Opinion Roundup: Class size confusion, humiliated Republicans, chastised Democratic consultant and more

Thursday, Feb. 15, 2018 -- A round up of opinion, commentary and analysis on: Larded class-size fix, consultant rebuked, conservatives "humiliate" a Republican and more.

Sen. Thom Tillis (Twitter) – “Tragic news out of Florida. Please keep the victims, their families, first responders and the community in your thoughts and prayers.”

NRA Placed Big Bets on the 2016 Election, and Won Almost All of Them (Center for Responsive Politics) -- In North Carolina, the NRA spent $6.2 million on the incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr, the most it has ever invested in a down-ballot race.

DAVID LEONHARDT, IAN PRASAD PHILBRICK & STUART A. THOMPSON: Thoughts and prayers for victims. NRA funding for Washington (New York Times column) -- The top 10 career recipients of N.R.A. funding – through donations or spending to benefit the candidate – among both current House and Senate members, along with their statements about the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs, Tex. Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. #1 -- $6.99 million; Sen. Thom Tillis, R-NC, #3 -- $4.42 million. These representatives have a lot to say about it. All the while, they refuse to do anything to avoid the next massacre.

VALERIE BAUERLEIN: Call From Child During Florida School Shooting: Parent’s Story (Wall Street Journal analysis) -- Security expert Joel Leffler was on a business trip in Dallas when he got a call from his son, a 16-year-old junior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in South Florida.

MATTHEW BURNS & LAURA LESLIE: Cooper backing class size measure despite 'political attacks and power grabs' (WRAL-TV analysis) -- In a blistering attack on the Republican-controlled legislature, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper accused lawmakers of violating an order of the North Carolina Supreme Court and manufacturing a dispute over a fund tied to a natural gas pipeline.

NC governor says he won’t veto class-size fix (Charlotte Observer) -- Gov. Roy Cooper said he would not veto a bill that would give North Carolina elementary schools more time to reduce class sizes but includes other legislative changes he opposes.

ALEX GRANADOS: Cooper will let class size bill become law (EdNC analysis) -- Gov. Roy Cooper announced he will allow to become law the bill that ushers in a plan to solve the class size crisis, but he had a lot of criticism for how Republican lawmakers went about constructing the legislation.

Does new school money even exist? Maybe not (Fayetteville Observer) -- Well yes, the money is nice — or at least it would be, if it existed. What school system wouldn’t appreciate a surprise $15 million funding boost? That’s what the General Assembly just voted to give the Cumberland County school system. Given all the cuts, shortfalls, squeezes and other funding pressures our schools have faced over the past decade, the unexpected cash infusion would be sweet manna. If the schools ever get it. If, in fact, the deal is legitimate. Because as odiferous legislative sausage-making goes, this move stinks more than most.

MARK PRICE & MARIA DAVIE: GOP leader sues NC conservative group for ‘humiliation’ (Charlotte Observer analysis) -- The vice chairwoman of the Republican Party in Haywood County has filed a lawsuit against a group of conservative activists, claiming they’re behind a series of comical internet memes that she says have damaged her reputation. Debbie King seeks in excess of $75,000 in damages from the Haywood Republican Alliance for “emotional psychological distress, embarrassment, humiliation, physical disability, loss of appetite and stress.”

Civitas files complaint against Cooper over pipeline fund (WRAL-TV analysis) – The far-right leaning Civitas filed an ethics complaint against Gov. Roy Cooper, questioning his role in a $57.8 million fund tied to the Atlantic Coast Pipeline that the governor plans to control. The complaint does not directly accuse the governor of trading a key state permit on the project for access to the fund.

GARY ROBERTSON: Bill with class fix, items aimed at Cooper to become law (AP news analysis) -- Gov. Roy Cooper announced a bill on his desk fixing an upcoming public school class-size dilemma and expanding fully pre-kindergarten for at-risk children will become law next month.

Daughter of former Gov. Hunt running for legislature (AP news analysis) -- A daughter of former four-term Gov. Jim Hunt now also wants to serve in Raleigh by getting elected to the state legislature.

RICK HASEN: Experts launch PlanScore.org to allow citizens to evaluate redistricting schemes (Election Law Blog) -- PlanScore.org—a new website developed by redistricting experts and Silicon Valley coding experts— allows citizens to upload proposed state districting maps and instantaneously have them scored for partisan symmetry using three widely-accepted measures: the efficiency gap, partisan bias, and the mean-median difference. This scoring is based on precinct-level data and resembles how mapmakers evaluate their own plans. Until now, this information was available primarily to experts with access to costly software.

