News-Record.com

Below, a Tuesday invite to June Atkinson and Joe Johnson from Eddie Davis, president of the N.C. Association of Educators:

"To: June Atkinson and Joe Johnson
Fellow Candidates for State Superintendent

From: Eddie Davis, Candidate for State Superintendent

Congratulations on your recent filing for the position of State Superintendent. Although the final filing opportunity is still a few days away, it appears that all three of the speculated candidates for State Superintendent are officially in the contest.

With that in mind, I think that it is appropriate for me to invite you to join me in organizing a series of at least six open and public debates on the important issues facing public education in North Carolina. If others file for State Superintendent by Friday, February 29th, they, too, should be invited to join us in this public series of debates.

I propose that these debates should be held in March and April. I propose that these debates should be open to the public and they should be held in various geographic areas around the state. I propose that these debates should be individually or collaboratively sponsored by non-partisan and non-endorsing groups such as:

The NC Association of County Commissioners, The NC Chamber, El Pueblo, Inc., The NC League of Women Voters, NC 4-H Youth Development, The NC NAACP, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, NC Sheriff’s Association, NC Police Executives Association.

I know you will agree that these debates are important. The most recent Elon Poll indicated that, behind concerns about the economy, K-12 public education is the second most vital concern on the minds of voters in North Carolina. Also, recent reports indicate we are losing as many as 20,000 of our youth to dropouts each year. In addition, the largest segment of our state budget is devoted to public education.

I know you are interested in discussing these and various other education issues with the people of North Carolina. Please contact me by the end of this week so that we can begin the planning process for these public debates as quickly as possible.

Thanks in advance for your participation in these proposed debates. Again, congratulations on your official entry in the contest for State Superintendent."