JOHNSTON COUNTY – The Johnston County Public School Board received an additional $7.9 million monday night. Johnston County Commissioners voted unanimously to approve the funding.
In June, Johnston County Commissioners withheld $7.9 million of the school’s $79.9 million request until they could adopt a policy preventing the teaching of Critical Race Theory, or CRT, in public school classrooms.
The school board held a special session Friday, October 1st and voted 6-to-0 to adopt a new policy. School board member Kay Carroll was absent.
Monday night, Commissioner Fred Smith made a motion to give the school board the additional $7.9 million.
School board chairman Todd Sutton was present at the commission meeting. He spoke during the public comments section after the vote.
“Thank you for funding our school system and I believe this is the first time in history, or many many years, that the school system has been fully funded on a capital outlay as well as our general budget. Our students and our staff thank you for what you do and we appreciate you giving us the opportunity to work on this and come back and provide something to you that we can all work with moving forward,” Sutton said.
Don’t Let Us Down
County Commission Chairman Chad Stewart responded, “Me and you and (Superintendent) Dr. Bracy and your finance team, Mr. Hester and his finance team worked very hard on this budget this year and as you have noted we have fully funded capital and current expense. Now, don’t let us down.”
Sutton replied, “Yes sir. Dr. Bracy has got a great plan as you all know and …we have full faith Dr. Bracy and his leadership team can get us to the goals he had set out for Johnston County and that is something the entire board is in favor of and we will be moving in that direction to make sure Johnston County is back where it suppose to be in the top 10.”
Stewart said, “As you know, the citizens are very well paying for it.”
Sutton said, “Yes sir. And they are going to see some different results.”
School board member Ronald Johnson who drafted the policy approved by the school board October 1st spoke after Chairman Sutton.
“This money is going to go to help some of our lowest paid employees. And that’s where it needs to go,” Mr. Johnson said.
Commissioners Did The Right Thing, CAAG Founder Says
Dale Lands, founder Citizen Advocates for Accountable Government, told commissioners the school system needs to get back to the basics.
“Just teach regular history, regular math, teach the kids to read. That’s what we want ’em to do. Dr. Bracy has promised he will make them successful. We will have to give him that opportunity. I would like to thank Ron Johnson for crafting this originally and working with the policy committee to get it to the point that it is now.”
“This was all brought to Chairman Sutton in June and he didn’t seem to be able to come up with a policy that would work. So thanks to all the commissioners that worked on it,” Lands said. “I want to thank everyone that made it get done. Thank you for doing the right thing for the county but… this wouldn’t have happened if you wouldn’t have been holding up 7.9 million dollars. This flat out wouldn’t have happened. They wouldn’t have even entertained the idea. And there are times when some forms of government have to hold their counterparts accountable. And you guys did your job as far as this county is concerned and you held your counterparts at the school board accountable for the money that you are handing over that we paid as taxpayers.”
JCAE President Expresses Disappointment
April Lee, President of the Johnston County Association of Educators said, “I am going to express my disappointment and the leverage that you used.. It’s wrong. It may not be legally wrong, we’re looking into that, but it is ethically wrong and I think all of you on this board know that.”
“I hope you never employ this policy again, this tactic and this method is never used again. It is not how our local government was supposed to be done and it is a disappointment,” Lee told county commissioners.
“There were some of you who expressed your concerns back in June. I wish you had stuck to your guns and not caved and it very sad that although some people are represented as far as being satisfied with this, I do not believe that it actually is something that most of the people here in Johnston County support.”
Parent Says Commissioners Are Afraid Of Teaching Children The Truth
Erika Hall of Clayton, who has two children in Johnston County Public Schools, had some harsh words for county commissioners.
“I am here today to tell you that CRT, or critical race theory, is not taught in the Johnston County public school system. CRT is always conducted at the graduate and undergraduate levels to examine the role of racism in the modern era. This term is like fodder in a political debate, nothing more and nothing less. That is how CRT is being used in this county right now.
“Our teachers should be able to work with the educational stakeholders of this county to consider what is being taught in the classroom and what isn’t. The community, parents, lawmakers and verifiable researchers can chime in afterward. It is public knowledge that local conservative activists help influence the policy you requested to be written and it clearly reflects only their beliefs. They are the loud minority and not the majority of your constituents.
“These said citizens did not earn any degree or take humanities, social sciences or cultural courses. I ask the members of this board and the citizens of Johnston County that are opposed to the ugly facts about American history, why are you so afraid of teaching our children the truth. These children are our future.”
