In 2013, the NC General Assembly took away graduate degree pay raises for new teacher hires. Pat McCrory was the governor of NC at that time. Candidate for the office of state superintendent Catherine Truitt was for a time a senior education advisor for then Gov. McCrory. Apparently her ideas on how to "improve" education … Continue reading This Candidate Needs To Clarify Her Stance On Graduate Degree Pay For Teachers (Because Her “University” Is Saying Something Else)

What happened last week during a virtual meeting of the Cabarrus County Board of Education has already made many headlines across the state. Yet, if you have not heard about it, a member, Laura Blackwell, responded to another board member with a derogatory term that is considered offensive without turning off her audio feed. From … Continue reading About That Apology From The School Board Member Who Used The “R” Word

This is not the kind of person who needs to be on the State Board of Education. As a teacher in a public school, I am bound to keep my classroom as free of prejudice, racism, and other forms of discrimination as humanly possible. I would expect that from an elected official who was to … Continue reading If This Man Is Elected, He Will Be On The State Board Of Education For Public Schools

Remember the bathroom bill constructed by then state legislator Dan Bishop called HB2? One of the nebulous things about that bill was how gender would be determined if it needed to be checked on the spot. Not many people carried around birth certificates on their person. Maybe the bill needed to have had a provision … Continue reading An Actual GOP Bill That May Allow “Genital Checks” For High School Female Sports

Funny to think that based on the research that Kris Nordstrom posts about here that there is a distinctive timeline that Catherine Truitt seems to ignore. In a debate last week Truitt claimed that in the last 30 years "we haven't moved the needle on student achievement." Let's look at the last 30 years. That … Continue reading This Person Claims In The Last 30 Years “We Haven’t Moved The Needle On Student Achievement.” Well…

This one billboard says a lot about our current state of polarization. And it communicates some very Schools are not closed. School buildings are closed and campuses shut down for convening physical classes. But "school" is going on. 2. Teachers do not want to always stay in Plan C. Teachers want school buildings open. They … Continue reading Seven Truths About Teachers & This Pandemic That Are Intentionally Ignored

Yesterday both Jen Mangrum and Catherine Truitt provided insights to the editorial board of the News & Observer during an interview for each. Below are two tweets from the education reporter for the N&O. She threw Mark Johnson under the bus. Said he was not the person for the job. She also was the person … Continue reading For Once I Agree With Catherine Truitt, But She Said Something In August 2019…

Lost in the sadistic irony of Phil Berger, Dan Forest, and Catherine Truitt's “argument” to fully open schools this fall amidst the COVID-19 pandemic is that there has been talk of placing a bond referendum on the ballot in 2020 for school construction. In fact, it really has been Tim Moore who has given more … Continue reading Dear Local School Boards, How Are Your Schools’ Ventilation Systems?

Union County has a school board meeting today. AN OPEN SESSION. Notice the time the meeting was called for: 10:30. That should be about 2nd period in my school. For some elementary or middle schoolers in a crowded school, that could be nearing first lunch. Certainly teachers would be working.at that time. It is a … Continue reading Nothing Screams “Don’t Want Teacher Input” More Than A BOE Meeting During The School Day

Teachers in North Carolina are among the only state employees who do not receive longevity pay. And bills to reinstate it have been introduced and crushed in committee - by the same people who took longevity pay away in the first place. Classified public school employees are among some of the only state employees to … Continue reading Name The Only State “Agency” To Not Get Longevity Pay, Graduate Degree Pay, Or A $15/Hour Minimum Wage