During exams last year, the largest obstacles and tallest hurdles concerning giving exams dealt with technological issues. That's because a vast majority of them were online. This year, they are all online. And they begin a week after the winter break. Knock out the Ethernet connections to a couple of buildings, have a bad connection … Continue reading Give Schools and Students The Choice to Take Paper & Pencil Versions Of State Tests

Apparently Lt. Gov. Dan Forest is warning the state against one of the most evil entities known to humankind - teachers who advocate for public schools. Not one week after he himself invaded schools with a misleading missive through actual teacher email addresses, he posts on social media that schools are being infiltrated by teachers … Continue reading Lt. Gov. Dan Forest’s Attempt To Turn Teachers Against Teachers With An Unfounded Red Herring

Can you name them? Can you remember the score(s)? Do you know if they are still administered today? If so, in the same form? Were any given online? Below is a list of the standardized tests administered by the state of North Carolina in our public schools last school year. North Carolina End of Grade … Continue reading A Question For Anyone Who Graduated High School Before 2002 (NCLB): How Many Standardized Tests Did You Take?

Three rather major events occurred this past week concerning North Carolina's public schools and the state's top educational leader did what he does best - attempt to deflect and pass the blame. First, the "stay" on the implementation of iStation as the reading assessment tool for NC elementary students was upheld in a recent hearing. … Continue reading Mark Johnson And His Terrible, No Good, Very Bad Week. Oh, And His Red Herring.

From March of 2019 in the News & Observer about the new average teacher pay in North Carolina: The average salary for a North Carolina public school teacher has risen 5 percent to nearly $54,000 this year. New figures released Wednesday by the state Department of Public Instruction estimate the average salary for teachers to be $53,975 — $2,741 … Continue reading Many Incumbent NC Lawmakers Brag About Average Teacher Pay In Their Campaigns. Here’s Why That is Misleading.

The release of WestEd's Leandro Report and its resounding call that NC should seismically increase its funding of public education will reverberate strongly in these next few months; 2020 promises to be a contentious election year. And public education is one of the issues (along with Medicaid expansion) that has prompted Sen. Phil Berger to … Continue reading What Our State Superintendent Said About The Leandro Report

The recommendation of "Increase the cap on Exceptional Children funding" is used five times in WestEd's Leandro Report  I am the proud parent of two children in our public schools. One is a highly intelligent and academically driven young lady. The other one is a sixth grader and what some in the educational field might … Continue reading What This Teacher Who Is A Parent Of A “Special-Needs” Child Saw In The Leandro Report – INCREASE FUNDING. (Here’s An Idea)

Earlier today, Sen. Phil Berger released the following statement. This is not the first time Berger has issued such a statement. Remember the last part of October? From the News & Observer: Republicans in the General Assembly are offering Democrats a deal that would mean raises for teachers and some other state employees if the state budget … Continue reading Holding Teacher Pay Hostage Again – The Latest From Sen. Phil Berger

These two data exhibits in the recently released Leandro Report paint a vivid picture of what many in this state have been describing for years: the weakening of the teacher pipeline in North Carolina because of policies set by the NCGA. From 2009-10 to 2016-17, the percentage of new teachers who came from the UNC … Continue reading WestEd’s LEANDRO Report – An Argument To Vastly Expand The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program To Include All NC Public Colleges & Universities, Especially Our HBCU’s

As the Leandro Report by WestEd was released, it was no doubt that those who have been at the helm of budgetary control in North Carolina would try and deflect the report's findings. Sen Berger's spokesperson Pat Ryan offered the senator's thoughts and those thoughts show an absolute denial of culpability. “Money doesn’t buy outcomes,” … Continue reading Sen. Berger’s Pathetic Response To WestEd’s LEANDRO Report