Rochelle Williams North Carolina’s education officials say they will raise high school graduation rates by supporting proven methods for promoting achievement, things like increasing access to pre-kindergarten programs and bringing new, qualified teachers to poor and rural schools. They spend less time talking about how they will re-engage and nurture the millions of young people…
Category: Opinion
For the Record 11/20/08
Eat & shop local Last week we mentioned the importance of digging deep this season for what are very likely to be very big needs among local charities and nonprofits. This week we’d like to steer you and your wallet again — this time for the sake of the hundreds of people who make their…
Letters 11/20/08
Better answer Orange County is on the verge of a hasty, shortsighted decision to construct a waste transfer station in Southwest Orange County, because the Eubanks Road landfill will reach capacity by 2011. A fleet of large dump trucks will haul upwards of 200 tons of garbage daily from UNC, Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Hillsborough…
Nonprofits in need indeed
Jon Wilner OK, I want to be bailed out. Well, not exactly me, but the organization for which I work – The ArtsCenter. Also, the Interfaith Council, El Centro Latino, the Rape Crisis Center, Kidzu, IPAS, Club Nova, the Arc of Orange County, Communities in Schools of Orange County, Extraordinary Ventures and every other nonprofit…
Use the lessons of the past
Editor’s note: Following is a statement by Neloa Jones delivered at a public hearing on a proposed solid-waste transfer station held by the Orange County Board of Commissioners at McDougle Middle School, Monday Nov. 17, 2008. Good evening, Chairman Jacobs and Other Members of the Board. My name is Neloa Jones. I am a resident…
Carrboro Board of Aldermen on civil unions
Editor’s note: Dozens of Orange County residents joined hundreds from across the state last Saturday to protest the recent Prop 8 vote in California and similar measures in other states. Following is a resolution passed last week by the Carrboro Board of Aldermen. A Resolution in Support of Civil Marriage for Same-Sex Couples WHEREAS, The…
For the Record 11/13/08
Rough road ahead Listen. This is going to be tough on some people – this thing we’re going to call a recession. There’s a little too much talk of how we can and have weathered one or two before and how the economic buoyancy of the community is going to keep us all afloat. Yes,…
Happy and sad
By Lydia Lavelle Election day 2008 was an historic day for all Americans. Last week, a Washington Post cartoon by Tom Toles depicted Barack Obama standing in front of a gigantic White House, his luggage strap over his shoulder. The top caption read, “We hold these truths to be self-evident – that all men are…
Eight great education ideas for the Obama administration
By Margot Carmichael Lester and Steve Peha During the final presidential debate, we waited eagerly for the candidates’ responses to Bob Schieffer’s question about education. We weren’t impressed with what we heard. Vague chatter about vouchers and turning retired military personnel into teachers didn’t thrill us.
Invest to solve budget shortfall
By Chris Fitzsimon There is nothing positive about the budget shortfall in North Carolina that legislative economists say could reach $1.6 billion next year, maybe $2.6 billion when you add in the problems with the State Health Plan and a small cost-of-living increase for state employees and teachers.
For the Record: The tide is in
Your vote counted. There’s proof. And not just your vote, but the actions you took to get registered, to be informed and whatever it took to put yourself in front of a ballot. The actions of your neighbors counted, the ones who convinced you and the ones who challenged your conclusions. The ones who took…
Comments on the election
“I’m just so happy about it, I don’t know what to do.†—Community organizer Rebecca Clark “Elated!†Marilyn Chaplin of Midway Barbershop when asked how she was feeling Wednesday “This shows the Rogers Road community, ‘We can.’ As the nation chanted last night, ‘We can.’ Yes, we are able to work for the common cause…
The hope of a better day
Editor’s note: The following words were delivered in Chicago’s Grant Park by Barack Obama at the opening of his victory speech Nov. 4, 2008. Hello Chicago. If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is…
Tuesday’s undeniable progressive message
Chris Fitzsimon People in North Carolina want things to be different in Washington and don’t want to turn the state over to politicians more obsessed with taxes and stoking anti-religious fears than they are with improving education, expanding access to health care and helping people who are struggling to find jobs and keep their homes….
For the Record 10/31/08
Editor’s note: Following are two excerpts from the first inaugural address of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, delivered in Washington, D.C. March 4, 1933. The Citizen offers this reprinting as encouragement to vote and as a reminder that elections can make a difference.