Rep. Craig Horn. For finding ways to use technology for technology's sake and for trying to use preschoolers as bait to fuel an already sketchy industry. It is HB 485. A Virtual Early Learning Program. In other words, it is virtual preschool for 3 to 4 -year olds. In the three page proposal, Horn and … Continue reading The Most Insane Education Bill of the 2019 NCGA Yet Belongs to…
Author: caffeinatedrage
Expanding Medicaid for Students: A Reason to Go All Out on May 1st
When 500,000+ people in the state of North Carolina could have health insurance if North Carolina simply expanded Medicaid as so many other states already have, then you are dealing with a legislative body that is not interested in helping many stay healthy. Medicaid expansion would be a great step in combating the forces of … Continue reading Expanding Medicaid for Students: A Reason to Go All Out on May 1st
DeVoid of the Need of Special Needs Students: The Absolute DeVastation of Betsy DeVos
If you do not remember the confirmation hearings of Betsy DeVos from a little over two years ago, here is a refresher: She did not know what IDEA was – the Individuals With Disablilties Edcuation Act – and that it was a federal mandate that covers all schools. She did not know the difference between … Continue reading DeVoid of the Need of Special Needs Students: The Absolute DeVastation of Betsy DeVos
It’s 2019 And Now The NCGA Is Interested In Helping Public Schools?
News today that HB377 (test reduction) passed through the house chamber of the NCGA is another indication of the the shift in power that has occurred in the General Assembly since the last election. Actually, that testing bill is not the only one to gain some traction. There are multiple bills with support concerning calendar … Continue reading It’s 2019 And Now The NCGA Is Interested In Helping Public Schools?
“At” The Table or “On” the Menu: Reclaiming a Voice As Teachers in Public School Policy
You can be either “at” the table or “on” the table. For teachers in North Carolina, there are many other prepositions that could identify the relationship between the legislation process and teacher input such as “under” the table, “without” a place at the table, or “behind” the table. As a veteran public school teacher, when … Continue reading “At” The Table or “On” the Menu: Reclaiming a Voice As Teachers in Public School Policy
Dear Rep. Horn, You Might Need to Clarify Your Tweet About Public Ed in NC
Dear Rep. Horn, I recently came across this tweet you offered this past Ides of March and wanted to inquire on its meaning and context as well as offer a veteran teacher's point of view. First, what sunshine are you referring to? And what gold are you referring to? If these are your metaphors for … Continue reading Dear Rep. Horn, You Might Need to Clarify Your Tweet About Public Ed in NC
Stuart Egan: Sanders’ EVASS Has Lost in Court, But NC Won’t Let It Go
William Sanders was an agricultural statistician who developed a secret, patented formula for measuring teacher effectiveness. It’s call EVASS. It was tossed out by a Houston judge who said it was wrong to judge teachers by a secret algorithm that they could neither examine nor question.
As Stuart Egan reports, North Carolina clings to EVASS, no matter how many times it has been discredited (by scholars such as Audrey Amerein-Beardsley) or by courts that findit arbitrary and inscrutable.
Want to understand how teachers in North Carolina are evaluated?
Egan writes:
“Actually, the chain is from a .gov to a .org to a .com.”
How the State “Steals and Spends” Local Supplements
The "average" salary for a North Carolina teacher has been reported to be over $53,000. Mark Johnson claims that number. The leaders of the NCGA claim it. Many people who argue that teachers already make enough as it is with all of those "historic" raises claim it. Here is the newest salary schedule. So how … Continue reading How the State “Steals and Spends” Local Supplements
About Mark Johnson’s Last Letter to Teachers
The state superintendent now has the power to send messages to all teachers through PowerSchool, the Pearson product used by the state to manage student data on almost all variables: grades, attendance, testing, etc. This message appeared to teachers on March 21st. And while it may have presented some platitudes, reading it and reflecting on … Continue reading About Mark Johnson’s Last Letter to Teachers
Despite What Berger, Moore, and Johnson Say, They Actually Fear A Well-Educated General Public
(1) General and uniform system: term. The General Assembly shall provide by taxation and otherwise for a general and uniform system of free public schools, which shall be maintained at least nine months in every year, and wherein equal opportunities shall be provided for all students. – NC State Constitution. There is one thing that the … Continue reading Despite What Berger, Moore, and Johnson Say, They Actually Fear A Well-Educated General Public
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