Tyrrell county schools and the challenges fear-mongering and disinformation generate.
Political disinformation is not new, neither are politicians who use it knowingly or unknowingly.
On February 26, 2021, a social media post was made by Senator Bob Steinburg to his personal Facebook page where he stated that a grandparent of a middle-school student called him, the grandparent’s grandson “was asked to play the part of a transgender” in a virtual class play. Additionally, Senator Bob Steinburg wrote that “If this nonsense has already seeped into rural classrooms then what’s next.” and asked for more engagement in school boards and that “schools- get back to what we are paying you to do- teaching our students academics!” Senator Bob Steinburgs official government Facebook page does not have this issue posted nor any follow-up to the issues raised.
Based on the Tyrrell county school’s investigation into this matter, we have since learned that what was stated by Senator Bob Steinburg, was not corroborated by the school’s findings.
Senator Bob Steinburg’s Facebook post had over 800 responses and shared over 150 times, the majority of which were disappointed that a public figure would post something so egregious and unverified and not the proper place or method to raise such a complaint. Many other respondents to the post attempted to provide clarity concerning the play that was part of a virtual teaching lesson, that the middle school class participated in.
The post and its minority support expressed disappointment and that action in our schools is needed to prevent a “liberal takeover” of the classroom.
In our analysis, over 70% of responses were either upset (43%) or provided information to Senator Bob Steinburg concerning the play or how concerns at schools are escalated (29%). Clearly not the majority which Senator Bob Steinburg claims as his constituents.
Note: We only counted replies which were clear concerning their intent, areas related to name-calling, religious assertions, BLM assertions, and alleged misconduct at other schools were omitted.
Time for Drama
The play that was part of this virtual drama lesson, was “Fosters” by playwright Kendra Thomas who even replied to Senator Bob Stieburgs Facebook post that highlighted the misinformed post as being inaccurate.
To this day, Senator Bob Steinburg has not corrected his initial Facebook post or provided clarity concerning the official school investigation concerning the issue, only highlighting vague statements such as “it was taken care of.” Facebook has not responded or taken action to the post being reported for its clear inaccuracy.
A weak correlation to a similarly named TV series “The Fosters” which aired from 2013 to 2018 was attempted to demostrate that a TV series had a transgender role and was based on a lesbian couple as they head up a multiethnic family comprised of a biological son and a few adopted kids.
The play as highlighted is a “sweet, touching play by Kendra Thomas, who is a middle-school teacher, is loaded with monologues, explores the special connection between abandoned animals in need of homes and foster children who often feel alone in this world.” A play that is available for all schools and organizations who wish to enrich their lives with a single act play, that is easily completed in a virtual classroom setting, as it was at the Tyrrell county middle school.
In order to expose fake or misleading information, a deeper analysis was required to show contributing factors or other contributing information. In this analysis, we will review the events which pre-date his posting and events which followed, which are closely aligned to party line positions.
Timeline of Media content related to Senator Bob Steinburg’s post:
January 28, 2021 – WCYB.com news, Republicans on North Carolina education board attack social studies plan.
February 19, 2021 – Fox News, – Tucker Carlson Tonight: The far-left agenda your children are being taught every day. Our children need education, but they’re getting indoctrination
February 25, 2021 – A day prior to Senator Bob Steinburgs post, a reporter who is close with social and religious/conservatives posted on her twitter feed that there was an influx of activity in GOP circles on 2/25/21 at 05:54pm EST.
February 26, 2021 – The Glenn Beck Program, Blaze TV – 9am-12pm. The INSANE Equality Act | Guests: Sen. Rand Paul & Bill O’Reilly | 2/26/21. The House-passed Equality Act is frightening. Sen. Rand Paul joins to discuss Biden nominee Dr. Rachel Levine and her controversial stance on transgender surgery for children. Companies are sidestepping the Constitution to enact the Equality Act.
February 26, 2021 – At 1:40pm, North Carolina, Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson stated at CPAC 2021. [As transcribed from the video] “We need to wrestle the education system away from these leftest who have turned it into their own personal playground and are using it for political means to vexed[sic] the minds of our youth to make sure that the school board meetings are as packed as the football stadium.”
February 26, 2021 – The day of Senator Bob Steinburgs post, which he made at 3:31pm EST.
March 16, 2021 – Youtube Video: Indoctrination in public schools? NC Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, other Republicans say it’s a problem. Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina highlighted that they were besieged by folks who were complaining about things that their children were having to learn against their own beliefs. He calls it indoctrination, politicization of the classroom, and introducing things into the classroom. Lt. Governor Mark Orbinson alleges that they “See it in every corner of the state.” Have seen numerous complaints. The Edenton Gazette has reached out to the Lieutenant Governor’s office for details concerning this allegation or data concerning complaints they have received, his office as of this writing has not responded to our request or our request to interview Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson on the matter.
March 17, 2021 – The launch of Lieutenant Governor’s FACT Taskforce that is designed to expose indoctrination in the classroom and ensuring[sic] that our students are taught how to think – not what to think.
Active measures: the secret history of disinformation and political warfare
The first lesson, which is that none of what is happening today is new.
The second lesson, is that disinformation is designed not to create new facts, but rather to destroy the idea of the existence of fact itself.
The third lesson, is the ‘boomerang effect’. The actual impact of active measures rarely comes from the measures themselves, but comes from the reaction they trigger.
International Affairs, Volume 97, Issue 1, January 2021, Pages 244–245, https://doi.org/10.1093/ia/iiaa211
Disinformation operations, in essence, erode the very foundation of open societies – not only for the victim but also for the perpetrator. When vast, secretive bureaucracies engage in systematic deception, at large scale and over a long time, they will optimize their own organisational culture for this purpose, and undermine the legitimacy of public administration at home
Active Measures: The Secret History of Disinformation and Political Warfare By Thomas Rid, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2020. 513pp. isbn 978 0 37428 726 9.
