• Federal Jury Finds • Complaint Against Gaskill Guilty, P. 4 Easley Dismissed, P. 5

Differential Pay?, P. 8 Impact Fee Ruling, P. 16

Statewide Edition A Monthly Journal of News, Analysis, and Opinion from July 2006 • Vol. 15, No. 7 the John Locke Foundation www.CarolinaJournal.com www.JohnLocke.org Deciphering School Administrator Pay Difficult dent Del Burns negotiated a four-year Do growing budgets contract that nets him an annual salary of $250,000 plus about $36,000 in additional reflect better personnel benefits. Burns is a 30-year veteran of Wake County schools whom the school or more bureaucracy? board selected after it decided to conduct an internal search. By SUSANNE ROBINSON Board members said the compensa- Contributing Editor tion package was justified because it was RALEIGH comparable to other superintendents’ t pays to be a school administra- salaries in large North Carolina school tor in North Carolina — in many districts. “This is an organization with cases, very well. Throughout the 16,000 employees and a billion-dollar Istate’s 115 school districts, the average budget,” Burns said when asked about Central Office administrator enjoys a his compensation package. “I feel like salary of $63,000, not including gener- the compensation is certainly fair.” Not everyone sees it that way. ous benefits. “If the competition for the position Employment deals offered to was truly an open competition, I would school system bureaucrats are woven The Charlotte-Mecklenberg Schools employ 1.68 administrators per 1,000 students, many say it’s a true statement,” said Americans into an intricate and multilayered state of them working out of the CMS administration building shown above (Photo by Michael for Prosperity State Director Francis De- compensation system that can be dif- Lowrey) Luca. “But what exactly is the need for a ficult to decipher for those who fund it: to the average North Carolina wage as signing bonuses, enhanced retirement huge pay package for someone who has North Carolina taxpayers. earner, the one who pays the taxes to benefits, health club memberships, con- been in the system for years?” According to the N.C. Employment fund school operations. For a school version of unused vacation days into and Security Commission, the average system’s top administrators, the amount cash compensation, and more. school administrator’s yearly salary is is much higher and often padded with In Wake County, the state’s second- almost double the $34,000 in wages paid additional forms of compensation such largest school district, new superinten- Continued as “Deciphering” on Page 2 Greensboro Shooting Report Prompts Diverse Reactions By MAXIMILIAN LONGLEY the initiative of CWP survivors, con- commission in criticizing the Klansmen “on some level a clash was inevitable,” Contributing Editor cluded two years’ worth of research and Nazis who confronted, and shot given the conflict in Greensboro between DURHAM and public hearings with a report issued at, the CWP demonstrators. However, “powerful institutions” and “activism he recent report by the Greensboro May 25. the sources are more inclined than the that resisted the status quo.” Truth and Reconciliation Com- The Greensboro City Council, after commission’s report to emphasize that The report said “… the majority mission has achieved one thing: a contentious debate, agreed to consider the CWP was a key contributor to the of commissioners find the single most TIt has provoked intense discussion about the report. The commission’s proceed- clash, and to put less blame on the important element that contributed to a confrontation Nov. 3, 1979 between ings garnered sympathetic coverage in Greensboro establishment, the police, the violent outcome of the confrontation Klansmen and Nazis with members the local media as well as nationally. and the courts. of the Communist Workers Party and Others accused the commission of trying Inevitable clash or communist shootings that left five people dead. to rewrite history to favor the CWP. provocation? The private commission, set up at Some sources tend to agree with the The commission’s report said Continued as “Greensboro” on Page 2

Does illegal immigration pose a 80serious threat to national security? The John Locke Foundation NONPROFIT ORG. Contents 200 W. Morgan St., #200 U.S. POSTAGE Raleigh, NC 27601 PAID RALEIGH, NC State Government 3 PERMIT NO. 1766 Washington 6 Education 8

Yes 74 % Higher Education 12 No 17 % Local Government 16 Not Sure 2 % Books & the Arts 20 Opinion 24 Parting Shot 28 John William Pope Civitas Institute Poll, June 2006 CAROLINA C a r o l i n a North Carolina JOURNAL Journal Greensboro Report Prompts Diverse Reactions Richard Wagner Continued from Page 1 Workers Viewpoint Organization before Editor settling on the Communist Workers was the absence of police.” Several police [T]he report faulted Party moniker. This article uses the term Don Carrington officers identified in the report were “CWP” to refer to the now-defunct group Executive Editor Greensboro police for found to have had “intentionality to fail in all of its incarnations. to provide adequate protection” to the monitoring the CWP dur- Michael Kent Curtis is a law profes- Paul Chesser, Michael Lowrey CWP demonstrators. The report blamed Donna Martinez sor at Wake Forest University. In 1980, he The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco Associate Editors ing the months before was a member of a citizens’ committee and Firearms for failing to share informa- the shooting and said to review the events of Nov. 3. Curtis Chad Adams, Shannon Blosser, tion it had about the coming clash with also testified at the commission’s public Andrew Cline, Roy Cordato, Greensboro police. Greensboro officials such monitoring was hearings in 2005. While Curtis doesn’t Paige Holland Hamp, David Hartgen, were accused of intentionally covering think the victims of clash deserved to die, Sam A. Hieb, Lindalyn Kakadelis, up the truth about the shootings. The “disproportionate.” nevertheless, “as a matter of historical Mitch Kokai, George Leef, commission also criticized the justice causation,” he thinks the CWP helped Maximilian Longley, Rick Martinez, system for acquitting the Klan-Nazi bring about the tragedy by provoking the Karen Palasek, Marc Rotterman, shooters in two criminal trials. at its rally. The report described violent Klan into showing up, and by disrupting Mike Rouse, R.E. Smith Jr., While focusing most of the blame clashes between the CWP and a rival a Klan rally earlier in 1979. Jack Sommer, John Staddon, for the shootings on the Klan-Nazi gun- communist group, the Revolutionary Elizabeth Wheaton, who wrote Jim Stegall, George Stephens, men, the Greensboro establishment, Communist Party, in front of Cone Mills’ “Codename GREENKIL,” a 1987 book Jeff Taylor, Michael Walden, federal, and local law enforcement, and textile plants. Despite all this, the report about the Greensboro shootings, also Karen Welsh, Hal Young the justice system, the report criticized faulted Greensboro police for monitor- testified at the commission’s hearings. Contributing Editors the CWP, too. The report cited “extreme” ing the CWP during the months before Wheaton said that she was “really im- CWP positions, such as support for the the shooting and said such monitoring Richard Carney, pressed” at the commission’s thorough was “disproportionate.” Brent Lucas, Michael Moore Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. The report research. Molly McCullough acknowledged that the CWP, using vio- The CWP started life as the Asian Jenna Ashley Robinson, lent language, dared the Klan to show up Study Group and changed into the Continued as “Greensboro” on Page 5 Dion Terry, Haley Wynn Editorial Interns

Published by Deciphering School Administrator Pay Difficult The John Locke Foundation 200 W. Morgan St., # 200 Continued from Page 1 Gorman will head the state’s largest taxpayers’ money.” Raleigh, N.C. 27601 school system, and his supporters say In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (919) 828-3876 • Fax: 821-5117 “Providing guaranteed compensa- his salary matches the responsibility he school system’s Central Office, Gor- www.JohnLocke.org tion packages is dangerous and actually is taking on and is comparable to what man’s regional superintendents also provides a disincentive,” said Robert a senior executive in the private sector receive six-figure salaries. The salaries Jon Ham Luddy, a member of the Blue Ribbon would earn. range from $110,000 to $124,000, plus Vice President & Publisher Committee for the Future of Wake Coun- However, critics argue that some benefits. Even administrators much ty. “Compensation structures should be of the money could be better put to further down the chain of command John Hood based on a salary and bonus for proven instructional uses or, in systems like receive pay well above the state aver- Chairman & President performance. Mr. Burns could well be Charlotte-Mecklenburg, to new-school age. The executive director for profes- worth more money… but only based on construction. Actually, Charlotte voters sional development, who is charged with Bruce Babcock, Herb Berkowitz, proven performance.” rejected a $427 million school construc- overseeing programs such as teacher James Culbertson, Jim Fulghum, The 239 Central Office admin- tion bond last November. training and after-school enrichment, Bill Graham, Robert Luddy, Assad Meymandi, Baker A. Mitchell, istrators who work for Burns earn an School Board member Larry receives a salary approaching $100,000. Jr., Carl Mumpower, Maria Ochoa, average salary of $68,000. Burns said the Gavreau said that vote was a partial re- The system’s diversity specialist, who J. Arthur Pope, Tula Robbins, administrators are college-degreed indi- flection of voter dissatisfaction with the plans and promotes the school system’s Thomas A. Roberg, David Stover, viduals who oversee many people and way funds were being spent. Gavreau multiculturalism programs, receives Robert Stowe III, Andy Wells programs; they are worth the money. was the sole board member to vote more than $50,000. Board of Directors Is such compensation excessive? against Gorman’s compensation pack- Each of these administrators also Critics of the system say taxpayers age, which he called “excessive and un- receives a benefits package provided Carolina Journal is a monthly journal should consider how their tax dollars warranted.” He cites it as evidence that by the state and the school district. The of news, analysis, and commentary on state underwrite school administrators’ sala- North Carolina’s public school systems package offers health, dental, optional and local government and public policy issues ries and fringe benefits when they are are bureaucratic and bloated. vision, vacation, and retirement ben- in North Carolina. asked to vote for tax increases such as the “Ninety percent of that $310,000 efits, which in some cases exceed those $1.05 billion school bond Wake County is guaranteed,” Gavreau said, “All Dr. typically found in the private sector. For ©2005 by The John Locke Foundation voters will decide in November. Gorman has to do is show up. If half of example, after five years of employment, Inc. All opinions expressed in bylined articles When the Charlotte-Mecklenburg that was performance only…if we put state employees are guaranteed full are those of the authors and do not necessarily school system’s new superintendent the superintendent on a commission health coverage after retirement until reflect the views of the editors of CJ or the staff and board of the John Locke Foundation. takes office this month, he will be the plan, I might be able to support that.” they qualify for Medicare. The same Material published herein may be reprinted as county’s highest-paid public official. The pay controversy does not stop employee with five years of service to long as appropriate credit is given. Submis- Dr. Peter Gorman’s compensation deal with the superintendent’s salary pack- the state receives nearly three weeks of sions and letters are welcome and should be includes a $250,000 base salary plus a age. One of Gorman’s first personnel paid vacation. directed to the editor. performance bonus of up to $25,000 decisions, Gavreau said, was to create According to the State Office of per year and deferred retirement pay of a chief operating officer position in his Personnel, these benefits are valued CJ readers wanting more information $35,000. His compensation will be higher administration. at about 41 percent of the employee’s between monthly issues can call 919-828-3876 than the chancellor of the University “So now we have a $310,000 super- base salary. and ask for Carolina Journal Weekly Re- of North Carolina system, and nearly intendent, who’s going to add a $200,000 For some positions, there may be port, delivered each weekend by e-mail, or visit double that of state agency heads and COO,” Gavreau said. “We’ll have two other benefits, such as signing bonuses, CarolinaJournal.com for news, links, and ex- members of the Council of State. new positions costing an additional woven into the hire. Because they are clusive content updated each weekday. Those At a recent press conference Gor- half-million dollars…We’re acting like not part of the basic salary schedules interested in education, higher education, or man said of his $310,000 package, “I’m if something costs a lot of money, that published by the state or local school local government should also ask to receive going to work hard for that money…I means it must be good. The school weekly e-letters covering these issues. don’t apologize for negotiating that.” board is being overly generous with the Continued as “Deciphering” on Page 3 CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL North Carolina  Deciphering Pay of N.C.’s School Administrators Difficult

Continued from Page 2 pay levels, if meaningful savings are to be realized. Like Martin, he advocated districts, they are often difficult to track. looking for ways to cull unnecessary “The school board approves the budget administrative positions. and then it’s all moved around and kept “I’m not naïve enough to believe undercover. There’s no accountability,” you can run a system with 6,000 employ- Gavreau said. ees and not have some inefficiencies,” However, many observers of the Collins said. In Forsyth County, “you system said the salary issue is not re- can find positions where you scratch ally the central concern. They feel that your head and say ‘What do they do?’ salaries do tend to be higher in high- But when budget time comes along you growth districts, but worry that with should have to justify every position.” growing school districts come growing Collins also said that ultimately, bureaucracies, ones that are difficult for taxpayers must face the reality that a anyone outside the system to untangle school system’s top officers don’t come and examine how money is spent. cheap. “From a superintendent stand- The Department of Public Instruc- point, it is a question of competition,” tion is North Carolina’s central authority he said about Martin’s $197,000 annual for the state’s 2,338 public elementary salary. “Our superintendent presides and secondary schools. It publishes over the fifth-largest school district, a hundreds of pages of salary schedules, $350 million budget, and has 50,000 kids job codes, and statistics for public school The new Hickory Grove Elementary School in Charlotte, which opens in August (Photo to take care of. For any of these top level by Michael Lowrey) systems across the state. people it is, candidly, a competition with Although North Carolina has the answer is no. themselves. When Forsyth County Su- private industry.” established compensation ranges for “We are very closely budget code- perintendent Donald Martin took office But where is the line between being positions within the public school sys- controlled,” he said. “To the average in 1994, he tracked reductions in Central a competitive employer and a burgeon- tem, individual school districts often person on the street, if you don’t have Office staff through attrition, retirement, ing bureaucracy? The average salary supplement the salaries and benefits a chart of accounts and someone to ex- and regular turnover. for all North Carolina superintendents according to their own set of criteria, and plain it to you…it’s almost impossible “We discovered that many times is $130,374, and the number of school assign their own job titles and hierarchy to figure out.” a non-licensed person could do the job administrators overall is growing. to their bureaucracy. The net effect is a Also, the debate over how much that an administrator was doing,” he According to policy analysts with statewide web of school systems that are money school systems spend on salary said. Sometimes a position’s duties were the John Locke Foundation, more than opaque to the taxpayers who fund them. and benefits is underscored by the sheer transferred to an administrative assis- $8 billion of local, state, and federal For some, it is the opacity of the system number of administrators the systems tant. With time and vigilance came tan- money was earmarked for the salary that is the most concerning: How is an pay. “That’s one gible cost savings, and benefits of nearly 175,000 public outsider to monitor the way a system of the problems Martin said. “We school employees in 2005. This was an spends tax dollars — whether on salaries across the state ended up with a increase of nearly $1 billion and 9,000 or other operational functions? — the proliferation “There are no transpar- million dollars in employees from 2004. “There are no transparencies in of administrators,” annual salary cut Is this a sign of a hiring and government accounting on any level,” DeLuca said. encies in government out.” spending spree? Over the next 10 years Luddy said. “These reporting systems The DPI re- accounting on any level. He said the the costs of new-school construction in are designed to conceal information from cently began track- approach contin- North Carolina will be $10 billion. Ac- the average reader. An annual report ing the number These reporting systems ues to be a valid cording to an April 2006 Civitas Institute that simplified the data would be most of Central Office one. “Every time poll, only 18 percent of respondents think useful to the decision-makers and might administrators are designed to conceal you’ve got a va- those costs should be paid for in some cause dramatic change in the operation per 1,000 students cancy you’ve got degree by state bonds. of the school system.” as one means of information from the aver- to look at whether Yet the state’s largest and fastest- In Wake County, for example, gauging a system’s age reader.” there’s a way to growing school districts have or plan to school board members said they set efficiency. Of the parcel out those have bond referenda to help fund school objectives for the superintendent and top five urban Robert Luddy d u t i e s … a n d construction costs. It is particularly in get a detailed report on what has been school districts in Blue Ribbon Committee sometimes tech- these districts, where Central Office done to meet the objectives. However, North Carolina, nology can do the administrators are paid the highest, since this is a part of his performance Forsyth has the for the Future of Wake County job, which means that many observers think both pay appraisal, it is protected as a part of lowest ratio, 1.33 you can eliminate and hiring trends should be scaled back his personnel file. The school system’s administrators per benefit costs.” dramatically. Certified Annual Financial Report lists 1,000 students. Forsyth County also contracts out Finding a way to do this systemati- department salary budgets as line items, Wake County has the highest services for which other school systems cally and with clarity may be difficult in but follows these with a general “other ratio, 2.34:1,000.“We do some things maintain an in-house staff. For example, a statewide public school landscape that costs” category, which some critics say others do not,” Burns said. “We have a the school system contracts out the is cluttered with thousands of budget is too vague. very large building program,” and an planning of construction projects to two accounting codes and intricate person- The superintendents themselves internal technology services division private-sector specialists, rather than nel policies. Yet experts both within and concede the system is complex. “Every- “to make sure the infrastructure is as it maintaining those positions in-house. outside the system say North Carolina’s thing we do has to follow the chart of should be.” Forsyth County also had its operations school systems have no choice: They accounts that DPI has set for us,” Burns In Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s case, scrutinized by the private sector. Repre- must be vigilant. said. “There are 125,000 active accounts the ratio is 1.68 administrators per 1,000 sentatives from industries such as food “I don’t know of any school district in Wake County. It is a complex structure students. Gavreau expressed frustration services, warehousing, computer ser- in the state that has the luxury to waste that DPI requires.” Because this infor- at the number of staff. “No one gets vices, and financial accounting looked money on inefficient jobs in Central Of- mation is available to the public, Burns fired in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, no one at these functions of the public school fice,” Collins said. “Ultimately, we have said he thinks the system is transparent gets released,” he said. “They just get system and made recommendations for to look at every administrative expense to taxpayers. shuffled around.” running them like a business, rather than and ask if it supports children learning But if something is published in a Forsyth County provides an ex- a bureaucracy, Martin said. in the classroom.” language no one outside the system can ample of what one school system is doing Forsyth County School Board That, in the final analysis, is the speak, is this really true? Forsyth County to trim Central Office payroll costs by member A.L. Collins said decision-mak- one test the North Carolina school sys- Superintendent Dr. Donald Martin said trimming the administrative positions ers cannot focus only on administrator tem must pass. CJ July 2006 CAROLINA  North Carolina JOURNAL Gave false statements Federal Jury Finds Former Ferry Director Jerry Gaskill Guilty

By DON CARRINGTON pleaded guilty ing those per- schoolchildren from the Outer Banks Executive Editor last year to sons and entities to the mainland. RALEIGH participating who willfully Although proponents of the ferry jury convicted former Ferry in the illegal disregard those said it was needed for schoolchildren, Division Director Jerry Gaskill dredging. The regulations or documents suggest that the service was on June 15 of making a material Ferry Division otherwise inter- intended to transport resort workers Afalse statement to a federal agency in is part of the N. fere with a regu- and tourists. connection with an investigation of the C. Department latory investiga- The 2002 budget bill ordered illegal dredging, or “prop washing,” of of Transporta- tion.” DOT to do a feasibility study. Gaskill a channel in an essential marine habitat tion. Depart- Fred Burn- conducted a study and submitted it to in the Currituck Sound. ment spokes- side, special the General Assembly in May 2003. The Gaskill, whose sentencing date had m a n E r n i e agent in charge proposed route would have been about not been set at press time, could receive a Seneca did not of EPA’s Atlanta 12 miles across the shallow Currituck maximum sentence of five years impris- return a phone Criminal Inves- Sound from the Currituck community onment and a $250,000 fine. The guilty call seeking tigation Division to the Corolla community. verdict also means that North Carolina comment on said, “This con- “The proposed ferry service is fea- will not pay his lawyer’s fees. the verdict. viction sends the sible, assuming the appropriate permits Evidence presented by federal The U.S. clear message can be obtained,” Gaskill concluded in prosecutors showed that Gaskill submit- Environmen- that no violator the study. But he failed to address two Former Ferry Director Jerry Gaskill enters court ted false statements to the U.S. Army tal Protection during the week of his trial (CJ Photo by Don — public or pri- previous unsuccessful attempts by Cur- Corps of Engineers in connection with Agency, the Carrington) vate — is above rituck County to obtain a dredging per- the investigation of illegal dredging. N.C. Bureau the law.” mit for the shallow Corolla location. Gaskill’s false statements obstructed of Investigation, the U. S. Coast Guard The illegal dredging was associ- State and federal environmental the effort to determine the violator so Investigative Service, and the U. S. ated with the state’s efforts to establish agencies had ruled that the area was a that remediation efforts could begin at Army Corps of Engineers conducted a passenger ferry service across the Cur- sensitive marine habitat that needed to the site. the investigation. rituck Sound. Previous stories by Caro- be protected. At the time of the illegal The jury found him not guilty of In a prepared statement U.S. At- lina Journal reported that the new ferry dredging, neither DOT nor Currituck another charge involving a conspiracy torney Frank Whitney said, “There service encountered several obstacles. County had applied for a permit. with another person to lie about the must be strict adherence to the envi- Plans for the project were initiated soon The 49-person, 50-foot pontoon incident. U. S. District Judge Terrence ronmental regulations protecting the after the Currituck County Board of boat ordered for the service was de- Boyle had dismissed two other charges natural resources in the Eastern District Commissioners asked State Sen. Marc livered in August 2004 to the State earlier in the trial. of North Carolina. This case reflects our Basnight in July 2002 to help establish Shipyard in Manns Harbor, where Four other Ferry Division workers office’s ongoing commitment to pursu- a ferry service to transport about 40 it still sits dockside unused. CJ Complaint Seeks Info on Payday Lending Campaign Contributions

