Progress NC Action Seeks Transparency from F.A.C.T.S. Task Force Group
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 9, 2021
Contact: Durrell Johnson, Communications Director
Progress NC Action Seeks Transparency from F.A.C.T.S. Task Force Group
RALEIGH, NC – Progress North Carolina Action (PNCA) filed a Freedom of Information Act request to unearth details regarding Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson’s secretive F.A.C.T.S. (Fairness and Accountability in the Classroom for Teachers and Students) Task Force. While the stated goal of the task force was to provide “the proof of indoctrination” Lt. Governor Robinson claims is taking place in classrooms across the state; the committee has operated in a clandestine manner, ignoring North Carolina’s Open Meeting Laws.
According to local reporting, the F.A.C.T.S. Task Force includes fifteen members hand-picked by Robinson and his office. In addition to legislators and school board members, the committee includes Dr. Terry Stoops from the John Locke Foundation and Melissa Merrell from the North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools. There is no public record of the criteria or process in which the committee members were selected.
The first and presumably only task force meeting took place in June 2021, but was closed to both the press and public. The task force did not offer the required forty-eight hour advance notice, nor create any records of what took place behind those closed doors. These clear violations of Open Meeting Laws compelled PNCA to submit a Freedom of Information Act request asking for the following information:
- The F.A.C.T.S Task Force meeting schedule.
- All records from the task force’s June 2021 meeting.
- All records referencing the ’s reports, recommendations, summaries, or informal notes, including but not limited to, drafts, outlines, or other preliminary records.
“Lt. Gov. Robinson publicly pledges to release the task force’s findings, all the while continuing to hide how the committee operates,” said Progress North Carolina Action Communications Director, Durrell Johnson. “The public deserves to know how this task force works and have access to future meetings.”
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