From Education Week: From Forbes in an article by Peter Greene: They make reference to this working study: And here is the abstract: Think of every evaluation you have received in your teaching career. Do you think they did a good job of measuring your effectiveness?

Please do not think that the recent budget passed in North Carolina is friendly to teachers and public schools. Consider this: 22868 job openings in our schools as of the night of November 29th. Of those, over 8580 were for classroom teachers. And now consider: That report states:

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is on the State Board of Education. He launched an initiative that is nothing more than a witch hunt against teachers that he disguised as a battle against "indoctrination." And he says really repugnant things about gay people. That statement was made while speaking from the pulpit of Berean Baptists Church … Continue reading No Student Should Ever Be Called “What the cows leave behind” – About Our Lt. Gov. & NC’s Voucher System

So, the new budget in NC will include what Sen. Phil Berger lauds as an average 5% raise for teachers. Remember that most state employees also receive longevity pay on a yearly basis - not teachers though. And that raise is also over the biennium which means that it is an "average" of 2.5% a … Continue reading “Average” Vs. “Actual” When It Comes To Teacher Salary Raises

Please do not look at that average 5% salary raise for teachers and think that all teachers are getting a 5% raise. Besides the fact that it includes already in place step increases and that it is over two years (the budget is biennial), average means that some people get a bigger percentage raise than … Continue reading Simply Put, This NCGA Does Not Want Veteran Public School Teachers

Considering his penchant for the dramatic to stoke unwarranted drama and aim the public's ire at public school teachers, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson would probably be in total support of duplicating this effort to reward people with money for reporting teachers in North Carolina. It's happening in New Hampshire. Peter Greene, the well-known education writer … Continue reading Something Tells Me That Our Lt. Gov. Would Totally Support This

Just came in today: Superior Court Judge David Lee on Wednesday ordered state finance executives to move $1.7 billion in unused funds to education agencies, bypassing the North Carolina General Assembly. Of course, Berger and Moore will not stand for such decisions as it goes against their agenda. From a new post from the News & Observer: … Continue reading “Rogue Judge” Rules For Public Schools. Thing Is, He’s Not Rogue; He’s Right.

Toni Morrison passed just a little over two years ago. She was the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature and what she did (and still does) for this white, upper middle class male teacher is something that I will always value as a life-long student: she made me understand that I … Continue reading Before We Challenge Books, We Should Be Challenged By Them – In Defense of Being Uncomfortable And What Toni Morrison Taught Me

State Supt. Catherine Truitt sent a letter yesterday to Gov. Cooper, Sen. Berger, and Speaker Moore concerning the still ongoing "negotiations" on a new state budget. A state budget that is three years overdue. Look for the word "LEANDRO." Not there.