Supporters Praise Dr. Collins-Hart

by Cal Bryant - January 25th, 2007 - Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald

Colorful signs were numerous inside the Bertie County Board of Education meeting room here Tuesday night. All were in support of retaining the services of Bertie Schools Superintendent Dr. Nettie Collins-Hart. However, those cardboard messages failed to sway the majority of the school board as in a 3-2 vote, Dr. Collins-Hart’s contract was terminated.But before the fateful vote was cast, the overflow crowd, estimated at nearly 200 strong, held an “educational revival” as the superintendent’s numerous supporters made their feelings known.“We’re not here to raise hell; we’re here to save our superintendent,” said Emmitt Kimbrough who orchestrated an impromptu meeting while the school board, in closed session, debated Dr. Collins-Hart’s future for over one hour in a separate room.

I think it is informative to note the people quoted in this article and who packed the meeting the other night. Every one of them is in favor of the central administration education bureaucracy movement. They are all a part of the education establishment, and problem, of our nation. For 40 years our education system has failed our students.

This group is pro big school, anti free enterprise, anti free choice, supports the central administration bureaucracy and its track record is horrible. If you want to find out about the true reformers in American education (including supporting real education for our poor black students) you should listen to people like Bill Cosby. He has a PHD in education, has given more money (in both raw dollars and a larger percentage of his money) to the black community than anyone in America and for over a year he has castigated people like Dr. Collins-Hart and the people quoted in this article.

Another voice in favor of programs that will actually help our children? Thomas Sowell, noted conservative intellectual, who has written several best selling books on how to fix the problems of education of our children. For two years I have tried repeatedly to discuss his recommendations with people from this group and their lack of understanding is emphasized by the fact that to a person, not one even knew who Thomas Sowell was when I started. Most of them still don't. How can you claim to be an expert on education when you are that ignorant of the intellectual leaders of the people criticizing your failures?

The people giving voice here (Gary Cordon, Pearline Bunch, Seaton Fairless, Emmitt Kimbrough along with Dr. Al Thompson, Tim Bazemore and John Smith) are representatives and advocates of the American education establishment of the last two generations. They ignore the recent financial irregularities in our county and in many cases were the people who created the irregularities. They do not represent progress but represent the status quo. They also ignore the constantly dropping test scores. Their agenda is not helping our children. Their agenda is to fatten the pocketbooks of a few while perpetuating the ongoing failure of education in America and in Bertie County.

They are certainly not the voice of our county's people but the voice of an extremist group with a self serving agenda that has failed our children. Why is there not a single quote from someone who opposes that bureaucracy based vision?