By PAUL CHESSER said in a press conference May 22. “They Legislative Campaign Committee, of payday lender contributions, he said Associate Editor are trying to make a comeback.” which Black was national finance chair- Democrat Sen. R.C. Soles of Tabor City RALEIGH In his complaint, Sinsheimer asked man. and Republican Sen. Richard Stevens of critic of House Speaker Jim Black elections board Chairman Larry Leake Morgan raised $10,000 in 2004 Cary accurately reported the identities filed a complaint with the State and Executive Director Gary Bartlett to also, for his North Carolina Republican of payday lending contributors. Board of Elections asking for an investigate some out-of-state contribu- Main Street Committee. Sinsheimer House members Marvin Lucas, D- Ainvestigation of campaign contributions tors, and their North Carolina-based questioned the corporate nature of the Cumberland, and Joe Kiser, R-Lincoln, from the payday lending industry to lobbyists, to determine whether they contributions, noting that some came in accurately recorded the information dozens of state legislators. engaged in a “focused effort” to con- identical amounts to both Black’s and also, as did recently retired Rep. Bill D e m o - ceal their ties to the payday lending Morgan’s organizations, and wondered Culpepper, D-Chowan, who left to take a cratic consultant industry. whether they were raised “in return for post on the state Utilities Commission. Joe Sinsheimer, He also asked the board to look favorable legislative treatment.” Sinsheimer said the few accurate who has orga- into whether members of the General In addition, Sinsheimer said Mor- reports proved that the employer infor- nized a cam- Assembly intentionally hid information gan in 2003 failed to report employee mation on the payday lending contribu- paign to press on campaign reports that would have information for seven contributions from tors “was easily available.” for Black’s re- revealed that sources of their contribu- payday lenders — the same ones that he Stevens, who had not heard about moval or resig- tions were payday lenders. identified a year later as donors to his Sinsheimer’s complaint, said the $2,000 nation with his “I believe that somehow this was Section 527 “Main Street” committee. that came in for him from four out-of- Web site www. orchestrated,” Sinsheimer said, add- IRS regulations allow unlimited “soft state individuals in January 2005 was jimblackmust- ing that he was also sending a copy of money” contributions from individu- unsolicited. He said he didn’t recall go.com, says 12 the complaint to the U.S. Attorney’s als to political committees set up under ever meeting any of them, and said at legislators have Joe Sinsheimer Office. Section 527 of the IRS code. the time another treasurer was han- falsely reported Sinsheimer alleged that Black “It is difficult to believe that the dling his contributions. He is his own at least one political contribution from failed to report employer information Morgan committee did not have the treasurer now. the payday loan industry. In addition, in 2003 of two contributors from the employer information for these contri- Stevens said he has always tried 26 lawmakers failed to report payday payday lending industry, and that he butions since months later Morgan was to do his due diligence on his campaign loan industry contributors’ employ- falsely reported another in 2004. able to successfully solicit corporate reports. ment information, as required by law. Sinsheimer also noted that in 2003 contributions from these same com- “It’s not that hard,” he said. “That Both Republicans and Democrats were both Black and Republican Cospeaker panies to his 527 political committee,” information is not hard to find on any- cited by Sinsheimer, including Black, Richard Morgan raised $70,000 from Sinsheimer wrote in his complaint to the body.” D-Mecklenburg. industry companies for Section 527 po- elections board. He wouldn’t comment on the “We have an industry that, for the litical committees that each represented. In contrast to the 38 legislators specific complaint, but said, “I believe last four years, the attorney general has Payday lenders donated $50,000 in 2002 whom Sinsheimer said filed false, all of us have an obligation to accurately tried to get out of this state,” Sinsheimer and $10,000 in 2004 to the Democratic misleading, or incomplete reports on report all of our contributions.” CJ CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL North Carolina  N.C. Board of Ethics Dismisses Complaint Against Gov. Easley

By PAUL CHESSER marina. Garrett has tried to acquire ad- Associate Editor jacent property, and attempted to buy RALEIGH the marina in 2005. he N.C. Board of Ethics on June In May 2005 the Ports Authority 7 decided against further inves- received an unsolicited offer to purchase tigation of a complaint against the 430-slip marina for an undisclosed TGov. Mike Easley over his relationship amount of money. The authority de- with Southport Marina leaseholders, cided to seek bids from other parties. who also happen to be his campaign It received bids ranging from $2.5 mil- contributors. lion to $16 million. Garrett offered $5.1 Board members accepted recom- million. mendations from their executive direc- Several local residents expressed tor, Perry Newson, after he conducted concern that a private owner would con- an initial review of charges that Easley vert much of the land to condominiums showed favoritism toward developers and significantly raise the fees for renting in Southport, who wanted a long-term boat slips. In the midst of the discussions lease to run the state-owned marina. on the future of the marina, Garrett and The allegations were filed as part of his partners began negotiations to buy a complaint by two Southport residents, Southport Marina, Inc., the company who think Easley persuaded members of that held the existing lease. the Council of State and the N.C. Ports Garrett and his wife have con- Authority to back the extension of the tributed $16,000 to Easley’s campaigns lease to Wilmington developer Charles Gov. Mike Easley’s house (center, with black car in driveway) was given a $200,000-plus since 2000. Smith and Rawls together “Nick” Garrett, Jr., and Cary developers renovation by a company owned by developer “Nick” Garrett Jr. (CJ Photo by Don Car- have given $14,000 to the governor’s Tim Smith and Julian “Bubba” Rawl. The rington) campaigns since 2000, The N&O has complaint contended that the governor The council is composed of the with Garrett — contains extensions that reported. “unethically influenced,” “intimidated,” governor and the other nine indepen- would tie up the property through 2040. Bill Duke said that from a business and “orchestrated” the public bodies to dently elected state officials including The lease requires that the company pay standpoint, the new lease makes no support the new marina lease. the state treasurer, lieutenant governor, the state $160,000 in rent yearly, with sense for the state or taxpayers, since “I found absolutely no credible evi- and agriculture commissioner. By law, an annual increase of as much as 3 per- the developers will have freedom to dence to support these charges,” New- the council is required to approve state cent. The complainants, represented by raise rents on boat slips and improve son told Board of Ethics members. real estate transactions. residents Bill Duke and Woody Wilson, surrounding property with relatively For his review, Newson said he Newson said the allegations of called the new lease a “sweetheart deal” little compensation to the state. interviewed Council of State members; intimidation, manipulation, and undue for Easley’s friends. “Reasonable people should have board members for the Ports Authority; influence of Council of State members Garrett, who renovated Easley’s challenged that agreement,” Duke and governor’s office staffers. He said were unfounded, and that the com- Southport home for $250,000 in 2001, said. “The lease before was bad. Now he also read 50 to 60 newspaper articles plainants produced no evidence of such has built several luxury condominiums they’ve compounded it.” CJ about the issue and listened to audio of behavior. across the street from the marina. He the Jan. 10 Council of State meeting — in The new 15-year lease with South- also told the Wilmington Star-News which the marina lease extension was port Marina, Inc. — owned by Smith last week that he was going to be the Executive Editor Don Carrington voted on — repeated times. and Rawls, who are business partners contractor for a new restaurant at the contributed to this report. Greensboro Shooting Report Prompts Diverse Reactions

Continued from Page 2 Klehr said he was “less than im- the CWP and the rival Chinatown radical (The True Story of the Greensboro Mas- pressed” by the commission’s report. He group I Wor Kuen: “You couldn’t leaflet sacre) and a 2002 memoir by survivor However, Wheaton disputed many rejects the suggestion, contained in the in front of each other’s event or there’d Signe Waller (Love and Revolution) boast parts of the report. While she thought report, that CWP members became more be a fistfight. Or you’d go on purpose to of the CWP’s attempted disruption the Greensboro police showed “bumbling radical in response to the hostility and leaflet so there’d be a fistfight.”17 Democratic Party’s 1980 convention in and stupidity and perhaps negligence,” “demonization” they encountered from The CWP’s Chinatown battles New York. CWP members made what Wheaton saw “just no evidence” to sup- the public. “People demonized them weren’t confined to fistfights. Professor the Bermanzohns described as “a frontal port the report’s accusation that police because they were crazy,” Klehr said. William Wei (The Asian American Move- assault” on New York police, injur- intentionally allowed CWP members The commission’s report said that, ment, 1993) documents how, in 1979, a ing many, while Waller infiltrated the and sympathizers to be attacked. while both the CWP and their Klan-Nazi group called CADRA broke away from convention hall with a press pass and As to the report’s claim that police opponents used violent rhetoric, the AAFE. In retaliation for an alleged as- set off firecrackers within 50 feet of the paid too much attention to the CWP in Klansmen and Nazis habitually “backed sault on an AAFE loyalist, “[CWP] and podium where President Jimmy Carter the months before the shootings, Whea- up violent language with violent ac- AAFE members carrying lead pipes, iron was speaking. ton accuses the commission of putting on tions. . . . In contrast, the most violent bars, and hammers forced their way into Carolina Journal sought comment “rose-colored glasses.” If she had been in documented acts of the WVO/CWP CADRA offices, injured three persons, from the members and staff of the com- charge of security at Cone Mills’ plants, were to engage in target shooting and and damaged furniture.” Also in 1979, mission. One commission member con- she said, “I’d ask the police to keep an karate training.” CWP-AAFE picketers demonstrated tacted by Carolina Journal, lawyer Robert eye on those guys.” Not mentioned in the report were outside the China Daily News and broke Peters, commented on the commission’s Harvey Klehr, a political science certain violent incidents in New York, down the newspaper’s door in protest work and expressed hope at the possi- professor and communism expert at where CWP boss Jerry Tung had his of alleged lack of coverage. bilities of reconciliation in Greensboro. Atlanta’s Emory University, was re- headquarters. Chris Iijima was a musi- AAFE, now a prominent social- Peters’ signature on the commission’s tained by the city of Greensboro soon cian in New York’s Chinatown during service organization in Chinatown, N.Y., report was subject to a concurring opin- after the shootings to research the CWP. the 1970s, when he worked with the did not respond to an email query from ion in which he said that the Klan and The commission did not contact Klehr, CWP and with a CWP front group also Carolina Journal. Nazis, not the police, bore the primary but a section of the commission’s report headed by Tung, Asian-Americans for The CWP was also involved in blame for the events of Nov. 3. cites a 1979 newspaper headline about Equality. In an interview published in acts of violence after the Greensboro Jim Melvin, mayor of Greensboro an interview with Klehr as evidence of the 2000 book “Legacy to Liberation,” shootings. A 1980 memoir by shooting in 1979, declined to comment to Caro- alleged media bias against the CWP. Iijima recalled factional fights between survivors Paul and Sally Bermanzohn lina Journal. CJ July 2006 CAROLINA  Washington JOURNAL

NC Delegation Watch Constitutional amendment

Debate disappoints Jones Leaders Struggle With Gay Marriage Issue In a House vote June 16, U.S. Rep. Walter Jones, R-3rd, registered By KAREN WELSH gressman thinks the Constitution should important. It’s the basic unit in all suc- a “present” vote on H. Res. 861, a Contributing Editor protect rights, not take them away. cessful societies. It’s ordained by God resolution dealing with the ongo- RALEIGH Butterfield thinks the issue should and it makes sense. I think we’ll come ing conflict in Iraq and the Global o judge or not to judge was the be handled at the state level. “He would to a resolution on it.” War on Terror. The House vote fol- question posed last month by support it there,” Willis said. “It’s not a Foxx also believes the constitu- lowed a full day of debate on the Congress when the Senate took federal issue.” tional ban is needed because of the many resolution. Tthe second vote in two years to determine Willis also said Butterfield voted activist judges throughout America who “Without question, I fully sup- whether to impose a constitutional ban against having a constitutional amend- are legislating from their bench. “This is port our nation’s efforts to win the on gay marriage. ment on the subject when it was brought our way to circumvent that,” she said. Global War on Terror,” Jones said in After two days of lively to the House floor. “They “It’s the right thing to do and I think it a statement. “And I, like all of my debate on the Senate floor, already have the Defense of will prevail.” colleagues in Congress, will always however, the bill failed by Marriage Act,” Willis said. As with others in the North Caroli- support the brave men and women a procedural vote of 49-48 “That supports one man- na contingent, Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., of our military. on the ban. At least 60 votes one woman marriage.” said his personal Christian beliefs and “What I have encouraged were needed to move the bill Rep. Howard Coble, biblical standards have made it easy to in the months leading up to this forward for a direct vote by R-N.C., said although he choose which side to be on in the debate week’s debate was a day set aside the senators. believes in the sanctity over the definition of marriage. for a wide-ranging discussion of our While two battles in a of marriage as it’s been “It’s what the Bible says,” he said. campaign in Iraq, including serious row are counted as lost, those known in the United States “It’s one man and one woman. To me, consideration of issues such as the that supported the bill said for many generations, he there is no alternative. I am strong in status of Iraqi infrastructure, the they think that progress was doesn’t agree that a con- my faith.” Iraqi economy and the training of made and that the bill was stitutional amendment is Jones said the United States was Iraqi troops. gaining strength. They said needed. founded and built on a strong foundation “I could not vote ‘yes’ or ‘no’ they will try to secure an “If it came to the of morals that should not be tampered on H. Res. 861 today because a amendment against same- House floor I would vote with or shaken. resolution to merely ‘declare that sex marriage. for it,” he said. “But, I think “This nation cannot survive with- the United States will prevail’ in a Leading the charge is Sen. Richard we can get along without it.” out the protection of Judeo-Christian ‘noble struggle’ misses the point. A Burr, R-NC. Other representatives from North values,” he said. “I work on these issues ‘yes’ or ‘no’ vote would have legiti- Throughout his term, he has Carolina, however, are taking a more because I am a man of faith. I honor God mized an effort to effectively avoid supported the historical definition of aggressive stance to ensure the measure by protecting these values.” the subject,” Jones said. marriage as between one man and one goes through. Rep. Mike McIntyre, D- Jones said he also will cosponsor “I have done everything woman. N.C., said he’s an original sponsor of the the bill when it is introduced. in my ability, as one member of Burr, who has consistently scored amendment and is willing to “have the He is not alone. President Bush Congress, to encourage a serious a zero out of a possible 100 with the bill dropped in the House again.” supports a constitutional ban on gay debate — including an appearance Human Rights Campaign supporting “It’s been marriage between one marriage. with colleagues before the House homosexual causes, sponsored the last man and one woman since the beginning “Ages of experience have taught us Rules Committee to appeal for a bill. He will continue to champion legis- of time,” he said. that the commitment of a husband and less restrictive format for debate,” lation against gay marriage, he said. Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., said a wife to love and to serve one another Jones said. Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., said she plans to co-sponsor the House bill. promotes the welfare of children and “The House debate should she also thinks marriage is a sacred union Foxx said she’s optimistic that it will the stability of society,” he said during have offered an opportunity to vote between a man and a woman. pass soon. a radio address in early June. “Marriage on a variety of proposals on what Dole said she supports the bill “Voters are very passionate about cannot be cut off from its cultural, reli- should be the way forward in Iraq. because she’s tired of liberal judges this bill, and so am I,” she said. “I will gious, and natural roots without weak- Unfortunately, we have yet to have throughout the country deciding what support it. The nuclear family is really ening this good influence on society.” CJ that discussion or debate.” is right or wrong on moral issues. “Unfortunately, activist judges are usurping the will of the American people and their democratically elected representatives and are trying to redefine President signs Foxx’s bill marriage to include other relationships,” U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, N.C.- she said. “This amendment would allow 5th, joined President Bush in the the American people to have the final Oval Office on Memorial Day as he say over this important issue, and not signed the Heroes Earned Retire- the courts.” ment Opportunities Act into law. There is a difference of opinion, The bill, authored by Foxx, however, among the North Carolina amends the IRS Code of 1986 to delegation serving in the House, where allow members of the Armed the constitutional ban on gay marriage Forces earning hazard pay to make is shifting into high gear. Individual Retirement Account Rep. David Price, D-N.C., said contributions. he does not believe it is the business Foxx introduced the legisla- of the federal government to legislate tion last year after being contacted a “definition” of marriage, much less by a constituent whose son spent amend the Constitution in this regard. most of 2004 in Iraq. “Besides, constitutional amendments The father, from Clemmons, have traditionally been utilized as a N.C., was frustrated because his son means of expanding and safeguarding did not earn enough taxable income individual rights,” he said, “not limit- to take full advantage of Individual ing them.” Retirement Accounts. CJ Ken Willis, spokesperson for Rep. G. K. Butterfield, D-N.C., said the con- CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL CJ Interview  Pickering Calls Current Judicial System ‘Supreme Chaos’ ormer federal district court judge mation hearings, they blocked me in secularist and feminist groups did not Charles Pickering was in Raleigh and they became the committee and want him or any other Democrat to sup- recently to speak to a John Locke much more bit- then the president port the Bush nominees. When it came FFoundation Headliner Luncheon. Pick- ter, partisan and re-nominated me, time for the hearing, I still had not heard ering discussed his new book, Supreme mean-spirited. and then after they that Senator Edwards had reversed his Chaos, with Carolina Journal associate And that’s what filibustered me, support, but he had. I looked up at him editor Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal happened. And he gave me a re- and mistakenly smiled. I was still hop- Radio: the Bush appel- cess appointment, ing he was still for me, but he was the late nominees, for and I served for most ruthless in his questioning of any. Kokai: A United States district the first time ever, 11 months on the Senator Edwards, I think, was trying judge from North Carolina, Terrence who had major- Fifth Circuit. Now, to prove to these far left special interest Boyle, has been waiting five years for a ity support, were the “supreme groups that they should support him in vote on his nomination to the U.S. Court blocked by the chaos” is the po- the presidential nominee, and it was a of Appeals. Observers consider Boyle filibuster. Not in liticization of the disappointment to me. a judicial conservative, and that label the entire 214 year judiciary in this was enough for Senate Democrats to history had that bitter fight that is Kokai: People are going to have to try to block Boyle’s appointment to the been done before, taking place. The read Supreme Chaos to learn more about appeals court based in Richmond. The but the Bush nom- problem is, Mitch, how the process has gotten out of whack. case of Terrence Boyle is not an isolated inees faced that that this could be From your perspective, how should the instance. Our guest has written a book and that’s what devastating to the process work? about flaws in the judicial confirmation this battle is all judiciary. Recent process, that book based on firsthand about. Former federal judge Charles Pickering speaks studies show that Pickering: Well, the process should experience for retired federal district at a Locke Foundation Headliner Luncheon one out of two pro- be a civil legislative proceeding where judge Charles Pickering. Thanks for Kokai: (Photo by Don Carrington) spective nominees one coequal branch of the government joining us. Let’s talk about say, “No, thank treats the other coequal branch with your case. You had spent about a de- you. I’m not going to go through this respect. So, there should be respect and Pickering: Delighted to be with cade or more on the federal bench. The character assassination, this bitter fight.” civility. We need to have a firmly estab- you, Mitch. American Bar Association called you And Justice Clarence Thomas was in lished procedure. There is no procedure well qualified. President George W. Bush Alabama just within the last few weeks, now for confirming federal judges. Each Kokai: So, your book is called nominated you. What happened? and he says that he’s picking up informa- chairman of the judiciary committee fol- Supreme Chaos. Why is that a good tion that the brightest and the best of the lows precedents and senatorial courtesy, shorthand description for this judicial Pickering: Well, I was nominated young law students or the young law and they all interpret it somewhat dif- confirmation process? in 2001. I think the day before I was graduates are saying, “I’m not going to ferently, have since the 1960s. nominated, Senator [Jim] Jeffords [I- go through this.” So, they are declining. So, there needs to be a set proce- Pickering: Well, Mitch, in Supreme Vt.] switched parties; the Democrats They are deciding not to go down the dure where people like Terry Boyle will Chaos I detail how the battle over the took charge of the Senate, so there was judicial track. That threatens the qual- not have to have their life in limbo for confirmation of federal judges is part of a slowdown in confirmation hearings. ity, the independence, the ability and six or seven years, that they’ll either be the larger culture war raging in America. Senator [Trent] even the diversity confirmed or rejected and they can go It is a fight for the hearts, souls and Lott [R-Miss.] was of the judiciary. on with their life. And presidents will minds of the American people. It has minority leader It also holds col- know that their nominees are going to several elements to it. It is a collision ,and he criticized “Well, you know, one of legiality, comity, be treated the same way other nominees between historical religious traditions the majority leader civility, and the are. So, first thing we need to do is es- and secularism. It involves issues such and Senator [Pat] the ironies of this is that Senate hostage. tablish a clear procedure for confirming as abortion in its most extreme forms, Leahy [D-Vt.] for friends of mine in Missis- And any problem judges. that is partial birth abortion, abortion not moving Bush’s that threatens to The second recommendation I without parental consent, even without — President Bush’s sippi told me that John coequal branches make is that we pass a constitutional parental notification, references to God — nominees more of our three co- amendment to protect the amendment in the public square — the public arena swiftly, and, as Edwards was committed equal branches of process. That is that in the future, the only — at public buildings, institutions, cer- a consequence, I to vote for my confirma- government and way to change — alter — the Constitu- emonies and even in the Pledge of Al- was moved to the weakens those, tion is through the amendment process legiance. It involves pornography and head of the line. tion.” that’s chaos, and of Article Five of the Constitution, that the definition of marriage. And all of They were trying it needs to be ad- judges in the future will interpret the these issues are a part of what this fight to send a mes- Former Federal dressed. Constitution according to the common is all about, but it was the abortion issue sage to President District Court Judge understanding of the relevant provi- that drove the engines of opposition and Bush, “Don’t send Charles Pickering K o k a i : sion at the time it was adopted. This still drives the engines of opposition. us conservative Judge Pickering, will transfer the hot button social issues nominees for the we mentioned the back into the political arena where they Kokai: Now, the U.S. Constitution Supreme Court, case of Judge Ter- belong. set the basic tenets of judicial confirma- and if you do this is just a taste of what rence Boyle, which has a direct North tion. This process has been around since will happen.” Well, as a result, I was Carolina link. Your case also had a tie, Kokai: You alluded to this earlier, our Constitution in the late 18th century. bottled up in committee; they refused to because a former Democratic U.S. Sena- but if the Senate — the U.S. Congress But how have the current standards let me out on the Senate floor where I had tor John Edwards was one of the people — does not make a change, how will strayed from that initial process set out majority support. And then, ultimately, who spoke out most vociferously against this hurt the judiciary? in the Constitution? I joined others who were filibustered. your nomination moving forward. What did you think about that? Pickering: Well, you’re going to Pickering: Well, unfortunately, in Kokai: Now, in this process — ob- have a president in the future looking to recent years, the judiciary have become viously, when you went into it, you Pickering: Well, you know, one of lackluster nominees who have no paper politicized. It was never intended that didn’t think, “This is going to end up the ironies of this is that friends of mine trail, and the quality of the court is going the judiciary should become a political in supreme chaos.” How did that all in Mississippi told me that John Edwards to be seriously jeopardized. You’re not branch of government. And when you come about? was committed to vote for my confirma- going to have the people with the greatest moved the hot button political issues tion. But the last week or two before I ability and with the greatest legal minds from the election of state legislators, Pickering: No, it didn’t. Well, it went before the Senate for a hearing on being willing to go through this process, congressmen and senators to the judicial came about when they were trying to Oct. 8, 2001, he was gearing up for his and that should be something that dis- arena, then that politicized the confir- send that message to President Bush, and presidential election. And the far left, turbs all thinking Americans. CJ July 2006 CAROLINA  Education JOURNAL

