Imagine being a teacher who gave a required assignment to a student for a class that had to be taken in order to graduate based on criteria set by governing bodies. The student specifically chose to be in your section and even lobbied parents and administration to be in that class promising to do everything … Continue reading The Required Assignment (LEANDRO) The NCGA Refuses To Complete

On September 25th, the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Winston-Salem will be hosting its annual Buddy Walk. If you can't walk with us at West Forsyth High School, then walk where you can. Still helps people! For those who are not familiar with the Buddy Walk, here is the blurb from the DSAGWS.org website: The Buddy Walk® … Continue reading Malcolm’s Minions – A Chance to be Ultra-Cool And Help Some People

Remember that this state has not had a new budget in three years, has one of the nation’s most miserly unemployment benefit systems, never expanded Medicaid benefits financed by the federal government, still maintains the lowest minimum wage legally possible, and is one of a few states to outlaw collective bargaining rights for public employees. … Continue reading This $500 Raise Would Cost You So Much More If You Took It

Rob Schofield posted a piece in April of 2019 on NC Policy Watch that reported on an effort for all of North Carolina’s public employees to have collective bargaining rights. More than 600,000 public employees throughout North Carolina would obtain a right that’s been denied to them for 60 years under a pair companion bills introduced in the … Continue reading NC Teachers (And All Public Employees) Should Have Collective Bargaining Rights

There is a high school less than one half of a mile from my home where the majority of high school students in my neighborhood attend. In fact, there are parents in my neighborhood who graduated from this same school. They are now sending and will send their kids there. On Friday nights in the … Continue reading Two School Shootings & “Our” Kids

Apparently it only takes a few thousand people to make Phil Berger move to protect our young people. But there is a caveat: those thousands of people have to show up at school board meetings. Concerning House Bill 324, the senator commented, “Try to convince the thousands of parents who are showing up at school … Continue reading Sen. Berger & The Cruel Irony Of Using Contemptuous School Board Meetings To “Ensure Dignity”

Senate Bill 654 was just signed by Governor Cooper and it waives the use of school performance grades for the 2020-2021 school year. The data on testing and other measures used to "compile" those grades will still be reported, but no "grades" will be issued for the second year in a row. Remember that NC's … Continue reading Go Ahead And Permanently Eliminate School Performance Grades; They Only Map Poverty, Health Care Access, And Food Deserts – Not School Effectiveness

Public school advocate Derek Scott (@twslart) has been a valuable source of information concerning public school funding and often shares his talent for putting terms and numbers in easily accessible ways. He shared the following just this month: It puts the LEANDRO decision in more perspective. And some people may point to the state lottery … Continue reading Again, They Are Intentionally Not Fully Funding Public Education

Tripp Jeffers is a veteran teacher in the Winston-Salem / Forsyth County Schools system and had taught social studies for almost three decades. He is also one of the hardest working public school advocates in this state. His op-ed. "Critical race theory bill is a fabricated crisis", in today's Winston-Salem Journal is a must-read. CRT … Continue reading “Omission is the real indoctrination” – A Must-Read

This is a comparison of the three budgets put forth by the governor, the NC Senate, and the NC House as far as public education is concerned. (courtesy of Kris Nordstrom). Only the governor's proposed budget actually considers the court ordered LEANDRO decision to fully fund public schools. The Senate and the House have majorities … Continue reading Yes, They Are Intentionally Not Fully Funding Public Education