“Do you not think we should instill the essence of transparency about the tragic paths of our African American, Hispanic, Asian and indigenous brothers and sisters. I know some of you are not ready for this conversation yet and maybe never will be. The time is here. That cannot be stopped. It is time to swallow your willful ignorance and be the leading and honest example for the children,” Hall said.
Some of the $7.9 million the school board will receive will go towards higher bus driver pay, a teacher supplement increase and more teacher assistants in low performing schools.
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This story has been updated
I hope Dicky Braswell will run against Chad Stewart again and actually campaign so he doesn’t lose by less than 20 votes. We are losing financial stability of this county and anyone owning real estate is going to pay the price.
Terry Barns should run. You always know all here on this forum but hide behind the keyboard. Put your money where your mouth is.
Oh, so I touched a personal nerve there did I agent Austin Powers? NOW THE RANSOM WILL BE $100,000.00 Dollars!!! WHAA-HAA-HAAAA-HAAAA!!! Oh, the School Board just called and said I was to low and it will now be $7.9 MILLION DOLLARS!!! WHAA-HAA-HAAAA-HAAAA!!!
CRT should not be taught at any level.
Learning and understanding how race operates within systems will help us move forward and not backwards. Critical race theory is generally taught at the upper undergraduate and graduate levels of schooling. And yes it is necessary to learn about it.
As a concept, true critical race theory requires upper level thinking that is not achievable by children. What Johnston county is arguing about is not critical race theory at all. Basically those in Johnston county seem to want to not acknowledge that race exists at all and that were just one big happy family with all the same opportunities.
Some might argue that more opportunities are given for specific races. How many organizations, colleges, etc. are explicitly for blacks only. I will wait…………
Now hopefully the school board won’t misplace this money.
The school board are practically prostitutes. They’ll do anything for money. CRT is non-issue except for those who live their lives in fear.
Bought and sold.
That issue was a big waste of time. But that is where we focus our attention these days, watching both sides of the political extreme play games while the rest of us just want to get on with life, pay bills, educate our kids, etc.
$180-K-Carroll basically let WRAL know he was so far politically left and 100% for the CRT cult movement that he didn’t support even this weak policy 5100. So they say this had to be a majority vote and $180-K-Carroll accidentally scheduled being out of town for a vote he tells WRAL he doesn’t support? What do you think voters?
I forgot the WRAL news story link.
https://www.wral.com/nc-school-board-pressured-into-passing-code-of-ethics-that-would-punish-staff-for-teaching-systemic-racism/19904791/
I am not sure the policy ensures anything. However, indoctrination is happening in our schools. There are many teachers who would love to teach their political views and CRT. Ms. Jones is not in touch with the rest of the county and DOES NOT speak for most teachers. She teaches in a school that is predominantly white so maybe she should consider going to a school where that is not the case. She might learn something! When you have kids who can’t read and don’t have basic math skills, do you really think that teaching them to hate another race is important? Contrary to belief, history will still be taught but it should never be taught by shaming one race or making them feel they are somehow responsible for the past!
Would it really surprise any of you Tax Payers and Parents if at the next school board meeting they called for a vote and reverse the policy 5100? I mean really would anyone of you be surprised if that happened? Folks that is the reality of what kind of school board leaders we have for us to feel that way. Past history showed us that is what they did with the mask mandate so folks stay tuned in.
Political views are not the same as critical race theory. I agree that neither of the two should be taught in the k through 12 classroom.
However, I think the actual definition of critical race theory is different than how I see it being interpreted by Johnston county citizens.
Also check out the county board of commissioners. Boy that’s a lot of old white men in one room making decisions for the rest of us.
Robert, what do you have against a room of old white men that identify as old black men?
Back in the day we would go to see some good racing and understood how NASCAR worked. When you were going after the points championship all of the races were critical and we did not get into theory.
I will also add something else. Even if CRT isn’t taught in JOCO K-12 by name, it is still being taught. (Not to mention the joco school board apparently has an “equity and diversity committee” which basically means a CRT committee, who recently “trained” school employees on CRT) My wife was in school during the early 2000’s and even then she was taught the same bull crap. That’s the impression she got from her pi** poor public school “education.” Our public school history has been distorted since the end of WWII by the progressives and communists.
