Hal Weatherman, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, is telling voters that families are leaving North Carolina public schools because of concerns about safety and academic performance.
In a video on social media, Weatherman talks about why he thinks 25% of North Carolina students don’t attend traditional public schools. In his claims, Weatherman attributes the rate to teacher arrests for sexual abuse, school violence, low test scores and the “sexualization” of children in the classroom.
Weatherman has three children: one in college, one in a charter school and one who is homeschooled.
Weatherman is running against Democrat Rachel Hunt, Wayne Jones of the Constitution Party and Libertarian Shannon Bray.
Here are some of the claims Weatherman made in his video.
’70 teachers charged with sexual abuse’
“Last year alone, more than 70 – 70 teachers – were accused of sexual abuse. Seventy.” Weerman claimed. “And they (parents) wonder whether the school system even checks the backgrounds of people who spend eight hours a day in class with my minor child. That is a legitimate question.”
School districts and charter schools typically use commercial vendors to conduct background checks on new hires. But schools are not required to fingerprint teachers applying for criminal record checks.
Weatherman did not respond to an email from The News & Observer asking his source for the statistic on more than 70 teachers charged with sexual assault in 2023.
According to a spreadsheet by conservative blogger and journalist AP Dillon, 69 North Carolina teachers were arrested in 2023. Dillon said most of the arrests were related to sex crimes. But she also has arrests for other charges, including DWI, theft and assault.
Dillon said all but three of the 69 teachers arrested worked in public schools. These arrests represent a small portion of the more than 90,000 public school teachers in the state.
According to Dillon, 54 teachers have been arrested so far this year and 407 since 2016.
‘13,000 criminal acts of violence’
“Last year, there were more than 13,000 acts of criminal violence in the classroom in North Carolina public schools – 13,000,” Weatherman claimed. “I want to know, are they protected when I drop my little girl or my son off at school?”
Weatherman goes on to say in the video that every public, private and parochial school in the state should have an armed guard.
There were 13,193 reported acts of crime and violence in the 2022-2023 school year – an 18% increase from the previous school year, according to a consolidated data report from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. But non-violent crimes made up the majority of crimes.
According to the report, possession of a controlled substance was responsible for 54% of school crimes in the 2022-2023 school year. If you include possession of an alcoholic beverage, this percentage rises to 59%.
Claim: 25% of students can read
Weatherman also claims that some families are leaving traditional public schools because they “say the show isn’t there.”
“Did you know that last year 25% – 25% of our public school children – were reading proficiently at an eighth grade level,” Weatherman claims in the video. ‘Let me formulate that differently. Seventy-five percent are not.
‘They can’t read. If you can’t read, you can’t function in society. And they wonder: are you teaching my child? Are you preparing them?”
Weatherman appears to be citing the state’s performance on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Every two years, students from across the country are selected to take the NAEP exams in reading and math.
In 2022, 26% of North Carolina eighth graders scored at or above the proficient performance level on the NAEP reading exam. This year’s NAEP results have not yet been released.
In contrast, 51.3% of North Carolina eighth-graders scored at a minimum proficiency level on last school year’s reading exam.
Different ways to define competent
The reason for the difference is that proficient is defined differently on both exams.
NAEP has four performance levels: sub-basic, basic, proficient, and advanced.
The state EOG exams use five levels. Students who score at level 3 and higher are proficient at level. Students who score at level 4 and above are college ready and career ready.
NAEP defines proficiency as “demonstrated competence on challenging topics.” That compares with the state’s college and career level, which was achieved by 29% of eighth-graders on the state’s final reading test.
The state definition for Level 3 says that students demonstrate adequate understanding of the grade-level content standards, although some support may be needed. This is similar to the NAEP definition for the basic performance level, which indicates partial mastery of the required knowledge and skills.
In 2022, 66% of North Carolina eighth-grade students scored at or above the basic level on the NAEP reading test.
NC Reality Check is an N&O series that holds those in power accountable and shines a light on public issues impacting the Triangle or North Carolina. Do you have a suggestion for a future story? E-mail realitycheck@newsobserver.com
