everyone all of the sudden worked up about it? Because that is what elected officials and hardline media pundits (on both ends of the political spectrum) benefit from; drama and disunity. That is why Fox News has mentioned “critical race theory” over 900 times in June alone and N.C. Senate Majority leader railed against it in a press conference while announcing legislation that doesn’t mention CRT at all. What Majority Leader Berger’s proposed bill does mention is that all races should be treated equally and none should be singled out as being responsible for wrongs of the past nor should any race be made to feel guilty about past injustices.

So let’s unpack some of this starting with the very definition of the bogeyman himself, Critical Race Theory.  According to the history department at UNC, Critical Race Theory is a “scholarly framework that describes how race, class, gender, and sexuality organize American life.”  It’s been around since the 1970s and like most social theories created on college campuses its adherents have a wide range of views some of which are actually quite radical.  But is that what you find in NC’s new social studies standards? Not exactly.  The very first American history standard asks students to look into American exceptionalism which should be right in the wheelhouse of conservative media.  Now for full disclosure there are standards that explore the experience of women, minorities, and native populations but we were already doing that with the old standards so not really much to get upset about.  What has upset some conservatives about our standards isn’t just the content but how they are presented.  Each standard begins with a verb such as “critique”, “compare”, “differentiate”, or “explain”.  “Too nebulous”, says conservative commentator John Hood quoting a report from the Fordham Institute; while Superintendent of Public Instruction Catherine Truitt insists there should be a list of the content that will be taught.  Gotcha.

Those things show up in the ancillary information that we refer to as unpacking documents or crossover materials and they are incredibly helpful to teachers.  The only problem is that you can’t put them together until the standards are approved, which Lt. Governor Robinson and Superintendent Truitt have fought to delay and when they finally had a chance to vote on a final version instead lamented once again about the already approved standards.  Now GOP legislators are seeking to introduce legislation to push back implementation once again ostensibly to spare teachers from the mess that they have encouraged (if not created) but I have some great news for them.  We teachers have already started organizing the timing of lessons and listing the content that we will cover starting this Fall and once the state sends out the extra material we will use that to enhance what we’ve already done.  Booya! Professionals acting professionally.

And while I would never be so ignorant as to assume that no teacher, social studies or otherwise, would teach in such a way to make a student feel guilty I do think you should be cautious when pushing for color blind standards. If we don’t consider race at all then we can’t look into why the net worth of a typical white family is ten times more than a black family. We can’t ask why a pregnant black woman is three times more likely to die in childbirth than a white woman.  We would probably be able to look into a church bombing in Birmingham that killed four little black girls but we couldn’t look into why 500 black babies in the same city died that same year from a lack of proper food, shelter and medical facilities.  Should that make you feel guilty?  I can’t answer that but if I can’t ask the question then my students might not feel anything and I just can’t live with that.

Part 1

I don’t believe my poor choices made me the man I am today but I hope my ability to look at them soberly, and hopefully learn a lesson, have made me an improved one. Benjamin Franklin quipped that experience is a fool’s only teacher but the scientist in Ben respected that a reflection on the results should drive the directions of future decisions. That being said, the expectation that simply turning a page on a calendar will somehow change our fortunes could also deny us the opportunity to look back on the lessons of the past year as a navigational beacon to 2021 and beyond. I have decided to break my year in review into three parts: the election, the virus, and the racial reckoning. 

While the second installment of this year-end review focuses on the coronavirus it has become evident that it is intertwined with my other subjects and most especially the election. The reaction to, handling of, and more consequentially the politicization of the Covid crisis altered the course of every election in the country and particularly our presidential and gubernatorial races.  I would like to start with some thoughts on the national race and then discuss our state election within the context of my thoughts on the virus in Part 2.  

As uncomfortable as it may be for his followers to believe, most pundits agree that Trump lost the election. I’m not speaking (yet) of the actual vote-counting and legal wrangling around the process but the campaign itself. The major appeal, if it can even be called such, of Joe Biden was mainly that he wasn’t Donald Trump. Rarely is not being someone a sure path to victory, but I believe future historians will point to the perceived mishandling of the Coronavirus response as the major undoing of the President’s reelection.  He and his people have sought to pass the blame onto China or the mainstream media but the election results show the majority of the electorate believe the job was bungled. 

