The recent report to the State Board of Education this week once again proved to our state that the Read to Achieve initiative championed by Phil Berger has failed to do what it was promoted to do. Kris Nordstrom sums it up best from a report posted yesterday. In October, researchers from NC State’s Friday … Continue reading Sen. Berger, Stop Trying To Copy Jeb Bush’s Failed Education Reforms

The Charlotte Observer and News & Observer ran a piece on teacher voices this week called "How North Carolina's teachers are making their voices heard." It highlights just a few of the thousands of people who have advocated for public schools here in NC this past year. It is by no means even a hint … Continue reading About that “Most public employee teachers are in these positions because they lack the talent to compete in the private sector” comment…

From the Rocky Mount Telegram on January 8th, 2019: Teachers at the now defunct Global Achiever School will not be able to look to the state for recourse as they wait to see if they will be paid the money owed to them. “Just as with district schools, the state allots the funds but the … Continue reading What Happened In Rocky Mount – NC Needs More Regulations on Charter Schools

“Charter schools were designed to foster competition with districts.” The above was stated in the News & Observer yesterday by Dr. Terry Stoops of the John Locke Foundation in a report entitled “Popularity of charter schools is causing this NC school district to lose students.” And it’s not true. In fact, it is disingenuous. As was reported … Continue reading North Carolina’s Intentional Misuse of Charter Schools: They Are For Experimentation, Not Competition

Simply put, North Carolina should allow student growth to weigh more in the formula that measures school performance grades. (Honestly, we should get rid of it). Last March, a bill passed the General Assembly House K-12 Education Committee that according to an EdNC.org report from Alex Granados “would change the calculation of the grades from … Continue reading Growth Vs. Proficiency – NC’s Toxic School Performance Grading System

“Charter schools were designed to foster competition with districts." The above was stated in the News & Observer today by Dr. Terry Stoops of the John Locke Foundation in a report entitled "Popularity of charter schools is causing this NC school district to lose students." And it's not true. In fact, it is disingenuous. As … Continue reading “Charter schools were designed to foster competition with districts” – No They Weren’t: Concerning the N&O Report on Charters in Durham County

Receiving constructive and unconstructive criticism is an inescapable reality when one writes a blog or puts out opinion pieces about public education in various media. But whether that feedback is presented as an argument to inquire, assert, or demean, it does further the conversation. In many instances it exposes the many myths concerning public education. … Continue reading Public Schools Aren’t Businesses – Don’t Believe Me? Try Running a Business as a Public School

May 16th. Super-majorities Broken. Incumbents Who Championed Privatization Movements Were Defeated. National Coverage. Higher Voter Turnout. Innovative School District Shown to be Ineffective. Lies About Funding Class Size Mandate Exposed. Lots of Red Being Worn on Wednesdays. Keeping Budget Process This Year From Going Through Nuclear Option. Defeated Two Egregious Constitutional Amendments. All of the … Continue reading 20 Reasons Why Public School Advocacy Worked in North Carolina in 2018 – Keep Doing It In 2019

Those who seek to “reform” public education will all use numbers and figures that portray student achievement in public schools as lagging. They may talk of low student test scores and graduation rates that are not high enough. They may talk about school performance grades and teacher evaluations.  Yet their arguments rely mostly on hazy … Continue reading Test Scores, Student Achievement, & Graduation Rates: Three of the Most “Spun” Terms in Public Education Reform

It was about this time last year that Mark Johnson hurled praise upon a new and improved school performance grading platform and revamp school report card interface. Johnson was touting the "new" tool in December of 2017 as a way to help parents "choose" what is best for their students based on a skewed report … Continue reading Dear Mark Johnson, Delaying School Performance Grades? How About Just Eliminating Them.