If you have not read the latest post by the gifted teacher / writer Justin Parmenter on his blog Notes From the Chalkboard, then do so. Entitled "After ice cream, could state lawmakers address our practice of assigning F's to schools of poverty?", Parmenter talks about yet another empty bill presented in the NCGA. Yesterday … Continue reading North Carolina: A State Where Ice Cream and Doughnuts Are Important Than Fully Funding Schools

Today, a draft of a new 2019 state report on teaching was released. Entitled "State of the Teaching Profession in North Carolina," it chronicles last year's numbers as far as teacher attrition and  turnover are concerned. As highlighted by NC Policy Watch's Clayton Henkel, here are the key stats involving teacher turnover: 94,909 – total number … Continue reading About That “State of the Teaching Profession in NC” Report

Budgets for the state of North Carolina are made biannually. The current budget that helps fund our schools was put together in 2017. Although, there was the power to come back to a budget and make adjustments in the summer fo 2018, a veto-proof majority led by ultra-conservative NCGA members made sure that the budget … Continue reading About the Funding of the Opportunity Grants – What is Kept From Traditional Public Schools

Veteran teachers openly discuss, study, and collaborate. And they fight for public schools. The powers that rule in the North Carolina General Assembly under Sen. Phil Berger and Rep. Tim Moore have been waging a war against public schools in our state for the last seven years. Under the guise of “reform,” GOP ultra-conservatives driven … Continue reading The NCGA’s Absolute Fear of the Veteran Public School Teacher

Consider the following excerpt from the spring of 2018: The average salary for a North Carolina teacher has increased to more than $50,000 a year for the first time. Recently released figures from the state Department of Public Instruction put the average salary for a North Carolina public school teacher at $51,214 this school year. … Continue reading When Mark Johnson or Phil Berger Talk About “Average” Teacher Pay, They Fail to Mention…

The following tweet reminded me of how dedicated Mark Johnson really is in advocating for public schools here in North Carolina. Every two years the Department of Public Instruction issues a Teacher Working Conditions Survey to get a sense of how public school teachers feel about their working environment. Last year's was the first one … Continue reading My State Superintendent Will Eat Doughnuts For Me Because That’s What Real Leaders Do

  “INCLUDING MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM.” “NO TAX DOLLARS WILL BE USED FOR THIS EVENT.”   And from the Washington Post: "The Daily 202: Koch network poised to scale up efforts to remake K-12 education with a pilot project in five states." And as long as Johnson is allowing announcements about our public … Continue reading Dear Mark Johnson, Is February 19th About This?

This report appeared in the Washington Post yesterday and deserves a read from any and every public school advocate in the state. One of the people who was quoted was Art Pope of North Carolina. Pope is well known for his endeavors in North Carolina and his establishment of the Civitas Institute and the endowment … Continue reading More About That Koch Network to “Remake K-12 Education With a Pilot Project in Five States” – Good Chance NC is One of Them

"Officials with the powerful political network led by conservative billionaire Charles Koch said Monday that they are promoting a state-level education strategy that they hope educators and teachers unions will support. The Koch network is launching a new group next month that will focus on 15 million kindergarten through 12th-grade students in five unnamed states, … Continue reading So, Are the Koch Brothers About to Buy Their Way Into North Carolina’s Public School System?

Exams are finally over. At least for this semester. And in my school the largest obstacles and tallest hurdles dealt with technological issues. Knock out the Ethernet connections to a couple of buildings, have a bad connection in another building, and then some scattered wireless availability in a couple of other buildings, then a school … Continue reading Give Schools and Students The Choice to Take Paper & Pencil State Tests