For my school system, it was almost six months ago. In the two years since this pandemic had altered the reality for communities and our schools, no place had seen as much vitriol spewed as the rooms that hold school board meetings. As mask mandates were being lifted and rates of transmission waning and vaccinations … Continue reading Remember “Bonds For The Win” Or “Law & Order: SBM” (School Board Meeting)?

Think of all of the factors that affect how well public schools can operate. Now take all of those factors and divide them up by who is responsible for them: elected officials and teachers. Here is the distribution: Actually there is one under the teachers column. If you want to blame teachers for the current … Continue reading Want To Know Who Is To Blame For What Ails Public Education? IT’S NOT TEACHERS OR ADMINISTRATORS.

Tomorrow is the first day of the month of August. Athletic teams will be starting practices. Teachers will be going back in a couple of weeks for preplanning. Students will start class before September. So, how many vacancies do you have in your school? Your system? If it seems like a lot, remember that it … Continue reading 10 Years Of Deliberate Actions On Public Education – So How Many Vacancies Does You System Have?

This week over 50 business leaders filed a statement urging the NC Supreme to back a judge’s order to fund the Leandro plan. Here’s a link to that amicus brief. And that’s good. But they could have done it earlier. What's even more egregious is that no lawmakers within Berger's own political party have never … Continue reading NC’s GOP Lawmakers Need To Openly Oppose Phil Berger For The Sake Of Public Schools

From 2019: The NC Senate passed HB 924 by an overwhelming majority. Lt. Gov. Dan Forest in one of his rare statements about actual public education other than bathrooms and his love for charter schools tweeted the following: Fast forward three years and the man sitting in the same office as Lt. Gov. and member … Continue reading Remember When The Lt. Gov. Of NC Created A Personal Finance Class Requirement? Well…

Apparently, over 50 business leaders filed a statement urging the NC Supreme to back a judge's order to fund the Leandro plan. And that's good. Here's a twitter feed from Keung Hui, the education reporter from the News & Observer. Here's a link to the amicus brief. A list of the business leaders who signed … Continue reading 50 Business Leaders Support LEANDRO. It’s 2022. Where Was This Support In 2004? 1997? 1994?

From Justin Parmenter today (@justinparmenter) continuing to shed light on this toxic merit pay proposal: This is part of that email. Look a little at how much SAS is entrenched into the workings of DPI and how it helps to market itself behind closed doors. But it's what the public sees that is concerning because … Continue reading SAS & EVAAS Are All About The Money. They Should Be Called $A$ and EVAA$.

This week's episode of Mountain Philosopher further explores the faulty licensure / teacher pay proposal by DPI and the Human Capital Roundtable. John deVille interviews Justin Parmenter, whose work in digging through communications by all parties has exposed what has become another stain in the attack against public school teachers. Earlier in the day deVille … Continue reading “#MeritPayGate With A Side Of Menthol” Or “Why Does DPI Need A PR Firm To Sell A Proposal?” Either Way, “It Ain’t Kool.”

What a veteran teacher received ten years ago compared to what a veteran teacher who would start a career in NC today is quite startling. Not only is there a significant loss in projected income but ramifications on being able to get health care after retirement and not having to fear reprisal in standing up … Continue reading Simply Put, This NCGA Does Not Want Veteran Public School Teachers

Teachers did not institute school performance grades that measure achievement on standardized test scores heavily over student growth. The North Carolina General Assembly did. Teachers did not remove longevity pay, graduate degree pay, due-process rights, and retiree health benefits. The North Carolina General Assembly did. Teachers did not create a non-transparent voucher system, rampant charter … Continue reading Don’t Like The State Of Public Education? Don’t Look At Teachers; Look At Who “Legislates” Them.