12/18 Letters: NC must stop promoting third graders who can’t read

Put students first

One of my most difficult issues while chairing the State Board of Education for six and a half years was our attempt to end social promotion for students who couldn’t read at grade level by the end of third grade. We held public hearings across the state to try to reach a consensus.

Many educators and parents argued that retaining a child would hurt his/her self-esteem. My response was that promoting a student into a situation where success was impossible or improbable would hurt more. We lost that argument; however, it was really the students who lost.

While the state board may well be in the clear on enforcement of the policy with the General Assembly, the spirit of the law seems to be broken based on the large number of students who continue to be promoted despite their lack of reading skills.

Our educators should be able to figure this out. Let’s put the long-term well-being of students first!

Phil Kirk, Raleigh

Education spending

One need look no further than “Whistle’s sound lifts hopes” (Dec. 15) to see how N.C. education spending has shortchanged public schools students in two of the state’s poorest counties.

At one school, Northampton High, nearly 90 percent of students are behind when they arrive. The four-year graduation rates at both schools is lower than the state average — 78 percent at North Edgecombe High, 72 percent at Northampton.

Despite Republican lawmakers taking credit for increasing overall education spending since they took over the General Assembly in 2010, it is apparent they are unwilling to spend what is required to guarantee access to a sound, basic education for all school age children in our state.

And yes, money goes a long way toward achieving the desired outcomes.

Sally Greaser, Raleigh

Phones in class

Regarding “To move student scores up, put the phones down,” (Dec. 9 Opinion):

As a high school senior, I can say cell phones are a huge distraction from learning for both the student and the teachers.

Yes, phones can come in handy to look up information in class, but they’re being utilized way too much even for that.

We students are being asked to utilize videos and “Crash Courses” for learning, instead of someteachers actually teaching.

The information in these formats is coming so quickly you’re forced to watch the same video numerous times. By the time you’re half way through an assignment, you’re frustrated and couldn’t care less about what’s being taught; you just want it over. And trust me, I am hardly alone in this observation.

I’m not against the use of phones entirely, it just needs to be scaled back and let the teachers teach and trust that students are smart enough to learn without devices.

David Dayton Jr., Cary

UNC Board

Please add my name to the list of Carolina alums outraged over the UNC Board of Governors’ “gift” to those who honor symbols of racism and treason. I concur with those demanding that the $2.5 million be awarded as scholarships to the descendants of slaves.

As a real estate broker in Durham and Chapel Hill for 35 years, I’ve hired hundreds of workers and when one would drive up in a truck displaying a Confederate flag, I instructed them to move on out of my racially-integrated household.

The New York Times’ “1619 Project” should be required reading for anyone who thinks fighting to maintain slavery was a noble cause.

Graham Marlette, Durham

Impeachment

I believe all politicians would agree the partisan impeachment coming out of the House is bad for our country.

The best and only way to ensure that a partisan impeachment never happens again may be to use the November 2020 voting cycle to remove politicians who voted for the partisan impeachment. That way, politicians may learn the lesson that partisan impeachment is divisive to the country, totally unacceptable, and is not what our Founding Fathers envisioned.

Steve Barnes, Raleigh

EV tax credits

In deciding whether to extend the federal $7,500 electric vehicle tax credit, Sen. Thom Tillis and his fellow legislators should consider what would be best for all Americans, not just the wealthy.

The average buyer of an EV earns more than $150,000 per year. N.C. taxpayer dollars should not fund a $7,500 tax credit for those buyers. On a national scale, the EV tax credit is a $9.7 billion subsidy to the EV industry. That’s taxpayer dollars subsidizing Americans who can readily afford to buy their own cars.

The EV tax credit is a reward for the wealthy paid for by moderate- and low-income consumers. To extend the tax credit would be a disservice to most North Carolinians. Congress should put the brakes on such a bad idea.

Margaret Currin, Raleigh