Tonight in the only gubernatorial debate of this election year, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest made the claim about teacher pay being increased by 20%. Listen for yourself. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=344758496628431 Go about 32 minutes into it. Now, if you believe that Dan Forest is correct, then please explain the following. Imagine a room of 17 teachers. All … Continue reading Speaking Out Of His A** – What Dan Forest Said About Teacher Pay Raises In Tonight’s Debate

In October of 2019,  Rob Schofield published a piece on NC Policy Watch explaining the negative effects of the budget that Sen. Phil Berger and others in the NCGA were at that time pushing. The second dealt with public education. #2 – Further undermining the state’s desperately underfunded public schools – As veteran education policy analyst Kris Nordstrom … Continue reading What NC Is Spending For Public Schools – 2008-2009 Versus 2019-2020

The average school year is 36 weeks. Most school systems operate by a semester system of 18 weeks each. Split those into quarters and you have four 9-week periods that traditional schools calendars utilize. We have spent almost two entire quarters in remote teaching and learning. Add to that the post-planning and pre-planning involved. And … Continue reading Week 26 Of The Most Intense Professional Development In My Career – Imagine The Renewal Credits All Teachers Have Actually Earned

In the long session of 2014, the NC General Assembly raised salaries for teachers in certain experience brackets that allowed them to say that an “average” salary for teachers was increased by over 7%. They called it a “historic raise.” However, if you divided the amount of money used in these “historic” raises by the … Continue reading Remember We Used To Get Longevity Pay? Why We Should Vote Pro-Public Education in November

The GOP-led NC legislature’s 2013 decision to end graduate degree pay bumps for new teachers entering the teaching profession was not only misguided, but another wave in the assault on public education here in the Old North State. I confess there exist numerous studies that have shown that advanced degrees do not correlate with higher … Continue reading Removal of Graduate Degree Pay Increases – Why We Should Vote Pro-Public Education in November

If due-process rights are not restored for new teachers, then the idea of having a rally or a march to advocate for students and schools ten to fifteen years from now would likely never happen. They are that important! Their removal was a beginning step in a patient, scripted, and ALEC-allying plan that systematically tries … Continue reading The Removal of Due-Process Rights and Career Status for Teachers – Why We Should Vote Pro-Public Education in November

Truitt is a former teacher, turnaround coach, associate vice president of University and P-12 Partnerships at UNC General Administration, and former senior education advisor to Republican Gov. Pat McCrory. (From an EdNC.org report entitled “Will state Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson run again?”) Currently she is the chancellor of Western Governor’s University of North Carolina. … Continue reading Catherine Truitt Is Running For State Superintendent. You Might Want See What She Has Claimed About Public Education Here In NC.

When public education has to defend itself against the state’s General Assembly in order to function effectively, those in government should reassess their priorities as elected officials. Take for instance the political cartoon published in the Winston-Salem Journal on July 9, 2015 which parodies the iconic advertisement for the movie Jaws. It brilliantly depicts the NC Legislature as … Continue reading Over 7,400 NC Teacher Assistants Lost Since 2008 – Why We Should Vote Pro-Public Education in November

One of the better political cartoons of 2019 came from Dennis Draughon at Capitol Broadcasting. It represented a Thanksgiving dinner where teachers and schools are sitting at a smaller table waiting to see what they will be given after everything was carved out for corporations and political interests. Sen. Phil Berger threw a wishbone to … Continue reading Before Someone Claims That “We Will Have To Raise Taxes On People To Fully Fund NC Schools,” Tell Him To Consider These Measures First

On October 8th in a meeting with others on the State Board of Education, Lt. Gov. Dan Forest called for the full reopening of all school sin North Carolina. From today's News & Observer: Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest tried Thursday to persuade the State Board of Education to give all North Carolina public schools … Continue reading “Of Course We Should Reopen All Schools!” – Dan Forest’s Six-Point Lesson Plan