Rodney D. Pierce for Halifax County Schools Board of Education

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The Network for Public Education Action is proud to endorse Rodney D. Pierce for Halifax County Schools Board of Education (NC). Rodney knows  the challenges facing his district because he is the ONLY candidate who is an active classroom teacher and a parent of current students in the Halifax County Schools. Rodney has been a public advocate for racial equity in classroom content and curriculum, resources, and teacher workforce. Rodney’s main goal is to provide resources for students, teachers, and administrators  in accordance with the Leandro Plan. 

Rodney told NPE Action that his plan to improve public education was to create a Teacher Leadership Committee at each school that will in turn provide input and feedback for Central Office Administration. Rodney also believes in the Grow Our Own Initiatives, where his district can tackle their teacher mobility and attrition issues by producing a pipeline of future educators from their own students. Finally Rodney supports collaboration with local businesses and service providers to secure internship experiences for students and discounts for employees. 

Rodney’s positions on testing, charters, and vouchers are all in line with those of NPE Action. 

Here’s what Rodney told us.

  • Testing: “We need less testing and standardized testing should not be used to calculate school grades. We should be using growth more to measure the effectiveness of a school. Additionally, standardized testing is typically biased in its terminology as test creators are not diverse and students from generally poor counties and districts are punished because they don’t have the resources to receive an equitable education.”
  • Charters:  “I’m not a general fan of charter schools as their boards are appointed and not elected, meaning there is no accountability to the public or voters. Locally, they have a bad habit of sending kids to other schools at the end of the school year so the test scores of the charter school won’t go down.”
  • Vouchers:  “I am not in favor of public money being used for private education. If a parent wants private education, they need to pay for their child to go to private school. It reminds me of the efforts of White parents doing the same during desegregation/integration.“

NPE Action urges North Carolina public education supporters to get out the vote for Rodney D. Pierce in the Primary on May 17th and the General Election on November 8th.

No candidate authorized this ad. It is paid for by Network for Public Education Action, New York, New York.