State School Briefs Proponents hope so

Bowing to book complaints Is Differential Pay for Teachers On the Way? To satisfy critics worried about what children are reading By JIM STEGALL fields such as math and science more in school, Wake County school ad- Contributing Editor than other teachers.” ministrators will require teachers RALEIGH The North Carolina Association to do two things: get permission subtle shift is taking place in of School Administrators, as well as the to use certain books, and provide the way educators think about North Carolina School Boards Associa- reading lists to parents, The News & teacher compensation, and mar- tion, each has endorsed differential pay. Observer of Raleigh reports. Aket forces are driving the change. Educa- NCSBA lobbyist Leanne Winner said the The changes will ensure that tion policy makers are slowly warming association “supports the notion of dif- parents know that books have been to the idea of paying bonuses to attract ferentiated pay for teachers in hard-to- reviewed by the principal and teachers in hard-to-staff disciplines such staff schools and in hard-to-staff subject found acceptable, administrators as math, science, and special education. areas.” Harkening to the failed effort to say. But some teachers and parents If proponents of the idea have their way, test the idea two years ago, Winner also worry that the requirements will teachers with the right skills could be in stressed that teachers, principals, and mean extra work for teachers and line for bonuses of up to $15,000. personnel directors must be made well cause some controversial books to For years teachers have been paid aware of any such program in order for no longer be used. according to a rigid scale that takes into it to be effective. The reading issue came up account only teachers’ level of educa- The fate of the Senate’s pilot plan in April when some parents and tion and years of service. Except for was unknown as of press time. The Called2Action, a local Christian one half-hearted and poorly advertised House appropriations subcommittee on activist group, complained to the attempt two years ago ($1,800 bonuses education did not include the provision school board about students be- for certain teachers in selected schools), “We simply are not go- in its version of the budget in early June. ing required to read three books the state has never made a distinction But local school districts are not waiting — “The Color Purple” by Alice in pay between teachers based on the ing to meet our obliga- for the state to take the lead on this issue. Walker, “Beloved” by Toni Mor- subject taught. Superintendent Terry Grier of Guilford rison, and “The Chocolate War” That is beginning to change. Be- tion to ensure that all County Schools recently announced his by Robert Cormier. cause starting salaries for math and own version of differential pay, funded The parents objected to what science professionals are much higher in young people are taught with local money. Called “Mission Pos- they called the “vulgar and sexu- the private sector than in public schools, by qualified teachers if sible,” the program seeks to turn around ally explicit language” in the books school districts are having more trouble poor performance by luring the best and said families should have been finding competent teachers in those we don’t begin paying teachers into schools with the worst warned about them. fields. Last year for example, North Caro- track records. lina colleges and universities graduated teachers in high-demand The Mission Possible incentives only three people with teaching degrees CMS graduation rate lags fields such as math and include bonuses of up to $14,000 for in physics. Administrators are respond- teachers who agree to teach in a shortage Charlotte-Mecklenburg ing to the problem by calling for special science more than other area at one of 20 low-performing schools, Schools’ roller-coaster reputation bonuses and salary supplements to lure and whose students meet certain goals in took a dip June 15 with a new qualified scientists and mathematicians teachers.” test scores. Shortage areas for Guilford national report comparing gradu- into classrooms. schools include English as well as math, ation rates around the country, the This concept, known in education John Dornan but not science. Recognizing the impor- Charlotte Observer reports. circles as differential pay, is not popular Public School Forum tance of leadership in school improve- CMS’s 56 percent gradua- with everyone. Teachers unions, in par- ment, the Guilford plan also includes tion rate falls below state and na- ticular, have bridled at the idea because bonuses for principals whose schools tional averages and far below Wake union officials fear it will sow disunity achieve adequate yearly progress. County’s 82 percent, according to among their members. The National Despite opposition, differential math or science at the middle or high a research project paid for by the Education Association does not have pay and similar reforms seem to be ideas school level. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation an official position against differential whose times have come. A number of A number of prominent figures and published by Education Week pay, but many of its state affiliates have market-friendly proposals aimed prin- in the education establishment have magazine. attacked differential pay schemes when cipally at improving math and science already lined up behind the idea. At South Carolina fared worse these have been suggested in their states. instruction have been introduced in a presentation to legislators in May, with just less than 53 percent; no North Carolina Association of Educators the General Assembly this session. One John Dornan of the Public School Fo- South Carolina districts were big (the state’s NEA affiliate) President Ed- would allocate $1.6 million for 50 two- die Davis has been an outspoken critic rum warned that for North Carolina enough to be reported among the year scholarship loans to prospective of paying teachers based on the subjects to remain economically competitive its nation’s 50 largest. South Carolina teachers of math, science, special educa- they teach. schools had to improve instruction in is one of only four states that require tion, or English as a second language. Nevertheless, there are signs that math and science. In a veiled allusion to 24 credits to graduate. Students could avoid repaying the loans North Carolina may be ready to move the teachers’ union, he told legislators North Carolina requires 20, by serving in the public schools for three ahead with differential pay. When the that despite expected opposition from although many districts require years after graduation. General Assembly convened in May, some groups it’s time to start thinking more. CMS, for instance, requires Another bill would appropriate 28 credits. Keeping kids in school incoming UNC system President Ers- seriously about paying what it costs to funds for lateral-entry scholarships, builds healthy communities, the kine Bowles asked the Joint Education get good math and science teachers into designed to lure practicing math and report found. Oversight Committee to approve a pilot classrooms. science professionals into teaching ca- But calculations of success plan to offer bonuses of up to $15,000 Contacted later for this story, he reers. Still another would provide up to rates vary wildly. North Caro- apiece to hire 90 new math and science elaborated. “Education is almost alone in $20 million for local systems to use how lina, for instance, tells the federal teachers in selected counties. refusing to recognize that there is such a they see fit to recruit and retain teachers government that virtually all kids The Senate liked the idea, but thing as supply and demand. Look at the in shortage areas. graduate on time, using a formula cut back on the price tag by lowering private sector, and salaries are differenti- Legislators seemed to have figured that has been ridiculed across the the number of new hires to 30. Under ated by supply/demand, responsibility, country as misleading. the Senate’s plan the State Board of and, in many cases, performance...We out that in a free economy, the market The state will try a new Education would select three counties simply are not going to meet our obliga- sets the price of services, and that if approach this year. CJ to receive funding for 10 new teachers tion to ensure that all young people are one wishes to obtain a service such as each. The teachers would have to be taught by qualified teachers if we don’t quality math or science instruction, one fully certified and would have to teach begin paying teachers in high-demand must pay the market price. CJ CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL Education  Online Schools Could Be Wave Commentary Of Future for Cyber Charters Teachers DO Make a Difference

By KAREN WELSH manager at A.L. Brown Cyber Campus n education policy debates, all the impact of teachers in this way: Contributing Editor in Kannapolis, said the school started roads eventually lead back to “The difference between a good RALEIGH in 1997 to help under-served children the issue of spending. But when and a bad teacher can be a full level t could be at home, or the beach, living in struggling communities get a Iit comes to money, is more always of achievement in a single school another state, or perhaps a differ- better education in math, science, and better? Not really — money does year.” ent country. These places may be- technology. matter, but how we spend it matters Clearly, teachers (with impres- Icome schoolrooms for North Carolina The campus consists of a suite of much more. sive skills or lack thereof) have a students as cyber schools become a computer rooms and two video confer- Currently, spending substantial and irrefut- reality as an alternative-base learning ence rooms in which the students gather on K-12 education is at an able effect on student environment. to interact and learn in real time with all-time high. Yet recent performance. But University of North Carolina professors, scientists, biotechnologists, data indicate we aren’t lawmakers still aren’t University of Chapel Hill law student businessmen, and other experts. getting the biggest bang lining up to support Meghan Knight reported on the legalities Without the cyber campus, Goss for our buck. According legislation remunerat- of “cyber charters” in the North Carolina said the children wouldn’t be able to to the U.S. Department ing the efforts of good Journal of Law & Technology in 2005. sample the unique gamut of courses. of Education, per-pupil teachers. Yes, North Through much research, she determined “We couldn’t use our limited resources to spending (in inflation-ad- Carolina spends gener- online schools using state-of-the-art justify a teacher for 90 minutes a week for justed dollars) increased ously on teacher sala- technology have half a dozen stu- from $4,479 in 1971 to ries — about $4 billion started in other dents,” she said. $8,996 in 2001. Despite annually. But there is no states and are in- “It’s fabulous. It this significant funding Lindalyn link between pay and evitable in North “We couldn’t use our lim- makes my job re- increase, graduation rates Kakadelis an individual teacher’s Carolina. ally fantastic. I see fell during this 30-year ability to produce re- “Increasing- ited resources to justify a lot of potential. time span, from 75.6 to sults in the classroom. ly, virtual educa- It’s such a great 72.2 percent. Test scores were also Instead, North Carolina tion is seen as a a teacher for 90 minutes resource that we relatively unaffected by the empty- teachers’ salaries are based on their model for the de- a week for half a dozen have available.” ing of taxpayers’ wallets: According years of experience, how many velopment of the Goss said to the National Assessment of Edu- degrees they have earned, and 21st-century learn- students. It’s fabulous.” she can’t imagine cational Progress, between 1971 and whether they are National Board ing skills of work- where the future is 2001, reading scores rose just three Certified. National Board certifica- ing and collaborat- JoAnna Goss going to take cyber points while math scores remained tion is a North Carolina teacher’s ing with others at A.L. Brown Cyber Campus learning, because unchanged. cash cow, garnering certified a distance,” she Kannapolis it’s already grown Clearly, we need to shift our instructors an automatic 12 per- wrote. “If North considerably since financial priorities, but how? The cent pay raise. This salary-padding Carolina’s public the 56-year-old truth is that whether students are endures despite a 2005 report com- schools are to educate students so that started her teaching career. learning is, and always has been, missioned by the National Board they will be competitive in a marketplace “I don’t think I can ever concep- our primary yardstick for measur- of Professional Teaching Standards that values online learning and virtual tualize what is going to happen,” she ing educational success. So we revealing that certification failed to interaction, the state will need to ensure said. “I’m already living in the Jetson’s would be wise to allocate resources produce any significant difference that its schools at the very least have a cartoon. I never dreamed I’d be doing for those things proven to raise in student learning. The only time virtual component.” something like this. But honestly, I do student achievement. Fortunately, our state links money with student Cyber campuses are considered think in the years to come (cyber cam- when it comes to boosting student performance is under the ABCs ac- cutting-edge, even for their charter puses are) going to become more and performance, research consistently countability system. But even then, school counterparts, Knight said, be- more prevalent. (Video conferencing) singles out one factor above all oth- bonuses are meted out based on cause the learning environment would will become a plug and play sort of ers — the teacher. the school’s overall performance, operate outside the confines of “brick- thing. Video conferencing will continue Sure, some teachers are better earning every teacher in the school and-mortar” institutions, providing to grow and multiply. Although (online than others. All parents know that. — good, bad, or indifferent — the most of the student’s instruction via learning) is in the future, it’s probably But it’s pretty easy to underestimate same bonus. In fact, the worst the Internet, software programs and closer than I think.” how much of a difference a good teacher in a high-performing school distance learning. Helen Nance, chief administrative teacher can make. Good Teaching is rewarded with bonus money “Students who attend cyber-char- officer at Gray Stone Day School on the Matters, a ground-breaking report while the best teacher in a low-per- ters often ‘meet’ with other students and Pfeiffer University Campus in Misen- released a number of years ago by forming school receives nothing. teachers online and may gather in person heimer, N.C., is one charter school ad- Education Trust, provides some This counterintuitive system virtu- only for particular activities,” she said. ministrator taking advantage of virtual relevant data on teaching effective- ally guarantees that teachers who “ Primarily, students do their work on learning. She said her high school charter ness. The report profiles research produce achievement gains will a flexible schedule from home, and in program recently received a grant from conducted in Tennessee by William stay far from the struggling schools contrast to traditional schools, students’ the Office of Charter Schools for the Sanders with dramatic findings: where the students need them most, homes are not necessarily located in a N.C. Department of Public Instruction low-performing students with the perpetuating a cycle of academic particular school district.” to build an interactive distance-learn- least effective teachers produced failure and diminished expecta- Although public school educators ing center. gains averaging 14 percentage tions. within the state have resisted the idea The cyber school, set to open points during the school year, while Surely the time has come to of schools without walls, rejecting two during the 2007-2008 academic year, students with the most effective change how we allocate public cyber-charter school campuses because will allow the students attending from teachers posted gains that averaged education dollars. Data continue to of accountability issues, the N.C. State seven rural counties around the region a whopping 53 points. Middle- and affirm what many of us instinctive- Board of Education has vowed to keep to be taught by instructors in real time high-achieving students with strong ly know: When it comes to raising an open mind and study the issue. from all over the world. teachers also made exponentially student performance, good teach- The groundwork is already laid in “We can talk and see both ways,” greater improvements than their ers matter. Shouldn’t we pay them North Carolina to offer cyber education Nance said. “I’m going to be able to bring less-fortunate peers stuck with inef- what they’re worth? CJ to pupils. Currently there at least seven the world to my children.” fective instructors. cyber campuses across the state, making Nance also said the school can be Eric Hanushek, education Lindalyn Kakadelis is director of the transition possible. used by the community or the univer- economics expert, has summed up the North Carolina Education Alliance. JoAnna Goss, a cyber campus sity or for staff development. CJ July 2006 CAROLINA 10 Education JOURNAL

School Reform Notes Choice gets a voice

Reform plan called “insane” Education Reform Tops President Bush’s Agenda One of the principals whose job could be in jeopardy under Gov. By KAREN WELSH schools has been reached,” he said. “We Mike Easley’s school reform plan Contributing Editor can’t create any new schools.” blasted the effort, calling it “insane” RALEIGH “We’re proposing a new There are few private schools in and “alienating,” The Daily Advance resident Bush has heightened ef- rural areas of North Carolina, making it of Elizabeth City reports. forts to help low-income children $100 million opportu- impossible to offer another school option Northeastern High School who are attending failing schools nity scholarship fund for students who attend failing schools Principal Don Sisson said Easley’s Pthat are being restructured under the in those areas, Moyer said. proposal, which requires school No Child Left Behind Act by providing to help thousands of Roger Gerber, president of The districts to fire or retrain principals a $100 million budget item for fiscal League of Charter Schools, said he at academically underperforming 2007 known as America’s Opportunity low-income students in had also not heard of the scholarship schools, will do more harm than Scholarships for Kids. program. However, he said he thought good. The money will enable parents to these schools attend the it was a good idea for the children not “I think it’s insane,” Sisson choose where their children should go to private school of their getting a decent education in public said. “As far as I’m concerned the school, said U.S. Secretary of Education schools. “If they have the money, they threat of firing principals ... doesn’t Margaret Spellings. “Parents know what choice.” will leave,” he said. “If they don’t, they do anything but alienate [principals is best for their children,” she said. “Ex- get stuck.” and teachers] further. ... [It also] panding educational options for parents Margaret Spellings Gerber said $100 million is “a drop undermines the morale of [school] is one of the hallmarks of the No Child U.S. Sec’y of Education in the bucket” for what is actually needed administrations, and it undermines Left Behind Act, and it remains one of to bring about education reform. He said communities like ours.” the president’s highest priorities.” the money needs to be concentrated in Sisson was responding to a The funds will provide up to $4,000 Opportunity Scholarship program one state for there to be any impact. reform plan announced by Easley in tuition, fee assistance, and transpor- showed a promising start that has pro- “When that happens, everyone will see on June 13 aimed at improving tation for children from low-income vided a template for new options and the results,” he said. “There will be a substandard test scores at 44 high families to facilitate their departure from hope for children across the country. mass exodus from failing schools and schools, one of which is NHS. schools that are chronically failing. “In time, these evaluations will give it will be a wakeup call.” Easley said he was targeting The scholarships are also intended policymakers much more information Dan Lips, an education analyst in those schools because in 2004-05 to help children “trapped” in persis- on the effectiveness of parental choice domestic policy studies at The Heritage each posted a final “composite” tently underperforming schools to programs,” he said. Foundation, said that the scholarship score of less than 60 percent. That attend private schools of their choice Although the proposed scholar- program is in the infant stage and that means fewer than 60 percent of the or to receive supplemental tutoring or ship program was promising, many once it is passed, it will become a pilot school’s students scored at or above other educational services they need to education officials in North Carolina project implemented in 10 cities through- proficiency on end-of-course tests. succeed. are unaware of its existence. North out America. About 23,000 children be- “More than 1,700 schools around Carolina Department of Public Instruc- ing raised below the poverty level and the country have failed to meet state tion spokesperson Vanessa Jeter said no attending chronically failing schools in standards for five or six years in a row,” those areas will be able to benefit from More money sought one in her organization knows about Spellings said. “And many of these America’s Opportunity Scholarships the funds and attend the school of their Advocates for at-risk public- schools are in districts where public for Kids. choice. school students filed a court motion school choice isn’t a real option. We’re Although Jack Moyer, superinten- He said the cities for the pilot in June urging the presiding judge proposing a new $100 million opportu- dent of the Office of Charter Schools, is project have not yet been picked, and it’s in a longstanding financing case to nity scholarship fund to help thousands unfamiliar with the program, he said time for grass-roots education activists to force state officials to spend enough of low-income students in these schools officials don’t think America’s Oppor- start lobbying for the scholarships to be money to help disadvantaged attend the private school of their choice tunity Scholarship for Kids will affect spent in their state. North Carolina may students, the Associated Press or receive intensive one-on-one tutoring charter schools in North Carolina. “At have difficulty getting the funds because reports. after school or during the summer. We the present time, the cap on charter fewer of its schools are failing. CJ Legislators and Gov. Mike must look at new ways to help expand Easley are already under pressure opportunity for parents and students in because of the 10-year-old Leandro these communities.” lawsuit to help students in low-in- America’s Opportunity Scholar- come school districts get an equal ships for Kids is a springboard of the opportunity at a “sound basic successful D.C. Opportunity Scholar- education” as required by the state ship program first offered to students constitution. living at or below the poverty level The State Board of Education in Washington, D.C., in the 2004-2005 said in 2004 that it would cost $220 school year. million to fully pay for a special Dr. Kirk A. Johnson, a senior policy program to help disadvantaged analyst in the Center for Data Analysis students improve skills and recruit at The Heritage Foundation, said 1,027 and retain teachers in low-perform- low-income children received and used ing schools. Easley’s budget and the the scholarships in the first year they Senate’s plan set aside $26.7 million were available, representing a 75 percent extra for the coming year for the Dis- scholarship usage rate. advantaged Student Supplemental He also said the average family Fund, but the House has earmarked applying for the program had a total no additional money. income of $18,742 in 2003. Parents sur- The friend-of-the-court brief veyed thought their children were able filed June 19 with Judge Howard to attend much safer and more academi- Manning of Superior Court in Wake cally sound schools. This enabled the County argues that the state needs children to receive a better education. to do more with the higher-than- Statistics also showed a lower use of expected revenues. CJ drugs and alcohols among students. Johnson concluded that the D.C. CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL Education 11 SBC’s Greensboro meeting Southern Baptists Opt Out of Plan to Exit Public Schools By HAL YOUNG question of alternatives behind, urging Contributing Editor instead that church members pursue RALEIGH “I think we have to look at each election to local school boards. t its annual meeting in Greens- boro in June, the nation’s largest [school] system. I’m not sure Kingdom Education Summit Protestant denomination voted that we can make a statement Ato encourage public educators and sup- Offsite, another group sponsored port time out for Bible classes during regarding all public school sys- its own meeting the final day of the con- the school day, but chose to pass on a vention. The Southern Baptist Church recommendation that church members tems.” and Home Education Association spon- should seek distinctively Christian sored its second Kingdom Education education for their children and help T.C. French Summit with speakers representing both provide it for the poor. Southern Baptist Convention Christian schools and home education, Houston lawyer Bruce Shortt and Resolutions Committee including Ed Gamble of the Southern co-sponsor Roger Moran had proposed Baptist Christian Schools Association a resolution that Southern Baptist and lawyer Scott Woodruff of the Home churches and families should develop School Legal Defense Association. the Resolutions Committee. without discussion. an “exit strategy” from secular educa- North Carolinians for Home Edu- The resolution and motion pro- Resolution No. 10 also passed, tion and pursue Christian alternatives cation was invited as an exhibitor. Davis cesses, “although appearing messy but there was discussion both on the for their children. While portions of the Carman, NCHE’s administrative vice at times,” she said, allow individual convention floor and in the committee measure were incorporated into the final president, said he was impressed by the churches and members to insert their room previous. The final version, “On resolution, much of the original stayed unity of purpose he heard between the concerns into the larger association’s Engaging the Direction of The Public behind in the committee room, while the camps present. Although there is overlap agenda. At least four resolutions dealing School System,” was a compilation of convention approved a call to pursue between their constituencies, he said, the with education were submitted to the three submitted resolutions, two of school board seats instead. basic focus on parental involvement in committee, and Dr. Ida South, a retired which came from opposite points of their children’s lives — and the desire Mississippi State University education view. “Resolutely irresolute” for churches to support their efforts professor and member of the commit- The original Shortt-Moran pro- — unites the two groups. Support is In a report to supporters, Shortt tee, said there was a definite consensus posal called for churches and the con- growing, but the effort is still new. called the convention’s action “reso- that another statement on education vention to develop an exit strategy from “My impression is that the move- lutely irresolute.” Although there was needed. public schools, referring to a similar call ment is just getting under way among was some support for the proposal in The committee actually returned in an editorial by seminary President Al Southern Baptist organizations,” Car- the committee, the final compromise two. The first, “On Off-Campus Bibli- Mohler last year. This year’s proposal man said. included portions of an opposing cal Instruction,” pointed out that the emphasized the need to provide educa- The event’s organizer, SBCHEA resolution and additions made by the Supreme Court has already ruled tional alternatives for “orphans, single President Elizabeth Watkins, agreed, but committee itself. (Zorach v. Clauson, 1952) that students parents, and the disadvantaged,” and was optimistic about the future. “We had Unlike many denominations, the may be released from school to attend encouraged churches to consider the some very high-profile people speaking Southern Baptist Convention is an as- religious instruction, and it “[called] resources already at hand — classroom this year,” she said. “It was exciting hav- sociation of independent congregations upon all boards of education in all school buildings, staff, and church members ing future convention leadership there rather than a hierarchical organization districts to recognize and accommodate — which may provide the nucleus of a supporting homeschooling.” guided from the top. The annual meet- those parents, churches, and faith-based new school. organizations that wish to provide off- An alternative proposed by Ten- ing is the only opportunity for Southern Conclusion Baptist churches to speak with a single campus biblical education during the nessee pastor James West, a vocal critic voice, said Martha Lawley, a member of school day.” It passed the floor vote of homeschooling, suggested that public Although the “exit” proposition schools should be seen as a mission was replaced by “engagement,” Roger field, and called on Southern Baptists to Moran was able to make an additional “affirm the American Public Education motion from the floor. LifeWay Christian system and encourage its members to Resources, a Southern Baptist publish- participate actively in the life of society ing group, will investigate reports that so that they may indeed perform the high numbers of children from church- dual functions of Salt and Light.” going families are leaving the faith Committee Chairman T. C. French when they leave home. The original told Agape Press earlier this year he was Moran-Shortt resolution included the not convinced of the need for an exodus percentage — 88 percent, according to a from public education. “I think we have 2002 study — which observers pointed to look at each [school] system,” he said out is strangely close to the proportion in an interview in May. “I’m not sure enrolled in public education. that we can make a statement regarding That is the purpose behind Dr. all public school systems.” South’s support of the final resolution, However, that cuts both ways. though she personally agreed with French told Carolina Journal that West’s Shortt and Moran’s efforts. “We all need call for a broad affirmation was not ac- to be engaged in the education of chil- ceptable, either. “We cannot affirm them dren,” she said. “We need to engage the teaching homosexuality as an acceptable process and take our place; sometimes lifestyle nor can we affirm them to con- we have a tendency to stand back more tinue to teach evolution as fact,” he wrote than we should.” in an e-mail after the convention. “I think we should be looking The final resolution drew wording more at what is being done with our from both proposals, and while express- children [in school],” said the former ing support for adults who see teaching high school teacher, “because we are as a ministry — a position taken by both losing our children, and we need to West and Shortt-Moran — it leaves the find out why.” CJ July 2006 CAROLINA 12 Higher Education JOURNAL Course of the Month Picture Brightens for Online Education at UNC

