That “slide” above is from a 2019 presentation about the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System (TSERS) Retirement Planning. 2019 was before the current pandemic. It would be interesting and predictably disheartening to question LEA HR directors about how many calls they are fielding from veteran teachers concerning retirement and early retirement requirements and possibilities. As … Continue reading NC Doesn’t Have To Just Worry About Recruiting Teacher Candidates. It Will Need To Worry About Retaining Current Teachers.

When budgets are “made” by lawmakers in North Carolina, there are usually multiple requests for monies attached to “reforms” or investments in resources. Some deal with mentoring and helping younger teachers become more acclimated to the education profession. Some deal with “advanced roles” for teachers. Some deal with curricula that focus on specific “21st century” … Continue reading One Resource All Teachers Need But is Never “Funded” For : TIME

If you were a teacher starting your career in 2020 with a Master's Degree and you planned on obtaining national certification after your third year of teaching, this is the salary schedule that was in effect. A 30-year career based on this salary schedule alone would net you 1,543,840 dollars. 30 years would be required … Continue reading Comparing NC Teacher Salaries & Buying Power: 2020 to 2008-2009

From June of 2016 concerning the Achievement School District, now the Innovative School District (ISD): With just days remaining in the N.C. General Assembly’s short session, leaders on the Senate Education Committee have given their approval to achievement school districts, a GOP-backed model of school reform that may clear for-profit charter takeovers of low-performing schools.Committee Chair Jerry Tillman, a Republican … Continue reading Did You Hear About What Happened To The Innovative School District?

From Education Week: From Forbes in an article by Peter Greene: They make reference to this working study: And here is the abstract: Think of every evaluation you have received in your teaching career. Do you think they did a good job of measuring your effectiveness?

Please do not think that the recent budget passed in North Carolina is friendly to teachers and public schools. Consider this: 22868 job openings in our schools as of the night of November 29th. Of those, over 8580 were for classroom teachers. And now consider: That report states:

Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is on the State Board of Education. He launched an initiative that is nothing more than a witch hunt against teachers that he disguised as a battle against "indoctrination." And he says really repugnant things about gay people. That statement was made while speaking from the pulpit of Berean Baptists Church … Continue reading No Student Should Ever Be Called “What the cows leave behind” – About Our Lt. Gov. & NC’s Voucher System

So, the new budget in NC will include what Sen. Phil Berger lauds as an average 5% raise for teachers. Remember that most state employees also receive longevity pay on a yearly basis - not teachers though. And that raise is also over the biennium which means that it is an "average" of 2.5% a … Continue reading “Average” Vs. “Actual” When It Comes To Teacher Salary Raises

Please do not look at that average 5% salary raise for teachers and think that all teachers are getting a 5% raise. Besides the fact that it includes already in place step increases and that it is over two years (the budget is biennial), average means that some people get a bigger percentage raise than … Continue reading Simply Put, This NCGA Does Not Want Veteran Public School Teachers