In October of 2017, the venerable James Ford of the Public School Forum delivered the keynote address at the North Carolina English Teacher’s Association. It was more than exceptional as Ford highlighted that what hurts our schools most are external factors that are not being dealt with such as systemic poverty. Part of his presentation … Continue reading Why Teachers Should Be Wary of EVAAS and SAS

On February 28th, Douglas Price had an op-ed posted on EdNC.org entitled "Three ideas for addressing key charter school problems." As the Charter School TOY, what he explained and argued in this piece was valuable, well-explained, evenly tempered, and was well-researched. And it took guts. Price is a teacher; he did what great teachers do … Continue reading In Defense of the NC Charter School Teacher of the Year

I imagine most of you have seen the movie Remember the Titans about a public school in Virginia the 1970’s being desegregated and how its football team became a vehicle for positive change. I watch it every chance I get. There’s a hopeless romantic still inside of me that likes a feel-good movie that actually is based … Continue reading Remember, You’re The Titans

"The FBI and federal prosecutors have uncovered a massive bribery scheme to get students admitted to elite universities as recruited athletes and help them cheat on college entrance exams to gain admission. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston says the scheme, which it dubbed "Operation Varsity Blues," includes 50 people, including college coaches, actresses and … Continue reading Why This College Admissions Scandal Should Really Make High Schools Mad

Mark Johnson's recent budget proposals for the next biennial budget cycle are simply proposals. They are requests for monies attached to "reforms" or investments in resources. Some deal with mentoring and helping younger teachers become more acclimated to the education profession. Some deal with "advanced roles" for teachers. Some deal with curricula that focus on … Continue reading One Resource All Teachers Need But is Never “Funded” For : TIME

In the summer of 2017, BEST NC released an op-ed on EdNC.org about Shamrock Gardens Elementary School and their use of "advanced roles" for educators. And the piece made reference to BEST NC's Education Innovation Plan, a bit of which is outlined below. The key to Shamrock Gardens’ remarkable success is not based on just one … Continue reading When Education Reformers in NC Talk About Advanced Roles, Did They Mean This?

A little over three years ago, an extended editorial appeared in newspapers across North Carolina concerning public education. I happened to read it in the Winston-Salem Journal. It was written by Walter McDowell, a board member of BEST NC. McDowell, a former executive with Wachovia, talked of the dire need to transform education in North Carolina. … Continue reading Mark Johnson Wants To Reduce Over-Testing? Then Do Not Let the ACT Have This Much Power Over NC High Schools.

This past week Mark Johnson released his budget recommendations for the next two-year cycle for the North Carolina General Assembly to use in their shaky investment in NC's public schools. He published those recommendations on his website. And here is an interesting segment: There is a $750K request for TeachNC which was described by Kelly … Continue reading Give That Money to Expand The North Carolina Teaching Fellows Program to Its Original State

In January of 2017 it was all about "urgency". In the first six months of 2017 it was all about a "listening tour." In all of 2017 into 2018, it was about a legal fight with a state board of education under control of the same political party about who had the most control over … Continue reading So Is Mark Johnson Running for Reelection?

You can have all of the talent in the world. You can have every resource at your disposal. You can have every appearance of being a winner. But you may never be a champion. Why? Because it's an “inside job.” Today's victory in the Western Regional Championship game by the Titans Girls Basketball team will be … Continue reading The Cardiac Kids From Clemmons, NC