The last few years have proven that the Read to Achieve initiative championed by Phil Berger has failed to do what it was promoted to do. Kris Nordstrom summed it up best from a report in January of 2019. In October, researchers from NC State’s Friday Institute for Educational Innovation helped to confirm what many educational … Continue reading Ever Read “The Handmaid’s Tale”? Well, There’s A Gilead To The South In Its Public Schools

Calendar flexibility is an issue that received much more attention in this last school year, and for good reasons. By 2017, North Carolina was one of only one of 14 states that had state laws that governed school calendars. The graphic below is from the Feb. 2017 Final Report to the Joint Legislative Program Evaluation Oversight Committee … Continue reading Our School Systems Need Calendar Flexibility

This week Florida's governor Ron DeSantis "outlawed" the teaching of Advanced Placement African-American Studies in the entire state. Why? Well, because he is "anti-woke." The same man who told every teacher in the state to take away all classroom libraries until all books are properly vetted by his people has problems with a course that … Continue reading The Cowardly College Board & AP African American Studies

It was first introduced in House Bill 1173 last summer. Simply put, that bill would make the leader of the Department of Public Instruction also be the chair of the State Board of Education. Now it is being introduced as HB 17 - on the first day of the NCGA long session - with almost the … Continue reading They’re Going After Control Of The State Board Of Education To Bypass LEANDRO

Say in 2008, a school district had 1000 students in its school system and spent 10 million dollars in its budget to educate them. That’s a 10,000 per pupil expenditure. Now in 2022, that same district has 1500 students and the school system is spending 11.5 million to educate them. That district is spending more … Continue reading When A North Carolina Lawmaker Says, “Well, We Are Spending More on Education Than Ever Before,” Then Tell Him This

With State Attorney General Josh Stein announcing that he will be running for governor in after Roy Cooper's term expires, it starts to frame a clearer picture of what that race will look like if current political ambitions play out. State Attorney General Josh Stein against Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson. And if you are an … Continue reading Stein Vs. Robinson For NC Governor- It’s Clear Who Would Serve Public Schools Better

Here is the salary schedule that is in place for the 2022-2023 school year. For those who are not teachers, make sure to pay attention to years 15-24. Frozen. 10 years of the same. There is no longevity pay during these years as well. Someone who has been teaching for 24 years makes the same … Continue reading 10 Frozen Years: The NCGA’s Plan To Eliminate Career Teachers

My grandmother graduated from high school right after the end of WWII. My mother graduated from high school in the late 1960’s. I graduated from high school in the 1980’s, and thirty years later I am watching another class graduate from the public high where I am about finish my 20th year of teaching. And just … Continue reading The “Back When I Was In School” Fallacy – When Lawmakers Claim That Our Schools Are Getting Worse

So, are you a glass is half- empty person or a glass is half-full person? It’s a generic question. I know. Preferably, I would like to be around a water source and not worry if I had enough to fill a glass and just drink my fill. But there is another way to never have … Continue reading When a “Zero” Becomes a “50” And Other Miracles in Educational Reform

If you are a high school English teacher, the last couple of school years have brought some added challenges with book challenges, accusations of indoctrination, and being a liberal arts subject associated with CRT. And there was that pandemic. But with this new AI tool that has garnered so much attention recently, it is not … Continue reading Heard About ChatGPT? Maybe Some Help For Us Teachers