Coordinated disinformation is corrosive and commonly used in warfare.
The U.S. State Department recently released a report titled: WEAPONS OF MASS DISTRACTION: Foreign State-Sponsored Disinformation in the Digital Age where it highlights “Social media’s business model, by promoting clicks, views, and shares, can be easily weaponized by bad actors to spread disinformation – and many might argue that it is optimized to do so.” A clear and present danger when used by those who seek power or control over liberty.
While this report was focused on nation-state actors, the techniques and desired outcomes outlined in the report are used domestically to achieve political power, to spread fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
The use of disinformation to achieve political power or policy gains, will never cease. However, what can change the impact of disinformation campaigns are individuals who use critical thinking and knowledge to counter false narratives and demand societally aligned performance of our elected officials. No one should be subjected to toxic behavior, even from someone who won in the last election.
While outrage can be expressed when politicians post divisive or false information leading up to or preempting policy activities, if the reaction of outrage is the goal, an informed citizen can simply discount the misleading or false information and center the discussion on the true issues.
The Facebook algorithm currently does not take into consideration if an individual Facebook post is for good or bad, it’s an algorithm or in simple terms, a set of known computer instructions. Only with enough readers reporting the post as false or misleading, can the algorithm learn the difference. It will then be up to the CEOs of social media companies if they want them to learn or not. If they want to take action or not.
Active Measures in lieu of legislative balance
The downside of active measures is that the more that political leaders focus money and energy on rhetorical issues, which are being raised solely for the purpose of making an argument and generating outrage, instead of a genuine desire to find a solution to an issue, the less we can expect in real policy supporting business growth, health, and prosperity for North Carolinians!
The founding fathers hoped the American people would have the strength and knowledge to protect and perpetuate liberty. However, politicians have and continue to use every trick in the book to send Americans to politicians so they can be protected from the dangers they themselves present.
An informed, educated and critical thinking population does not live in perpetual fear of security and welfare as driven by current and future politicians.
…the form of government which communicates ease, comfort, security, or, in one word, happiness, to the greatest number of persons, and in the greatest degree, is the best.
Then he expressed what existed at the time and unfortunately what exists in our government today:
Fear is the foundation of most governments; but it is so sordid and brutal a passion, and renders men in whose breasts it predominates so stupid and miserable, that Americans will not be likely to approve of any political institution which is founded on it.
Roger Amburst, Forming America: John Adams’ Thoughts on Government, May 4, 2012
The use of disinformation as a tool for influence and obfuscation of the issues will never cease. What will change, however, are the technologies by which disinformation is created and spread.
Senator Bob Steinburg’s recent amplification of an issue appears related to a party-line transgender position, while not new or surprising, this creates division and at worst, a distraction from the real issues that impact the schools in Northeastern North Carolina, such as declining enrollments, aging infrastructure and stagnate teaching compensation.
The many issues affecting Northeastern North Carolina schools
Where does the state of North Carolina need legislative engagement? Here are some insights into where work is needed by our elected officials. Here are a few examples and articles of where the focus is required.
“Year after year, our poorest counties fall further behind our wealthier ones in terms of resources available to their local schools,” Keith Poston, President & Executive Director, Public School Forum of North Carolina. “These funding disparities have a real impact on educational opportunity for students, particularly in terms of the ability of lower wealth counties to fund local supplemental pay to attract and retain the teachers they need to serve students.”
– https://www.ncforum.org/2019-local-school-finance-study/
Critical Needs Directly Impacting Rural School Districts
The following critical needs identified in the WestEd report particularly impact rural school districts.
Revise the state funding model to provide adequate, efficient, and equitable resources. These resources should be aligned to student needs in every school and district.
Provide a qualified, well-prepared, and diverse teaching staff in every school.
Provide a qualified and well-prepared principal in every school.
Provide all at-risk students with the opportunity to attend high-quality early childhood programs.
Build an effective regional and statewide system of support for the improvement of low-performing and high-poverty schools.
– https://www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org/resources/fact-sheets/the-facts-on-rural-schools/
The risk to North Carolina School Boards
It has been a years-long effort by the North Carolina Republican party to change generally non-partisan school boards into partisan races. The vast majority of school boards nationwide hold officially nonpartisan elections, mostly due to the focus being on the child, not the party line entrenchments.
The Republican-controlled legislature in the last five years has systematically flipped the election process for more than a quarter of the state’s 116 local school boards from nonpartisan races to ones in which candidates are identified by party affiliation.
The push toward partisan school board elections in North Carolina has gained momentum since 2013, shortly after the federal government loosened the reins on Voting Rights Act restrictions under the U.S. Supreme Court’s Shelby County, Ala. v. Holder decision, and after Republicans took control of the North Carolina legislature.
– Daarel Burnette II — December 12, 2017 https://www.edweek.org/leadership/partisan-school-board-elections-a-source-of-anxiety-for-north-carolina/2017/12
An educated and informed citizenry is the solution to fixing the issues that are impacting North Carolina’s education system, state senators and representatives are primarily responsible for both the benefit as well as the challenges our schools are facing.
Since education is a state responsibility and under state control, it is the state taxpayers who pay for and support schools, they should be the ones who ultimately direct how that money is used, including in the building of new school facilities.
Decisions made should always be accountable to voters. As well as the reallocation of existing tax dollars for new school projects or the repayment of new county debt should also be made visible and voted on, if taxes are not reduced once their earlier intended needs were met.
