Jeopardy Answer 16 - Leandro vs. State of North Carolina helped to define this Constitutional right in North Carolina.

Jeopardy Question 16 - What is the right to the privilege of an education?


The Carolina Declaration of Rights, the North Carolina state version of the Bill of Rights, includes several rights not specifically mentioned in the Federal Constitution.  One of these is Article 1 Section 15-
" The people have a right to the privilege of education, and it is the duty of the State to guard and maintain that right."

In 1994 five counties with large percentages of low income families filed suit against the state because local schools there were not getting the funding needed to provide an equal education to children in other North Carolina counties and were thus having their rights under Section 15 violated.

The  court ruled that while there was no right to  "equal funding", all children residing in North Carolina - have a fundamental state constitutional right to the "opportunity to receive a sound basic education." In addition, the State had the responsibility for ensuring that right.

The Court defined a sound basic education as that which provides children and youth with all the opportunities necessary to become an adult possessing:

1. Sufficient ability to read, write and speak the English language and a sufficient knowledge of fundamental mathematics and physical science to enable the student to function in a complex and rapidly changing society;
2. Sufficient fundamental knowledge of geography, history, and basic economic and political systems to enable the student to make informed choices with regard to issues that affect the student personally or affect the student's community, state, and nation;
3. Sufficient academic and vocational skills to enable the student to successfully engage in post-secondary education or vocational training; and
4. Sufficient academic and vocational skills to enable the student to compete on an equal basis with others in further formal education or gainful employment in contemporary society.

Thanks to the North Carolina Bankers' Association, our class was able to attend the televised debate between Rep. Renee Ellmers and Clay Aiken. As it turned out, we didn't attend the actual debate.  Although we got to the registration desk 10 minutes before it started, WRAL had closed the doors to the room at 11:22 and wasn't allowing anyone in.  My students didn't complain or say anything mean to me.  Instead, they decided to wait around the Pinehurst lobby and wait to watch the after-debate activities.  

We followed the debate via twitter and waited for everyone to come out.  We followed the TV cameras and microphones who were gathered on the hotel's front porch. As we understood it, Clay Aiken had offered to meet them outside, something which he did a few minutes later. He answered their questions, his campaign person signalled him, and they followed him to a car in front of the hotel.  He hopped into the passenger seat and drove away.

The cameras then went to find Rep. Ellmers who was supposed to make herself available second, only it appeared that no one knew where she was .  There were two Ellmers aides present, neither of them could tell the press when and where to find Ellmers other than the fact that she was supposed to be in the “Green Room” or if she was going to make herself available for questions.  Earlier in the day, one of her people had told our class that Rep. Ellmers was scheduled to make another appearance immediately after the debate, a group of Republican business women (I think).   As it happened, our class had stopped by the “Green Room”, a hotel meeting room that's not actually called the “Green Room” and that was scheduled to be used by a group of Bankers at that time.  It turned out that Rep. Ellmers was in the restroom across the hall from the Green Room.

The media folk stood in a  mass in the open space outside the Green Room and waited for Rep. Ellmers to emerge.  My students saw the un-fun side of public life, the press watis for you while you're going to the bathroom.  It's hard to say how long the press waited for Rep Ellmers while she was in the bathroom.  It was at least five minutes , but may have been as long as fifteen.

When she came out, she seemed surprised by the prexence of the assembled media, even though it's customary to talk to the press after a televised debate.  In fact, candidates usually want to talk to the press to have a chance to spin the event and amplify their message.  The first question came from the WRAL reporter about her calling Clay Aiken an entertainer and Mr. Aiken's response in his press briefing that it was her way of dealing with the fact that she had nothing of substance to say.  Rep. Ellmers first said she didn't hear the question. He repeated his quiestion and she said she was a “nurse” and yes, in fact, Clay Aiken had been on a game show and was an entertainer.  She did not, however, use the opportunity to elaborate on the matters of substance she did address in  the debate.  

Here's the interesting thing for my class.  I checked the media reports about the debate and every single one of them used the “entertainer” line as their lead while many quoted Clay Aiken's repeated assertion that Rep. Ellmers' had publicly referred to John Boehner, the Speaker of the House, as her boss, something she did not deny during the debate.  No one reported the fact that it took several minutes to find Rep. Ellmers after the event and that once “located”, she spent anywhere from 5-15 minutes in the ladies room.  

When I asked the media what they though it meant that the Congresswoman wasn't readily available after the debate, I got smiles.  No one reported it as far as I know.  I also haven't seen anyone fact check whether Rep. Ellmers did publicly call John Boehner 'her boss', as a rank and file Republican congresswoman, he is  her boss btw.  There was also a second factual matter that came up in the debate that I haven't seen fact-checked.

I've asked the class to see if they can find either.  I've also asked them why the “bathroom” thing isn't considered worth reporting.  It's certainly a fact, though there could be any number of reasons she needed to be in the ladies room at that moment.  I would, however, say it was also clear that no one including Rep. Ellmer's people seeemed to know if she was going to make herself available to the press after the event.  