N.C. Democratic Party rebukes veteran consultant (AP news analysis) -- The N.C. Democratic Party has rebuked Brad Crone, a longtime apolitical consultant for party candidates, because it says he's forming a committee designed to back GOP Rep. Nelson Dollar of Cary.

LINDELL JOHN KAY: State Sen. Bryant to continue as advocate (Rocky Mount Telegram analysis) -- From the moment state Sen. Angela Bryant heard the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. deliver his dream speech at a local high school, she knew she would follow in his footsteps. A year later, an 11-year-old Bryant was the only girl in a handful of black students who integrated Rocky Mount's public schools in 1963.

CAITLIN DEWEY & TRACY JAN:‘This isn’t a handout or a luxury to me — we would literally not survive without benefits’ (Washington Post analysis) -- About 90 million low-income Americans rely on Medicaid, housing subsidies or food stamps. Families depending on those programs fear how they may be affected by President Trump’s proposed cuts to the safety net.

GAYLE MYRICK: You can’t make state officials like me perform same-sex marriages (Washington Post column) -- My favorite role as a magistrate in North Carolina was officiating civil wedding ceremonies. Presiding over two people committing their lives to each other filled me with so much joy that I routinely stepped in for other magistrates who didn’t like performing that task. When same-sex marriage became legal in North Carolina after a 2014 court case, I didn’t want to stop anyone from getting lawfully married. I understood that same-sex marriage had become the law of the land. But I also knew that my religious beliefs prevented me from performing a same-sex wedding ceremony. Because handling weddings amounted to only about 5 percent of my work, I hoped there was a way to keep the job I loved without inconveniencing others.

Dogs, prisoners get New Leash On Life (New Bern Sun Journal analysis) -- Six dogs left the big house to join their new families Wednesday while four of the inmates who had readied them for their new lives were rewarded, themselves, with certification as dog trainers from the state. It was the 34th round of the New Leash On Life, a state prison program

Blust’s principles transcend politics (Greensboro News & Record) -- John Blust delivered his own political epitaph in emotional remarks to his state House of Representatives colleagues Tuesday.

LIZ SCHLEMMER: Legislature Slips School Voucher Change In Class Size Bill (WUNC-FM analysis) -- The General Assembly passed a bill primarily to address issues with a prior law that reduces class sizes in kindergarten through third grade. While the measure to phase in and better fund those reductions had bipartisan support, Democrats have criticized the bill for tacking on a number of other provisions.

JEFF HAMPTON: Cheerleading coach resigns over N.C. sheriff candidate hoodie photo (Norfolk Virginian-Pilot column) -- McKecuen posted a photo of middle school cheerleading squad wearing hoodies promoting his election. He was not aware it broke school policy, he said.

Protecting the Yadkin (Winston-Salem Journal) -- “Dance for the River,” a photographic exhibition currently on display at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, joins fine art with service to a crucial cause — keeping our crucial Yadkin River clean. It’s a subject that our leaders, and more of the rest of us, should work all the harder on.

JENNIFER ALLEN: Duke’s Drones to Take Off on Defense Project (Coastal Review analysis) -- Researchers at Duke University’s Marine Robotics and Remote Sensing Lab will use $954,000 Defense Department grant to study how drones can help military land managers monitor shoreline changes.

Meet here about offshore drilling (Norfolk Vriginian-Pilot) – If the Trump administration wants to open the Virginia coast to oil and gas speculation, forever altering one of the commonwealth’s most important and valuable natural resources, it should afford this area some measure of respect.

ALLAN MAURER: Aetna Foundation awards $1M grant to NC organization to fight opioid crisis (WRAL-TV/TechWire) -- The Aetna Foundation said will provide grants totaling $6 million to fund select projects that state and local leaders have identified as promising, or particularly well-suited to tackle the most critical opioid-related challenges with an initial $1 million grant going to the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition.

KATHRYN BROWN: Dream come true: Apex woman scores only goal for Team Korea (WRAL-TV analysis) -- An Olympic dream came true Wednesday for a local woman who is competing in South Korea. Randi Heesoo Griffin, of Apex, scored the first, and only, goal for the unified Korean team in their women's hockey game against Team Japan.

Martha Hunt Reveals What’s on Her iPhone(Wall Street Journal Magazine column) -- The North Carolina-bred model, Victoria’s Secret Angel and scoliosis activist, who has an Instagram following of 2.8 million, shares what’s on her phone.