Baiting and switching By SHANNON BLOSSER or $7,742 on average, more than if the Associate Editor course had been taught on campus. CM returns to North Caro- CHAPEL HILL Major factors driving the costs are lina State University to honor yet ince Erskine Bowles took over as instructor salaries and time required to another course supposed to teach UNC president in January, one develop and teach courses. However, “critical thinking.” This month: of his primary focuses has been at a recent online education workshop PHI 221: Contemporary Sa desire to move the system away from sponsored by UNC General Administra- Moral Issues investing in “bricks and mortar” and in- tion, costs can also be attributed to main- Philosophical analysis and vesting in other educational ventures. tenance of servers and networks, and theory applied to a broad range of Bowles said. The increase, Bowles said, It has been widely assumed that contracts. Representatives who spoke contemporary moral issues, including would allow the system to depend less by this Bowles meant an increase in during the workshop also said online euthanasia, suicide, capital punish- on state resources. virtual learning and distance education courses have only an 18-month life for ment, abortion, war, famine relief, and programs that allow students to take information and must be maintained in environmental concerns. courses on the Internet or at off-cam- Who has the programs? order to remain relevant. pus sites across the state. Both of these As a student explained it: Of the 127 degree programs of- moves would lessen the need for new “The title and description of fered by the UNC system, East Carolina Course examples buildings to accommodate new students this course do not at all reflect the University offers the most with 49 pro- and increase the student population base Some courses taught online are content. Suicide, capital punish- grams, or 39 percent, of the total degree for the entire system. similar to those offered on campuses, ment, war, and environmental programs. UNC-Wilmington is the next This legislative session, members providing opportunities for those who concerns were not even on the sylla- highest at 17. of the General Assembly and UNC can’t reach a campus. However, some bus. Famine relief was not covered Thirty-nine teacher education de- representatives have been striving to courses might appear to lack any intel- either, except for one philosopher’s gree programs are offered online, 19 of add additional courses and programs lectual purpose. opinion that starvation could be- which are offered at ECU. Health-related through distance education and online One such course is Econ 201 at come obsolete if everyone became programs, with 34 degree programs of- programs. UNC officials have exerted UNC-Greensboro. The online game at- a vegetarian. Euthanasia was listed fered online, are the next highest area. most of the effort by asking for increased tempts to teach microeconomics through on the syllabus, but we did not Within the 127 degree programs, funding for the programs. The campaign an online gaming experience based on cover it. This bait and switch course several UNC institutions have created also has been reflected through reports the plot of aliens who must rebuild an description flies in the face of the consortiums or alliances. These groups and workshops, which have updated economy after Earth had been destroyed. University’s ‘Faculty Rights and serve to allow institutions within the officials as to where the programs stand Besides touching on microeconomics, Responsibilities’ policy statement, consortium to share information and and where growth could occur. the game also includes elements of biol- which claims ‘intellectual honesty resources. According to the State Of- Specifically, UNC and the Office ogy, history, and other course areas. in teaching’ as a ‘specific’ respon- fice of Budget and Management, nine of State Budget and Management have Students who participate in the sibility of its faculty members. This consortiums or alliances exist within the released two reports on distance and online game can receive college credit. teacher misused her authority to system. They touch on program areas online education that were required The program was launched in the fall. decide course content/materials such as education technology, gerontol- by law. Both reports found increased Robert Brown, dean of continual such that they didn’t even reflect the ogy, German studies, agriculture, library enrollment in online and distance educa- learning at UNC-Greensboro, discussed course description, which is a gross sciences, and nursing. tion programs. The programs also have the game at the online education work- misuse of one of the University’s higher start-up costs. shop. He said the game allows interac- ‘primary elements of academic According to the “Report on Ex- Online course costs tion between the user or student and the freedom’ — the right ‘to participate panding Access to Higher Education professor via a chat tool created into the in academic program development While UNC aims to increase its Through State-Funded Distance Educa- program. In a media release prepared by and determine appropriate curricu- presence online, the move could cost tion Learning” released by the UNC sys- UNC-Greensboro to announce the start lum and course content.’ taxpayers more initially because online tem in May, enrollment for the distance of the course, Brown said the course “One month into the course courses have higher startup costs than education program has increased by 377 would help professors teach economic and with the first exam approach- courses offered on campus. The cost to percent since fiscal 1999. Enrollment is principles better. CJ ing, I became curious as to why we start an online program is 29 percent, now 33,045, up from 6,929 when the only studied one side of every issue, program began. UNC offers 127 online that being the liberal side of course. degree programs, a report by the Office of How were students to engage in State Budget and Management says. higher education’s loftiest goal of Stay in the know with the JLF blogs One-third of all distance-educa- Visit our family of weblogs for immediate analysis and commentary on issues great and small critical thinking with only half of tion programs are for teacher education the story? So I asked the professor programs. why we were only getting the lib- eral viewpoint on these issues, and Online education programs her response was that she was not The Locker Room is the blog on the main JLF Web site. All JLF employees and many friends of the aware of any relevant material by At a recent UNC Board of Gov- foundation post on this site every day: http://www.johnlocke.org/lockerroom/ conservative philosophers.” ernors meeting, Bowles discussed the Much more about this course need to increase the online education — including the student’s experi- programs. He said UNC offers more pro- ences with classroom films, the grams than the University of Phoenix, a “pro-life” representative who ar- for-profit institution that markets several gued “[n]ot all abortion is wrong,” online courses, and could compete in that the petitioner allowed into the class marketplace for new students. Accord- The Meck Deck is the JLF’s blog in Charlotte. Jeff Taylor blogs on this site and has made it a must-read to collect signatures in favor of ing to the University of Phoenix’s web for anyone interested in issues in the Queen City: http://charlotte.johnlocke.org/blog/ same-sex marriages in North Caro- site, the institution offers 66 programs. lina, and much more are at www. UNC’s name recognition, Bowles said, popecenter.org/course_month. CJ would be a competitive edge for the system. “This is a big part of the future,” John Locke Foundation research Bowles said. editor Jon Sanders tracks down the Squall Lines is the JLF’s blog in Wilmington. Zeb Wright keeps folks on the coast updated on issues fac- An increase in online education ing that region of the state: http://wilmington.johnlocke.org/blog/ monthly college course outrage. offerings for students would create another revenue source for the system, The John Locke Foundation, 200 W. Morgan St., Raleigh, NC 27601 | 919-828-3876 CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL Higher Education 13 Proposed Bill Would Require Commentary Student Background Checks UNC and N.C. Wesleyan hen I first saw the email taken from taxpayers. If the de- By SHANNON BLOSSER The bill includes a provision that heading — “Could N.C. mand for cell phones seems to be Associate Editor requires students to be fingerprinted Wesleyan become a UNC increasing, the companies that RALEIGH along with the national and statewide Wschool?” — I thought it was going make them are apt to consider bill in the General Assembly background check. Hunt, who works to be a joke. expanding, but before they do so, that would require background in the apartment industry, said the fin- But as I read through the they’re apt to make very sure that checks for incoming UNC stu- gerprint option could be deleted from news item, I found out that several the increase is real, long-term, and Adents was introduced in reaction to two the bill. members of the General that they have devised high-profile murders at UNC-Wilming- Regardless, the idea of criminal Assembly are serious the most efficient plan ton and concerns about terrorists being background checks is not new to UNC. about wanting to have to meet it. If it turns able to enroll for courses. An UNC Task Force on the Safety of North Carolina Wes- out that they’re mis- Sen. Neal Hunt, R-Wake, intro- the Campus Community in 2004 rec- leyan College be taken taken, only the money duced the bill originally as an amend- ommended case-by-case background over by the University of that has been willingly ment to the Senate’s version of the state checks. According to the task force, North Carolina system. invested is lost. budget. However, after negotiations on 21students that committed violent The idea is laughable, The question of the Senate floor, the amendment was re- crimes on campus had criminal records, but they’re serious. how to expand is more moved from discussion and introduced but of those students 13 did not report A provision was important than ever in as a separate bill, Senate Bill 2002. Demo- their criminal record. included in the Senate higher education with crats asked Hunt to do that so the bill, The Board of Governors did not budget bill to study the the rapid growth of which deals with financial issues, would approve background checks, saying feasibility of bringing online course offer- not delay the budget process. they would be difficult to perform. UNC this liberal arts college ings. With projections On the Senate floor and in public also opposed Hunt’s provision, saying that is affiliated with the United for rapid increases in the number comments, Senate Majority Leader Tony it would not provide new information, Methodist Church into the big of students who want the conve- Rand said the bill would be heard. How- since juvenile criminal records are sealed UNC congregation. Why on earth nience of doing much or all of their ever, no hearings have been scheduled from the public. UNC spokeswoman would we want to start ladling work online, geographic location to discuss the legislation. Joni Worthington told Insidehighered. public money into a school that has becomes less important. Hunt said that if the Finance Com- com that the system gets more than managed quite Perhaps, mittee, where the bill sits, does not hear 100,000 applications each year and that well for half a though, this the bill during the short session he will a background check on each applicant century on funds One of the great features isn’t so much re-introduce the legislation in 2007. would not be possible. CJ raised from will- about students ing donors and of private enterprise is as it is about students? state money. Program Seeks State Funding Sen. A. B. that people tend to be far Newbould Swindell points more careful with their said, “Rocky out that only Mount is the three of the UNC own money than with largest city in To Augment Private Grants campuses (East North Carolina Carolina, UNC- money taken from tax- without a UNC By BRIAN MULLIS year, $540,000 grant renewal. Wilmington, and campus. You Editorial Intern But after receiving the budget Elizabeth City payers. can see why CHAPEL HILL appropriation last year, the program State) are situ- community upporters of a UNC-Chapel Hill is making a bigger push for increased ated in the east- leaders are be- program aimed at increasing sci- funding. That push began in September ern part of the state. True enough, hind this.” Ah yes — growth fueled ence knowledge in public schools when representatives from the program though a lot of people would regard by public funds. Sare attempting to offset some of the met with the State Board of Education Fayetteville State as also being in Even though the need for any program’s costs with state funding. about the program and sought fund- the eastern part of the state. The “bricks and mortar” expansion of Officials of the DESTINY Traveling ing. The program leaders emphasized obvious question is, “Why does that N.C. Wesleyan is very questionable, Science Program, for the second-straight DESTINY’s role in building communi- matter?” If UNC were to take over those community leaders know year, have asked for state appropriations ties across the state and efforts to prepare N.C. Wesleyan, all that would do that if they can talk the right people to pay for some of its programs and schools to revitalize science education would be to slap a different label on into having UNC take over the laboratories that travel across the state. in their towns. They say this creates a the school. How would that change school, it will mean a big inflow of According to a UNC-Chapel Hill Web better workforce for the future. anything for people living in east- money into Rocky Mount. Govern- site, DESTINY, which stands for “Deliv- Gov. Mike Easley’s initial budget ern North Carolina who desire a ment universities usually run with ering Edge-cutting Science Technology recommendation for fiscal 2007 included college education? higher overhead than do private and Internet across North Carolina for $2 million in funding for the program. N.C. Wesleyan’s president, colleges, and once N.C. Wesleyan is Years to come,” says that it increases ac- Of that money, $1.65 million would Dr. Ian Newbould, seems to like within the system, it would be easy cess to hands-on scientific opportunities be recurring, while $350,000 would be the idea. He is quoted in the Rocky to make the argument that more and also addresses the national crisis in nonrecurring. Mount Telegram as saying, “There’s money should be spent on it as a science education. During the budget process, the a tremendous need at educational matter of “equity” with the other Since the program began in 2000, money was decreased to $388,530 in the facilities” because of the growth of institutions. it has visited 97 counties and 104 school Senate budget to cover the costs from the college-age population in North In other words, politics is systems. It uses two buses as science lost grants in nonrecurring funding. The Carolina. Assuming that he’s right more likely to bring in money than laboratories to teach middle- and high- joint appropriations subcommittee on and the demand for college course- are private, voluntary decisions. school students. education had recommended $350,000 work is in fact increasing, why That’s why private colleges should The program received its initial in nonrecurring funds and $200,000 in can’t schools such as N.C. Wesleyan stay that way — their decisions are funding through a gift from Glaxo- recurring funds for the program. and other independent institutions not influenced by politics. CJ SmithKline and was funded by private According to legislators and expand to meet it? gifts until 2005. That is when legislators budget officials, the reason for the One of the great features of approved a budget appropriation of request was to make up for lost fund- private enterprise is that people George C. Leef is executive $500,000 in nonrecurring funds. ing. Representatives of DESTINY tend to be far more careful with director of the Pope Center for Higher GlaxoSmithKline in September did not return CJ’s phone calls seek- their own money than with money Education Policy. 2005 donated to the program a three- ing more information. CJ July 2006 CAROLINA 14 Higher Education JOURNAL

Bats in the Belltower Small minority can’t make payments ‘No duh’ research Study: Student loan debt manageable University of Texas at Arling- ton economist Professor Craig Dep- By SHANNON BLOSSER Several proposals are suggested by ken calls them “no duh” research Associate Editor the authors in order to establish bench- — studies that discover facts that CHAPEL HILL “There can be no single marks and to create loan programs that normal, everyday, nonfederally- very year as students graduate offer more income sensitivity to loan funded people take for granted as percentage that answers and enter the workforce, the me- repayment. Those proposals include not rather obvious. They include such dia are prone to write stories that requiring borrowers with incomes less earth-shattering findings as the fol- the question of how Echronicle the lives of selected students than 150 percent of the poverty level lowing from as they struggle with student loan repay- much students can bor- to make student loan payments and researchers at ments. Newspapers write of how loan the income percentage borrowers can the Univer- payments make it difficult for students row without risking re- be expected to devote to student loans sity of North to live lives as they wish. should increase as income increases. Carolina at payment difficulties.” But a recent study, “How Much Their calculations suggest that a Chapel Hill: Debt is Too Much? Defining Benchmarks student with an entry-level salary of • Peo- Sandy Baum for Manageable Student Debt,” from $30,000 could support loan payments ple are more Skidmore College the College Board, the organization that represented 10 percent of gross likely to have and Saul Schwartz that administers the SAT, suggests that income, or $22,160 of loan debt. health prob- Jon the stories don’t tell the entire story. Carleton University “However, if debt levels continue lems as they Sanders The report, written by Sandy Baum of to rise rapidly, increasing numbers of get older Skidmore College and Saul Schwartz, students could face serious difficulties,” • Soap is an effective germ- of Carleton University finds that those rule “implies that one percentage can Baum and Schwartz write. “Individu- killer who can’t pay back their loans actually apply to all borrowers.” als with higher than average earning • Hugs are good for you make up a small minority of students. “There can be no single percentage capacity can afford to carry significantly Ho-hum, just give me my The report also says that student loan that answers the question of how much higher debt levels, so any problems will federal check. debts are manageable, but that some students can borrow without risking re- still be limited to a subset of borrowers. For my money, since it’s being improvements should be made to the payment difficulties,” they write. “Those However, students whose postcollege taken from me anyway, I’d rather system. with higher incomes can afford to devote earnings capacity is low, in addition to spend it on researchers with a sense According to the report, the a higher proportion of their incomes to many students from low-income fami- of humor. Such as the ones behind average monthly debt payment for debt payment without sacrificing basic lies, will require alternative student loan this study, funded by the National undergraduate loans in 2002 was $182 expenditures.” payment mechanisms.” Institute of Mental Health. and total education monthly payments Debt payments and whether those In order for assistance to be made Per CNN: were $261. payments could place a student in fi- with student loans, the authors suggest “Although assessing the empirical nancial jeopardy is determined by how the policy changes be made to aid in To you, that angry, horn-blasting dimensions of the hardship created by much a student can pay back to a loan repayment. Those also include giving tailgater is suffering from road rage. student loan repayment has proved far company when considering other debts, students better advice on financial -is But doctors have another name for more difficult than expressing concern the authors say. Younger debt holders sues regarding student loans. Even then, it — intermittent explosive disorder over its existence, few observers doubt have an easier time paying back loans they say, loan forgiveness programs, — and a new study suggests it is far that some students are experiencing real because they don’t have other debts to income-contingent payment plans, and more common than they realized, af- difficulties,” Baum and Schwartz wrote pay to other lenders. Other factors to options to discharge loans in bankruptcy fecting up to 16 million Americans. in the report released this year. “Anec- take into consideration are geographical are needed. “People think it’s bad behavior dotal evidence of hardship is readily differences in cost-of-living calculations, “Acknowledging that debt obliga- and that you just need an attitude available and surveys have revealed that they say. tions should not exceed certain percent- adjustment, but what they don’t know while student debt rarely has a signifi- Regardless, students from low- ages of income is insufficient protection ... is that there’s a biology and cognitive cant impact on the lifestyles of borrowers income families, the report finds, have for students,” they write. CJ science to this,” said Dr. Emil Coccaro, in repayment, nontrivial proportions the most trouble repaying loans. chairman of psychiatry at the Univer- of former students feel burdened by sity of Chicago’s medical school. student loan repayment.” Baum and Schwartz say student Intermittent explosive dis- loan burdens should be determined by order, IED, just happens to be establishing new benchmarks to esti- the common acronym in military mate how much in loans a student can parlance for a roadside bomb (Im- repay. These benchmarks, the authors provised Explosive Device). write, are those that ensure the debt of If that’s not clever enough, former students won’t interfere with a you have to admire the related find- number of life choices, such as purchas- ing — that road rage disorder “typi- ing a home, getting married, and starting cally first appears in adolescence.” a family. Look for followup studies discov- “One purpose for such thresholds ering a link between IED-road is to provide good advice to students as rage disorder and the receipt of a they make decisions about financing driver’s permit or license. Maybe their postsecondary educations,” they some university researcher will get write. “Another purpose is to inform himself a handy federal check for the design of loan forgiveness and debt proving that and using it to make management programs intended to a public-health case in favor of ex- relieve excessive debt burdens.” pensive, unwieldly, crime-ridden Baum and Schwartz write off the mass-transit systems. CJ perception students should not devote more than 8 percent of gross income to repaying student loans. The 8 percent Jon Sanders is research editor for rule has its history from mortgage un- the John Locke Foundation. derwriting standards, according to the authors. Their reason is that the 8 percent CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL Higher Education 15 Is Ward Churchill an Aberration or the Norm in Higher Ed?

