April 27, 2011
A POLICY STATEMENT FROM THE CIVITAS INSTITUTE
Recently the Civitas Institute conducted a School Board Training session for school board members from across the state. The Winston-Salem Forsyth County School Board co-sponsored the training.
The NAACP led by Rev. William Barber protested at the training session in front of a number of TV news crews.
The protesters hurled a number of false charges against Civitas and its supporters including that the purpose of the school board training was to re-segregate schools across the state.
A press release by the NAACP stated, “The Civitas Institute will undoubtedly advise the school board to cut the budget on the backs of the poor and minority students and families in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School System.”
As always when the left has no argument, they call you racist. Civitas is not going to let name calling liberals stop us in our work to make North Carolina a better place.
Click here to see links to full news coverage on the protests.
The NAACP is attempting to intimidate school board members (and Civitas) and restrict where school board members get their information to only liberal-approved training organizations.
North Carolina law (Chapter 115C-50) requires that all local school board members receive a minimum of 12 clock hours of training annually. The North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA), a mostly government funded group, has been the major, and often sole provider of school board training in the state. Civitas has now given elected officials a choice.
Civitas believes that the NCSBA does not represent the views of all school board members across the state. Additionally, the monopoly control of required school board training by a government supported association threatens the viability of a system of independent school boards charged with making decisions ranging from the curriculum to the budget to personnel.Many of the groups that protest our efforts are recipients of taxpayer dollars and don’t want any discussion of cost savings – just keep raising taxes and increase government spending is their answer to every problem.
The Civitas Institute is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that accepts no government money and is fully funded through private donations.
Civitas Institute school board training offers sessions focused around foundational topics such as roles and responsibilities for school board members, school budgeting, ethics training, school finance and school law. Other areas discussed include policy development, parliamentary procedure, evaluation and research, curriculum development, and strategies for boosting student achievement.
The goal and purpose of these training sessions, is to provide unbiased and non-partisan training and work with individual school boards to provide training that best fits their members’ needs. This focus makes our trainings a unique and effective alternative to the existing government establishment.Barber stated, “We in the South cannot afford to go backwards.”
Interesting words from the Reverend, who seems to protest anything that challenges the scale and reach of government. Perhaps he and the members of the NAACP are more threatened by our advocacy of choice and the rejection of the government backed establishment because their salaries depend on it. They are the ones holding back our childrens’ futures, stifling the potential of the educational system in North Carolina and “moving us backwards.”
Despite these protests – we will continue our advocacy of freedom and choice in all sectors of society as we work to promote a more prosperous future for North Carolina.
P.S. Our school board training cost school board members a fraction of what the NCSBA charges. By offering this low cost training we are also saving taxpayer dollars. The latest session in Winston Salem cost $40 while an NCSBA training session costs hundreds of dollars to attend.
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