The following tweet reminded me of how dedicated Mark Johnson really is in advocating for public schools here in North Carolina. Every two years the Department of Public Instruction issues a Teacher Working Conditions Survey to get a sense of how public school teachers feel about their working environment. Last year's was the first one … Continue reading My State Superintendent Will Eat Doughnuts For Me Because That’s What Real Leaders Do

  “INCLUDING MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM.” “NO TAX DOLLARS WILL BE USED FOR THIS EVENT.”   And from the Washington Post: "The Daily 202: Koch network poised to scale up efforts to remake K-12 education with a pilot project in five states." And as long as Johnson is allowing announcements about our public … Continue reading Dear Mark Johnson, Is February 19th About This?

This report appeared in the Washington Post yesterday and deserves a read from any and every public school advocate in the state. One of the people who was quoted was Art Pope of North Carolina. Pope is well known for his endeavors in North Carolina and his establishment of the Civitas Institute and the endowment … Continue reading More About That Koch Network to “Remake K-12 Education With a Pilot Project in Five States” – Good Chance NC is One of Them

"Officials with the powerful political network led by conservative billionaire Charles Koch said Monday that they are promoting a state-level education strategy that they hope educators and teachers unions will support. The Koch network is launching a new group next month that will focus on 15 million kindergarten through 12th-grade students in five unnamed states, … Continue reading So, Are the Koch Brothers About to Buy Their Way Into North Carolina’s Public School System?

Exams are finally over. At least for this semester. And in my school the largest obstacles and tallest hurdles dealt with technological issues. Knock out the Ethernet connections to a couple of buildings, have a bad connection in another building, and then some scattered wireless availability in a couple of other buildings, then a school … Continue reading Give Schools and Students The Choice to Take Paper & Pencil State Tests

When Duke University’s Children’s Law Center’s released its March 2017 report called SCHOOL VOUCHERS IN NORTH CAROLINA : THE FIRST THREE YEARS one of the most glaring aspects of the program was how many vouchers were being used at religiously affiliated schools. Some of the observations of the study included: Approximately 93% of the vouchers have been used … Continue reading The “Ordained” Opportunity Grants of North Carolina – The Least Transparent Voucher Program in the Nation

If you have any interest in why the charter school industry has been under the spotlight these past few years, you might want to check out a segment from the August 22, 2016 episode of Last Week Tonight With John Oliver. If you have HBO GO then you can watch all the episodes of a great … Continue reading Last Week Was National School Choice Week – Remembering Last Week Tonight With John Oliver’s 2016 Segment on Charter Schools

My final grades are due the morning of February 1st, 2019 for the first semester of the 2018-2019 school year in my district. Seems odd that grades associated with a season that ended last calendar year would be turned in the day before Groundhog Day. Seems odd that grades for the fall semester be turned … Continue reading Happy Groundhog Day! The Fall Semester Will Almost Be Over. Maybe.

The 24-month tenure of Mark Johnson has been rather eventful. And most of the actions or lack of action that have taken place under his “leadership” have been overwhelmingly deleterious. Consider: House Bill 17. Promotion of “school choice.” Audit of DPI. Reduction of funding for DPI Reorg of DPI Fighting with State Board of Education. … Continue reading The One Positive Effect of Mark Johnson’s Tenure as State Superintendent

North Carolina has over 7400 fewer teacher assistants than it did ten years ago. Let me repeat: North Carolina has over 7400 fewer teacher assistants than it did ten years ago. When study after study published by leading education scholars and education historians (Ravitch, Kozol, etc.) preach that reaching students early in their academic lives is … Continue reading The NCGA’s Teacher Assistant Contradiction