Calendar flexibility is an issue that received much more attention last school year and for good reason: hurricanes. It should get a lot more attention this year. A pandemic can do that. By 2017, North Carolina was one of only one of 14 states that had state laws that governed school calendars. The graphic below … Continue reading What A Pandemic Tells Us – Our School Systems Need Calendar Flexibility

Chris Dier is the 2020 LA Teacher of the Year and was a finalist for the National TOY. In this op-ed, Dier (a world history and AP Human Geography teacher) comments on the potentially devastating effects of a bill introduced in the Louisiana House of Representatives that seeks to dictate how history is taught. Take … Continue reading A Bill That “Criminalizes Teaching Authentic History.” This Could Be NC.

The following is showing up in actual teacher email boxes linked to their school email addresses. It is from Carolina Teachers Alliance recently profiled in the News & Observer: Conservative activists have formed a new statewide teachers association that they want to become an alternative to the North Carolina Association of Educators.The Carolina Teachers Alliance … Continue reading Did You Get This Email In Your School Inboxes?

Yesterday, State Superintendent Catherine Truitt introduced her vision for DPI and public education in North Carolina. It is called "Operation Polaris" in reference to the North Star. It alludes to the constant presence, the ever shining beacon, and the foundational staple of navigating the stars that Polaris has become. Of course it is bold. And … Continue reading About “Operation Polaris” – It Must Include Some Things To Even Begin To Work

Sen. Ralph Hise is leading the NCGA to even new lows. He helped introduce this bill this week. In Hise's eyes a "youth health protection act" is something that "protects minors from administration of puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones and other related actions, procedures, and treatments." It instructs government agents to: Teachers are government agents. … Continue reading The “Youth Health Protection Act” Is Nothing More Than Puritanical Paranoia And Discrimination

Senate Bill 700 was just filed today at the North Carolina General Assembly. Here are a couple of parts to that bill: First, who is to decide what is considered equal weighting? Notice the sponsors of the bills are hard-lined representatives of the same political party. And remember there is a person on the state … Continue reading Another Hypocritical & Pharisaical Bill To Target Teachers And Weaken Public Schools: SB700

One of the better political cartoons printed in the past week dealt with North Carolina's education system - specifically the new bill that will bring more of the "science of reading" into the schools. It's from Dennis Draughon, Capitol Broadcasting's editorial cartoonist. Can't say that I have seen our new state super in cartoon form, but Sen. … Continue reading Hooked On Phonics? – First, ˈFu̇(l)-lē ˈFənd ˈSkülz

There are no “silver bullets” or “magic pills” when it comes to changing a school. There is no one thing that can be done, no standard blueprint, no Harry Potter spell that can be executed that will make a struggling school turn its fortune around overnight. Rather, transforming schools is a process – one that … Continue reading There Are No “Silver Bullets” or “Magic Pills” in Changing Schools – People Make Schools Work. Invest In Them.

One of my first memories of Coach Murphy actually came at a Home Depot in Winston-Salem. I had on a West Forsyth t-shirt. I have quite a few of them. Murph had on West Forsyth garb as well. He recognized me and came straight up and told me that the football team was going to … Continue reading At West Forsyth, No One Bleeds Greener Than Coach Murph

The above was a graphic proudly shown on the Sen. Phil Berger-enabled propaganda website  www.ncteacherraise.com a couple of years ago. The link to that site no longer works. The domain is now available for purchase. There were a lot of “spun” numbers and claims on that website which were easily debunked with more context and clarity. … Continue reading Local Supplements For Teachers Mean More Than You May Think (& Raleigh Knows That)