North Carolina Judge Causes Mayhem on Educational System

If you want to see want kind of mayhem an activist judge can cause on a state, all you have to do is look at North Carolina. Judge Howard Manning Jr. ruled from on high, that citizens of North Carolina must provide all “at risk” four year old children a basic education.

However, that kind of ruling has caused mass confusion among legislators and educators; especially in a depressed economy where revenues are hard to come by:

DHHS recently began collecting data to implement their interpretation of Manning’s decision. In an email sent to NC Pre-K administrators, Jani Kozlowski of DHHS’s Division of Child Development states her agency’s interpretation of the ruling. “The court order has been interpreted to direct the state of North Carolina to view all at-risk 4-year old children as having a constitutional right to pre-kindergarten services, without identified barriers such as waiting lists or parental fees,” the email said. The email goes on to request administrators participate in a survey to help DHHS assess how to implement their understanding of the mandate. The Division of Child Development did not respond to requests for comment.

All of the uncertainty in Raleigh has trickled down across the state and has hit the front lines of the Pre-K program: childcare providers. Providers like Kevin Campbell from Mecklenburg County are unsure of how to proceed under the circumstances. “People don’t know what to do. People don’t know whether to follow the legislature or the court ruling,” Campbell told Civitas analysts. Campbell expressed concern over not knowing whether to implement the 20 percent cap on non-income “at-risk” children and was unsure of whether or not to collect the recently installed 10 percent co-pay for children who do not qualify for income-related “at-risk” status. Campbell said he will wait to collect the co-pay when there is a clearer directive from state authorities

The state of North Carolina can’t afford judges like Howard Manning Jr.

Source: http://www.nccivitas.org/2011/judges-decision-leaves-pre-k-in-chaotic-confusion/

Judge Rules N.C. Taxpayers Must Fund Glorified Daycare Centers

A North Carolina activist judge ruled that the state budget was unconstitutional, because republicans had put a cap on a glorified, taxpayer funded daycare program. The News and Observer Reports the following:

Wake County Superior Court Judge Howard E. Manning Jr. issued an order Monday that the state cannot implement any barrier or regulation that prevents eligible at-risk children from enrolling in the state's pre-kindergarten program, previously known as More at Four.

Manning cited a provision in the new law spelling out a 20 percent cap for at-risk children, which would dramatically reduce the number of slots for them. The budget also cut the program's budget by 20 percent, or $32 million, and specified that families who are not "at risk" would be charged copayments

Mind you this program is designed for 4 year olds. And we all know how valuable an education is at four. If it weren’t for Judge Manning’s intercession, children couldn’t become connoisseurs of paste; finger painting masterpieces would be lost to the world; and remedial pigtail pulling would have to wait until kindergarten.

Who in their right mind would deny four year olds this sound basic education? Certainly, not Judge Howard E. Manning, Jr. defender of toddlers:

"This case is about the individual right of every child to have the equal opportunity to obtain a sound basic education," Manning wrote in the order. "The constitutional right belongs to the child, not to the adults. Each at-risk four-year-old that appears at the doors of the [North Carolina pre-kindergarten] program this fall is a defenseless, fragile child whose background of poverty or disability places the child at-risk of subsequent academic failure."

Because if we don’t catch these children at four, their lives will be irredeemable.

Read more: http://www.newsobserver.com/2011/07/19/1353809/judge-strikes-pre-k-limits.html#ixzz1Shc9HFSy

North Carolina Judge Says North Carolina Budget Maybe Unconstitutional

Whenever the progressives/liberals lose a legislative battle, they always go to the courts.  North Carolina’s General Assembly overrode Gov. Beverly Perdue’s veto on their state budget.  Now, they are saying the proposed cuts to education are unconstitutional:

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - State Superior Court Judge Howard Manning wants to dig into the North Carolina Constitution. He wants to know if proposed cuts to education are unconstitutional.

North Carolina's constitution states every child is guaranteed the right to a sound basic education. The fear is slashing the education budget would interfere with that. The first reading of the Senate's version of the budget has chopped $1 billion away from education. Lawmakers blame their decisions on the economy, but Manning says that shouldn't matter.

"The current financial difficulties of the State do not relieve, justify or excuse," Manning said. "The State of North Carolina from its constitutional obligation to provide each and every child in North Carolina an equal opportunity to obtain a sound basic education."

And what is a sound basic education?  And what does a sound basic education cost?  And do the taxpayers have a say as to how much they are willing to pay?

According to the omniscient Judge Howard Manning, only he and the courts are qualified to make that determination.  Hell, why don’t we get rid of all our elected representatives.  What is the sense in having them, when we have superior human beings like Judge Howard Manning to rule over us.     

Source: http://charlotte.pointslocal.com/story/charlotte/349418/are-proposed-nc-education-budget-cuts-unconstitutional