By GEORGE C. LEEF of Trustees and • D a r t - their subjects. They should not teach Contributing Editor Alumni released mouth College peace or war or freedom or obedience or RALEIGH a study, “How offers a course diversity or uniformity or nationalism or hile University of Colorado M a n y Wa r d “Prisons: The antinationalism or any other agenda that professor Ward Churchill is C h u r c h i l l s ? ” American Way might properly be taught by a political infamous and controversial After examin- of Punishment” leader or a talk-show host.” The trouble Wfor his assertion that the people killed in ing many course that treats im- is that many professors insist on trying the World Trade Center attacks shouldn’t offerings at uni- prisonment as to “save the world” by dragooning their be mourned because they were just versities in the a form of social students into various “movements.” “little Eichmanns,” that moronic state- Big 10, Big 12, “oppression.” It isn’t an attack on academic free- ment is not at issue in the university’s Ivy League, and M a n y , dom for college and university admin- investigation of him. A professor is just some of the lead- many courses istrators to rein in egregiously political as entitled to say stupid things out of ing liberal arts revolve around professors by reminding them that their class as a retail clerk is entitled to say colleges in the country, the study con- the same set of topics: race, class, gen- job description calls for them to present stupid things on her free time. cludes that Churchill is not an aberration, der, sexuality, the oppressive nature of the knowledge of academic disciplines The University of Colorado ap- but rather “an example of academe’s capitalism and Western civilization, and to their students, not to harangue them pointed a team of scholars to investigate increasingly unapologetic ideological so on. It seems evident that professors into political or social activism. allegations that Churchill was guilty of tilt.” in a wide range of disciplines, all of Whether the Ward Churchill phe- plagiarism and academic fraud. Their ACTA’s research team plowed whom have absorbed the litany of leftist nomenon is extremely rare (as some findings were very clear: Churchill had through the curricula at leading schools complaints about America during their contend) or is widespread should be indeed committed numerous, flagrant and found many examples of courses own educations, have decided that they beside the point. If it’s a good rule violations of the canons of scholarship. that are remarkably open about their must act as “change agents” and try to that professors should just teach their Later this year, the university will decide ideological agenda. Here are a few get students to see the world the same subjects and not devote their classes to what penalty to impose. examples: way they do. One of the tenets of the political activism or proselytizing, then Indicting Churchill for his trans- • At Indiana University, an Eng- leftist thought-world is that everything is schools should enforce it. gressions against the rules of scholarship lish course on “postcolonial novels” is political, so it’s not surprising to find that ACTA suggests that colleges and is like indicting Al Capone for income described as focusing on “how Anglo- courses taught by leftists are saturated universities should conduct self-stud- tax evasion. It’s something, but not the American cultural hegemony has been with ideology. ies “to assess the atmosphere in their main thing. ensured not just through the institutions If ACTA’s researchers had looked classrooms” and review their person- The main thing would be his mis- of colonialism but also through the at the ACC schools, they would have nel policies “to ensure that scholarship use of the classroom, using it as a plat- domination of western popular culture found examples in this part of the coun- and teaching — not ideological litmus form for spreading his political views in so-called ‘third world markets.’” try. Last December, the Pope Center tests — are the foundation for lifelong rather than for instructing students in • “Introduction to Feminist Social awarded its “Course of the Month” to job security.” That is sound advice, a body of knowledge and endeavoring Theory” at the University of Kansas a pair of sociology courses at North but any president or chancellor who is to improve their cognitive skills. From seems intent on fostering young activ- Carolina State where the readings were thinking about taking that step should everything we know about Churchill, ists. Students are told that “by the end of exclusively far-left and success on the be forewarned: If you try to take politi- his classes in “ethnic studies” were the semester, you will be able to identify exams required students to regurgitate cal indoctrination out of the classroom, mainly exercises in incendiary griev- the key argument, strengths, and limita- the views of the writers on multiple some of your professors will react ance-mongering. Colorado should have tions of each theoretical approach, use choice exams. The courses were preach- just as a 3-year old would if you took thoroughly investigated whether he feminist theory to make better sense of ing, not teaching. away his favorite toy. CJ was abusing his position as a professor the issues and problems you confront Former Duke University profes- and wasting the students’ time with in your personal and political lives, sor Stanley Fish was right on the mark his rants. and have a concrete sense of something when he wrote in a Chronicle of Higher George C. Leef is executive director Focusing on the key question, you can do to help bring about gender Education article, “Save the World on of the Pope Center for Higher Education earlier this month the American Council equality.” Your Own Time,” “Teachers should teach Policy.

Since 1991, Carolina Journal has provided thousands of readers each month with in-depth reporting, informed analysis, and incisive commentary about the most pressing state and local issues in North Carolina. Now Carolina Journal has taken its trademark blend of news, analysis, and commentary to the airwaves with Carolina Journal Radio. A weekly, one-hour newsmagazine, Carolina Journal Radio is hosted by John Hood and Donna Martinez and features a diverse mix of guests and topics. The pro- gram is currently broadcast on 18 commercial stations – from the mountains to the coast. The Carolina Journal Radio Network includes these fine affiliates: Asheville WWNC AM 570 Sundays 7:00 PM Albemarle/Concord WSPC AM 1010 Saturdays 11:00 AM Burlington WBAG AM 1150 Saturdays 9:00 AM Chapel Hill WCHL AM 1360 Saturdays 5:00 PM Elizabeth City WGAI AM 560 Saturdays 6:00 AM Fayetteville WFNC AM 640 Saturdays 1:00 PM Gastonia/Charlotte WZRH AM 960 Saturdays 2:00 PM Goldsboro WGBR AM 1150 Saturdays 6:00 PM Greensboro/Burlington WSML AM 1200 Saturdays 12:00 PM Hendersonville WHKP AM 1450 Sundays 6:00 PM Jacksonville WJNC AM 1240 Sundays 7:00 PM Lumberton WFNC FM 102.3 Saturdays 1:00 PM Newport/New Bern WTKF FM 107.3 Sundays 7:00 PM Salisbury WSTP AM 1490 Saturdays 11:00 AM Siler City WNCA AM 1570 Sundays 6:00 AM Southern Pines WEEB AM 990 Wednesdays 8:00 AM Whiteville WTXY AM 1540 Tuesdays 10:00 AM Wilmington WAAV AM 980 Saturdays 1:00 PM Winston-Salem/Triad WSJS AM 600 Saturdays 12:00 PM For more information, visit www.CarolinaJournal.com/CJRadio July 2006 CAROLINA 16 Local Government JOURNAL Town and County Impact-Fee Ruling Has Statewide Effect

Convention center redux By MICHAEL LOWREY Wilmington is reformulating Associate Editor its plans to build a new convention CHARLOTTE center. One likely result is that the n a closely watched case with state- city, and not a private developer, will wide implications, the N.C. Court of be on the hook for any operating Appeals has ruled that counties do Inot have the inherent authority to impose losses that the building may incur. Last year, Wilmington reached impact fees for school construction. a preliminary agreement with a The ruling came after local home- development company, Armada builders challenged Durham County’s Hoffler, under which the developer decision in 2003 to adopt the fee despite would assume responsibility for any not having a specific authorization from convention center operating losses. the General Assembly to do so. In its rul- Plans also included a hotel next to ing June 6, the court held that Durham the center. A number of other down- County’s actions were illegal, and ruled town hotels and a private citizen, that school impact fees collected to date however, sued the city, contending be refunded. the proposal would unfairly benefit While impact fees are commonly the convention center hotel, in vio- used for some other purposes in North lation of the state constitution and Carolina, only a few counties have spe- state law. cific permission from the Assembly to N.C. Court of Appeals ruling in Durham County case says counties don’t have inherent authority to levy impact fees on new construction to fund school growth. As part of a proposed settle- impose impact fees for schools. Durham ment, the city would assume respon- County isn’t one of them. County prevailed on appeal, every other only those services that its officers or sibility for any center losses. This, in Frustrated after trying unsuccess- county in the state would also have employees provide pursuant to their turn, has prompted Wilmington to fully for years to get legislative approval gained the authority to impose school position within county government.” request that the General Assembly for the fee, the Durham County Com- construction impact fees and perhaps The court also found unpersuasive change the allocation of room-occu- mission voted, 4-1, on Sept. 8, 2003 to other types of fees without having to references to two other sections of law pancy-tax proceeds in New Hanover impose the fee even without legislative gain the legislature’s approval. that Durham County had relied upon. County, with more money going to approval. As might be expected, most coun- The court also rejected Durham the city to help pay for the center Several commissioners were ties hoped Durham County would County’s argument that the common and less going to the New Hanover openly defiant of a likely lawsuit chal- prevail. Camden, Currituck, and Pas- law allows for the county to impose the County Tourism Development Au- lenging the fee. quotank counties as well as the North impact fees because of its constitutional thority-Cape Fear Coast Convention “I’d hope you’d forget this idea of Carolina School Boards Association duty to fund schools. and Visitors Bureau. suing the county. You won’t be hurting went so far as to file friend of the court “Considering that counties can- The proposed legislation us up here; it’s our children you will be briefs in the case. not act, in particular generate revenue would also increase the hotel-mo- hurting,” Commissioner Becky Heron On appeal, Durham County argued from the public, without some form of tel tax from 3 percent to 6 percent said. “If you pursue the threats that I’ve that it did not require specific authority statutory authority, the County’s com- in unincorporated portions of the heard up there, shame on you.” from the legislature to impose the fee, mon law argument is plagued with county. “This is not about home builders, that it already had implied authority to shortcomings,” Elmore wrote. this is not about home buyers,” Com- do so under a number of laws. Durham County also argued that missioner Phil Cousins said. “This is Among these is section153A-102, even if the fees were illegal, it should not Mount Airy annexation about children… This is providing which states: be required to refund the money already for the growth we already have in the “The board of commissioners may collected. The county’s argument was Mount Airy and a group of county.” fix the fees and commissions charged based upon the doctrine of sovereign landowners fighting a proposed an- Others saw it differently. “It is a by county officers and employees for immunity, that the state and its political nexation have come to an agreement. clear disagreement about legal author- performing services or duties permitted subdivisions cannot be sued without Under the terms of the compromise, ity,” Nick Tennyson, former Durham or required by law. The board may not, their consent. The county contended the annexation won’t take place for mayor and executive director of the local however, fix fees in the General Court of the sovereign immunity extends to two years. Opponents, meanwhile, homebuilders association, said to the Justice or modify the fees of the register include a prohibition against class-ac- have agreed to drop further legal Durham Herald-Sun at the time. of deeds prescribed by G.S. 161-10 or the tion suits, declarative judgment actions, challenges to the annexation. “They can characterize it in a fees of the board of elections prescribed and actions for a refund against it. The “I think when the city appro- pejorative way, but I am very disap- by G.S. 163-107.” court rejected these claims, though it priated an additional $100,000 in this pointed. Someone advocating for [his or The Court of Appeals did not agree did agree with the county that it did year’s budget to defend the suit, we her] rights is suddenly accused of being with the county’s interpretation. not have to pay interest on the money began to think of ways that we might against the children,” he said. “The language of section 153A-102 to be refunded. compromise,” Ed Woltz said to the The impact fees were set at $2,000 intimates a ‘fee’ in this context is more in Despite the ruling, Heron remains Winston-Salem Journal. Woltz is the for a single-family dwelling and $1,155 line with a fixed cost to a recipient for an defiant. lawyer who represented annexation for apartments and condominiums. over-the-counter type service provided “It just amazes me that developers opponents and himself lives in the As expected, the legality of the fee by a county officer or employee who is won’t acknowledge the fact that good area to be annexed. was challenged almost immediately by a performing that service, processing, or schools enhance their development,” “The compromised settlement group of homebuilders and developers. transaction pursuant to law,” Judge Rick she said to The News & Observer of deferred the start of the annexation. About $7 million in fees collected since Elmore wrote for the court. Raleigh. Between the time the suit was filed the fees went into effect Jan. 1, 2004 “Although ‘their’ is not found Durham County has asked the in 2003, we bought five years. That’s have been held in escrow pending the between ‘performing’ and ‘services,’ the N.C. Supreme Court to review the Court substantial tax savings for the hom- outcome of the challenge. statute’s design and language imply it. of Appeals’ decision. Because the ruling eowners… It’s in the millions.” A Superior Court judge sided Unlike processing a permit, reviewing by the three-judge panel of the appeals The effective date for the an- with the homebuilders, but the county an application, or maintaining records, court was unanimous, the high court is nexation will be July 1, 2008. The contested that ruling and in doing so the County’s officers or employees are not required to take the case. annexation would bring about 1,400 increasing the stakes involved. N.C. not actually going out and building The case is Durham Land Owners people into the town and will gener- Court of Appeals decisions are control- schools. In other words, section 153A-102 Ass’n v. County of Durham, (05-736) ate about $1 million a year in extra ling interpretations of state law, binding is not a broad based, revenue generating and is available online at www.aoc. tax revenue for the town. CJ throughout the state unless overruled by provision designed to offset the cost of state.nc.us/www/public/coa/opin- the N.C. Supreme Court. Thus if Durham any service the County provides, but ions/2006/050736-1.htm. CJ CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL Local Government 17

Despite rising ridership Commentary Greensboro Busts Bus Budget Performance Management By SAM A. HIEB Contributing Editor GREENSBORO espite continual criticism for North Carolina as a whole on reensboro has done a good job hurled at local govern- property tax collections in this pop- of making its city buses run on ment officials, let’s give ulation group was 98.43 percent. So time, but making them run on Dthem credit for trying innovative achieving the 99 percent or higher Gbudget has been another matter. approaches sometimes — although rate would be nearly impossible. Ridership is up — the city may the attempts often are not as well- After numerous discussions, reach its goal of four million riders publicized as the complaints. local officials agreed they would sooner than the 2008 target date. But Lee County and Sanford have like the collections rate to be at rising operating costs, most notably the opted to pursue an innovative way or above the state average. If the price of fuel, has city officials concerned ing our economy as well as our health,” of collecting taxes. county could collect about how the Greensboro Transit Au- Carmany said. Other cities would do taxes at the state aver- thority will handle the increased number Complicating matters, though, is well to examine the lo- age or higher, then the of riders. the fact that GTA also operates a Special- calities’ new approach. city would pay 1 per- The authority posted a deficit of ized Community Area Transportation In linking performance cent of taxes collected $616,875, or 5.5 percent, on a total budget service for people with disabilities. to paying the county as the service fee. If the of $11.3 million in 2005-’06. SCAT riders pay $2 per trip in fares. But for tax collection, both county collects 0.5 per- City Council member Sandy another option allows for a $35 monthly the city and county cent less than the state Carmany put it bluntly: “Additional pass that allows unlimited rides. have made a good average, the fee would services and rising costs necessitate City Council member Florence decision. fall to 0.875 percent. If more funding.” Gatten, also a member of the GTA task Tax collections the county collects 1.5 A seven-year freeze in fares hasn’t force, has acknowledged that SCAT are not the most uplift- percent less than the helped matters any. So the majority of riders have abused the monthly pass, ing of topics discussed state average then the that funding will come from federal, with riders taking as many as 97 trips among citizens, but city would pay only 0.5 state, and local governments, from which per month. there are some im- percent. It’s a sound GTA has received the majority of its The task force recommends that portant concepts that can affect tax agreement that took a lot of work to funding. A recent John Locke Founda- fixed route base fares for regular rid- tion report by UNC Charlotte professor rates. A good example is automo- hammer out. ers, at one dollar per trip, be raised 10 bile property-tax collections. As The actual collection rate for David Hartgen said that Greensboro cents per year for the next three fiscal is “increasing its dependence on gov- much as we might hate to pay the the previous year was 97.55 percent years, topping out at $1.30 for fiscal tax, if the collection rate is low, it for the city, which would have been ernment sources relative to ridership 2008-2009. means total tax collections drop. almost a full percentage lower than support.” SCAT riders would face increases In that case, it is possible that the state average, triggering a 0.75 The report recommends that the as well. The task force recommended local officials might have to increase percent fee. If Lee County officials city implement a fare policy that bal- that SCAT fares, at two dollars per trip, the overall tax rate to make up for want the full 1 percent fee, they’ll ances taxpayer and rider responsibil- be increased 20 cents over the next ity while “setting caps on government three fiscal years, topping out at $2.60 lost revenue. It is not uncommon have to achieve a higher collection support.” in 2008-2009. for motor-vehicle property-tax col- rate. Are city leaders listening? They But the most controversial rec- lections to hover around 87 percent. The net result of this is that realize something needs to be done. ommendation by the task force was But property taxes, in general, enjoy everyone wins. The city would pay “What we discovered is GTA is to discontinue the unlimited monthly a much higher collection rate, usu- a premium for performance, which, a very successful transit system,” said ride pass for SCAT riders. Discounted ally 97 percent or more. it is hoped by city officials, would Meredith Zimmerman, chair of the GTA multiride passes would still be avail- Having a high collection rate trigger higher tax collections. The board and task force member. However, able, though. means that everyone is paying county would achieve a higher Zimmerman said, there are “near- and The price of a 10-trip pass, now their share of taxes and not hav- fee for beating the state average of long-term budget challenges.” $18, would rise by three dollars over ing to compensate for those who collections. Taxpayers would ben- There has been a 15 percent in- the next three years, while a 40-trip pass don’t. Having said that, cities often efit by both entities having stable crease in the number of riders over the would be raised immediately by $14 use counties to collect their taxes collection rates. The incentive is to last three years, Zimmerman said. In in 2006-2007 before increasing by five for them or farm the collection out perform. 2004-2005, GTA transported 2.6 million dollars per year until 2008-2009, when to another entity. Counties assess Sadly, this kind of collabora- riders, while projected ridership for it would cost $80. property values and do the collec- tive effort is often overlooked and 2005-2006 is 3.1 million. But the modest increase in fares tion, so cities have no need for a tax this particular issue was ratified on “We have overcrowded buses with for regular bus riders is being proposed office. But they still need to collect the consent agenda with no discus- people standing in the aisles,” Zimmer- along with an increase in services. The city taxes. So, it’s in the interest of sion. Though not well publicized, man said. task force recommends increasing fre- cities to ensure that the collection it does show that local government But the increased demand for ser- quency of services from every 60 minutes agency (the county in this case) has leaders, when challenged, can solve vices isn’t reason enough for the city to to every 30 minutes to ease crowding at a high collection rate. problems with forethought and examine its transportation system. Car- the top of the hour, a move that would In Lee County’s case, financial creativity. Here’s hoping we see a many stressed environmental factors. require an additional $1.8 million in “Vehicle emissions will be the departments and managers looked lot more of this type of performance annual operating costs. for an effective way to collect management at all levels of public source of over half the pollutants in The task force also recommends taxes based on performance. The service. CJ our region,” she said. “Increasing adding a route to serve the south side first draft of the proposed change transit ridership and decreasing traffic of the city, which would require an extra was straightforward. If the county congestion is the number one strategy $300,000 in annual operating costs. collected 99 to 100 percent of developed…to address our air pollution But much of the operating short- taxes owed, the city would pay the Chad Adams is vice chairman concerns.” falls would be made up by Greensboro She also said a strong transporta- taxpayers with a 1.5-cent increase in the county 1 percent of the total col- of the Lee County Board of Commis- tion system was vital to Greensboro’s transit tax to cover the 2005-2006 budget lections. For a 98 percent collection sioners, director of the Center for economic success. Companies will not shortfall and to fund future service needs. rate, the city’s payment would have Local Innovation, and vice president move to Greensboro because of high The transit tax would bring in dropped to 0.875 percent and less. for development for the John Locke levels of particulate matter in the city’s about $3.1 million, while rider revenues The drawback was that the average Foundation. air, she said. “Poor air quality is harm- will bring in $366,000. CJ July 2006 CAROLINA 18 Local Government JOURNAL

