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 Remember EVAAS? It’s Still Here & It’s Still Bad

I use Maus in my classroom. But apparently it scares some parents in other places. And today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. And here is a former English teacher who knows a lot about books:

Within the last few months, the number of bills introduced in state legislatures around the country by GOP majorities (such as we have here in NC) aimed at deprofessionalizing the teaching profession is rising. It is not inconceivable to think that there are many in Raleigh who wish to introduce similar bills to gain more … Continue reading Loyalty Oaths, Constant Microphones, White “Discomfort” & No MLK: Possible In North Carolina?

The following graphics summarize a new teacher licensure path as proposed by The Human Capital Roundtable. A good summary of this new proposal can be found on EdNC.org. From that EdNC article: The Human Capital Roundtable — a group of state education leaders and educators working on strategies to hire and keep good teachers — presented a … Continue reading The New Teacher Licensure Process Proposal: A Repackaging Of Failed Reform Measures And Initiatives

This graphic summarizing a new teacher licensure path has been in the works for a while, but not really introduced as a formal proposal until recently. A good summary of this new proposal can be found on EdNC.org. That report states: Miller (Supt. of Greene County Schools) presented along with Tom Tomberlin, director of educator … Continue reading About That New Teacher Licensure Process Proposal

Today this tweet appeared: And it's not just funding.

The shallow attack on public schools concerning the mythical teaching of Critical Race Theory has been well documented. Even though the theory itself is not taught in North Carolina schools, "CRT" has become so broadly "defined" that it has come to mean so much more than a legal theory taught in the last year of … Continue reading The State Superintendent’s War On Another CRT

Remember that teachers no longer receive longevity pay like other state employees. Remember that bonuses are not salary increases. They are usually one-time or two-time payments. Also remember that bonuses get "withheld" at higher rates and that none of it can go toward retirement. And there are two more distinct things that you need to … Continue reading We Can’t “Bonus” Our Way Out Of This Pandemic

News that there was a $16 million mistake in budgeting for raises in local supplements came as a shock. Overstating how much money was actually available for announced and approved raises by that amount is an egregious mistake. The timing, the context, and the environment of our school system made the situation that much more … Continue reading An Open Letter In Support Of Our School System Superintendent

And they should be angry. Remember that in September 2018 a video come to light concerning a May 2018 in which then superintendent Dr. Beverly Emory presented the school system budget request to the county Board of Commissioners and the issue of teacher supplements was brought up. That original nine-minute video can be seen here:  https://youtu.be/M8HZuerdTE0. … Continue reading From #JustAsk To A 16 Million Dollar Mistake – Of Course Teachers Are Angry