BEST NC is a non-profit, non-partisan coalition of business leaders committed to improving North Carolina’s education system through policy and advocacy – from http://best-nc.org/. As business leaders, we understand how critical talent management is to the success of any organization. Currently, North Carolina lacks a talent plan that will successfully recruit and retain excellent educators from … Continue reading Dear BEST NC, You Want to Expand The FIT Initiative, But Where Do You Stand on These Vital Issues?

North Carolina made national news again with another bill that involves teachers and guns. On March 8, CNN posted a piece on its website entitled "North Carolina teachers who carry guns to school could get a pay raise under a new bill." Filed on Wednesday, the School Security Act of 2019 would give a 5% salary boost … Continue reading Would Like to Know Where Mark Johnson Stands On SB192

Yep. He's right. Graduation rates in NC have gone up. In his response to Gov. Roy Cooper's "State of the State" address, Berger did selectively say this: “Since 2011, the gap in high school graduation rates between African-American students and all students has been cut in half, from 6.4 percent to 3.1 percent.”  And the … Continue reading Sen. Berger’s Comments on Graduation Rates, One of the Most Manipulated Statistics in Public Education

From today's 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 more than the … Continue reading The Average NC Teacher Salary is $53,975. Here’s Why That is Misleading.

It is not surprising that with talk of possibly restoring graduate degree pay for teachers in North Carolina those who are emphatically opposed to it would speak out. Take for example John Hood of the John Pope Foundation. Over three years ago, he penned an op-ed that was posted on EdNC.org entitled "Not a matter … Continue reading Advanced Degrees Matter – Did Then, Did in 2015. Do Now.

Remember when Mark Johnson announced that reading teachers in k-3 would receive a brand new Apple iPad to use in classrooms this year? On the surface, this seemed like a positive notion. But… From Travis Fain at WRAL last August: Reading teachers across the state, from kindergarten to third grade, will get computer tablets from … Continue reading So Mark Johnson, How Have Those iPads Worked Out?

What happened last night was not magic. It was not luck. It was the reward for hard work and tireless practice. It was the product of endless  hours of just getting better, growing together, and paying attention to the very details that no score sheet will ever show. Diving for loose balls. Playing hard-nosed defense. … Continue reading What Happened In Simpson Gym Last Night – Final Four Bound

Today Sen. Phil Berger issued a press release in which he is bragging about his devotion to teacher pay. He starts: Beginning in 2014 when they provided teachers the largest raise in the country, legislative Republicans have taken historic steps to raise educator pay in North Carolina. In the last five years, Republicans have enacted … Continue reading Do Not Believe Berger’s Hype of the NC Success Story – He’s Still Spinning a Narrative on NC’s Public Schools

This tweet says it all.   The attitude and culture of a team means everything and it starts with the coach. When players believe in a coach, when the coach believes in the players, and when the players believe in each other no matter what they contribute, then something incredible happens. Especially when this basketball … Continue reading Malcolm Says For All Titan Fans To Pack Simpson Gym To See His Favorite Team Playing in the Fourth Round

Simply put. it’s hard to build bridges in this state with those who are making the very divides that separate us. Before the Great Recession took hold of the country, North Carolina had what was considered the top public school system in the Southeast and one of the best in the nation. That is no … Continue reading Hard to Build Bridges In Public Education With Those Creating the Divides