VOLUME 6 ISSUE 43 | WWW.NSJONLINE.COM | WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 22, 2021
Merry Christmas from North State Journal Gov. Roy Cooper to endorse Cheri Beasley for U.S. Senate Raleigh Gov. Roy Cooper said he plans to endorse Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Cheri Beasley in the coming days. Asked about recent comments in which he appeared to back his party’s presumptive Senate nominee, Cooper said he would soon formalize his support. “I will be doing that. Yes,” Cooper said. In an interview with a Raleigh television station, Cooper said “the path is clear for her now” and that he plans on “helping her get elected.” The two have a history – it was Cooper who elevated Beasley to N.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice in 2019. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AP PHOTO
Residents residents enjoy downtown Christmas decorations on a busy street.
2021 Year in Review: 2020’s aftermath
988 suicide phone hotline getting $282M to ease July launch Washington, D.C. People in crisis and those trying to help will have a new phone number — 988 — to reach the national suicide prevention network starting in July. Threedigit dialing to reach suicide hotline counselors has long been a goal for mental health advocates, lawmakers in Congress, the Federal Communications Commission and the telecommunications industry. People who call, text or chat 988 will be able to reach trained counselors who belong to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline network. Counselors at more than 180 local centers listen to people in crisis and provide support, connecting them with other services as may be needed. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
NFL could become trendsetter for COVID-19 testing policies New York The NFL’s decision to reduce COVID-19 testing for asymptomatic, vaccinated players could signal a trend for pro sports leagues and provide an example for society to follow heading into 2022. The NFL, in cooperation with the players’ union, agreed to scale back testing for vaccinated players. The move aligns with guidance from the CDC, which recommends “diagnostic testing” only for symptomatic or closecontact vaccinated people, and “screening tests” for unvaccinated people. “I think the NFL is going to be an interesting and I think really safe real-world experiment on what our new normal is likely going to look like,” said Dr. Vin Gupta, a pulmonologist and professor at the University of Washington. Almost 95% of NFL players and nearly all coaching staffs are vaccinated. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Airline CEO: Masks “don’t add much if anything” during air travel Washington, D.C. Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly said during a Senate subcommittee hearing last week. federal mask requirements for airline passengers “don’t add much if anything” because most planes have HEPA air filters and turn over the cabin air. Kelly made his comment about masks in response to a question from Republican Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker, a Republican, who asked if they thought air travel without masks could ever resume. Kelly said that “99.97% of airborne pathogens are captured” by high efficiency particulate air filters, or HEPA filters, on airplanes, before suggesting that masks are unnecessary during air travel. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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By David Larson North State Journal
Legislator’s equity training outfit raked in $1.29M in just 7 districts 4 of the districts, totaling $325K in contracts, are in NC By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — An equity, diversity and inclusion training outfit co-founded by a sitting North Carolina statehouse lawmaker has raked in over $1.29 million in fees according to an analysis of contracts from just a handful of school districts. Over the course of multiple years, The Equity Collaborative (TEC) was paid around $325,000 across just four North Carolina public school districts. In school districts outside of North Carolina, North State Journal uncovered around $905,000 in fees and purchase orders. TEC made national headlines when over $422,000 in contracts for equity and Critical Race Theory training between Virginia’s Loudon County Public Schools and the organization came to light. One contract in Loudon County schools involved TEC receiving $24,000 for work at just one school, Parkview High School. The equity training rendered to Parkview staff was not done in person, but instead remotely, according to the services contract. The Corning Painted Post Schools in New York spent more on TEC’s services than Loudon County did, with payments totaling $428,500 between 2017 and 2021. Contracted services included “equity focused leadership training,” equity training with the district’s school board, and administrative and superintendent coaching. In the district of Clayton, Missouri, TEC was hired in 2017 for eight “Equity Coaching” training sessions costing $25,000, as well as a $5,000 keynote speech by TEC’s other co-founder, Jamie Alamazon. The original proposal from TEC had a bottom-line figure of $43,000. Sitting state Rep. Graig Meyer (D-Orange) co-founded the organization and has even conducted some trainings himself. North State Journal first reported on Meyer’s connection to TEC back in late April of this year. At that time, TEC was slated to run a teacher training course for Wake County Public Schools, titled “Intro to Critical Race Theory.” Meyer, a white male, is currently seeking to exchange his current seat for one in the state Senate. Meyer announced his in-
