Today Mark Johnson announced that reading teachers in k-3 will receive a brand new Apple iPad to use in classrooms this year. On the surface, this seems like a positive notion. But... From Travis Fain at WRAL: Reading teachers across the state, from kindergarten to third grade, will get computer tablets from the state this … Continue reading About Those New iPads From Mark Johnson – Finding $6M To Spend After Slashing DPI’s Budget

Every year athletes, schools, teams, and other professional organizations sign endorsement deals that outfit the contracted with certain merchandise and materials so that they can be promoted to the general public and help get customers. No one could be more suited for that type of deal than a teacher. Standing up in front of those … Continue reading What If Teachers Had Endorsement Deals? A Satirical Look at School Supplies

In October, the venerable James Ford of the Public School Forum delivered the keynote address at the North Carolina English Teacher’s Association. It was more than exceptional as Ford highlighted that what hurts our schools most are external factors that are not being dealt with such as systemic poverty. Part of his presentation included a … Continue reading The Secret Algorithms of EVAAS and SAS – Remembering Why We Marched in May and Will Vote in November (#9)

This is an actual Facebook post from a lawmaker in the North Carolina Genera Assembly. It deserves a few responses such as:  

This past Friday an op-ed appeared in the Charlotte Observer that attempted to paint the assault on public education by the current North Carolina General Assembly as "common sense reforms to give parents more choices, particularly low-income parents and those in underserved communities." It can be found here: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/article215972175.html. It is worth the read just to see how … Continue reading About That Charlotte Observer Op-ed Defending the Current GOP’s Reforms For Education in North Carolina

If you live in a neighborhood with children, you may have experienced receiving a knock on the door or the ringing of a doorbell by a school aged child inquiring if you may want to buy some sort of product or consumable as part of a fundraiser. I want to encourage you to buy it. … Continue reading Thoughts About School Fundraising – Maybe the NCGA Should Do A Bake Sale to Finance Those Special Sessions

I do not know of a single instance in public education where merit pay actually has increased student achievement. Yet, many lawmakers  not only advocate merit pay, but differential pay based on the willingness “to take on additional tasks” like clubs, coaching, mentor, and chairing of departments. And there was an item in the budget … Continue reading Merit Pay for Teachers and Other Bad Ideas – Remembering Why We Marched in May and Will Vote in November (#8)

When public education has to defend itself against the state’s General Assembly in order to function effectively, those in government should reassess their priorities as elected officials. Take for instance the political cartoon published in the Winston-Salem Journal on July 9, 2015 which parodies the iconic advertisement for the movie Jaws. It brilliantly depicts the NC Legislature as … Continue reading Over 7,400 NC Teacher Assistants Lost Since 2008 – Remembering Why We Marched in May and Will Vote in November (#7)

From 2002 until 2013, the first weekend in August was a tax-free weekend on school supplies and other items associated with the beginning of academic years for pre-schoolers all the way to college students. In 2013, it disappeared. Rather it was taken away. Today's News & Record ran a story on the lack of a … Continue reading Remember Tax-Free Weekend to Buy School Supplies? Me Too.

“The overall premise of this bill is to ensure that we have a proper teacher pipeline going into the schools.” – Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, R- Wilkes, in response to questions about SB599 on House floor in Raleigh on June 26. Senate Bill 599 is the bill (as Alex Granados from EdNC.org reports), that, “allows organizations … Continue reading The Stench of SB599 – The Teacher Shortage Created by Raleigh – Remembering Why We Marched in May and Will Vote in November (#6)