First, read Justin Parmenter’s latest post on the Pathways to Excellence proposal that he has been following and exposing at every angle.

He highlights that in a vote of 9-7, the PEPSC Commission approved sending a “blueprint” to the State Board of Education for the new merit pay / licensure proposal that’s been in the works for quite a while.

EdNC.org did an report on this and stated:

Dempsey and Vice Chair Aaron Fleming both emphasized that moving the plan forward to the Board didn’t mean this was the end of PEPSC’s work, and that the commission would continue to refine the model and address concerns from educators in the field.

Elliott ultimately voted against the motion, along with six other PEPSC members, and the motion ended in a 7-7 tie. A few PEPSC members had been attending the virtual meeting earlier but weren’t there for the vote, including PEPSC member Sam Houston, who had made the motion.

It looked like PEPSC was going to have to continue discussions for another month before it was discovered that Houston’s connection to the meeting had dropped. After he reconnected, he voted for the proposal. Deputy State Superintendent Michael Maher also rejoined and voted for the motion.

Ann Bullock, PEPSC secretary and dean of the Elon University School of Education, questioned whether the vote process was legitimate considering Houston and Maher weren’t there initially. Board Attorney Allison Schafer said that, at least in Houston’s case, it was legitimate since his connection had dropped. She said she didn’t know why Maher wasn’t there for the vote.

Look at those “Yes” votes again.

Dempsey is the chair of the PEPSC Commission. Is he going to vote “no” on this? Is the vice-chair going to vote “no”? Probably not.

Truitt sure as hell is going to vote to approve as is Maher – he works for her and it seems to be his job to cheerlead this effort.

Now look who voted against approval.

Each of those people hire teachers in schools. They are charged with recruiting teachers in schools.

That first list of those who voted to approve are not necessarily in the same position, except Fleming, but his involvement as vice-chair seems to mean he has to be in agreement. What if he were not on the PEPSC Commission?

Those who voted to not approve seem to have a perspective that is uniquely qualified to see that there are some major problems with this pay/licensure model that is being pushed by Truitt and DPI.

Maybe they see this problem as one that will not be solved by merit pay schemes.

That “14924” figure? That’s from 10:00 PM on November 13th.

Merit pay does not work in schools. Never has.