Is this a standard thing?  Does our local media not report a “fact” because they want to avoid any accusation of bias.  Why don't factual disputes in a televised debate get fact-checked immediatley by the local media the next morning?  Why is the lead “Ellmers twice refers to Aiken as an entertainer” ?  Fwiw, Aiken's experience on TV seemed to help him in the press sessions afterwards.  He knew that he would look better outdoors.  He knew how to look into the different cameras after one cameraman jokingly suggested that he stare directly into his station's camera.  The class reviewed  their own movie (we'll try to post it) of the event and  the light-colored walls combined with the glare of the lights for the camera arguably isn't flattering.  It's also noticeable in the movie we have that Rep. Ellmers was looking down instead of at the cameras while answering the media's questions.  

What did my high school students learn from this?  What should journalists report?  Should the rbe restricted to what was televised in the debate itself or can they comment about things that publicly happened or didn't happen after the event, the part the general public didn't get to see on TV.?

Thanks to the generosity of the North Carolina Bankers Association, our class will have the opportunity to attend the debate between Rep. Renee Ellmers and Mr. Clay Aiken on October 6.  The debate will be televised on WRAL at 7:00 PM that evening. 

Jeopardy Answer #16 -  President Clinton made 356 of these, G. W. Bush made 291, Obama has made 192, and George Washington made 8.


Jeopardy Question #16 - What are executive orders?


There is nothing in the Constitution per se called an "executive order", but under the Constitution, Congress writes the laws and the executive or more accurately the "executive branch" must carry them out or enforce them under Article II's provision that calls on the President to "take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed."

Executive Orders in the past have ranged from uncontroversial items like setting the number of days flags needed to be at half mast after the death of former Presidents to much bigger issues like FDR's proclamation of a Bank Holiday in 1933 to prevent a run on deposits. Other famous executive orders include Truman's desegregation of the armed forces, Eisenhower's desegregation of the schools in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education, and FDR's Internment of Japanese-Americans during World War 2.  btw Theodore Roosevelt issued 1,803 and FDR issued 3,522 executive orders.  Calvin Coolidge issued 1,203. 

The current Congress has sued the President for issuing executive orders related to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACC).

Survey ranks North Carolina as the worst state in the nation for public school teachers.

So the question came up last week after we discussed what seemed to have happened with Candidate Aiken's "My first grader knows better than that" about what he really knows about first graders. We should also mention that Representative Ellmers has raised a son and it'll be fascinating to see if she has a "response" or whether she responds directly during the October 6 debate. 

One of my students came up with a photo from 12 years ago, roughly, from Finley Day Camp in Raleigh.  The future District 2 Congressional candidate is in the green in the back row  and standing behind several primary grades aged children including a future Hopewell Civics student..

Jeopardy answer #15- Americans for Prosperity (AFP) has spent more than 7 million on NC's Senate race. AFP's foundation chairman is this Kansas resident.

Jeopardy question #15 -  Who is David Koch?


In the last two decades, political action groups have played an increasingly critical role in political campaigns.  Although AFP is technically a "public welfare" institution and thus tax exempt, AFP and its affiliates spent over 122 million dollars on ads during the 2012 Presidential election.  Money from such groups are not considered direct contributions to a campaign. The Koch brothers have spent an estimated $400 million dollars to fund groups like AFP for ads opposing the Affordable Care Act, energy taxes, and any increase in taxes.

Thanks to the generosity of the Cary Chamber of Commerce, our class had the privilege of seeing four of this year's Congressional candidates in person at the Prestonwood Country Club on September 23.  We were especially fortunate to spend time individually with each of the four candidates after the event.  Representative Ellmers was especially generous and took the time to let the class members ask her questions individually. 
The class was also interviewed by a reporter from NPR. 

Jeopardy Answer #14 - This President said "I am the last President of the United States."


Jeopardy Question #14 -  Who is James Buchanan, 15th President of the United States.


After the election of Abraham Lincoln,  the secession of South Carolina, and the atttack on Fort Sumter, Buchanan  apparently was quoted saying this multiple times. This was also one of Mr. Traini's Final Jeopardy questions during his run on the show.  He got it correct.  One of his opponents had written "who is Buchanan" then crossed it out.

Jeopardy Answer #13 -  A regular member of the U.S. Senate makes this much more than a regular House member.


Jeopardy Question #13 - What is the regular members of both houses of Congress receive the same salary?


Possibly because the U.S. Senate are considered equal bodies within the legislative branch, the rank and file members of each part of Congress receive the same salary which is currently $174,000/year.  Current members receive the same retirement and health car packages available to other Federal employees. While in office, members may receive up to !5% of their salary in outside ordinary income, but there is no limit on investment income.  The graphic for this Jeopardy Question was done by Sarahcate.