June Atkinson

Unfortunately, it would depend upon the Legislature's support:

The department proposes consolidating the administrative services at Governor Morehead School for the Blind in Raleigh and Eastern N.C. School for the Deaf in Wilson. The Governor Morehead School would serve as a satellite campus of ENCSD, and students would continue to attend classes at the school.

It's a great idea actually, but (big surprise) it goes against the Republicans' "cut first ask no questions later" lawmaking:

Being 50th is not a good thing:

North Carolina could end up dead last in the nation in per pupil funding under proposals by House budget writers on Tuesday, state K-12 leaders warn.

"This budget positions North Carolina schools to operate in only the most limited fashion," said State Superintendent June Atkinson. "Taken together, all of these cuts would severely limit what local schools will be able to offer to students and will jeopardize more than 25 years of progress in our state."

Well, considering the Society for Creative Anachronism NC GOP looks back longingly on pre-Reconstruction Southern feudalism, a 25 year slide back is probably viewed as moderate.

The non-tempest in a teapot stirred up by right-wing haters of public education has found its way to the desk of Marc Basnight, who appears unfamiliar with the fact that there are four grades in high school, not just the 11th. Dome reports that Basnight got his knickers in a knot over an uninformed story that US history in high school would start in 1877, with reconstruction. Fortunately, Superintendent Atkinson is on the scene to set the record straight.

The battle to lead NC public schools took a welcome turn yesterday when Bill Harrison resigned as CEO of the Department of Public Instruction.

At least temporarily, according to the Dome.

June Atkinson has won her court fight over who is in charge of public education in North Carolina. Wake Superior Court Judge Robert Hobgood ruled today that Atkinson, who was elected statewide as the state superintendent of public instruction, has the authority under North Carolina's constitution to run the state's schools.

We elected June Atkinson. She won fair and square. Bev Perdue didn't like the way we voted and she appointed someone else to handle the duties we thought we'd elected June Atkinson to perform. On Friday, a judge will rule whether June will retain those duties that we elected her to perform or whether Bev Perdue's end run around the voters of North Carolina will stand.

I voted for June. I hope the judge rules in her favor. I trust her judgment.

OK, so I have oversimplified things here. Maybe we should discuss whether the 1995 law that gave Bev Perdue the ability to strip June of her duties should stay on the books or whether the School Superintendent position should be an elected position. That's probably a lot more productive than beating up on Bev Perdue for doing something the law gave her the right to do.

At this very moment, our pal Justice Bob Orr is announcing his representation of Superintendent June Atkinson in a lawsuit against Governor Perdue to determine who will actually control North Carolina's education system:

When: April 3, 2009 at 11:00 am

Where: 333 E. Six Forks Road • Suite 180 • Raleigh, North Carolina

Purpose: Media briefing by Justice Robert F. Orr (retired) concerning litigation that will be filed Friday, April 3, 2009, by Dr. June St. Clair Atkinson to challenge the constitutionality of certain legislative and executive branch actions taken to usurp the Superintendent of Public Instruction’s constitutional authority to administer the North Carolina public school system.

This November, State Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson received a resounding mandate from 2.2 million North Carolina voters to continue her work for four additional years. As prescribed by the North Carolina State Constitution, the function of the superintendent is as follows: “The Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be the secretary and chief administrative officer of the State Board of Education.” This description contains no ambiguities.

Unfortunately, the actions of the governor with respect to this office – namely the installation of former Cumberland County Schools Superintendent Bill Harrison as the first individual to whom both the role of chief executive of the Department of Public Instruction and chairman of the State Board of Education – do not reflect an understanding of this explicit passage; in fact, the governor’s actions directly contradict it.

Raleigh News & Observer reports: Gov. Beverly Perdue has named William Harrison, superintendent of the Cumberland County Schools, to oversee statewide public education.

Harrison, a former teacher, principal and school system administrator, will serve as both chief executive officer and chairman of the State Board of Education, Lynn Bonner reports.

"We need to have a clear line of accountability," Perdue said at a news conference this afternoon.

Harrison has been superintendent in Cumberland County, the fourth-largest school system in North Carolina, since 1997. He also served as superintendent in Hoke and Orange counties and an assistant superintendent in Brunswick County.

In appointing Harrison, Perdue said she wanted to change the way the state's education system operates.

Today's N&O frontpage features an issue that I've been meaning to write about for a while... The wacky way North Carolina manages our public education system.

In our strange system, responsibility for education is distributed across at least seven levels. The titular head of our education system, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, has the least power of anyone.

The North Carolina Public School Forum lists this as one of the top 10 education issues of 2009. It's one of those complex issues that has never really been addressed because none of the power brokers have a vested interest in making it better. You can guess at who might suffer from their inaction.

Here's my take on how it works, and what we can change.