Remember this recent bill? Senate Bill 700 was filed less than four weeks ago. Here are a couple of parts to that bill: Post everything that is used and the sourcing of all of these materials? So that people can make judgement without the context and measure those materials against their own personal bias and … Continue reading The Hypocrisy of “Transparency” In NC Schools & Society

A little over five years ago, an extended editorial appeared in newspapers across North Carolina concerning public education. I happened to read it in the Winston-Salem Journal. It was written by Walter McDowell, a board member of BEST NC. McDowell, a former executive with Wachovia, talked of the dire need to transform education in North Carolina. … Continue reading The ACT Should Never Have This Much Power Over NC High Schools

These two data exhibits in the recently released Leandro Report paint a vivid picture of what many in this state have been describing for years: the weakening of the teacher pipeline in North Carolina because of policies set by the NCGA. From 2009-10 to 2016-17, the percentage of new teachers who came from the UNC … Continue reading Now Is The Time To Expand The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program To Include All NC Public Colleges & Universities – Especially Our HBCU’s

We are not the only state to start targeting teachers. Last month our new Lt. Governor established a task force to expose indoctrination in our public schools. As a concerned citizen you can now issue a complaint of indoctrination on the Lt. Gov.’s official website. Yesterday, Idaho announced the same type of initiative. Idaho Lt. Governor … Continue reading What Do North Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, and Idaho Have In Common? Indoctrination Witch Hunts

Today it was reported that NC has fallen to 33rd in the country for teacher pay. The process that NEA uses to figure teacher pay in this report is not as fluid as one might think. Too many states provide differing data and then it has to be normalized against other data when it hardly … Continue reading When Berger’s Spokesperson Says, “They Blocked Teacher Raises A Couple Of Years Ago,” He Forgets To Mention This.

It was about a year ago when then President Donald Trump made an assertion that sunlight and heat could offer a cure for COVID-19. On a stage in April of 2020 with 50,000 Americans dead (over 570,000 now) from the COVID-19 virus addressing a national audience in an election year with the economy crashing and … Continue reading Great Teachers Can Admit They Are Wrong To Their Students

There are many on West Jones Street in Raleigh who are deathly afraid of when teachers come together to fight for public schools, and they are especially scared of the North Carolina veteran teacher. Interestingly enough, you can still find veteran NC teachers in public schools. Many have graduate degrees in education and other vital … Continue reading This NCGA Just Doesn’t Want Veteran Public School Teachers Working In This State

Can you name every standardized test you took while in high school? Can you even remember the score(s)? Do you know if they are still administered today? If so, in the same form? Were any given online? Did any college of post-secondary institution ask for those particular test scores besides possibly the SAT, ACT, or … Continue reading Some Questions For Any NC Policy Maker In Favor Of Students Taking Standardized Tests This Year

In October of 2017, the venerable James Ford (at the time of the Public School Forum) delivered the keynote address at the North Carolina English Teacher’s Association. It was more than exceptional as Ford highlighted that what hurts our schools most are external factors that are not being dealt with such as systemic poverty. Part … Continue reading This Pandemic Shows How Much NC Needs To Stop Using EVAAS

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