Today it was reported that NC has fallen to 33rd in the country for teacher pay. The process that NEA uses to figure teacher pay in this report is not as fluid as one might think. Too many states provide differing data and then it has to be normalized against other data when it hardly … Continue reading When Berger’s Spokesperson Says, “They Blocked Teacher Raises A Couple Of Years Ago,” He Forgets To Mention This.

It was about a year ago when then President Donald Trump made an assertion that sunlight and heat could offer a cure for COVID-19. On a stage in April of 2020 with 50,000 Americans dead (over 570,000 now) from the COVID-19 virus addressing a national audience in an election year with the economy crashing and … Continue reading Great Teachers Can Admit They Are Wrong To Their Students

There are many on West Jones Street in Raleigh who are deathly afraid of when teachers come together to fight for public schools, and they are especially scared of the North Carolina veteran teacher. Interestingly enough, you can still find veteran NC teachers in public schools. Many have graduate degrees in education and other vital … Continue reading This NCGA Just Doesn’t Want Veteran Public School Teachers Working In This State

Can you name every standardized test you took while in high school? Can you even remember the score(s)? Do you know if they are still administered today? If so, in the same form? Were any given online? Did any college of post-secondary institution ask for those particular test scores besides possibly the SAT, ACT, or … Continue reading Some Questions For Any NC Policy Maker In Favor Of Students Taking Standardized Tests This Year

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 This Pandemic Shows How Much NC Needs To Stop Using EVAAS

Imagine a room of 17 teachers. All of them have a bachelor’s degree. Each has a different number of years of experience. There is one teacher who has 15 years of experience, and for every year from 15-31 years of experience there is exactly one teacher. That makes 17 veteran teachers in the room. Think … Continue reading This Is Really How The NCGA Feels About Veteran Teachers

Calendar flexibility is an issue that received much more attention last school year and for good reason: hurricanes. It should get a lot more attention this year. A pandemic can do that. By 2017, North Carolina was one of only one of 14 states that had state laws that governed school calendars. The graphic below … Continue reading What A Pandemic Tells Us – Our School Systems Need Calendar Flexibility

Chris Dier is the 2020 LA Teacher of the Year and was a finalist for the National TOY. In this op-ed, Dier (a world history and AP Human Geography teacher) comments on the potentially devastating effects of a bill introduced in the Louisiana House of Representatives that seeks to dictate how history is taught. Take … Continue reading A Bill That “Criminalizes Teaching Authentic History.” This Could Be NC.

The following is showing up in actual teacher email boxes linked to their school email addresses. It is from Carolina Teachers Alliance recently profiled in the News & Observer: Conservative activists have formed a new statewide teachers association that they want to become an alternative to the North Carolina Association of Educators.The Carolina Teachers Alliance … Continue reading Did You Get This Email In Your School Inboxes?

Yesterday, State Superintendent Catherine Truitt introduced her vision for DPI and public education in North Carolina. It is called "Operation Polaris" in reference to the North Star. It alludes to the constant presence, the ever shining beacon, and the foundational staple of navigating the stars that Polaris has become. Of course it is bold. And … Continue reading About “Operation Polaris” – It Must Include Some Things To Even Begin To Work