tent to run for fellow Democratic state Sen. Valerie Foushee’s seat which has been newly redrawn to include Orange, Caswell and Person counties. Multiple districts in North Carolina have hired TEC for “equity, diversity, and inclusion training,” as well as for training on topics like Critical Race Theory. Some records received by North State Journal date back more than six years, to 2015. The Chapel Hill Carrboro Public School District paid TEC $129,275 between the years 2014 and 2015 for equity coaching and training. Two payments made in 2014 included one for $3,500 and another for $96,750. In 2015, the district paid TEC $29,025. Cumberland County Public Schools paid TEC $38,826 over seven different occasions. The largest payment was in 2020 for $15,000. The other six payments ranged from $325 up to $6,000. Only the payment amounts have been turned over to North State Journal by the district. New Hanover Public Schools also contracted with TEC for training in 2020. The district paid $40,000 overall for two training items. New Hanover spent $24,000 for an “Equity in Education training workshop series” and $16,000 for a “Coaching in Equity workshop series.” The state’s largest district, Wake County Public Schools, spent at least $97,000 for similar services to that of Loudon County, but purchase orders showed other items, which brought the total to $117,500. Records requests revealed $207,500 in contracts between WCPSS and TEC. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Public Schools (CMS) was also contacted, but there were no contracts or payments made to TEC. CMS has been fulfilling their diversity and equity training using another North Carolina organization called the Racial Equity Institute. Between 2016 and 2021, the district has paid the Racial Equity Institute $219,100 for “Dismantling Racism” workshops. A few of the topics included in “Dismantling Racism” are implicit bias, race and poverty, race and wealth, the history of race, internalized oppression and “the imperative of organizing.” On the secondary level, North State Journal found that a $325 campus voucher had been made out to TEC by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. No other details were available on the voucher beyond it being issued in 2014.
RALEIGH — If 2020 was known as the worst year in recent memory, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, unrest around race and policing, and unusually high political tensions (even for a presidential election year), consider 2021 the slightly more laid-back remix. It had all the same elements but with a bit less intensity. Another way to see it is as the aftermath of 2020, where we saw the conclusion, or at least continuance, of all those major themes of the previous year. The one major exception to the “less intense” rule happened right after the year began, as a rally in Washington by supporters of former-President Donald Trump, over alleged cheating in the election, turned violent. Thousands of those attending this “Stop the Steal” rally broke into the Capitol to express their frustration with the election results. While many were injured and a lot of property destroyed, nobody was killed and the election was certified hours later, after the people and debris were cleared. Political tension remained at a slow boil the rest of the year as Joe Biden began his four-year term. Early analysis suggests he has largely disappointed supporters and energized opponents. The catch-phrase “Let’s go Brandon” swept the nation as a euphemism for how Biden critics actually felt, after a reporter misheard a chant of “F*** Joe Biden” at a NASCAR race
won by driver Brandon Brown. Among complaints against the Biden administration are the historically high inflation rate, record drug-overdose deaths, crime waves in major cities, supply-chain disruptions and a chaotic southern border. The political division from 2021, while not spilling into the streets as often as 2020, continued to underlie many of the year’s top stories. The tensions surrounding race and policing, tightly linked to the overall political divisions, also saw many major stories in 2021. While in 2020, the death of George Floyd and subsequent Black Lives Matter movement led to major protests and riots across the country, this year saw the aftermath of many of those stories. In April, Derek Chauvin, the Minneapolis police officer who knelt on the neck of Floyd, was found guilty on all three counts, including second-degree murder, in his trial. On Dec. 15, he also pleaded guilty to federal civil-rights violations stemming from the incident. The three men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery in February of 2020 were also convicted in 2021. Arbery, a black man, was shot dead after the men attempted a citizen’s arrest with shotguns and trucks in their Georgia neighborhood, where they had suspected Arbery of breaking into homes. In contrast, Kyle Rittenhouse — who in August of 2020, when See 2021 REVIEW page A3
In education, 2021 was the year of the parent By A.P. Dillon North State Journal RALEIGH — The past year presented more challenges for students and a marked increase in parental activism with regard to their children’s education. Amid that involvement, there was also a noticeable uptick in support for more school choice. By the time 2021 hit, school choice was already seeing a groundswell of support with parents. Homeschooling was setting new records across the country and charter schools reported large waitlists. Recognizing the demand for more education options, Republicans in both the General Assembly and in Congress crafted school-choice legislation. Expansion of school choice was timely, with 2021 also marking the 25th anniversary of North Carolina’s charter-school law. During 2021, parents protesting at school board meetings and holding rallies at the legislature would become common sights. The top complaints included the continued mask mandates for K-12 students and indoctrination in the classroom, in particular, Critical Race Theory (CRT). The jump in parental activism didn’t happen overnight; it had been building up throughout 2020. As 2021 rolled in, North See EDUCATION, page A2