President Trump’s business acumen was lauded as his most valuable asset during his run for office and his reputation as a winner became more than a hallmark; it became his brand. The problem with having your brand tied to being a perennial winner is when you lose. And this was no small setback that can be glossed over or spun but in fact a loss on the grandest scale in the most-watched presidential election in history.  George H.W. Bush’s and Jimmy Carter’s reelection failures meant that their time in elected public service was at an end but that the tag of “loser” wouldn’t necessarily tarnish their post-presidential legacy.  President Trump’s loss damages his brand which was to be his legacy.  

That, I believe, is the reason for his refusal to concede and his encouragement of his followers to view the election as stolen rather than lost.  Markets and spreadsheets will judge the damage to the Trump brand but without a strong, clear acceptance by the president of his loss the damage to his legacy, and for that matter the republic, will have more far reaching effects.  If the president truly believes in “America First” he will follow the lead of past candidates who swallowed their disappointment and bid good luck to their opponent because their success would mean the success of the country or at worst the success of the concept of consent of the governed.   

The window to do the right thing is closing quickly.  Just today I read about vandalism, graffiti, and threats towards Congressional leaders from both parties and this both saddens and sickens me.  In a perfect world citizens would respectfully disagree with elected officials and express their disagreements through civil discourse and look towards the electoral process to hold them accountable.  In a less than perfect world, politicians would lead by example in calling on the citizenry to respect institutions and model the behaviors required for a healthy democracy.  In the world we have, however, many elected leaders are the very ones encouraging the type of conduct that weakens trust in our institutions for their own gain.

One of the worst things that can happen in a representative democracy is for the will of the people to not be reflected in the candidate chosen but this seems to be the goal of the president and some of his cronies.  No compelling evidence to overturn the election has been presented and every lawsuit has failed.  Simply put, he lost.  And it seems the height of irony that a group of folks who just a few months ago were pushing for law and order have chosen to turn their backs on both.

You’re Wrong

The heat of simmering racial injustice inflamed by videos of police brutality boiled over into the streets of America’s cities and onto television screens worldwide.  Some marches degenerated into riots, looting, and property damage while a peaceful gathering in Washington, D.C. was forcibly moved to provide a photo opportunity for the president in front of a local church.  Closer to home the Covid-19 pandemic continued to bring about a reevaluation of the role of government in our lives and how to strike a balance between economic viability and public health. NASCAR banned the Confederate Flag at its events while the State of N.C. shut down a local speedway, prompting further Facebook debate as to the difference between freedoms and rights.  So much low hanging fruit for someone who loves critiquing politics and societal changes.  Too much, it seems, because if you think that is what I have chosen to tackle there is bad news.  You’re wrong.  All of those issues are worthy and I will get to each of them in time but at this point my soul is crying out for the opportunity to share some observations of other sorts.

Last week I had the extreme privilege of calling out the names of Triton High School’s graduating seniors over the course of four days worth of individual commencement ceremonies.  In an attempt to make the best of a bad situation, Harnett County Schools opted for this format to allow the maximum number of family members and friends to witness first hand the culmination of years of hard work by our students.  It was far from traditional as students weren’t able to share the experience with their classmates but it did allow for a greater number of guests to be in attendance.  This being the South and it being June the first two days were hotter than the hinges of Hell but with humidity. Add to that the bonus that one of the brief puffs of a breeze on Wednesday was enough to topple both of the tents providing us shade at which point I merely bent down, covered my head, and kept repeating, “I’m ducking, I’m ducking, I’m ducking”.  Luckily my Principal and coworkers were able to wrangle them under control and although my pride was a little damaged the “money maker” escaped unscathed.  And if you were one of the dozens of people who “blessed my heart” or said “that must have been miserable” guess what?  You’re wrong.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to make eye contact with and speak to every single graduate from the Class of 2020.  I would not have had the opportunity to see them interact with their families or to bear witness as those families were finally able to cut loose in full throated appreciation of a job well done.  I would have never been able to see a special needs student quietly take the principal’s hand and be led to the spot where they could start a walk that while only a few feet in reality stood for years of effort on the part of their families and teachers.  And I would not have been only feet away from two children that I love dearly as their excellence was acknowledged in front of their adoring support systems.  Because of these unfortunate times I was able to see first hand the first steps of just over three hundred individual journeys into the unknown as these young people go out into the world to hopefully make it a better place than they found it.  My heart was blessed indeed.  

