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 have been waging a war against public schools in our state for the last six years. Under the guise of “reform,” GOP conservatives driven by ALEC-crafted policies have … Continue reading Sen. Phil Berger’s Absolute Fear of the Veteran Public School Teacher

When #JustAsk brought the responsive #JustAskMe, what many teachers did not expect was that #JustAskMe would not be very responsive. While either the volume of the questions that were submitted was too great, or the resources dedicated to answering the questions were limited, many teachers have expressed that their questions have remained unanswered. So, bring … Continue reading #JustAskMe Should Not Be #JustAskMeARhetoricalQuestion

In the state of North Carolina, over 56% of the state budget is dedicated to public education, most of which goes to K-12 (and pre-K) education. It’s specifically stated in Article IX of the state constitution that the state establish a free and viable means of educating school age-children. Sec. 2.  Uniform system of schools. … Continue reading Teachers Should Be Political, Especially Here in North Carolina

Southside-Ashpole Elementary School in Robeson County was selected by the state to be the first school (and currently only school) in the Innovative School District back before the end of the last school year. The first superintendent of the ISD was Dr. Eric Hall, who is now the Deputy Superintendent of INNOVATION in Raleigh having … Continue reading Look at the Website of the Innovative School District’s Only School – What Does It Tell You About the Priorities of the ISD?

The recent exposure of the May 10th Forsyth County Board of Commissioners meeting (when the WSFCS superintendent and school board chair shared their budget request) has highlighted a rather contentious  issue within the teaching community: teacher supplements. More importantly, it brings to light the need for an audit of how items are communicated between elected … Continue reading Why This Teacher “Bonus” is a Symptom of a Deeper Problem

“It really don’t matter how i put my words together, as long as you know what I am sayin’. If it can be read allowed in the same way that i would say it. No big deal. Its sorta like talking on a piece of paper right? Too think I should be graded on how … Continue reading A Case for More Grammar Instruction in Schools (And Less Standardized Testing)

There is not a sane person in the state of North Carolina who would not want to make our schools as safe as possible for our students. Taxpayer money is helping to fund a $35 million-dollar initiative to provide grants in the state to help launch School Safety Month. According to the Center for Safer … Continue reading “Steps to Help Make Our Schools Safer” And Mark Johnson’s Steps to Make It All About Him

By now many teachers in the WSFCS system have seen that video from May 10th concerning the superintendent presenting the school system budget request to the county Board of Commissioners where the issue of teacher supplements was brought up. That original nine-minute video can be seen here:  https://youtu.be/M8HZuerdTE0. Today, the Winston-Salem Journal ran a report about … Continue reading #JustAskMe Actually Creates #GotAHellofALotMoreQuestions – About the WSFCS Teacher Supplement

...ask what you can do to help. If anyone knows what is needed in a community that has been hit hard by natural disasters or other catastrophic events, then it is a public school teacher. See if a school needs cleaning supplies or any other essentials that they may need to continue serving students and … Continue reading Find a Teacher in Eastern NC and…

If you braved the cold temps last January and attended the Class Size Chaos Rally in Raleigh, you probably ran into Jen Mangrum. She was there to lend support. If you came to the May 16th Rally and March, then you probably came within feet of her. She was there. Mangrum is an educator. In … Continue reading District 30 – Mangrum Vs. Berger: Maybe the Most Important General Assembly Race in the State Concerning Public Education