More Fake News from CCS and Shelby Star!!   CCS Press Release is phony and Star Prints it anyway!!   $100 Reward Offered for the Truth about CCS!!   Report and proof by Robert A

In regard to those very few that still take the Shelby Star, the $64 Question is WHY? The Shelby Star is NOT in Shelby anymore. Their reporting about Cleveland County is mostly Press Releases from the Cleveland County Commissioners and the Cleveland County School Board that are themselves mostly false and misleading lies and deceptions put out for the purpose of creating an illusion with the public that things are going well in Cleveland County. When the things they are writing about are not going well at all. For instance, the “Shelby Star” put out an article a few days ago titled How did Cleveland County Schools score this year? Let’s examine that article with some logic and a questioning attitude. Something that everybody should use when reading anything that any governmental agency, politician or elected official puts out for public consumption.

This Shelby Star article started out with a major deception. The first sentence/paragraph stated, “Cleveland County Schools are outperforming many other schools across the state, according to data released from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.” The rest of the article went on and on, including all the schools normally associated with CCS, phony statements from CCS Superintendent Stephen Fisher, and how CCS used “Continuous Improvement” methods to get to where they are. “Continuous Improvement” was never defined in that Star article and Robert A sincerely doubts Supt. Fisher even knows what the term Continuous Improvement actually means.

So, let’s start our logical and critical thinking examination with Continuous Improvement. This term is very commonly used in industry and enlightened management of every type. From manufacturing to farming, in one form or another name. The core basis of continuous improvement is to purposely plan to look for, find, and fix problems of any and all kinds in such a way as to effect improvements in the intended process. In this case, the intended process is the education of our children. All CCS ever does is cover up (like this noted Shelby Star article), by proclaiming how great they are. Robert A offers a $100 reward to the first person who can show where CCS, the CCS Administration, and the CCS School Board, under Chairman Robert Queen, have ever shown even one instance where CCS has EVER purposely looked for, found and fixed a problem as a part of any kind of documented policy or program as Supt. Fisher has directly stated in this Shelby Star article. Also note that the Shelby Star reporter, whose name was on the article, never thought or bothered to ask Fisher any questions about the details of any of CCSs’ Continuous Improvement efforts. Or anything else for that matter.

 

Now, instead of boring our readers with a detailed evaluation of every part and every phony detail of the Shelby Star/CCS Press Release article previously noted we need to look at the Elephant in the room and compare ALL the schools in Cleveland County. Especially the ONE that the Shelby Star and CCS Superintendent Stephen Fisher completely (and purposely) left out. Pinnacle Classical Academy! An independently owned and operated Charter School that draws its students directly from the same “pool” of children as does CCS. Note that PCA (K-12) has well over 1,000 students and accepts students from all races, creeds, colors, sexes, and economic standing. And since the NC Department of Public Instructions is biased toward “regular” Public Schools, let’s look at an independent judgment and report from an entity that is completely disconnected from CCS and the NCDPI. The United States News and World Report’s independent research assessment of ALL the schools in the NATION. Not just North Carolina. And Not just Cleveland County.

 

According to the latest US News and World Reports findings:

1. Pinnacle Classical Academy’s High School was rated Number 1in Cleveland County while CCS’s Early College High School, with hand-picked students, was rated #4.
2. Pinnacle Classical Academy’s High School was rated Number 49 among the 981 High Schools in North Carolina. The 981 number includes 686 Public High Schools and 295 Private High Schools in North Carolina.
3. Pinnacle Classical Academy’s High School was rated in the top 6% of ALL High Schools in the United States.

 

None of this information was included in the Shelby Star’s report or the CCS Press Release.

 

There is MORE!!!

 

The Shelby Star reporter never asked the CCS Superintendent any questions or did any fact-checking on the CCS information provided in the article; the fact is that the Number 1 Strategic Plan Goal at CCS is: By 2030, all third-grade students will meet or exceed grade level expectations. Nowhere in CCS documents is there a specific plan on how to meet that goal. And, by 2030? That means children in Cleveland County Schools just three years old through ten years old are already behind in their education experience at CCS. And, if a student is behind at the end of the third grade, it is most likely that the student will be behind the rest of their educational career at CCS.

 

At Pinnacle Classical Academy (PCA), Robert A questioned PCA on their K-3 performance. PCA responded that they had a different perspective on this issue than CCS. At PCA, they didn’t “teach to the test.” At PCA, they concentrated on teaching the fundamentals; reading, writing, and arithmetic. The basic skills that a student would need to continue their education into the higher grades and the rest of their lives with a higher proficiency. PCA stated that they tracked their students’ performance, not just through the third grade, but throughout the students’ career at PCA. Concentrating their teaching on the fundamentals at every level and in every grade, as the child progressed through the grades, their performance was ever increasing and the child at graduation received much higher marks than they would have achieved at regular public schools like CCS. The high rankings noted above by the US News and World Reports indicate that the PCA teaching methods are much more successful than CCS and by graduation are better than 94% of all Schools in the United States of America. Public, and Private.

 

One last note. Pinnacle Classical Academy gladly extended an open invitation to Robert A to visit PCA to observe their operations and inspect their records. That they have nothing to hide.

At Cleveland County Schools, Superintendent Stephen Fisher refuses to take Robert A’s telephone calls or return his calls. CCS School Board Chairman Robert Queen tells Robert A that he has no obligation to answer any questions that Robert A has about CCS. Or anything else. Also, CCS illegally refuses to provide Robert A (and others) access to public records as required by North Carolina law. Apparently, CCS has plenty to hide.

 

Robert A can only conclude that parents should send their children to Charter Schools like Pinnacle Classical Academy! And urge the North Carolina General Assembly to immediately adopt Parental Choice laws to allow full State Funding for Schools to “Follow the Child” to Charter Schools, Church Schools, Private Schools, and Home Schools. All of which provide better education to students than Cleveland County Schools. No matter what the Shelby Star’s phony Press Release articles say about CCS.

 

Stay Tuned Folks, Robert A, when elected to the Cleveland County Board of Commissioners, would work to ensure our children, our future, here in Cleveland County, are provided the best education possible with the most cost-effective educational processes that are available.