These last few months have reinforced my belief that you normally see what you are looking for and, as David Foster Wallace said, the conscious act of choosing is the greatest gift given to humans.  Remember that flying tent that I told you about?  When it left the ground it flipped straight over the backdrop and onto the stage, where it wiped out plants and columns but, thankfully, no people since we were between graduates.  The one thing that did not get knocked down, however, were three white roses in three vases which stood beside the podium for all four days of graduation.  These roses were placed in remembrance of three young men who should have graduated with the Class of 2020 but whose lives were cut short by tragedy.  After all of the names of the individual graduates were called the families of these young men were able to come one at a time to see them honored, to release balloons, to cry, and to remind me why I am so very blessed.  You might think not being able to have a traditional graduation was the worst possible outcome but…

I’m going to cut right to the chase. A lot of folks on my Facebook seem to have become experts in all types of fields and have also begun to feel much more confident sharing their opinions. Since I already have a Blog I thought I might as well join them. Here are my thoughts on a few coronavirus related topics.

Vaccines

Firstly, the latest version of the coronavirus is not “the flu” or even “the flu on steroids” but since it is a virus most experts believe that eventually there will be a vaccine that offers some protection. Whether it will be incredibly effective like polio vaccinations or less so like those for influenza it is considered one of the most important steps in moving past the current crisis. As long as the route towards production and usage follows the same rigorous path that other vaccinations have historically taken, my family will get one just like we do for the flu. I’m afraid other folks don’t feel that way and will refuse it for themselves and their children. This will lower its effectiveness in combating the virus, leave populations unable to be vaccinated even more vulnerable, and may serve as an impediment to public schools’ return to normalcy. It is your body after all but it is our society. 

Churches

A few days before this writing a federal judge struck down part of Governor Cooper’s executive order which prevented practically all in-person worship services. This was great news for some folks who felt that churches should be exempt, as they have been in other states, from the stay-at-home order based on the First Amendment. I have enjoyed our streamed services but I would much rather feel God’s love in His house than my own. But my favorite parts of Sunday services are shaking hands and getting hugs, singing loudly, and genuinely being in proximity to like-minded (and like-hearted) people while I hear the word. And those were the very reasons churches weren’t exempt. I do appreciate that a lawsuit was filed and proper protocol followed within the courts as it should be but I admit that I was concerned by the actions of some sheriffs. If, as the judge indicated, enforcement of the order was confusing or onerous for sheriffs, that’s one thing but I’m bothered by an abdication of duty on Constitutional grounds. Choosing which laws to enforce is a slippery slope.

The Governor

It’s pretty obvious at this point that Cooper is fighting a war on two fronts:   health care and economic. According to polling (but certainly not my Facebook) a majority of North Carolinians support steps taken by the governor but his handling hasn’t been without its failings. As I stated earlier, the church portion of the stay-at-home order was confusing and difficult to enforce but that is minor in comparison with the unemployment fiasco. No state is doing a bang-up job with unemployment but North Carolina’s response has been woeful and potentially one of the worst. Not expecting a surge in unemployment when you are the one keeping people from working is almost criminally negligent. But before Republicans begin to cast aspersions their stingy approach to unemployment, one that the News & Observer described as cruel, made a bad situation worse. 

Some folks would gladly trade governors with Georgia who closed down later and reopened sooner but a word of caution before backing Brian Kemp. When he finally announced closing orders his impetus was contagion characteristics that were common knowledge four weeks before his realization. Add to that fuzzy math on statistics and the reopening, encouraging graph that literally had dates out of order to cause an appearance of decline and you get a sobering comparison. With a population almost identical to North Carolina and a viral case onset within days of each other, Georgia has over twice the hospitalizations, over twice the number of infections, and over twice the number of Covid-19 deaths.

Our President

I normally refrain from writing about the President because anything negative tends to make his supporters put fingers in their ears and scream “Hillary” while his detractors’ eyes fill with blood upon the very mention of his name.  But this is a world crisis.  As the leader of the free world and most powerful man on the planet, President Trump is most comfortable and communicates most effectively when he is on the attack.  He isn’t warm and fuzzy so compassion doesn’t come easily and he isn’t overly intellectual (“stable genius” claims notwithstanding) so authoritative, evidential confidence is also difficult.  His self belief stems mostly from the adoration of his supporters and his ability to stir them up by sticking it to his opponents.  Unfortunately, the Coronavirus doesn’t care about nicknames and it is unmoved by mean tweets.  This has presented the President with a conundrum.  

How does he battle a thing that many of his supporters don’t think is a thing, while proving that he has handled that thing better than anyone else could, especially being left so woefully unprepared by the previous administration even though nobody could have seen this thing coming.  He is also handcuffed by the fact that unless he is blaming someone else his relationship with his supporters prevents him from sharing bad news or asking them to make a sacrifice.  He is the parent that wants to be best friends with his kid.  Curfew.  What curfew? Curfews are for losers.