Local Innovation Bulletin Board From Cherokee to Currituck Hurting Rather Than Helping Catawba River Water Proposal

ather than improving condi- carpoolers (depending on the city) are Pits Cities in Potential Fight tions for average residents, members of the same family, raising By MICHAEL LOWREY many urban politicians and the question of how much real change Associate Editor Rinterest groups promote policies that in trip-making behavior the HOV CHARLOTTE actually exacerbate growth of the lanes are bringing about. proposal by Concord and Kan- underclass, Joel Kotkin of the New Vehicle occupancy is lowest for napolis to draw drinking water America Foundation says. work trips (and commuting is the from the Catawba River has The modern liberalism veered focus of most ride-sharing efforts); Atowns that already rely on the Catawba far from the traditional progressive every other category of trips has concerned about their future. The dis- visions of politicians such as Theodore higher vehicle occupancy. Vehicle pute highlights the potential for water Roosevelt and Fiorello LaGuardia. occupancy is also lowest during com- availability to be a critical factor in the Those leaders believed in the basics: mute hours; it’s significantly higher coming years. building up the economic infrastruc- in the evenings and on weekends. So Concord and Kannapolis currently ture that government has long been the policy of promoting ride-sharing get their water from the Rocky River watershed. The two cities have asked for responsible for (such as ports and to ease peak-period congestion does tors Bureau. state permission also to draw up to 36 transportation), efficient and honest not seem well-targeted. The nameless alley has existed million gallons a day from the neighbor- provision of services such as educa- Pravin Varaiya of the University for about a century, when relatives of ing Catawba and Yadkin basins. tion and policing, and mainstream, of California-Berkeley also says HOV The diversion isn’t expected to be former Mayor Cyrus P. Mendenhall sold even conservative, social policies, lanes increase congestion. By keeping an issue under ordinary circumstances. off portions of The Elms piecemeal. Al- Kotkin says. non-HOV vehicles out of the lane, Under prolonged drought conditions, leys were common then, with adjoining Certainly New Orleans followed the policy adds to congestion in the however, the draw by the Cabarrus lots typically running to the middle of a conventional program of urban general-purpose lanes. Since nearly all County cities could force stricter water the alley. liberalism. The city’s leaders held a HOV facilities use a single lane in each conservation measures by communities Deeds for the subdivided estate, conference a month before Katrina direction, the lanes have less inherent that currently get their water from the however, only show the resulting prop- promoting the idea that a cultural capacity than regular freeway lanes, Catawba. erties going to the edge of the alley. strategy of fostering edgy arts and and hence operate almost as slowly A recent study shows that under The city, meanwhile, doesn’t main- boutique entertainment districts was as general-purpose lanes. severe drought conditions such as those tain the alley because it contends it’s a promising way to bring in high-end experienced between 2000 and 2003, private, and not public, property. industry. However, by neglecting the mandatory water conservation may be “I have heard all sorts of tales fiscal and regulatory basics of encour- necessary nine months earlier along the about who may or may not own it,” City aging business activity, policy makers Wind turbines… and rats Catawba. Manager Mitchell Johnson said. “It is a lost high-paying core industries, such Predictions by bat experts that As might be expected, many wa- confusing situation. We are interested in as port and energy trades, to the far an expansion of industrial wind farms ter districts along the Catawba oppose resolving this one way or the other.” more business-friendly and efficient Concord’s and Kannapolis’ proposal. in West Virginia will allow mosqui- Oregon Inlet Bridge costs rise city of Houston. toes and grasshoppers, locusts, and “Why should Burke County The major consequences of New moths to proliferate are not the only sacrifice its capacity to allow another The N.C. Department of Transpor- Orleans’ liberal political decisions expected ecological consequences of jurisdiction to grow economically at our tation has released revised cost estimates include an urban core with nothing expanded wind farms. Giant wind expense?” Valdese Town Manager Jeff for a replacement bridge over Oregon but largely vacant office towers, lousy turbines kill many birds, including Morse asked The Charlotte Observer. “It Inlet. As The Virginian-Pilot reports, the public schools, ineffective police many endangered species and birds sounds very selfish ... but we’re begin- cost projects have risen substantially departments, and blocks of decrepit of prey instrumental in controlling ning to understand what the Western over the hefty figures released just a neighborhoods where residents rodent populations, the Heartland states went through.” few months ago. depend more on government checks Institute says. The state Environmental Manage- The state has been studying build- or criminal activity than on paid Up to 1,300 birds of prey are ment Commission is expected to rule on ing a bridge over Oregon Inlet to replace employment. killed each year at Northern Califor- the request by yearend. It is taking public the Herbert C. Bonner Bridge since 1990. comment through July 25. A generally hostile environment nia’s Altamont Pass wind farm alone, Complicating matters is that Oregon exists for the working- and middle- the Riverside, Calif. , Press-Enterprise Inlet is itself shifting southward by 70 class families with children. reported Dec. 18. The ownerless alley feet a year and the existence of the Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge. Residents near California’s San An alley runs beside Greensboro’s One option being considered is a Gorgonio Pass wind farm report that Visitor Center and other key buildings in 17-mile bridge around the wildlife ref- The failure of HOV lanes in an area with fewer wind turbines the city’s downtown. The 320-foot-long than Altamont Pass, the wind farm’s stretch is filled with empty barrels, rot- uge. In April, N.C. DOT officials thought Giving people incentives to killing of birds of prey is causing a ting fruit, a discarded mattress, a door the bridge would cost $800 million. They carpool is the underlying rationale rat infestation. leaning against a tree, and various other upped the estimate in May to $1.02 bil- for HOV lanes. But growing evidence Daniel Patterson, a desert ecolo- debris. lion; the difference was primarily that is accumulating that the policy is ac- gist with the Center for Biological As the News & Record of Greens- the state had previously underestimated complishing less than many people Diversity in Joshua Tree, Calif., con- boro reports, it’s that way because ap- maintenance costs. believe, Robert W. Poole Jr. of the firmed that the deaths of birds of prey parently no one owns it or is responsible “I don’t know how to respond to Reason Foundation says. at wind farms enable rat populations for it. it,” Pea Island Manager Mike Bryant In a recent study on virtual to boom. “It’s like a demilitarized zone,” said, “except ‘Wow! That’s bumped up exclusive bus lanes, Poole and his “All forms of power entail said Quinn Miller, who owns a furniture considerably.’” colleagues found, despite the quin- environmental tradeoffs,” said Alex store that backs up to the alley. Other options have been proposed tupling of HOV lane-miles between Avery, director of research and “We are trying to make an im- that center around building a shorter 1990 and 2000, the fraction of com- education for the Hudson Institute’s pression on first-time visitors, and that bridge near the Bonner bridge, plus muters who carpool declined from Center for Global Food Issues. “Wind is what they see and smell. It has just additional bridges and beach renour- 13.4 percent to 12.2 percent. power fares especially poorly in become a disgusting part of our life,” ishment. The estimated cost for these Thirty-three to 75 percent of this equation.” CJ said Henri Fourrier, president and CEO options range from $461 million to of the Greensboro Convention and Visi- $1.06 billion. CJ CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL Local Government 19 Sale of State’s Surplus Brings in $23 Million Per Year By MIKE ROUSE two rea- some of them like to buy Highway Patrol Contributing Editor A small sons: One, cars from North Carolina because the RALEIGH p o r t i o n in the event state maintains them well. ou might, on a given day, be able of what’s of identi- Cars are a big part of the agency’s to buy a popcorn machine or a sold never cal bids, business. On a given day, it may have Piper Cub at the state’s perennial comes to t h e f i r s t 350 or so on the lot, and it sells thousands Yyard sale in Raleigh. Raleigh. If r e c e i v e d every year. Or a small herd of goats, as one necessary, is the win- If you want to buy one, you can see farmer did a few years ago. the State ner. Two, a picture of it on the Internet, but you’d Or a tall communications tower. S u r p l u s to help pre- probably want to go to Raleigh to kick The items are offered for sale by Property vent any- the tires. You can’t drive it, but you can North Carolina’s State Surplus Property A g e n c y one from crank it up and listen to the motor. Agency, and they are as varied as the can handle submitting What you’d have to pay for one many functions of state government. the paper a bid after would obviously depend on other bids. Anything that any state agency owns, work with- the dead- For example, a 4-year-old Ford Crown except real estate, could conceivably out seeing line and Victoria with moderate mileage has been end up here. the mer- topping off going for $4,000 to $5,000. So could convicted drug dealers’ chandise. the winner. Some property from law enforce- belongings when they are confiscated It can do ment agencies is sold only to other law by the state to make up for unpaid in- the adver- The state’s surplus equipment, from motorcycles to Mercedes, A s s o o n enforcement agencies. Just now, some come taxes. Thus, the Surplus Property tising from brings in about $23 million a year (Photo by Mike Rouse) as bids are blue lights for police cars and riot sticks Agency has a white Corvette on its lot, its location opened and are available. The deals can be fantastic and recently the agency sold a 100th- on Chapel Hill Road in Raleigh. Potential the winners are declared, the amounts of if you happen to be in the market for anniversary, commemorative-edition buyers could see pictures on the Inter- the winning bids and the names of the large lots. A truckload of steel beds from Harley-Davidson motorcycle. net. people who submitted them are posted UNC-Wilmington went for just a couple Aside from that, a Mercedes that The Internet is central to the on the website. hundred dollars. One man bought a huge went for $56,000 and a few other high- agency’s operation. Lee’s assistant, Jean Winners have two weeks to pay lot of beds to give to a homeless shelter dollar items, most of the stuff is cheap, Degolier, explains the process: up and pick up. in his community. and some of it is good. A state agency brings an item — The agency sells a few items in its Total sales gross about $23 million The chief beneficiaries of the bar- let’s say a car — to the Surplus Property warehouse because they are too cheap a year for the state, said Mickey E. Sauls, gains are county and city governments Agency. The state and local governments and plentiful to put out for bids. Rows director of the Division of Surplus Prop- and nonprofit charities that qualify by and qualifying nonprofits are notified of used desks, for example, are stacked erty. The Surplus Property Agency keeps law. But once they’ve had their shot, that it is available. The car is held for from one end of the warehouse to an- 5 percent of that for expenses. anybody can get in on the fun. four days to give the localities time to other. The state Department of Revenue The items come from all agencies bid on the car. If no bids are received, A few items are sold on eBay to gets the money from items taken from in state government, including uni- the car is made available to the public give them broader exposure. A National drug dealers, which comes to nearly $1.5 versities. When an agency is ready to for bidding. Guard helicopter would have received million a year. unload something, it calls State Surplus That is done on the Internet at far fewer bids on the state’s own website Incidentally, the Piper Cub be- Property. www.statesurplus.com. You can go there than on eBay. longed to the Forest Service. The goats Randy B. Lee, the state surplus and follow links to descriptions of the Portions of the old Reynolds Coli- were sold for the Veterinary School. property officer, said some towns and property that is available. seum floor were sold on eBay and pulled And the communications tower, counties take advantage of the deals, and Bid sheets can be downloaded in about $100,000, presumably from N.C. which is at Farmville, belongs to a few, possibly because of geographi- from the site and faxed or carried to the State University basketball fans. WUNC-TV. You can probably get it cal inconvenience, don’t bother. Most Surplus Property Agency. Bids are taken The Surplus Property Agency has for a couple of bucks, but you have to of the local-government customers are for two weeks. customers outside the state, mostly from remove it, and taking it down will cost relatively close to Raleigh. Every bid is time-stamped, for towns in bordering states. Degolier said about $100,000. CJ

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From the Liberty Library Rebel-in-Chief

• Why do Americans care so much about the Founding Fathers? Barnes: Bush One of Most Influential Presidents Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, • Fred Barnes: Rebel-In-Chief: Inside the book is the important role speechwriter Hamilton, Madison, and Adams Bold and Controversial Presidency of George Michael Gerson has played in the Bush built our country, wrote our user’s W. Bush; Crown Forum; 2006; 220 pp; administration. manuals — the Declaration of Inde- $23.95 hardcover. While Karl Rove has earned ac- pendence, the Constitution — and claim as architect of Bush’s electoral ran the nation while it was still under By MITCH KOKAI victories, Barnes contends that Gerson warranty and could be returned to Associate Editor has played a major role in shaping the the manufacturer. If anyone knows RALEIGH language of the president’s policies. how the United States should work, red Barnes is an unapologetic fan “Gerson gave Bush what he needed they did and they still do. Historian of the nation’s 43rd president. most, a presidential voice,” Barnes Richard Brookhiser has been writ- If readers haven’t picked up writes. “And he became a trusted ad- ing, talking, and thinking about the Fon that fact from Barnes’ articles in The viser.” Founders for years. Now he channels Weekly Standard or his commentary on That presidential voice has focused them in What Would the Founders Fox News, they will get the drift in the largely on international issues, of course, Do? Our Questions, Their Answers. opening pages of his recent book. largely because of the Sept. 11 attacks, but What would Hamilton think about “Bush is a president who leads,” Barnes says Bush’s bold style has affected free trade? What would Franklin Barnes writes in Rebel-In-Chief: Inside the domestic policies as well — through his make of the national obsession with Bold and Controversial Presidency of George advocacy for an “ownership society” values? What would Washington W. Bush. Barnes contrasts the leadership and faith-based initiatives. say about gays in the military? of the current administration to caretaker Barnes credits the president for Examining a host of issues from governments led by Dwight Eisenhower, laying the foundation for a new “strong- terrorism to women’s rights to gun Bill Clinton, and the first president government” conservatism that main- control, Brookhiser reveals why we named George Bush: “He controls the tains the traditional emphasis on values still turn to the Founders in moments national agenda, uses his presidential and a hawkish foreign policy, while of struggle, farce, or disaster. Learn powers to the fullest and then some, ignoring the traditional conservative more at www.perseusbooks group. proposes far-reaching policies likely to Because the presi- desire for a limited federal government. com/basic/. change the way Americans live, reverses dent has no use for the Bush wants to focus federal spending other long-standing policies, and is the on conservative goals, but he exhibits foremost leader in world affairs.” no strong desire to curtail that spend- • In 1957, Herbert L. Mat- “Greek chorus” of estab- Once Barnes has outlined his ing substantially. Barnes believes that thews of The New York Times, then theory, he details the impact of Bush’s lishment opinion, Barnes “new conservatism” could become a considered one of the premiere leadership on foreign policy, the Middle transforming force in America. foreign correspondents of his time, East, worldwide democracy, faith-based says he is free to pro- Here’s where the alarm bells start tracked down Fidel Castro in Cuba’s government spending, the future of con- to ring. Up to this point in the book, Sierra Maestra mountains and re- mulgate new, controver- servatism, and the future of American Barnes has offered a refreshing contrast turned with what was considered politics. to the typical mainstream media portray- the scoop of the century. His heroic sial ideas. The book makes the case for als of the president as a bungler or a portrayal of Castro, who was then George W. Bush as one of the nation’s fool. Barnes makes the case that Bush’s believed dead, had a powerful effect most influential presidents, but this disdain for Washington has generated on American perceptions of Cuba, mulgate new, controversial ideas. Barnes reader closed the back cover with a much of his bad press. Those with no both in and out of the government, labels him an insurgent leader. “ Bush has lingering question: Could the timing role in his successes are not likely to and profoundly influenced the fall found it easy to overturn major policies of this book’s publication have been trumpet them. of the Batista regime. When Castro with scarcely a second thought.” any worse? But Barnes might reach too far emerged as a Soviet-backed dicta- Foreign policy offers the first exam- Let’s set that question aside for the when he suggests that criticism over tor, Matthews became a scapegoat; ple for Barnes’ theory. He contends that moment as we examine our narrator. Bush’s Katrina policy and the Har- his paper turned on him, his career Bush flipped conventional wisdom on its Barnes is a creature of Washington, D.C. riet Miers Supreme Court nomination foundered, and he was accused of be- head in dealing with Israeli-Palestinian He’s spent his entire life in or near the represented minor missteps for an ad- traying his country. In The Man Who relations. That flip included his decision nation’s capital. He has spent decades ministration that’s changing the face of Invented Fidel, Anthony DePalma to shun Yasser Arafat as a bargaining covering the nation’s politics — includ- conservatism. “In fact, because most of investigates the Matthews case to partner, a move that appalled the self- ing more than 10 years as executive his brand of conservatism has caught reveal how it contains the story not editor of one of the nation’s foremost appointed “foreign policy community.” on and the remainder is likely to, it’s just of one newspaperman but of conservative publications, The Weekly The change also included a conscious the conservatism of the future.” an age, not just how Castro came to Standard. pursuit of democracy as the means of Had this reader seen that passage power but how America determines You might expect a Washington- stamping out terror after Sept. 11. in 2005, it might have seemed reasonable. who its enemies are. Available at ian to revere the inside-the-Beltway “Over five years — one as a candi- Bush had won a second term and built public-affairsbooks.com. culture. Not Barnes. “Much of Washing- date, four as president — Bush gradually stronger Republican majorities in the ton amounts to a parasite culture,” he moved toward proclaiming an aggres- U.S. House and Senate by that point. But writes. “The city specializes in political sive worldwide crusade for democracy,” subsequent complaints within his party • National Review has been connections, talk, informed gossip, and Barnes writes. That crusade could have about domestic terrorism surveillance the leading conservative national endless meetings.” caused problems for an administration and the Dubai ports deal have poked magazine since it was founded in Barnes says the president holds tied to allies such as Egypt and Saudi more holes in the “51 percent” Repub- 1955, and in that capacity it has a similar view — a view that has con- Arabia, countries with little tolerance lican nation that Barnes describes in his played a decisive role in shaping vinced him to treat the capital as his for dissent. final chapter. the conservative movement in the “job site,” not his home. He avoids state “The easy way out for Bush would The author is not blind to the United States. In The Making of the dinners, loathes the press, and escapes have been to cite the broad Middle East concern. He told an Asheville audience American Conservative Mind, Jeffrey Washington for his Texas home at every as the problem, not a particular country,” recently that he is writing a new chapter Hart provides an authoritative and opportunity. “What infuriates establish- Barnes writes. “Bush didn’t take it. He for the paperback version of the book. high-spirited history of how the ment types the most is that Bush ignores believes tyrannies produce terrorists but He says he will likely title it “Bumps in magazine came to define and defend them.” democracies don’t.” the Road.” conservatism for the past 50 years. Because the president has no use Bush tends to state his core prin- What’s unclear now is whether More info at www.isi.org. CJ for the “Greek chorus” of establishment ciples through his major speeches. those bumps mean the end of the road opinion, Barnes says he is free to pro- One of the major revelations in Barnes’ for an insurgent style of presidency. CJ CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL The Learning Curve 21 Role of Religion in the Nation’s Founding Era Misunderstood

rom biographies to sweeping nar- the trinity, the incarnation, and the justice, order, and freedom. remained to the states to decide, and ratives, from readable pop history resurrection as myths, irreconcilable It is indeed impossible to un- within them, people controlled most of to dry-as-dust academic publica- with human reason, most maintained derstand them without knowing that their private lives. Ftions, books exploring the lives of the denominational affiliations; and in spite American republicanism placed clas- The Constitution does not mention Founding Fathers increasingly are being of their anti-clericalism, some even sical and Renaissance ideas within the God or religion and bans religious tests published. regularly attended church services. As context of Augustinian Christianity in Article VI because federalists consid- One mis- historian Mark Noll concludes, most and wrapped Lockean ideas of liberty ered religion a matter best decided by u n d e r s t o o d were “Deist-like — but not exactly.” around the Christian idea of covenants. individuals and their states. Many state aspect of the At the Continental Congress were Does this mean the Founders were constitutions preceded the federal one, Founding Era also many orthodox Christians such as Christians? Not necessarily. It means and those and new ones sometimes re- is the role that John Jay, whom John Adams considered that their times influenced them, that tained a mild form of religious establish- religion played. a “church-going animal” and believer they respected Christianity, and that the ment and many times explicit religious Conversing re- in divine revelation and dispensation. language of Christendom gives meaning qualifications for public office. cently with a rig- What united the three groups, Holmes and understanding to American political When public opinion changed id secularist who writes, was their belief in a guiding and social values. within a state, new state constitutions or has utmost faith Providence and eternal life, the impor- The debate usually omits two other amendments were drafted, as evidenced in human reason, Dr. Troy tance of virtue and Jesus’ ethical teach- essential aspects. One, the Founding by the 1835 modification to the religious (a throwback to Kickler ings, and love of religious freedom and Fathers comprised an intellectual elite qualifications for office holders in North the French En- hatred of tyranny. who represented a religious and many Carolina from “Protestant” to “Chris- lightenment), I heard that “Not one Holmes provides a good start in times zealous majority that checked any tian” and the exclusion of only “atheists” Founding Father was a Christian!” A few understanding a complex history, but an notions to establish an entirely secular from public office in the 1868 constitu- months earlier I talked with a churchgo- in-depth discussion of how American government. The traveling French tion. Not until 1961 did the U.S. Supreme ing fundamentalist (a throwback outside thinkers differed from their Radical En- aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville noticed Court decide that such restrictions in the of Middle America) who supposed the lightenment counterparts is needed. the importance of religion to average states were unconstitutional. Founding Fathers believed similarly to Unlike Voltaire and Rousseau, Americans and recorded that “on the Long story short: Serious and in- his KJV-only pastor. the skeptical Enlightenment, includ- seventh day of every week the trading depth inquiry concerning the extent of But the reality is more complicated. ing Montesquieu and the Founding and working life of the nation seems religious influence during the Found- David L. Holmes, in The Faiths of the Fathers, respected traditions and the suspended.” ing Era is necessary to understand the Founding Fathers, argues that America’s religious core of Western Civilization. Two, modern Americans with times as they were. July is a perfect first patriots were non-Christian deists, Without acknowledging how the Old statist assumptions forget that America time to start. CJ Christian deists, or orthodox Christians. West shaped American thought, writes was created as a federalism of states, Although many Deists considered es- Russell Kirk, one cannot understand the united only for the purposes expressed Dr. Troy Kickler is director of the North sential tenets of Christianity, such as cardinal ideas of American civilization: in the Constitution. Most private matters Carolina History Project.

headliner series The Complex RooTs of AmeRiCAn pATRioTism

The John Locke FoundaTion cordiaLLy inviTes you To iTs inauguraL norTh caroLina hisTory ProJecT LecTure:

noon, Monday, sePTeMber 18, 2006 The hoLiday inn brownsTone, raLeigh

in a ceLebraTion oF our Founding docu- MenT, wiLFred M. MccLay, sunTrusT bank chair oF exceLLence in huManiTies and ProFessor oF hisTory aT The univer- siTy oF Tennessee aT chaTTanooga, wiLL discuss “The coMPLex rooTs oF aMerican PaTrioTisM.”