There seems to be a lot of ignorance as to what CRT is among its proponents. It’s touted as an analytical tool. CRT can be traced back to Karl Marx and his conflict theory. He is the author of the communist manifesto. Communism has resulted in the mass murder of millions of citizens wherever it takes hold, Chairman Mao of the CCP being the worst. When Karl Marx’s economic revolution theory didn’t happen, Antonio Gramsci theorized that cultural revolution has to happen first. Critical Theory was developed from this at the Frankfurt School in Germany before spreading to the United States where it influenced the development of Critical Legal Studies. Critical Race Theory is the next iteration. It’s an ideology based on Marxism. It assumes what it’s analyzing, that any disparity between groups is always due to racism. It redefines racism as prejudice+power, so that the statistically wealthier group is always racist and the oppressed group is incapable of racism (without power.) It analyzes race through Marxism as two groups of people, oppressors and oppressed. It views the world as a system of power hierarchies and that power is the only currency by which things happen. It also assumes that mathematics, reason, logic, evidence, and truth claims are all racist bids for power by the oppressor and that the personal experience and “stories” of the oppressed matter most and should be elevated. It claims that white people are born racist and are incapable of “righteous” acts, that any claims of not being racist are only made when it benefits the oppressor. This conveniently accuses and convicts an entire ethnicity of people (white people) from birth to death across all time with no way to challenge it through dissent and debate, or even apology and forgiveness. That is ironically the actual, traditional definition of racism. Don’t let anyone tell you CRT is “just” an analytical tool and is good to learn about. It’s communism and it’s 100% incompatible and opposed to American values and Christianity. People need to actually go learn about this stuff because it is dangerous. THIS is why Johnston county wrote this policy. It isn’t excuse they’re racist. You see CRT in practice when opponents of this policy basically called the county commissioners racist for blocking it. See how this works yet?
No, I don’t.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/fixgov/2021/07/02/why-are-states-banning-critical-race-theory/
That’s an article written by a college professor with more of the dead beaten red herring and straw man fallacies that I’ve heard before. College professors are basically where CRT started spreading from. They’re some of the most ideologically extreme and politically motivated people. Many have been quoted saying that their goal is to transform students into left wing political activists, using resources like Saul Alinsky’s “12 Rules for Radicals.” Nobody is trying to cover up or avoid slavery, Jim crow, etc. We all know this country made those mistakes. However, it’s a historical fact that CRT has it’s roots in Marxism. Like it or not, it is a Marxist/Communist ideology. Marxism is completely antithetical to the Judaeo-Christian and English Common Law principles upon which this country was founded. CRT is being completely exposed and no amount of articles like this is going to save face. We know what it is, it’s out in the open, and we don’t like it. It is antithetical to Christianity and the gospel message. All of the things I included in my OP that CRT teaches are from CRT teaching materials.
Here’s a link for you as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuSMvIVtd0A
Read some Thomas Sowell and Jordan B. Peterson. Peterson is a clinical psychologist who has dedicated his life to studying the authoritarian travesties like the Third Reich’s holocaust and the murderous atrocities committed by Stalin and Mao. To be clear, CRT has it’s ideological roots in the same worldview the gave birth to these and currently existing communist nations like the CCP, Cuba, Venezuela, and North Korea. If you would listen, many patriotic American immigrants who escaped regimes like these will tell you the current radical leftist dogma and behavior in the American mainstream media, educational system, entertainment industry, cooperate big tech, and left wing political activist groups like BLM and Antifa look and sound disturbingly similar to the propaganda and mass psychosis in the countries they left. The founders of BLM are self-professed, trained Marxists.
There is no way to save CRT. We don’t need it to discuss racism. We know what it is and where it comes from and it doesn’t belong in the US educational system.
Justitiae — You are very well versed on CRT. Everyone is trying to water it down now because they have been called out and people are standing up. It is what it is and as they say, “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig.”
Marx would be proud.
This is Tony Braswell coming out of the closet moment folks, take a look at the WRAL story and he is mad as hell !!! One of two things happened here, Tony Braswell is scared he is losing his commercial lease from the pseudo commissioner chairman Chad Stewart that is married to a Teacher’s Union Teacher or Tony Braswell has truly came out of the closet and announced his liberal progressive liberal beliefs. I personally think Tony Braswell is tired of straddling the fence and has made his move to coming out?
https://www.wral.com/johnston-commissioner-slams-decision-to-tie-school-funding-to-critical-race-theory-ban/19912992/
To the mom in this article: No, the silent majority is FINALLY speaking up! Maybe it is time you got a dose of what conservatives have been putting up with for the last few years! I don’t see any buildings being burned or stores being looted, so I would say you could learn from our voices and not violent actions!