Newfound expertise

The simple answer as to why folks have suddenly begun sharing their wisdom in such abundance is that they now have the time.  Ironic, isn’t it?  But the more complicated answer is actually a combination of two psychological phenomena:  Dunning–Kruger effect and Intellectual Humility (or more accurately a lack thereof).  D-K effect is basically being unaware of your incompetence in a field or skill because you don’t know enough about that field to realize you aren’t good at it.  Intellectual humility is simply realizing that you don’t know everything and that you might actually be wrong about some of the things you do know.  I personally don’t consider myself expert in many fields so I typically follow the lead of proven experts when making decisions.  

So that’s my hot take.  Let me know why you think differently and I will attempt to practice intellectual humility when considering your point of view.  I may be wrong after all.

Back in the Fall my men’s soccer team went down in the second round of the state playoffs to a Jacksonville team that was one of the best I’ve ever seen.  They were strong in every facet of the game, athletic, and well coached. At one point I looked at my Assistant and said, “I love good soccer; I just wish it wasn’t happening to us.”  Soccer is something that I love almost to the point of compulsion and I was experiencing the beautiful game in its purest form but it wasn’t bringing me much joy that day.

I’m beginning to feel the same way about the current pandemic crisis and the real life civics lessons that it is providing.  You see another compulsion of mine is introducing students to our government, its role in our lives, and the responsibilities required of its citizens.  I honestly try to include as many legitimate perspectives as possible and I challenge my students to make informed decisions. Unfortunately, I can’t be around them right now but if I were these are three things I would be teaching them.

One of the unique characteristics of our style of government is the interplay between the nation as a whole and the individual states.  Federalism can be pretty dry but when doctors have to start prioritizing which patients get life-saving ventilators, arguments between governors and the president become a little more compelling. Add to that the fact that different states have vastly differing approaches would allow me to point all the way back to the Articles of Confederation and trace our historical preference for local control. I would illuminate this by describing how we are hunkered down at home in North Carolina while our neighbors south of the border shoot fireworks from the back of their motorcycles which they ride with no helmets. Classic Foster. 

What about the government’s role in the economy? 10 million unemployment claims over 2 weeks means that families will be hurting. How far should a government go to take care of people and where is the line between government and personal responsibility? At this point I would probably bring up my Facebook feed and how political ideology affects this view. Then I would joke that there should be plenty of money for those in the middle because the “He’s not my president” folks evidently don’t deserve a check and the socialism haters would never take a handout from the government. “Man, he’s hilarious”, my kids would think. 

Some of the lowest fruit would come from the clash of civil liberties and public safety. Dearly held freedoms like assembly and religion crash head-on into public health directives to socially distance for the good of society. Once again, where is the line? Pastors getting arrested would probably catch their attention and then I would toss in my patented hyperbole.  “Could I drive my tank to church when the governor says stay home?” Before they could answer I would follow with “and could I bring my three-year-old son who is being treated for cancer and has a severely compromised immune system?” From humorous to a serious conundrum. Another Fosterism. 

Learning Civics is a big deal and a lot of what I have seen lately makes me curious if some folks were sleeping in class. I’ve been disappointed by the public’s misunderstanding of government so often I’m almost numb to it but this living civics lesson isn’t the most important one to learn from this crisis. You see my boys lost that game to Jacksonville but they played their butts off and they fought like hell for each other. The lesson I’ve learned is that Americans will do the same. Whether they know how their government works or not. 

After the initial excitement of my announcement about my attempts to seek public office began to wane I settled into the slog of trying to procure enough signatures to make the ballot in November.  That’s why, I must admit, I was a little jealous at the outpouring of support and pledges to sign on to a petition declaring our county a Second Amendment sanctuary area. I know it was just my Facebook feed but folks seemed genuinely committed to doing whatever it took to have their name joined with countless others in urging our commissioners to protect what they see as potential infringement on the right to bear arms. I decided to put my envy aside long enough to dig a little deeper into the sanctuary movement and also clue you in to my feelings about gun laws.

This past Monday, the Harnett County Commissioners voted 5-0 to make us a Second Amendment sanctuary by vowing to uphold both the United States and state constitutions. This puts us in line with over a dozen North Carolina counties and municipalities and that number is growing. Supporters of the move were pleased, according to the Daily Record, but some wanted even stronger language denying access to and use of county property by groups in favor of tightening gun control laws. I’m not sure denying usage of county services to those folks would hold up in court because of First Amendment issues so the commissioners probably got it about right with the wording. It also remains to be seen if this spate of recent ordinances will pass muster at all but if we are going to find out we probably need to look no further than our neighbors to the north where this all began anyway.