ProF. MccLay has served since 2002 as a MeMber oF The naTionaL counciL on The huManiTies, The advisory board For The naTionaL endowMenT For The huManiTies, and is auThor oF The MasTerless: self and socieTy in Modern aMerica.

(Phone 919-828-3876 for ticket information) July 2006 CAROLINA 22 The Learning Curve JOURNAL

Short Takes on Culture Book Review ‘Cars’ Not Up to Pixar’s Snuff A Potent Antidote to Victimhood • “Cars” The lack of political correctness, • Warren Farrell: Why Men Earn More; Walt Disney Pictures the antipathy for the state fishing Amacom; 2005; 233 pp; $23. Directed by John Lasseter bureaucracy, the individuals fighting to get rich: It’s enough to make any By GEORGE LEEF he newest Pixar release suffers conservative’s blood rise. Contributing Editor from the studio’s own standard This year’s weather is worse RALEIGH of excellence that they have than in Season One, and the rules are his is a book that ought to be on Tset. In other words, it isn’t up to their different. Each boat has a quota rather the reading list for every women’s own snuff. than the whole fleet. At the end of Sea- studies course, but I would be That’s not to say it was bad. It son One, after a few deaths during the Tshocked if it is on even one. was visually dazzling, as expected. five-day crab season, the bureaucrats Warren Farrell’s Why Men Earn There were the usual group of likable said this was to make things safer, but More is a businessman’s explanation characters (Larry the Cable Guy as the effect has been to penalize good for an economic phenomenon that gets “Tow-Mater” was my favorite, and captains and good crews who knew many people up in arms. The book won’t probably most others’), drawn from how to catch the most crab. Now, there be popular among the purveyors of the society’s familiar stereotypes. The is no day limit. The season can last notion that the so-called earnings gap story entertained. until each boat has caught its quota. evinces a defect in the economy, because But I wasn’t as endeared to the Might as well make these guys wear Farrell gives no credence to the idea, so characters as in previous Pixar films. skirts. This squelching of competition popular among feminist scholars, that I didn’t wholly buy into the premise is sad, but the show is dynamite. women are victims in a free market for of motor vehicles having their own — JON HAM labor. souls, identities, and self-wills, devoid Farrell gives the reader a dispas- of humanity. Perhaps that aspect of sionate, and often amusing, look at the the story needed some kind of help differences between men and women to enable viewers to believe in the in the market and shows that there are take jobs where there is a danger of personalities of the cars — a fantasy perfectly rational explanations for the ‘Shook Up’ over rock politics injury, employers have to offer added tool like that used in the “Toy Story” fact that men who are full-time labor compensation. Biology seems to have movies (what if toys had feelings, and • All Shook Up: Music, Passion, and force participants on the average have hard-wired men to be more willing to were actually animated in the absence Politics higher earnings than do women. In sum, want to make that trade-off than women. of people, something everyone who By Carson Holloway the book is a crushing refutation to the Jobs in mining, fishing, forestry, etc., are has been a child can identify with). Spence Publishing Company, 2001 contention that capitalism is inherently overwhelmingly male despite govern- The theater experience seemed unfair to women and that government mental anti-discrimination rules. to confirm my feelings. I remember Rock music is rarely linked to must intervene to promote “gender Farrell cites the (literally and figu- “Monsters, Inc.,” “Finding Nemo,” conservative politics, but a recent justice.” ratively) chilling work on an Alaskan and “The Incredibles” as raucous article in National Review Online Farrell’s big point is that men tend floating cannery to help make his point. good times, where the characters were prompted readers to shuffle through to make decisions about employment Few people will work under those condi- constantly on the move toward their their CD and record collections, re- — including such key factors as hours tions, hardly any of them female. Women goals and destinations. “Cars” seems sponding to John J. Miller’s list of the of work per week, risk, and the pos- sometimes can, however, earn pay with to stagnate in a desert town, Radia- top 50 “conservative” rock songs. sibility of forced relocation — that lead Spence Publishing hopes the to higher monetary compensation, but a risk premium without actually having tor Springs, for the bulk of its time. I to accept nearly as much risk as men do. didn’t sense a buzz in my audience list will also revive interest in this 5- entail offsetting difficulties. Women, conversely, tend to make choices that Farrell points out that women who are that I had for the other films. year-old book. All Shook Up focuses lead to lower compensation, but with willing to work on floating canneries It’s still definitely worth seeing, on the political implications of all offsetting advantages. Accordingly, earn nearly as much as the men do, but even in the theater, but it’s the first music. Don’t expect a major discus- there are ways for individual women are assigned to work that’s much less Pixar film to fall below the ranking sion of rock song lyrics. Author Carson to increase their earnings, but they re- dangerous. of “classic.” While this one was con- Holloway spends more time with Plato than the Platters, with Rousseau quire individual action, not government My favorite pages occur near the structed when the studio was still end of the book when Farrell turns to rather than Rod Stewart. intervention. independent, I hope it’s not a sign policy questions. He argues in favor A political science professor Speaking of government interven- of things to come now that Disney of abandoning the “affirmative action” at the University of Nebraska at tion, Farrell easily disposes of the femi- owns it. crusade for greater equality in the num- Omaha, Holloway scours the history nists’ pet solution to the “earnings gap,” — PAUL CHESSER bers of men and women in occupational of political philosophy to find the namely “comparable worth” legislation. fields where men have historically been proper role of music in education. He Here is his discussion: dominant. His reason is that it’s anticom- criticizes Locke and the early modern The problem with comparable worth petitive: “Affirmative action effectively political thinkers for ignoring music’s is that it creates higher pay for higher ful- adds a tax to domestic labor that makes ‘Deadliest’ Catch of viewers importance. He suggests their silence fillment positions that everyone wants and it more difficult to compete with foreign • “Deadliest Catch” — Season Two on the topic helped pave the way lower pay for lower fulfillment positions that labor.” Discovery Channel (in reruns now) for today’s “sexually and violently are hard to fill unless we pay more. Thus, it Why Men Earn More is a potent an- Tuesdays at 9 p.m. obscene popular music.” leaves us with few people to build highways, tidote to the victimhood complaints that Holloway favors instead the bridges, or homes; pick up garbage, clean are the stock in trade of the “women’s I watched all of the first season theories of Socrates and Aristotle, who sewers, mine coal; or do most any job that movement.” Women (and men) who of “Deadliest Catch” and swore I argued for early exposure to good employs almost all men. Why? Test this out read it will learn much about the way wouldn’t get sucked in again. But I yourself. Imagine that for a month you have music. “The solution to our musical business decisions are made and will did. This show gives an adrenalin and moral difficulties … is at hand; neither had your garbage picked up nor an opportunity to read about new anthropologi- come away with a strong sense that the rush unlike anything outside of “24”, the musical political philosophy of the cal discoveries. Which would you pay more spontaneous order of the free market and it’s all real. Real, live crab fisher- ancients that, by enthroning reason money to remedy? works in the best interests of all. CJ men try to survive the Bering Sea in in the soul, harmonizes the whole That’s the way the whole book is: their quest for opilio crab to provide soul and provides for its truest hap- sharp, clear, relentlessly logical. the crab legs we all eat at the seafood piness.” The willingness to accept risk is George Leef ([email protected]) is buffets. — MITCH KOKAI CJ one of the main reasons why men on the director of the Pope Center for Higher average earn more. To get people to Education Policy. CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL The Learning Curve 23 ‘Da Vinci Code’ Insults, Doesn’t Enhance, Our Intelligence

• “The Da Vinci Code”; directed by Ron policier Sophie played by Ian organization called the Priory of Scion, Howard; Starring Tom Hanks, Audrey Neveu. Although McKellen. His which is competing with Opus Dei in Tautou. her character is lines are well- the hunt for the Grail. Remember, now, defined by im- delivered, but this is fiction. By MIKE ROUSE plausibility, she however they Even though the Priory of Scion is Contributing Editor is as believable are spoken they supposed to be guarding the secret of GOLDSBORO as anyone else in largely are lines the Grail — that is, of Jesus’ marriage aybe you already know the the movie. This that no Christian — Leonardo has planted clues in his movie’s plot: is her first work wants to hear. Ex- paintings. Most famously, his fresco In the Middle Ages, the for American au- ample: “What if depicting the Last Supper does not MKnights Templar, while raiding Jeru- diences. There the world discov- show the apostle John on Jesus’ right salem, got hold of the Holy Grail and probably will be ers that the great- as is believed, but that person is Mary a secret society was formed within the more. est story ever told Magdalene instead. Roman Catholic church to keep every- The griz- is a lie?” It is true that the person at the body from learning the truth that the zly Jean Reno is That brings right hand of Jesus has an effeminate Holy Grail was not a chalice or anything well-cast as Capt. us to the great appearance, but that is not unusual in else material. They took the secret of the Fache of the Paris controversy over paintings of the time. This exemplifies Grail to France and it ended up near police, a pursuer The Da Vinci what some Christians fear about this the Louvre where a Leonardo Da Vinci as relentless as Code, both the story: As preposterous as the plot is, painting hangs, but not the one that is Inspector Javert movie and the parts of it can be convincing to people central to the story. Members of secret in Victor Hugo’s Dan Brown novel who really want to believe it. societies keep killing people and beat- Les Miserables on which it is Unfortunately, some people do. ing them up for getting too close to the and much more based. There is a certain feeling of superiority truth. A hero much like Indiana Jones, sadistic and sin- If you are in believing, or even pretending, that you an American professor of symbology, ister to boot. one of those are onto a secret that the dumb blokes teams up with a gorgeous woman, who F a c h e i s Christians who in the churches lack the sense to grasp. is just by chance both a Paris police de- out to catch his is offended by a Actually, the movie insults rather tective and, unbeknownst to herself, an former colleague novelist or mov- than enhances our intelligence. Among important character in the whole Holy Neveu and her new best friend Langdon. iemaker taking liberties with the story other things, it is one of those in which Grail conspiracy. He is less-concerned with a murderous of Christ, even in fiction, stay away from there are just too many convenient And off they go, this handsome character named Silas, played by Paul this one. coincidences. Langdon, an American historian and his sexy sidekick, on an Bettany. Silas, a scary looking albino, Its premise is that Mary Magdalene who just happens to be lecturing in adventure that is exciting and intriguing alternates between whipping himself was not a prostitute as the Bible says. Paris, just happens to have a good friend for them but mostly painful and confus- and assaulting the good guys, Langdon That story is just a ruse to hide the real who is an English historian living right ing to the moviegoers who are expected and Neveu. truth, which is that Mary Magdalene down the road from Paris. The English- to devote more than 2 1/2 hours trying The self-punishment associates was the wife of Jesus. man just happens to have a private jet to keep up with what’s going on. him with the Roman Catholic sect And it was she and not Peter, ac- parked outside, convenient for a quick Tom Hanks plays the professor, Opus Dei, in which he is a monk. Opus cording to the story, who really started getaway when the gendarmes close in. Robert Langdon of Harvard. Hanks is Dei members practice rituals to bring the church. And so on. always effective, but in this long per- themselves in line with the suffering of Furthermore, she was pregnant The film was directed by Ron formance he seems to tire. Maybe it’s Jesus. But in real life they emulate the with His child when He was crucified Howard, but it lacks the quality of the because the audience does, or maybe sufferings without severe pain or blood. and at least one descendant of the couple work that has elevated him from the it’s good acting — his character is, af- Exaggeration and distortion are the stuff is living today. “Andy Griffith Show” to become one ter all, darting nonstop hither and yon of movies, especially this one. The book and movie get their of America’s top directors. What’s a throughout France and England. An equally incredible character name from the proposition that Leon- nice boy like Opie doing with a movie French actress Audrey Tautou is is English scholar Sir Leigh Teabing, ardo Da Vinci was a grand master in an like this, anyway? CJ

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July 2006 CAROLINA 24 Opinion JOURNAL

Commentary Business or Monkey Business?

uddenly, the Tar Heel State and retaining for the Democrats the is on a roll, the spinmeisters balance of power in the Assembly. say: • The former director of NC- S• The Stanley Cup is ours. DOT’s Ferry Division, Jerry Gaskill, • Businesses’ phones will be was convicted of lying to federal buzzing and cash registers ringing, authorities in an illegal dredg- thanks to the worldwide publicity ing operation at Corolla. Several of the Carolina Hurricanes’ mag- other Ferry Division workers were nificent achievement. convicted and sentenced before • Raleigh ranks first among Gaskill’s turn in court came. Senate desirable places to live on the East Pro Tem Marc Basnight instigated Coast. the dredging project. • Economic • The Northeast “incentives” are bring- Partnership and its ing companies to North twin, the Northeastern Carolina by the boatload. North Carolina Eco- • Charlotte’s and nomic Development Raleigh’s skylines are Commission, were Editorial blossoming, thanks to taken to the woodshed hundreds of millions by State Auditor Les of dollars from public Merritt for numer- Medicaid’s Sting Hurting Counties pocketbooks. Richard ous conflicts of inter- I wish I could agree Wagner est involving millions or North Carolina counties, the aid. The per-capita personal income in that the sun is shin- of taxpayer dollars new fiscal year began July 1. With Robeson County was $18,659 in 2003. ing in a cloudless sky and other “fiduciary” it came a new budget. For many More than one-third of the county’s over North Carolina. But there are hanky-panky. Fpoorer counties, balancing their budgets population was eligible for Medicaid. also many thunderheads cracking • The state Commerce is especially hard because the state re- And with the county responsible for lightning over our state and only a Department settled a lawsuit with quires that they pay part of the rapidly paying 15 percent of the Medicaid tab, Pollyanna would not notice them. Carolina Journal and set a legal increasing cost of Medicaid. the local contribution was substantial. I’m talking about the dubi- precedent for becoming the first North Carolina is one of two states More than one dollar in eight dollars ous achievements and the scandal state agency to pay a plaintiff’s that traditionally has required counties in the county’s budget, or 12.8 percent, after scandal that North Carolina’s lawyer fees for withholding public to pick up some of the costs of Medicaid. goes toward Medicaid. political establishment is dumping records. The other state, New York, is eliminating Robeson County is far from un- on us in the heart of Raleigh. • Basnight and Black have the practice. usual. In 20 of the state’s 100 counties, Now, now, it’s best we don’t maintained millions of dollars in The local funding requirements at least one-fourth of the population is dwell on little bumps in the road, secret slush funds. for Medicaid are substantial. The North eligible for Medicaid. Fifteen counties the political elite say. Think of all • Legislative leaders rou- Carolina Association of County Com- spend at least 10 percent of their budgets the good they have done for the tinely bypassed public scrutiny missioners reports that counties’ 15 on Medicaid. state. In a few short years, North in hastily passing the budget, the percent share of Medicaid costs will The need of poor counties to meet Carolina’s best and brightest have lottery, and other critical legislation. total $488 million this fiscal year. Local a heavier Medicaid burden severely brought us some real doozies, as With a resume like this, it’s no Medicaid expenditures are up 48 percent affects the tax side of the equation as my grandmother used to say. small wonder North Carolina has over the last five years. well, with 20 cents per $100 of assessed Here’s a (mercifully) short list: to bribe businesses to come here. The Medicaid funding burden valuation or more in property taxes • The governor, Mike Eas- But will the hundreds of millions doesn’t fall equally upon all counties. each year required to fund Medicaid. ley, is fattening his bank account already given away to industry be For some, Medicaid funding is hardly an Higher tax rates also lead to a higher with sweetheart real-estate deals enough to overcome the stench of issue; for others it is a large and rapidly tax burden. arranged by his campaign donors the state’s sleaze? Following the growing line item that is forcing hard By The Numbers, the John Locke and appointees to state positions. Easley administration’s logic, more decisions, making property tax increases Foundation’s annual ranking of local • One of our former con- money will be required to sweeten more likely and reducing the competi- tax burdens, shows that of the 20 coun- gressmen, Frank Ballance, is in the kitty. tiveness of areas that already were facing ties with at least 25 percent Medicaid federal prison for misappropriating All of this “progressive” significant economic challenges. eligibility, 14 rank above average in taxpayer money. reasoning, likewise, makes one At one extreme are most of the their county tax burden as a percentage • A former state agriculture wonder when we will have to start state’s urban counties. To be sure, these of income. commissioner, Meg Scott Phipps, bribing Northern and West Coast often rapidly growing areas face budget Money spent on Medicaid also isn’t and some of her assistants are in retirees and others to move to pressures. It’s just that Medicaid isn’t available for other purposes, including federal prison for violating cam- North Carolina. Taxpayers are right near the top of their fiscal concerns. For one of counties’ traditional top priori- paign-finance laws. to wonder whether our political example, in 2003, Orange County had the ties, education. The NCACC notes that • The speaker of the House, brethren are giving us the business, state’s third highest per-capita personal half of the state’s counties spend more Jim Black, is under state and fed- or should we call it the monkey income, at $34,182, $6,000 over the state on Medicaid than they do on school eral investigation for a myriad of business? average. Only 8.9 percent of the county’s construction. Five counties spend more scandals. The General Assembly’s I regret raining on the enthu- population was eligible for Medicaid in on Medicaid than they do on school leadership, meanwhile, defying siasm for the Hurricanes. But as the 2004. This year less than 3 percent of the operating expenses. public outrage, curiously refused to late Flip Wilson used to say: The county’s budget goes toward Medicaid Until the General Assembly replace Black. devil made me do it. CJ payments. The same general pattern eliminates county’s Medicaid funding • A former state representa- holds true in most of the state’s other responsibility, the state’s poor com- tive, Republican Michael Decker, is major urban counties. munities will continue to labor under under investigation for accepting Beyond the state’s major urban an especially heavy, and ever-worsen- highly questionable favors from Richard Wagner is editor of areas, incomes are often substantially ing burden. While the requirement Black in return for switching parties Carolina Journal. lower and a much larger percentage hurts all year round, its sting is espe- of the population is eligible for Medic- cially obvious now. CJ CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL Opinion 25 Teach History’s Content Commentary Airy concepts will not prepare N.C.’s youth for the future A Public-Affairs TV Milestone

