Free Republic

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Two more former employees were indicted Tuesday in a multi-million dollar fraud investigation involving the Wake County Public School System's transportation department, just weeks after three other suspects in the case pleaded guilty to related charges. Angela Malloy-Sanders and Pamela Stewart were charged with accessory after the fact in the suspected scheme to funnel millions of taxpayers' dollars. According to the indictments, they lied to investigators to cover up the fraud. Investigators said the two women began cooperating in the investigation months ago and have agreed to pay back the money they are accused of taking. Malloy-Sanders...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- A state lawmaker whose son died when a woman sped past the lowered arm and flashing lights of a stopped school bus introduced legislation Wednesday to toughen the penalty for the crime. A bill introduced by Rep. Dale Folwell, R-Forsyth, would make passing a stopped school bus a higher level misdemeanor. Striking someone after passing the bus would become a felony. The bill was among more than 90 introduced Wednesday, a key deadline for filing bills that do not generate or require revenue. Bills not introduced by Wednesday will have a difficult time being considered before the...

For the Catawba County (North Carolina) School District, it was three strikes and you're out. River Bend Middle School had allowed school supporters – such as tire dealers, security companies, and other churches to purchase advertising space on the school's athletic field.  When the Oxford Baptist Church asked to display a sign with the Bible verse: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God," (1 Corinthians 10:31), their request was denied. When negotiations were fruitless, ADF attorney Gary McCaleb sued the school district in the U.S. District Court for the Western...

RALEIGH – North Carolina political and education leaders held a news conference Thursday to release state test scores and accountability outcomes for the 2003-04 school year. This has become an annual event in Raleigh, usually in August or early September, as the official ABCs of Public Education results are released for each public-school district in the state (some of which typically let preliminary results trickle out if they look particularly good). In the past, my staff and I have paid a great deal of attention to this announcement. Starting just a couple of years after the program started in the...

School Calendar RALEIGH, N.C. -- The state's top teacher lobbying group may be ready to let the General Assembly mandate when the school calendar starts and ends in local districts. Member surveys by the North Carolina Association of Educators show at least 60 percent of those polled statewide support legislation that would require schools to start no earlier than Aug. 25 and end by June 10. The measure also would cut in half, to 10, the number of teacher workdays -- days when students are not in session. NCAE, with 70,000 members, strongly opposed a bill last year that would...

MOUNT AIRY, N.C. -- A local high school teacher who watched the beheading of Nicholas Berg in class with some of his students was suspended for two days. Mack Hodges teaches social studies at Mount Airy High School and also coaches baseball and football. Hodges recently told his class that he could not find the Web site carrying the video of the beheading, a school official said. In the video, Nicholas Berg is seated on the ground while five armed men disguised by head scarves and masks stand behind him. A man in the middle identified as terrorist Abu Musab...

Program director says courses will appeal to “sexual minorities” CHAPEL HILL—This fall the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will offer a new minor program: “sexuality studies.” The program will be offered as an interdisciplinary program, similar to nearly 15 others on campus. Students who complete 12 hours’ worth of courses can receive a minor in sexuality studies. According to the program’s web site, the program is “designed for students who want to explore the study of sexual/gender identities — such as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and heterosexual.” Some of the courses being taught in the fall semester include...

May 17, 1954 -- half a century ago -- saw one of the most momentous decisions in the history of the Supreme Court of the United States. Some observers who were there said that one of the black-robed Justices sat on the great bench with tears in his eyes. The case was of course Brown v. Board of Education, and the decision declared that racially segregated schools were unconstitutional. In rapid succession, all kinds of other racial segregation, which were common across most of the South and even in some border states, were likewise declared unconstitutional. This was a reversal...

RALEIGH — A lack of education and vocational training — specifically in technology, science, and biotechnology fields — has left the North Carolina public school system lagging in the competitive race of building a competent workforce to attract new corporations and businesses to the state. Martin Lancaster, president of the North Carolina Community College system, said the NCCC is doing its best to bridge the gap across the state through tech prep and other programs, but he thinks the state is on a collision course with disaster in preparing the workforce for the future. Problem begins in high school “Forty-eight...

DURHAM -- Seventh-grader Jenna Berasa squinted through the lens of a vintage Polaroid ProPak on Monday, her finger pausing above the shutter button. "Is this one your white self or your black self?" she asked classmate Jenny Vitas, who sat on the stairs outside Shepard Middle School pretending to read a book. "This is my white self," she answered quickly, the wind whipping her long, ash-blond locks as Jenna snapped the photo. Figuring out how to represent herself as a black girl wasn't as easy for Jenny. In fact, it was downright uncomfortable. She kept glancing at the two black...