Johnston County has it right. They already have a bill to force all school buildings to reopen. They could make sure that all school employees are vaccinated beforehand. They could do this first. Plenty in the rainy-day fund to make it happen. Because they have made it clear that schools reopening their buildings is important … Continue reading This Teacher Dares Berger & Moore To Put This In A Stand-Alone Bill

So much for that "small government" mantra. From the News & Observer: Some Republican state lawmakers want to force North Carolina public schools to reopen for in-person instruction.Republican Senate leaders announced Thursday that they are working on drafting legislation to reopen schools. The timeline offered for a bill was the “coming days.”The legislation would “require … Continue reading About Berger and Ballard’s Bill To Force All LEAs To “Reopen” Schools

From Education Week on January 28th: “We’re not going to get back to normal until we get children back into school, both for the good of the children, for the good of the parents, and for the good of the community,” he said. “We want to make sure we do that by giving the teachers … Continue reading What Dr. Fauci Said About Teachers

Variations of the above quote have issued forth from many famous orators. It is hard not to have come across a version of this proverbial statement in anyone's lifetime. But there is a difference between hearing something and listening to it. North Carolina's new Lt. Gov. needs to do more listening and honestly reflect on … Continue reading About The Lt. Governor’s Myopic Letter Concerning NC’s Social Studies Standards

“I don’t believe in systemic racism.” – Mark Robinson, Sept. 19th during Lt. Gov. candidate debate. The two people quoted above are now on the State Board of Education together and have explicitly stated that there be no reference to "systemic racism" in our social studies curriculum. They are wrong. What has been done in … Continue reading NC Should Not Have People Crafting Public School Curriculum Who Deny Systemic Racism

It’s “School Choice Week.” And while there have been a plethora of op-eds, perspectives, and statements made by pro-choice advocates that claim to also champion traditional public schools as a “choice,” what really is happening is that a narrative continues to be put forth that puts down public schools as failing our students and our … Continue reading It’s “School Choice Week” & I Choose…

This pandemic has not in and of itself caused a teacher candidate shortage. North Carolina already had that. The taking away of graduate degree pay, longevity pay, and due-process rights along with a morphed salary schedule and now no retiree health care benefits for new hires all helped push the number of candidates down. Imagine … Continue reading This Pandemic Is Exacerbating An Already Existing Problem: Fewer Teacher Candidates

As an educator, parent, voter, and taxpayer, there are very few elected offices more important than local school board representatives. And in the past ten months, this teacher has learned a lot about the local school board. Following last night's meeting of the WSFCS BOE was painful, exhausting, and nerve wracking for far too many … Continue reading About That School Board Meeting

As Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools begins to send more and more students back into school buildings, the dashboard that the district uses to report how it views the data concerning the pandemic shows a system built on self-reporting. It states, "Current reported confirmed cases are defined as cases that indicate a lab result confirming the diagnosis. … Continue reading A Tale Of Two Dashboards For One School System (How Data Is Presented) – AMENDED

If you are in public education or follow closely issues in public education, then you are aware of this: Today, Kris Nordstrom published this in response to that study: Please read it!