Did you get a text from NC’s schools chief? So did 540,000 other parents and teachers
Hundreds of thousands of North Carolina parents and teachers received text messages Tuesday from State Superintendent Mark Johnson asking them to take an online survey about Common Core standards.
Johnson, who is campaigning to become North Carolina’s next lieutenant governor, announced last week he’s calling for a review of Common Core and would survey parents and teachers about the math and language arts standards.
Johnson has periodically sent mass emails about education issues. But in addition to the 800,000 emails he sent Tuesday about the Common Core survey, he also sent 540,000 texts to parents and educators. It marked the first time Johnson sent a mass text.
“NC Superintendent Johnson wants to remove Common Core from NC schools. Do you?” says the first text, which includes a link to the survey.
Later, people received a follow-up message telling them how they could opt out of future texts from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.
“On an issue as important as state standards for students, we want to hear from as many stakeholders as possible, not just the same Raleigh insiders,” Johnson said in a statement Tuesday about the text messages. “So, we used modern technology to better communicate directly with parents and teachers.
“While some Establishment Insiders don’t want the voices of real North Carolinians to be heard, I work for all North Carolinians, so of course we will use all means available to communicate with parents and teachers. We want all parents and teachers to know that their voices are heard by their education leaders.”
Critics question Johnson’s text messages
But the texts have drawn complaints from some parents and teachers.
“Most people I have spoken to were shocked about getting a text from DPI without opting in or consenting to receiving those,” Andy Fisher, a Union County teacher, told the News & Observer on Tuesday.
Abee Boyles, a parent of two Durham students, called the text messages “an example of (Johnson’s) continued shameless self-promotion.”
“I work in the public sector and feel Mr. Johnson has abused his ability to access my email and phone contact information to promote his own agenda and political aspirations,” Boyles said in an email to the N&O.
Defending the text messages
Graham Wilson, a DPI spokesman, said the email addresses and phone numbers came from information provided by parents and educators to school districts. He said that information is stored electronically for information and outreach.
Johnson is in a crowded field of Republican candidates running for lieutenant governor in the March 3 primary. Conservatives have been particularly critical of Common Core, viewing it as an attempt to try to create a national curriculum.
Common Core standards were developed under the sponsorship of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, and were presented as the way to better prepare students for college and jobs, The N&O previously reported.
Critics complained that the state rushed Common Core into classrooms without getting input from teachers or advising them adequately on how to teach it.
The State Board of Education revised the standards in 2017, but Johnson contends the board essentially retained Common Core standards under a different name.
Johnson said at last week’s State Board of Education meeting that he hopes to become lieutenant governor so he’ll have a seat on the board to vote on new standards to replace Common Core.
Wilson said that although Johnson is running for office, “that doesn’t mean that his duty to the people to improve our public school system stops.”
“Seeking greater parental engagement on eliminating Common Core is part of his job no matter the election date,” Wilson said in an email.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 2:46 PM with the headline "Did you get a text from NC’s schools chief? So did 540,000 other parents and teachers."
