Depending on which math and science track is taken in high school, it is conceivable a student who matriculates in NC’s public schools will take around 40 standardized tests. That list does not include any local benchmark assessments, the PSAT, the ACT, the Pre-ACT, or any of the AP exams that may come with Advanced … Continue reading The Cruel Irony Coronavirus Is Teaching Us About “Standardized” Testing

Justin Parmenter, who writes the Notes From The Chalkboard blog and is as fierce a public school advocate as I have ever had the privilege of working with, shared this sound clip from this past month in which Sen. Phil Berger comments on the Leandro report's findings about school funding in NC. In that sound … Continue reading Actually Phil, We Do Have Money – 10 Things NC Can Do Now To Begin To Honor The LEANDRO RULINGS

It was about one year ago when Lt. Gov. Dan Forest began pushing to have a personal finance class become a mandatory course in NC public high schools. And in order to make that work (after it was passed), what had been a mandatory course in US History was taken away as students went from … Continue reading So, We Will Make Sure To Add These Events To The Social Studies Curriculum?

It's June 19th. Juneteenth. On this day in 1865, slaves in Galveston, Texas became the last to learn of the Emancipation Proclamation. I do not remember ever studying the origins of this day in high school. It took two years after Lincoln declared slavery in 1863 abolished for people in Texas to find out. Today … Continue reading It’s Juneteenth. Not A Day For…, But A Day For….

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in my native state of Georgia: Gov. Brian Kemp and state school Superintendent Richard Woods are asking the federal government to waive the public school testing requirement for another school year. And there's more. Georgia will also look to not use a school grading system next year that is a little … Continue reading Georgia Just Did This For Its Schools. It’s Time The NCGA Did The Same For Ours.

Yesterday, the News & Observer ran a story on the return of temperature checks and other preventative measures to help curb the spread of COVID-19 in the chambers of the NC General Assembly. Paul Coble, the legislative services officer, had stopped measures of screening in the past few days. He said that it cost a … Continue reading So, If It Costs This Much To “Protect” The NCGA, Imagine What Schools Need

Rep. Larry Pittman is no stranger to public school advocates and those who have been calling for changes in North Carolina about how we treat our citizens. Remember when he wanted to give teachers guns in schools? A North Carolina lawmaker says allowing teachers to bring guns to school would save lives in situations such … Continue reading Apparently, I Am A “Loser Communist Democratic Teacher Thug” – And I Want Rep. Larry Pittman To Be “Unelected” This November

This is the salary schedule that was in effect for teachers this past school year (2019-2020). Remember that teachers who entered the profession after 2014 no longer receive graduate degree pay increases (unless they were grandfathered in by actually being in a graduate program in 2014). Those same newer teachers will not get due-process rights … Continue reading Dear NC Lawmaker, Explain How This Salary Schedule Creates This All-Time High Average Teacher Salary

Today former Gov. Pat McCrory tweeted the following in response to the US Supreme Court's decision on LGBTQ rights. McCrory once studied to be a history teacher at Catawba College. It seems that he needs to look at his own history. Remember HB2? The bathroom bill? Does McCrory remember his signing it into law and … Continue reading What Former Gov. Pat McCrory Said Today About LGBTQ Rights

Many surveys have already been sent out to teachers, parents, and guardians about possible ways to open up schools this fall. Options across these surveys offer multiple scenarios and often take less than five minutes to complete. They are needed to a great extent... ... but are they really getting a sense of what really … Continue reading What If There Was A Teacher Working Conditions Survey About What Should Happen In The Fall?