In less than three weeks, my high school will play its first football game. In fact, before students even take a class, a game will have been played and put in the record books. And the band will be there with them. There is a tradition at the end of each game at our school … Continue reading In Praise of the High School Band

Sure. Most people here in North Carolina might think of the beginning of the school year as being closer to the end of August, but it actually begins much earlier. Well before students will begin roaming the halls to re-acclimate themselves to a bell schedule, teachers will report to school for “pre-planning,” which is a … Continue reading Actually, School Started Last Week

  North Carolina has over 45 colleges and universities that offer teacher educator programs. In fact, you can find that information on DPI’s website: http://www.ncpublicschools.org/epp/approved/. Fifteen of them are public institutions. Here’s a map. Many of these colleges and universities offer multiple degrees in areas in education. Now imagine if all of them were allowed to … Continue reading Dear Lawmakers, While You Are “Negotiating,” Why Don’t You Expand The Teaching Fellows Program To ALL NC Public Institutions

Like most every other year, 2019 has so far been a rather contentious, perplexing, and trying year for public school advocates. There is simply a lot working against us. However, that only means that we keep fighting for public schools because with the removal of the supermajority in the NCGA there has been progress. As … Continue reading The Top 10 Public School Issues In North Carolina So Far in 2019 – It’s Only August

One issue that seems to be getting lost in all of the turmoil in Raleigh is that there was a lot of talk about reducing testing for public schools this year. There has been the iStation contract debacle, the 31 days of no budget negotiations, a large veto, the Medicaid expansion standoff, an ultimatum to … Continue reading So, How Is That Reduction in Standardized Testing Going?

From today's News & Observer: Hundreds of teachers at the N.C. Virtual Public School are being temporarily laid off, costing those educators thousands of dollars and reducing the online options that will be provided to students across the state this fall. Teachers who are working this summer at the Virtual Public School were notified Tuesday that they … Continue reading NC Has A Teacher Shortage and Our NCGA Enables Two Low-Performing On-Line Charters – So How In The Hell Did This Happen To The Only Virtual Public School In The State?

There is no question that education is political. In the state of North Carolina, over 56% of the state budget is dedicated to public education, most of which goes to K-12 (and pre-K) education. It’s specifically stated in Article IX of the state constitution that the state establish a free and viable means of educating school … Continue reading That “Special Session” in December of 2016

It was not a top header on CNN.com. But it is worth looking at just for the sobering fact that when you search for NC (the state), it shows up multiple times. And when looking at the demographics of school shootings, you get graphs like these:                

Remember when Mark Johnson announced that reading teachers in k-3 would receive a brand new Apple iPad to use in classrooms this year? It was almost one year ago to the day. On the surface, it seemed like a positive notion. But… From Travis Fain at WRAL last August: Reading teachers across the state, from kindergarten … Continue reading If The iStation Contract Seems Shady, What About the Six Million Spent on iPads Last Year?

The last few weeks have certainly seen more discussions, questions, complaints, and arguments surrounding what is happening with the State Health Plan and State Treasurer Dale Folwell has been trying to do as far as getting hospitals to agree to a new reimbursement scheme. Currently the state plan through Blue Cross / Blue Shield covers … Continue reading Still Trying to Get Perspective on the State Health Plan Debacle? Me, Too.