Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/742437
22 OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2016 WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM I believe the government needs to allow for additional Charter Schools in our area. The whole purpose of Charter Schools is to have schools with more flexibility than the traditional schools. If we are going force them to do the same thing as the tra- ditional schools, then what is the point in having a Charter School program? When it comes to determining whether Charter Schools are providing our children with a quality education, give the power to the parents to decide, instead of the bureau- crats. Give the power to mothers in low-income neighborhoods to move their child away from failing traditional schools instead of waiting on politicians to fix the problems. UCW: What, in your opinion, are the top three issues facing North Carolina? And what is your plan to deal with them? The poverty rate in this district has been hovering around 20 percent for years. Combatting this must be priority number one. For years, the focus has been on try- ing to attract new businesses to our community but that has not worked. Instead of focusing solely on attracting new large businesses, why not assist the hundreds of small businesses that are already here? Lets help them grow and put more of our neighbors to work. Let's retract needless regulations and roll back Occupational License requirements that are not absolutely necessary for public safety. This will allow even more of our neighbors to start their own business and grow. We need to keep taxes low so that money gets pumped back into the economy instead of the government coffers. Priority number two is to repair our education system. Our teachers deserve to be treated as educational professionals instead of baby sitters. They should be compensated fairly and have the flexibility to run their classrooms instead of be- ing micromanaged by government bureaucrats. After all, who knows more about the best way to educate our children, teachers or politicians? We need to shift the focus back to preparing our children for adulthood instead of focusing on assess- ment tests. We need to bring back trade classes which will provide opportunities to qualify for good paying jobs upon graduating from high school. And we must bring back the arts. There is much more to receiving a complete education than just math and English. Priority number three is to improve access to affordable healthcare. Our emergency rooms are flooded with Medicaid recipients who cannot find healthcare provid- ers that are accepting new Medicaid patients. Our veterans continue to go without proper medical care from the Federal Government. Our elderly and mentally ill struggle to find the care they require. We need to look at reducing healthcare ser- vices that are regulated by Certificate of Need laws in order to increase the quantity of healthcare services in our community and increase competition which will help drive down costs. We need to grow our economy in order to increase opportunities for employer sponsored healthcare plans. Robert Benjamin Clark III UCW: What is your stance on HB2? The damage done by Pat's Law (HB2) has been signifi- cant — it attacks 50 years of progress in the pursuit of equality in North Carolina. Furthermore, it has cost us jobs, revenue and our state's reputation. Contrary to the smiling protestations of the Governor that his law is common sense legislation designed to pro- tect the expectation of privacy for our girls and women, it does not. The law contains no penalties, no fines and no enforcement mechanism for violators of the law. Pat's Law is a ruse designed to hide discriminatory intent, usurp the authority of local governments and abridge the rights of citizens to sue for discrimination in state courts. Our federal courts have already found portions of Pat's Law to be discriminatory and unconstitutional. The remainder of Pat's Law should be repealed in full. It does not serve the greater interests of the citizens of our state. UCW: How can the legislature work to improve the schools? The N.C. Constitution guarantees each child a sound basic education. Our kids are not "one size fits all" and neither should our schools be. I support all constitutional means of delivering a quality education to our students, regardless of the neighbor- hood, social class or family income. We need to restore quality education as a value reflected both in our state's poli- cies and its budget. It takes strong educational policy and financial investment to recruit the best teachers, supply classrooms with adequate equipment and prepare students for college and career. The legislature should allocate resources to raise salaries for teachers and staff, ensure each NC student has access to high speed broadband and provide education and training to equip students for participation in the global economy. UCW: What, in your opinion, are the top three issues facing North Carolina? And what is your plan to deal with them? Medicaid Expansion. In each of my terms in the Senate, I have sponsored legislation in support of Medicaid Expansion. Thirty one states have now expanded Medicaid to provide healthcare for the working poor, but many families in North Carolina are