From Fox46 out of Charlotte today: CHARLOTTE, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) - Butler High School students will have to make up the day that was missing following a deadly school shooting.  A message reportedly sent to families from Principal John LeGrand that was obtained by FOX 46 Charlotte, says the school is required by law to have … Continue reading Proof of the Disconnect – What NCGA is Forcing Butler High School To Do After the 2018 Fatal Shooting

Sen. Jerry Tillman is a former teacher, coach, and administrator in public schools who retired long ago. Now is he one of the biggest champions of reforming the very public school system from which he gets his pension. Those reforms are not good for our public schools. They favor privatization and opaque transparency of charter schools. … Continue reading Investigating Sen. Jerry Tillman and Why He Needs to Be Unseated in 2020

The above headline appears with an op-ed that has been circulating in NC newspapers this week. And it neglects the fact that Phil Berger and Tim Moore made public education the highly partisan issue we know today starting in 2011. And many of these actions have not only been well-documented and highly discussed, but sometimes … Continue reading “Partisanship made teacher rally less effective”? No. Partisanship Caused the Teacher Rally.

Says the man who spent less than two calendar years training and actually teaching in a classroom. On this Teacher Appreciation Day, yet another email appeared in the inbox from the state superintendent. Another copy of the same email appeared in my personal email's inbox. I have never given Johnson's office my personal email which … Continue reading “Teaching is a fruitful and fulfilling career!”

Tonight, the start of state-sanctioned playoffs for high school sports begins and the road to the championship comes through Clemmons. Girls soccer plays in the second round on Friday with a first round bye. Softball plays Friday as well with a first round bye. Baseball plays tonight at home after winning last week's conference tournament … Continue reading The Road To Raleigh Comes Through Clemmons

Stop extending massive tax cuts to corporations and wealthy people. Maybe we as a state should not keep extending more corporate tax cuts for businesses and people who make significantly more than the average North Carolinian. We haven’t really seen the trickle-down effect from that here in our schools. Do away with the Opportunity Grants. We should … Continue reading Before a Policy Maker Claims That “We Will Have To Raise Taxes On People To ‘Fully’ Fund NC Schools,” Tell Him To Consider These Measures First

Today's op-ed in the News & Observer by Colin Campbell was simply cursory drivel that displayed a rather naive look at the May 1st teacher march and rally. It made shortsighted commentary at best and read more like what someone who had only followed North Carolina public education for the last month at most would … Continue reading About That N&O Op-ed Entitled “Partisanship made teacher rally less effective”

"May 6-10 is Teacher Appreciation week, and I ask all North Carolinians to join me in thanking our hard-working educators. We are fortunate to have them. As state superintendent of North Carolina’s K-12 public schools, I believe that every student should be able to go to school, work hard, and reach their American Dream. And … Continue reading Being Appreciated By Mark Johnson?

It is National Teacher Appreciation Week and with a new budget being formed and new bills presented, I thought of this particular post I wrote exactly two years ago. It still seems so appropriate now. From May of 2016: In a recent report from the Lumberton NC paper The Robesonian (“McCrory: Former teacher inspired pat proposal”), Sarah … Continue reading Teacher Appreciation Week – Respect Versus Rewards

By now most students who are taking an Advanced Placement test(s) in the next two weeks are feeling the stress, anxiety, and weight that these tests may invite. And by the second week in July they will have received their scores and with those scores can sometimes come a collision between expectations and what a … Continue reading What AP Scores Can Show and Never Will