In January, Virginia seated their first Democrat-controlled legislature in 25 years and they decided to make tightening gun laws a priority. Some of the legislative initiatives required background checks for gun purchases while another limited the purchase of handguns to one per month. Before they had passed both houses and been signed into law by the governor, gun rights activists reacted in a major way. A previously scheduled gun rights gathering, oddly on the MLK holiday, swelled by thousands over its normal attendance as activists from around the country descended on Richmond. Concerns about violence prompted the governor to restrict certain areas around the capital as gun-free zones while other areas were filled with folks carrying long rifles wearing tactical gear. Thankfully, there was no violence and the sanctuary movement was born. 

As I explained to a friend at school the other day, I’m pretty ambivalent about gun laws. I think the fact that, with all of the sound and fury over the last two decades from both sides, there has been no appreciative change in gun laws. To me that means lots of money has been spent, bumper stickers sold, and friendships jeopardized for little difference in legislation. Something else being sold besides bumper stickers are guns. According to statistics, Americans own 40% of all guns in the world and there are 120 guns for every 100 people here. That’s a lot of firepower.

Now, unless you believe that an eight-year-old should be able to take a loaded 9 mm to school for show-and-tell we both agree that there must be some limits on weaponry. The degree of those limits is what’s debatable. Most of us also agree that the decisions on the degree of limitations of rights or their protections should typically be left up to duly elected representatives. That happened in Harnett County and it happened in Virginia. You may not like it but this is America so if you have a problem then say so. Just like they did in Virginia. And if you really want to see a change in how the government works, well I have a petition for you to sign. 

Politics and Process- Education

The first issue I want to discuss in an effort to educate voters on my beliefs is the one closest to my heart. Education. I’m going to focus on K-12 public education for now but hopefully I will have time for higher education in a later post.

My first concern for North Carolina schools is the recruitment of high-quality new teachers coupled with the retention of veteran teachers. Policies put forth by the state legislature over the last several years have dampened enthusiasm for choosing teaching as a profession and our children will suffer for it. To use a metaphor, students drink from wells they did not dig and these wells are running dry. Teacher programs at our state’s colleges report that the number of incoming students seeking a career in education are dwindling and the shortage is being felt now and will only become more painful. Add to that teachers leaving the classroom for the private sector plus retiring veterans and we have a crisis.

One recruitment tool is teacher pay and at the risk of sounding self-serving I believe it needs to increase. This isn’t so I can continue my lavish lifestyle but so young people and others considering a career change can afford to choose teaching. In real money teacher pay is lower than it was before the 2008 recession regardless of the chest-thumping by our current legislative leadership. Here is a dollar amount that may shock you; $21,261.  That is the difference between the average yearly salary of a college-educated North Carolinian and the average yearly pay for a North Carolina teacher. It’s no wonder high school graduates are looking elsewhere.

My last point also deals with money and it is the abysmal per-pupil funding figures for North Carolina. Depending on which reports you read we are either in the bottom 5 or bottom 10 in the country. Pathetic. Any politician talking about a “broken system” who supports that paltry investment simply does not deserve your vote. Eventually, you get what you pay for and education isn’t just a line item in a budget. It is our future. More importantly, it is our children’s future.

One final word on education and that word is “Leandro”. That is the name given to a North Carolina Supreme Court case verdict from almost 25 years ago which said that our state government had failed to meet its constitutional obligation to provide a sound public education. That’s right, our government has been knowingly in violation of our constitution for over 20 years. Recently the court-ordered education group tasked with providing solutions and a path forward released their report and to no one’s surprise it said schools needed more money. A lot more money. My favorite response came from the education policy expert for the John Locke Foundation who said the price tag was too high and offered his own solution. His fix is to have the governor and state legislators sit down and discuss reasonable changes that can be made to improve public education. Given how well things have gone with our most recent budget that sounds like a great idea.  They can all sit around and fiddle while Rome burns.  

As far as the process piece goes for my run at the District 53 State House seat, I’ve held an organizational meeting where I was able to share my vision on state government. Now I’m in the process of locating some foot soldiers to start knocking on doors with me to get the required signatures to be on the November ballot. I’ve also downloaded the State Board of Elections campaign finance software which I will now need to understand so that I can start accepting contributions.  I will fill y’all in as things change.