ccording to a new study com- states — South Carolina, Georgia, and arious kinds of milestones 14 radio stations. missioned for the Thomas B. Virginia — received As. Our Southern evoke strong emotions. The Our stable of panelists has Fordham Foundation, North embarrassment continues. first mile of a new journey grown over the years to include ACarolina ranks in the bottom tier of states What did Mead examine? Whether Vbrings the promise of places yet un- an impressive array of statesmen, nationally in its expectations for student states have set high, meaningful seen, expectations yet unfulfilled. The thinkers, and journalists. And then, mastery of world history. standards for history knowledge and last marker on a long trip can trigger of course, there’s Chris Fitzsimon, The lead author of the report designed a curriculum to meet them, feelings of dread, remorse, or relief, my weekly left-of-center sparring was Walter Russell Mead, a celebrated primarily. About North Carolina, the depending on how onerous the trip partner. We are both from Char- scholar and author of the fascinating report observed that in the lower grades was and how eager you are lotte, both graduated from book Special Providence: American Foreign our public schools introduce historical to reach your destination. public high schools, and Policy and How It Changed the World. content by region, rather than by chro- And then there are both went to journalism It’s one of the most thought-provoking nology, which “breeds repetition and milestones that, like the school at UNC-Chapel books in recent years. discontinuity.” At the high-school level, odometer turning over, Hill. I don’t know what If taxpayer-funded education is to North Carolina’s evident deficiencies derive their significance went wrong with him. fulfill its legitimate role at all — which include a lack of specific concepts and simply from arithmetic. Over the years, is about citizenship and strengthening information to be imparted and an at- On the set of “NC Spin” “Spin” has attracted a the Republic, not about job training or tachment to airy concepts such as “the (www.ncspin.com), the weekly audience of some babysitting — then high standards and conditions, racial composition, and sta- statewide television show quarter-million North performance in history instruction are tus of social classes, castes, and slaves in of which I have been a Carolinians, including indispensable. It should make us pro- world societies and analy[zing] change part since its inception in just about every politi- foundly nervous to imagine the thought in those elements.” 1998, we recently com- cian, lobbyist, and politi- process of voters who can’t locate Iraq Rather than play in a wind-swept memorated our 400th cal junkie there is. Some or Afghanistan on a map, understand at sandbox, North Carolina students episode with a special offered comments in ad- least a little why rising powers China and should be encouraged to build their show featuring a huge vance of the 400th episode India are so different, or reflect on the understanding of history and culture cast of panelists, topics, and remi- celebration. “Watching NC Spin’s lessons of America’s wars because they on solid foundations of specific content, niscences. 30-minute informative and thought- know virtually nothing about them. Mead concluded. “The state needs to dig I am greatly appreciative ful discussion each week is 30 min- This being the case, we have a right its heels in and supply actual content to Tom Campbell, the creator and utes well spent,” said Sen. Richard to worry about the findings of the new if it hopes to deliver on its promise to moderator of “NC Spin,” for afford- Burr. Martin Lancaster, former con- Fordham study. North Carolina received prepare its students for life in the twenty- ing me the opportunity to partici- gressman and current community a grade of F. Admittedly, it was one first century.” pate in this unique public-affairs colleges president, put it this way: of 20 states so graded. But that’s cold Consider his motion seconded. program each week. He and I had “’NC Spin’ provides North Carolin- comfort. And several of our neighboring All in favor? CJ spent a lot of time together in 1998 ians a valuable weekly opportunity talking about the concept. Tom and to eavesdrop on the conversation of generations of the Campbell fam- intelligent and diverse individuals ily have played a key role in state discussing important issues affect- The Attack on Political Speech affairs for a long time, including ing North Carolina. Whether you Subsidized judicial races only first step toward regulation the founding of an Eastern North agree or disagree with the panelists, Carolina television station, running the lively exchange is a valuable n the upcoming fall elections for R-Ariz., a driving force behind the radio stations, serving in top posts tool to keep viewers interested in appellate judges, taxpayers will be attack on political speech, recently in state government, and creating and informed about the matters of forced to subsidize the campaigns stated on Don Imus’ radio program: “I Campbell University. state.” Iof most of the candidates. Liberals will would rather have a clean government My interest in a weekly pub- What I find most satisfying have to support conservative judges. than one where, quote, First Amend- lic affairs program for commercial about “NC Spin” is that its reach Conservatives will have to support ment rights are being respected...” television stemmed from three main isn’t limited to politicos. I can’t liberal judges. The “clean elections” movement, sources: my tenure in 1989 on the even begin to count the numbers of This unethical system exists while not clear in its objectives, some- staff of The New Republic magazine times a perfect stranger has come because North Carolina has a tax- how wants to take money out of cam- in Washington, where I helped prep up to me, without so much as an payer-financed judicial campaign paigns. Money never can be taken out panelists for the PBS program “The introduction or handshake, and system. In return for capping their of campaigns because it is the means by McLaughlin Group;” my appear- proceeded either to praise some spending, subsidized judicial candi- which political speech can exist. Money ance for two years on “North Caro- point I made the previous week or dates receive a large lump-sum pay- is not a necessary evil, but a necessary lina This Week” on WUNC-TV; and berate me for my utter foolishness. ment, courtesy of state taxpayers. good that provides citizens invalu- a research project I conducted as a In fact, it happened twice on stops Initially, the system was to be able information about candidates. William C. Friday Fellow on the po- I made while driving to our 400th funded through voluntary taxpayer Equalizing funding levels, also tential value of statewide television episode taping. contributions. Legislation creating the a goal of many reformers, is bad for programming in promoting civil That moms pushing stroll- judicial campaign system even specified democracy. The U.S. Supreme Court, but spirited debate about the issues ers, boys in the Target stockroom, that no money from the General Fund in Buckley v. Valeo, understood this: facing North Carolina. police officers in the parking lot, would be used to fund candidates. Of “Moreover, the equalization of permis- Borrowing a little from Col- and salesmen at my favorite cloth- course, when the voluntary contribu- sible campaign expenditures might umn A, a little from Column B, and ing store all say they are loyal fans tions didn’t come in, which is consistent serve not to equalize the opportuni- so on, we came up with a model of “NC Spin” is powerful evidence with virtually every public financing ties of all candidates, but to handicap for “NC Spin” that has stood the that Tom Campbell had a brilliant system in the country, the General As- a candidate who lacked substantial test of time. Starting on WRAZ, the idea eight years ago, and that we’ve sembly unethically took money from name recognition or exposure of his Triangle’s Fox affiliate, the pro- been doing something right ever the General Fund to finance the system. views before the start of the campaign.” gram soon expanded to channels in since. To the “reformers,” compel- Taxpayer financing is just the first Charlotte, the Triad, Wilmington, Watch out for the Spin! CJ ling taxpayers to fund speech and step. Next on the agenda is regulating, Asheville, and other communities. candidates they oppose is justified. and if possible restricting, indepen- Currently, “NC Spin” is broadcast “Clean elections” are more important dent political speech. Far-fetched? on 16 TV channels, usually but not John Hood is president of the than the First Amendment’s freedom The N.C. legislature already is con- exclusively on weekends, as well as John Locke Foundation. of speech. As Sen. John McCain, sidering a bill that would do this. CJ July 2006 CAROLINA 26 Opinion JOURNAL

Editorial Briefs

Taxpayers get soaked You may never have heard of Camille How- ard of New Orleans’ Jefferson Parish. But if you pay taxes, you’ve helped her repair her home with federal flood insurance no less than four times since she has owned it — and seven times before that. And therein lies a tale of policy mistakes and taxpayer liability, the Wall Street Journal reports. Federal government officials say about 120,000 properties nationwide have received “multiple” taxpayer-subsidized flood insurance payments — at a cost of $7.25 billion. An astound- ing 26,000 of those have received four or more flood payments. Ideally, Congress would abolish the NFIP, and homeowners would purchase flood insur- ance in the private market or accept the risks of building. But Congress has a history of bailing out homeowners from natural disasters, so abolishing the program would eliminate premium collections — leaving taxpayers worse off. Half of the New Orleans homeowners who will receive flood as- sistance from Katrina programs never bothered to pay any flood-insurance premiums. But that isn’t stopping Congress from paying them to rebuild. Why does anyone pay premiums? When Is a Tax Increase Not an Increase? The most prudent reform strategy was proposed by Senate Banking Chairman Richard ew topics spark as much controversy as taxes, and every year. Indeed, in many North Carolina coun- Shelby. The Alabama Republican would move the especially an increase in taxes. But what really ties the time between assessments is eight years. Yet, program toward actuarial soundness by charg- constitutes a tax increase? Or, in other words, are when reassessments do occur, the increase in prop- ing risk-based premiums. The riskier the region Fall tax increases created equal? erty values can be large because it represents the residents build in, the higher premiums they will To some the answer is easy: A tax increase hap- accumulated change in values over several years. pay. Shelby also argues that there’s no reason for pens whenever there is a rise in taxes paid. By this Second, there is no assurance property values taxpayers to underwrite insurance for luxury or way of thinking, if Joe Smith paid $1,000 in taxes and owners’ incomes will change at the same rate. vacation homes, or for repetitive loss properties. last year and this year he pays $1,200, a tax increase In fact, in recent years property values have been has occurred. End of story. rising much faster than incomes. This can create a But what if we’re talking about the income tax, problem for owners who pay their property taxes and what if Joe’s tax payment rose only because his from their current income. income rose? Should this still be considered a tax As a result, when property values are reas- Retirement costs up increase, especially if the percentage of each of Joe’s sessed and the property tax base rises by a substan- Taxpayers owe more than a $500,000 per dollars taken in taxes has remained the same? tial amount, owners will often perceive this as a household for financial promises made by gov- It’s time for a little terminology to large tax increase, even if the property ernment, mostly to cover the cost of retirement more clearly see the issue. Taxes paid re- tax rate has remained the same. Conse- benefits for Baby Boomers, a USA Today analysis sult from multiplying whatever is taxed quently, counties will often lower the shows. (called the tax base) by the percentage of property tax rate in reassessment years Federal, state, and local governments have that tax base taken in taxes (called the tax to soften the blow. Yet because the costs added nearly $10 trillion to taxpayer liabilities in rate). For example, how much sales tax of many local infrastructure projects, the past two years, bringing the total of govern- you pay equals the dollar amount of your such as schools and roads, are tied to ment’s unfunded obligations to an unprecedented retail spending multiplied by the sales property values, placing such a lid on $57.8 trillion. That is the equivalent of a $510,678 tax rate (cents of sales tax per dollar of property tax revenues can create back- credit-card debt for every American household. spending). logs in school and road funding. Payments on the delinquent tax bill must start So, an increase in taxes paid can Michael So what’s the solution? One option Walden soon if financial promises to the elderly are to occur for three reasons: the same defined is to better educate property owners be kept. tax base rises, the tax base is defined to about why the long lags in property What’s behind the increase? be larger, or the tax rate is increased. The question reassessments create periodic big jumps in prop- • Medicare: The long-term deficit of the is, which should be considered a true tax increase? erty tax payments. Another is shorter time periods health-care program for the elderly grew by $4.5 A case can be made that the first example between reassessments, so owners could adjust to trillion since 2004. The causes include higher medi- doesn’t constitute a tax increase, but the latter two more frequent, yet smaller, payment increases. cal costs and an aging population. However, the do. If you pay more sales tax only because you A third option is to develop some creative new Medicare prescription drug benefit is not a spent more at retail stores, logic would say this isn’t ways to pay property taxes. For example, rather factor. It was included in the 2004 number. a tax increase. But if the state expanded the sales than paying them out of income, some share could • Social Security: The program’s deficit for tax base to include spending on services and didn’t be paid from profits realized when the property is workers and beneficiaries already in the system lower the tax rate, or if the state simply increased sold. This could be particularly helpful to property grew $2.5 trillion over two years because each the sales tax rate, a legitimate tax increase has oc- owners with high wealth yet low income. generation gets benefits greater than the last, so curred. Taxes are a more complicated process than the program automatically gets more out of bal- Most taxpayers understand these differences at first glance. Keep your eyes on the underlying ance every year. with one exception — the property tax. Like all tax- fundamentals of the tax base and tax rate to see • Government retirement benefits: Pension es, property taxes paid equal the property tax base where taxes are headed. CJ and retiree medical benefits for civil servants and (here the value of property recorded by the county, military personnel are more generous than those called assessed value) multiplied by the property for private-sector workers. But government has tax rate (cents of tax per dollar of assessed value). not set aside as much money as private com- However, there are two characteristics that Michael L. Walden is a William Neal Reynolds distin- panies to pay the costs. CJ make the property tax different. One is that the guished professor at North Carolina State University and tax base (assessed property values) is not updated an adjunct scholar of the John Locke Foundation. CAROLINA July 2006 JOURNAL Opinion 27 A Lot Has Changed Since Early Days of Duke Rape Case

ou probably remember where you ants are, but we know they came from A “wanted poster” was created Seems like ancient history were when you first heard that 46 this group,” he told The Herald-Sun of by one of the protestors possessing doesn’t it, considering all that has Duke lacrosse players were sus- Durham. And if only the Duke players a graphic flair. It featured the pho- happened to call the players’ guilt Ypected of a brutal gang rape at a party would end their conspiracy of silence, tos of the entire Duke lacrosse team, into question: two rounds of negative house in Durham’s Trinity Park. he went on, this thing could be over minus the one black lacrosse player. DNA tests on all 46 players, revela- I cer- pretty quickly. All of them were “wanted,” you see, tions that the accuser gave multiple tainly do. I was That meme was picked up by since they represented the historical accounts the event to police, and heading to a Raleigh News & Observer columnist abuses of the white man against black another dancer who was there telling lacrosse game Ruth Sheehan, who, in a now-in- women, and men against women in police the accusations were “a crock”? in Charlotte in famous March 27 column entitled general. The media who pushed the March. Former “Team’s silence is sickening,” wrote: Few protestors were interested “spoiled rich white boys” template are Duke captain “Members of the Duke men’s lacrosse in any player’s individual guilt. No , scrambling to back away now. Ruth (2003) Taylor team: You know. We know you know.” this was a chance to push the multi- Sheehan’s latest Duke column, for in- Wray, who was But, never fear, the DNA tests cultural agenda that keeps those of stance, is “DA ought to hand off case,” an assistant taken on all of the white players privilege off balance. and on April 13 she wrote the backfill- Jon men’s lacrosse Ham would seal the fate of the guilty and Picking up that cudgel, a student ing “If lying, take her to task.” coach at Queens exonerate the innocent, Nifong as- at North Carolina Central University, A report issued by Duke Law University of sured us. He told The Herald-Sun that the historically black institution across professor James E. Coleman Jr., who Charlotte, and I discussed it that day all rapes are serious but that this one town, told The Herald-Sun on March later also urged Nifong to hand off (he hadn’t heard much at that point, spoke to the community “in a differ- 27, “whether it happened or not. It the case, further balanced the ledger, but his initial gut reaction squares ent manner.” He also called the racial would be justice for things that hap- showing the lacrosse players to be more with what we’ve learned in the aspect “particularly abhorrent.” pened in the past.” among Duke’s best students, not just past two months than what we were Based on his characterization, Remember those dark days, student athletes. told early on). the multi-culti lefties in Trinity Park followed by protests by the New Now cable shows are discussing In the next day or two the “facts” (and there are many) began immedi- Black Panther Party, the universal Nifong’s mistakes and irresponsibility, became even more lurid as Durham ate protests, banging pots and pans condemnation and assumption of not his iron-clad case. Amazing how District Attorney Mike Nifong made and alluding to slave masters who guilt, the resignation of lacrosse coach things can change. CJ the cable talk show circuit. His evi- abused their black chattel and point- Mike Pressler and the later indictment dence, he said, was iron-clad. ing out, not very subtly, how this was, of players Reade Seligmann, Collin Jon Ham is publisher of Carolina “We don’t know who the assail- well, the same. Finnerty and Dave Evans? Journal. Global Warming Alarmists Trade in Fear So They Can Get Control he world is about to end. It may ful way. reduce CO2 will reduce temperature. debate because you know it is all junk even end the day after tomorrow. Dr. Thomas Wigley, a well- So to reduce CO2, which will science, be concerned. Be very con- There will be tidal waves, earth- known climatologist from the U.S. prevent the end of the world, legisla- cerned. These CO2 reduction policies Tquakes, and burning temperatures (or National Center for Scientific Research tors and other state officials are dis- are very real possibilities and can have freezing temperatures, one or the other). and global warming alarmist, exam- cussing policies that will affect you. If significant costs. I know how to stop this from happen- ined the impact of the Kyoto Protocol. these policies will prevent the end of To give some perspective on how ing, though. This treaty, which the U.S. wisely the world, how can we disagree with far global warming alarmists are will- If you believed me, and you hasn’t ratified, calls on countries to those advocating reductions in CO2? ing to go in the name of reducing CO2 thought I could stop the end from reduce drastically their emissions of That would be like opposing the ex- and at the expense of the economy happening, carbon dioxide (CO2), and specifically istence of all human life and the very and society, we have to look only at you’d let calls for the U.S. to reduce emissions existence of our planet. It is pretty the impact of Kyoto. The U.S. Energy me do what by 7 percent below 1990 levels. tough to counter that argument. Who Information Administration deter- I wanted According to Wigley, if there wants to be labeled anti-Earth? mined in a leading 1998 study that in order to were 100 percent compliance with We have to support rail systems U.S. compliance with Kyoto would prevent it. I Kyoto by countries that were origi- because they will encourage people mean a loss of 4.2 percent in Gross Do- could raise nal parties to the treaty (not just the to stop driving. Do you want a house mestic Product (or $437 billion). The your taxes, countries that ratified it), including with lots of land in suburbia? Too bad. National Black Chamber of Commerce keep you the United States, the effect on tem- You only can get a 417-square-foot and the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of from buying perature would be undetectable. The studio apartment downtown because Commerce estimated that as many as certain cars, temperature would be 0.0126° F lower we need to make the community 3.2 million Americans could lose their prevent you Daren by 2050 and anywhere from 0.18° F more dense. Are your eyes set on that jobs. from living Bakst to 0.37° F lower by 2100. This data is beautiful SUV for your family? Keep I’m not quite ready to hand over where you outlined in greater detail in a recent dreaming. You’ll drive an electric car policymaking decisions to the global want, and much more. John Locke Foundation study. that goes 0-30 miles per hour in 1.6 warming alarmists. Some may want Global warming alarmists have This puts a damper on the global minutes, and you’ll like it! to do whatever they recommend, but figured this out. Global warming is warming parade. Fear not, though. All of this is possible if alarm- jobs, freedom, and the future growth their “end of the world” excuse to Alarmists have mastered the art of il- ists get their way. Rail systems, smart of North Carolina are more important push policies that they’d like to see lusion — or possibly convolution — to growth (a.k.a. Soviet-style stagnation), than addressing scare tactics. In North implemented. North Carolinians scare people, including policymakers. and limited vehicle choice are just Carolina, we often hear that we need should care because these policies, Their goal now is to take the means some of the ideas that could be forced to be a leader on environmental is- if adopted, will change their lives in that allegedly would lower tempera- upon North Carolinians in the name sues. I completely agree. We should be drastic and negative ways. tures, reducing CO2, and turn it into of reducing CO2. For example, the one of the few states that stops listen- The goal, if we think global the goal. This new goal can be mea- state’s Climate Action Plan Advisory ing to alarmists and starts listening to warming is a problem, should be to sured and can show reductions, albeit Group (CAPAG) is considering a mul- reason. CJ develop sensible policies that reduce at a high cost. The illusion is achieved titude of options that will undermine the temperature. That seems simple by throwing out so many statistics, your freedom and could form the enough. There is only one catch, arguments, and distortions on CO2 basis for legislation. Daren Bakst is legal and regulatory though, for the alarmists. We can’t that the real goal gets lost. Nobody If you weren’t concerned be- policy analyst for the John Locke Founda- reduce temperatures in any meaning- remembers to ask how policies to fore with the whole global warming tion. July 2006 C a r o l i n a 28 Parting Shot Journal State Plans Canal From Global TransPark to Southport (a CJ parody)

By ANNABELLE ERIE ferry project was Sen. Marc Basnight’s Special Correspondent idea, while the canal was his own. RALEIGH DOT officials said the canal will be he Easley administration plans to 30 feet wide by 6 feet deep, but they have construct a 100-mile-long canal not formulated a design to deal with connecting the Global TransPark several river crossings. “We will cross Tin Kinston with a new state port on the those rivers when we come to them,” Cape Fear River near Southport, Gov. DOT Secretary Lyndo Tippett said. Mike Easley and NCDOT officials said Tippett did not say who would at a beachfront press conference in late be leading the project. Former Deputy June. Secretary David King, former Ferry Divi- The project is expected to cost at sion Director Jerry Gaskill, and former least $350 million and take seven years Ferry Division Business Officer Charles to complete. Utz all had key roles in the study, but are “Some people thought the GTP no longer employed by DOT. was a loony idea when Gov. Jim Martin Tippett also said the canal would be first proposed it 1991. We are going to an ideal place to operate the children’s prove them wrong,” Easley said. Origi- nally envisioned as an industrial park pontoon boat and hoped there would with significant air cargo capabilities, the eventually be some children to trans- GTP has been slow to take off. port. “If the GTP is truly to be a multi- The ill-fated Currituck Ferry is currently being field-tested on the canals of Europe to Selling his plan to legislative lead- determine if the craft is suitable for the proposed GTP-to-Southport canal system. (CJ ers might prove difficult for Easley. modal transportation center, we need photo illustration) to have as many modals as we can. The House Speaker Jim Black said he was canal modal will allow smaller boats to will create thousands of jobs, possibly environmental permits may be required. intrigued by the idea but thought there travel uninterrupted from the new port eclipsing the famed canals of Burgundy A reporter asked Easley whether the were higher priorities such as restoring to the GTP,” he said. in France. “Why would you go to France Ferry Division had the expertise to con- discretionary funds that he controlled. He said he envisions fresh seafood when you can canal through Eastern duct a through feasibility study. Senate leader Basnight said that being transported up the canal to the North Carolina?” he asked. “I know what you are trying to after the Currituck Ferry debacle he GTP where it will be loaded on giant A feasibility study completed last imply, but this project should not be com- no longer trusted the Ferry Division or airplanes and flown to airports all over year by the Department of Transporta- pared to that poorly conceived children’s anyone at DOT to do anything right, the world. He also thinks that the canal tion’s Ferry Division concluded that the ferry deal in Currituck County,” Easley but said he would try to stay open can become a major tourist attraction that project was feasible even though some said. He pointed out that the Currituck to the idea. CJ

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