It is largely accepted that to convene the North Carolina General Assembly for one day in 2018 during a special session costs NC taxpayers roughly $50K. Think about it. $50K a day to decide how to define the Voter ID bill and what specific ID's will be valid in the next round of elections.. $50K … Continue reading The NCGA Special Session – What 50K/Day Could Finance

Forget the apples. Forget the Starbucks Gift Cards. Forget homemade cookies. This holiday season give teachers gifts that they can not only truly enjoy, but truly use to make them better at what they do. Time Machine – specifically one that looks cool. Maybe something akin to the DeLorean in the iconic movie Back to the Future. … Continue reading Top 15 Holiday Gifts For Teachers (If You Really Love Them)

Imagine a charter school that uses tax payer money to allow instructors to deliver a curriculum which is not sanctioned by a regulatory body. Students are given admission as long as they are not from the LGBT community and hold an evangelical view of the Christian faith. There would be no instances in which a … Continue reading This Is A Charter School That Betsy DeVos’s Policies Would Allow to Exist

Thankful as a teacher to have these people keep our schools not only functioning, but vibrant. If you have never really been inside the workings of a public schools, know that so many people work behind the scenes to help educate our students. If they were not doing what they do, then schools would never … Continue reading Thankful and Grateful for the Unsung Heroes of Our Public Schools: Classified Employees & Volunteers

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.

Malcolm and I have been to many West Forsyth football and basketball games – home and away. Most children with Down Syndrome are highly visual learners. Malcolm is no exception. He looks for familiar people and sights. It gives him his bearings and helps with social equilibrium. Malcolm knows the way to West Forsyth. He … Continue reading A Meaningful and Valuable Part of Our School Culture – The Titan Cheerleading Squad

“As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.” – Arthur Carlson, General Manager of WKRP, a fictional radio station in Cincinnati. It’s Thanksgiving , and I just watched this episode again and it makes me laugh at how it wonderfully pens human nature which tends to be full of lofty, sometimes monetarily-induced, intentions but … Continue reading “As God as My Witness, I Thought Turkeys Could Fly” – ISD’s, Vouchers, and Unregulated Charters in North Carolina

Those words were said by Amy Wright, a mother of two children who were born with Down Syndrome and the founder of Bitty and Beau’s Coffee Shop in Wilmington, NC. Last year, she was named CNN’s Hero of the Year (http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/17/world/amy-wright-2017-cnn-hero-of-the-year/index.html). If you are the parent of a child with Down Syndrome, what Wright spoke … Continue reading “I would not change you for the world, but I will change the world for you.”

Every so often, State Supt. Mark Johnson releases an “NC Reads Reading Tip” on his Twitter account to give suggestions to parents and guardians about how to help foster and greater love of reading at home. Considering those who have propped up Johnson as the state’s leader of the public school system also are trying … Continue reading Wayne County Does Not Want the ISD Takeover – Taking Mark Johnson’s #NCReads Tips to Understand the Wording of WCPS’s Response Letter

“If you are looking at the state to be innovative, you’re looking in the wrong place,” state senator Craig Horn, R-Union, told a group of educators gathered at a NCICU Digital Learning and Research Symposium. Horn then pointed at Moody. “That person,” he said, “is innovative.” (https://www.ednc.org/2018/10/31/rowan-salisbury-schools-moves-forward-as-renewal-school-district/.) He is exactly right. It's about the people. In … Continue reading The Misuse of the Word “Innovation” – It’s Really About the People