NC GOP nominee makes claims about school safety & performance. What does the data say?
Hal Weatherman, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, is telling voters that families are leaving North Carolina’s public schools due to concerns about safety, and academic performance.
In a video posted on social media, Weatherman talks about why he thinks 25% of North Carolina students don’t attend traditional public schools. Weatherman, in his claims, attributes the percentage to teacher arrests for sexual abuse, school violence, low test scores and the “sexualization” of children in the classroom.
Weatherman has three children — one in college, one in a charter school and one home-schooled.
Weatherman is running against Democrat Rachel Hunt, Wayne Jones of the Constitution Party and Libertarian Shannon Bray.
Here’s a look at some of the claims Weatherman made in his video.
‘70 teachers charged with sexual abuse’
“Last year alone there were over 70 — 70 teachers — charged with sexual abuse. Seventy.” Weatherman claimed. “And they (parents) wonder if the school system is even checking the backgrounds of people who are going to be in a classroom with my underage child for eight hours a day. That’s a legitimate question.”
School districts and charter schools typically use commercial vendors to run background checks on new hires. But schools are not required to fingerprint teacher applicants for criminal records checks.
Weatherman did not respond to an email from The News & Observer requesting his source for the statistic about more than 70 teachers being charged in 2023 for sexual abuse.
According to a spreadsheet maintained by A.P. Dillon, an education blogger and reporter for North State Journal, 69 North Carolina teachers were arrested in 2023. Dillon said most arrests were sex-crime related. But she also has arrests for other charges, including DWI, theft and assault.
Dillon said all but three of the 69 teachers arrested worked in public schools. Those arrests represent a tiny fraction of the more than 90,000 public school teachers in the state.
There have been 54 teachers arrested so far this year and 407 since 2016, according to Dillon.
‘13,000 acts of criminal violence’
“Last year there were over 13,000 acts of criminal violence in the classroom in North Carolina public schools — 13,000,” Weatherman claimed. “I want to know when I drop my little girl off at school, or my son at school, are they protected?”
Weatherman goes on to say in the video that every public, private and parochial school in the state should have an armed security guard.
There were 13,193 reported acts of crime and violence in the 2022-23 school year — an 18% increase over the prior school year, according to a consolidated data report from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. But non-violent crimes made up the majority of the offenses.
Possession of a controlled substance accounted for 54% of the school crimes in the 2022-23 school year, according to the report. The percentage rises to 59% when you include possession of an alcoholic beverage.
Claim: 25% of students proficient in reading
Weatherman also claims that some families are leaving traditional public schools because they’re “saying the performance is not there.”
“Did you know that last year 25% — 25% of our kids in public school — were reading proficient at the eighth-grade level.,” Weatherman claims in the video. “Let me rephrase that. Seventy-five percent are not.
“They can’t read. If you can’t read, you can’t function in society. And they’re wondering are you educating my child? Are you preparing them?”
Weatherman appears to be citing the state’s performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, or NAEP. Every two years, students from across the country are selected to take the NAEP exams in reading and math.
In 2022, 26% of North Carolina eighth-graders scored at or above the proficient achievement level on the NAEP reading exam. This year’s NAEP results have not been released yet.
In contrast, 51.3% of North Carolina eighth-graders scored as at least grade-level proficient on last school year’s state end-of-grade reading exam.
Different ways to define proficient
The reason for the difference is that proficient is defined differently on both exams.
NAEP uses four achievement levels: below basic, basic, proficient and advanced.
The state’s EOG exams use five levels. Students who score in Level 3 and above are grade-level proficient. Students who score in Level 4 and above are college and career-ready.
NAEP defines proficient as having “demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter.” That’s similar to the state’s college and career-ready level standard, which was achieved by 29% of eighth-graders on the latest state reading test.
The state’s definition for Level 3 says students demonstrate sufficient understanding of grade-level content standards, though some support may be needed. That’s similar to the NAEP definition for its basic achievement level, which indicates partial mastery of prerequisite knowledge and skills.
In 2022, 66% of North Carolina eighth-grade students scored at or above the basic level on the NAEP reading test.
NC Reality Check is an N&O series holding those in power accountable and shining a light on public issues that affect the Triangle or North Carolina. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email realitycheck@newsobserver.com
This story was originally published October 24, 2024 at 1:09 PM.
