Imagine a room of 17 teachers. All of them have a bachelor's degree. Each has a different number of years of experience. There is one teacher who has 15 years of experience, and for every year from 15-31 years of experience there is exactly one teacher. That makes 17 veteran teachers in the room. Think … Continue reading This Is Really How The NCGA Feels About Veteran Teachers

At about the 30:00 minute mark of last week's State Superintendent Candidate Forum, Catherine Truitt made some interesting comments about teacher pay. Part of that is covered in the above. The other part of it concerned the vetoed 4.5% "raise for teachers" that was sustained by the NC Senate. These are talking points that she … Continue reading One Candidate For State Super Praised The NCGA’s Raises To Teachers. She Needs To Explain A Couple Of Things.

There are teachers in this state who literally are teaching both in-person students and still required to provide synchronous instruction to those students whose families have elected to begin this school year remotely. That could mean teaching one class section as if it were two. But there were no new hours in the day created. … Continue reading Teachers Have More Than Ever Been On Task – So Much That It Feels Like March 192nd

WGU-online is relatively new to this state, but has been around for a while in the country. It’s a national online university that now has a "campus" here in North Carolina. It was proposed rather secretly within the 2015 budget. Page 86 to be specific. On May 21, 2015, Sarah Ovaska-Few reported on the controversial … Continue reading We Don’t Need A State Superintendent Who Believes Her Private Executive Experience Makes Her Most Qualified To Lead Public Schools

...in 10 tweets. On the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks this occurred:

“Of the two of us, I’m the only one who actually has direct experience working with the governor’s office and the State Board of Education and local superintendents."-Catherine Truitt, SEptember 10th At the State SUPERINTENDENT Candidate FoRum Last night in a socially distanced manner, both Catherine Truitt and Jen Mangrum participated in an open forum … Continue reading Catherine Truitt and Jen Mangrum “Debated” Last Night & One Cited Her “Direct Experience.” Might Want To Look At That.

If you are a public school teacher in North Carolina, you are working harder this year than ever before. There is talk of the state and the feds still mandating standardized tests. You have had to deal with adapting to a virtual platform and in many cases teaching twice as long to accommodate all of … Continue reading Now Is Not The Time To Give Someone At Central Office A $30,000 Raise

Dear Mr. Watts, I was forwarded your response to an invitation sent by the North Carolina Association of Educators for Sen. Phil Berger to participate in a webinar to discuss educational policies in North Carolina. It has a rather acidic tone. I do not speak for NCAE officially. This response to your response is strictly … Continue reading A Response To The Director Of The North Carolina Republican Senate Caucus

About a year ago, my wife gifted me with a red t-shirt she purchased from The Bitter Southerner. This one to be precise. I wear it on many Wednesdays and think a lot about how the landscape of public education has changed and might still be altered after this pandemic. I also think about how … Continue reading “Teachers Can Turn This Thing Around” – Not Billionaires, Private Interests, Or ALEC-Aligned Stooges

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has already signaled that the federal government will not be issuing waivers for federally mandated tests this spring because of interruptions due to the pandemic. From EdWeek: U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has informed states that they should not count on getting the same waivers from federal testing mandates … Continue reading Yes, Betsy DeVos Still Wants To Weaken Public Schools