If you teach long enough in the public schools, you will be fortunate enough to come across some great individuals who coach sports teams all the while teaching these very players lessons of life and success even in the wake of defeat. And I want to scream that they need to have much higher stipends. … Continue reading Public School Coaches Need Much Higher Stipends – ALL OF THEM!

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 Someone In North Carolina Says, “Well, We Are Spending More on Education Than Ever Before,” Then Tell Him This

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-something years later I am about to begin my 26th year of teaching. And just in my career, I can emphatically say that it is … Continue reading When Lawmakers Claim That Our Schools Are Getting Worse – The “Back When I Was In School” Fallacy

Imagine the state of public education in North Carolina right before the Great Recession. The “sides” are sound and strong. There is support from the state government on all sides. Look at those four sides as four different categories that need to be fairly monitored closely and supported adequately to keep public education going strong. … Continue reading They Are Tearing Down The Once Strong Walls Of NC Public Education

As August approaches, teachers will begin a new school year and their “step” will increase by another year. That “step” is the number of years served in schools. Not long ago, teachers who served the state for at least ten years would receive what was called “longevity” pay as part of their commitment to public … Continue reading Remember Longevity Pay? It’s Now Over Nine Years That Teachers Have Been Denied.

Below is the salary schedule for a teacher in North Carolina for the 2022-2023 school year. Any teacher new to the profession in the last nine years would never be on the second schedule because newer teachers are not allowed a pay bump for graduate degrees. Notice how the salaries also plateau after year 15. … Continue reading They Are Already Cutting Teacher Retirement. Just Look.

On September 26, 2022 (one month into the last traditional school year), there were well over 15,000 vacancies on TeachNC’s job search feature. On March 8, 2023, that total is below 5,000. So where did those 10,000 job vacancies go? Were they filled? Don't think so. Are they no longer being advertised because they were … Continue reading 10,000 Classroom Teacher Vacancies Gone In NC. Why?

Sen. Phil Berger and his cronies have had 12 years to “improve” our public education system. 12. The number of grades in a standard progression through a public school. Here are a few of the actions taken in those 12 years. 1. Teacher Pay Kept Well Below National Average 2. Removal of Due-Process Rights  3. Graduate Degree … Continue reading They’ve Had 12 Years To “Fix” Public Education. Instead They Have Been Tearing It Apart.

There is a reason that we read serious works of literature. And others can say why much better than I can. “I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.”― Ralph Waldo Emerson “We read to know we are not alone.”— William Nicholson (often … Continue reading A Reading Assignment For Our NC Legislators — And There Will Be A Test

Many have asked me over the years if a teacher can be a school board member and still be in the classroom. At least in my LEA, one cannot. Many teachers over the years have run for positions on the school board, but each has had to stipulate that he/she would step away from the … Continue reading Every Local School Board Should Allow A Public School Teacher To Serve