If due-process rights are not restored for new teachers, then the idea of having a rally or a march to advocate for students and schools ten to fifteen years from now would likely never happen. They are that important! Their removal was a beginning step in a patient, scripted, and ALEC-allying plan that systematically tries … Continue reading Remembering Why We Marched in May and Will Vote in November (#2) – Removal of Due-Process Rights and Career Status for Teachers

This week on ESPN.com, a story was released that highlighted LeBron James's recent foray into helping the local school system. AKRON, Ohio -- LeBron James drove down the streets he grew up on Monday afternoon and parked his vehicle outside the I Promise School that he helped build before roaming the halls for the first time. The … Continue reading What LeBron James Can Teach North Carolina About Fully Funding Schools

It was reported this year that North Carolina finally had an average salary for teachers over $50,000 a year. “Recently released figures from the state Department of Public Instruction put the average salary for a North Carolina public school teacher at $51,214 this school year. That’s $1,245 more than the previous school year. The $50,000 … Continue reading Remembering Why We Marched in May and Will Vote in November – “Average” Raises and Still Below Average Salaries

Our public schools are better than you may think. Probably a lot better. With the constant dialogue that “we must improve schools” and the “need to implement reforms,” it is imperative that we as a taxpaying public seek to understand all of the variables in which schools are and can be measured, and not all … Continue reading Our Public Schools Are Better Than the NCGA Would Want You to Believe

Sure. Most people here in North Carolina might think of the beginning of the school year as being closer to the end of August, but it actually begins much earlier. Well before students will begin roaming the halls to re-acclimate themselves to a bell schedule, teachers will report to school for “pre-planning,” which is a … Continue reading Actually, School Started Today

This month, Mark Johnson announced a reorganization at the Department of Public Instruction, one of the many results of a recent court case that took over a year to settle and an audit that cost over a million dollars which said that DPI was underfunded. Part of the official announcement contained this new position that at … Continue reading According to Rumor, Mark Johnson is to Hire Dolores Umbridge as NCDPI’s Deputy Superintendent of Operations

At the beginning of each school year, I am required to fully disclose my syllabus to all perspective students and parents. On the first day of class, I give each student a set of rubrics that I use to gauge written work throughout the year. Any student can ask how any assessment was graded and … Continue reading When .gov Allows .edu To Be Governed By .com – North Carolina’s Allegiance to SAS and EVAAS

It is largely accepted that to convene the North Carolina General Assembly for one day in 2018 during a special session costs NC taxpayers roughly $50K. Think about it. $50K to rewrite six amendments that were already to be written by a bipartisan panel to make sure that a certain spin was added to it. … Continue reading The NCGA Special Session – What That 50K Could Have Financed

From Valerie Strauss at the Washington Post on The Answer Sheet blog: "University of Virginia researchers who looked at data from more than 1,000 students found that all of the advantages supposedly conferred by private education evaporate when socio-demographic characteristics are factored in. There was also no evidence found to suggest that low-income children or … Continue reading So Are Private Schools Better At Educating Our Students Than Public Schools?