Candidate Biography (submitted by campaign):

Eric H. Smith is the conservative candidate for Superintendent of Public Instruction.  He faces two opponents in the GOP primary.  One opponent is a 26 year old who has been employed by one antigun group and on the Board of Directors of another organization that promotes handgun control. His other primary opponent is former State Rep and co-Speaker Richard Morgan whose fellow co-speaker Jim Black was convicted of bribery and is in prison.
  
Eric was born in Winston Salem to Rev. and Mrs. Rodney T. Smith.  His father is pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Thomasville and an instructor at Forsyth Technical Community College.  His mother is a retired substitute teacher at Pilot Elementary School in Thomasville.  Eric attended Forsyth Technical Community College then went on to pursue aircraft flight training at Causey Aviation in Silar City and Piedmont Aviation in Winston Salem.
  
Eric worked in management with Continental Airlines in various cities across the country. Returning home in 2002, he married Kelly Baker.  They have one son, Jared. Currently, the Smiths farm in Rockingham County.   
  
Eric and Kelly are members of Leaksville Moravian Church where Eric is a Trustee and plays valve trombone in the band.  They support Eden’s Cooperative Christian Ministries, a food bank in Rockingham County.  In the past, Eric volunteered with the Ben Richey Boys Ranch in Abilene TX. He also has volunteered his time for the Wild Turkey Federation and is a supporter of Ducks Unlimited.  He holds a Life Time Hunting License and supports land conservation and wildlife education.
  
He was chairman of the Clements for Congress campaign in Texas in 2000 and was the GOP nominee for local office in Hayes County, Texas in 2002 before returning home. Eric was the Rockingham County grassroots coordinator for Robinson for Congress in 2004 and 2006.

I’m running for North Carolina’s children.  I hope to work with reform members of the Council of State to root out corruption in Raleigh. Taking bribes or stealing elections are not the only types of corruption. A mindset that reports false drop-outs rates denying the public critical data and stealing the future of thousands of children is also corrupt.
 
North Carolina’s ABC accountability system has never worked and has failed our children.  Its results are not valid or reliable and its tests are expensive, not nationally normed, provide slow feedback to teachers and are criticized across the country for lack of rigor. Adaptive testing used in a small number of NC schools provides an alternative way to measure student achievement.  This system is valid, reliable and computer based to reduce costs and speed usable results to teachers.  Adaptive testing is both nationally normed and aligned to North Carolina’s curriculum providing teachers with tools to help children.
 
Parents should be able to choose the school that best meets their needs. Teachers should be able to teach in a school consistent with their teaching philosophy.  By giving parents and teachers more choices in school districts and taking the cap off public charter schools, it is easier to create the shared common vision between parents and teachers that is present in all high performing schools.
 
Finally, I look forward to working with reform Council of State members to reduce the impact of illegal immigration on our schools particularly in terms of overcrowding, staffing shortages, policies that discriminate against American citizens and textbook content.
 
Rooting out corruption, giving teachers the tools to help children, empowering parents, and working to end illegal immigration constitute an agenda for the right change supported overwhelming by our citizens.