Earlier today, this blog posted on the racial impacts of charter schools in North Carolina referring to an earlier post from the Fall of 2019 and an investigation of school report card information. And today in the Charlotte Observer website (and in print tomorrow), T. Keung Hui published this: That article is worth your reading. … Continue reading The Charter School Advisory Board Of North Carolina Removes Section On Racial Impacts Of Charters

"CSAB members say draft report understates how charters are underfunded compared to district schools, unfairly portrays charters as resegregating & understates how many low-income students attend charters. They want wording revised to reflect how diverse charters are." This statement from Hui's tweet from yesterday (1/2/2020) concerning the yearly CSAB report is reminiscent of what happened … Continue reading The CSAB Wants To Change Their Annual Report To Show How “Diverse” NC’s Charter Schools Are. You Can Actually See For Yourself.

Remember in early 2019 when Mark Johnson said that $35,000 was a good salary for teachers in parts of North Carolina because it was higher than the median income in those counties? And there are others who say that teacher pay in NC should not be scrutinized because the “national average” argument is too mercurial … Continue reading -26.5%: How Underpaid NC Teachers Really Were in 2018

When the GOP won control of both houses in the North Carolina General Assembly in the elections of 2010, it was the first time that the Republicans had that sort of power since 1896. Add to that the election of Pat McCrory as governor in 2012, and the GOP has been able to run through … Continue reading A Decade Of Dismantling Public Education In North Carolina – Twenty-Three Egregious Attacks By The NCGA From 2010-2019

With 2020 just around the corner and primaries just over two months away, the need for a candidate to try and control the narrative on hot-button issues is important. Even if that candidate is not really telling you the whole story. It happened last week in the Winston-Salem Journal on December 21st (on the 20th … Continue reading You Can Believe The Privatizing Professional Politician About Public Education Or A Veteran Public School Teacher & Parent

Any experienced, veteran teacher here in North Carolina knows the differences in the salary schedules that have guided pay for the last ten years. Sometimes one graph can put things into sharp perspective. Derek Scott has been following trends in public education and possesses that gift of explaining concepts that many politicians hope to keep … Continue reading Negative $31243: Career Change in Pay Received – The North Carolina General Assembly Does Not Want to Have Veteran Teachers

There seems to be something amiss when your high school’s football team plays a home game before students even attend their first class. Why? Because we start school too late in North Carolina. As it stands right now, a special provision in the budget bill in the 2012 legislative session (Senate Bill 187, Session Law … Continue reading Again, Why Do We Have Exams After The Winter Break? Change The Calendar!

Like every other year, 2019 has been a rather contentious, perplexing, and frustrating year for public school advocates. There is simply a lot working against us. However, that only means that we keep fighting for public schools. As the new year arrives, it might be worthwhile to review the top public education issues that surround … Continue reading The Top Educational Issues From 2019 That Need Our Attention in 2020

Dear Santa, With gerrymandered districts and continued emphasis on using public taxpayer money to finance unproven reform efforts that do more to privatize and divide our student bodies, I thought it might be worth adding a few items to my holiday wish list. Sure, I want efforts to clean our environment and hold entities accountable … Continue reading This North Carolina Teacher’s Letter to Santa

Since we are in the heart of the holiday season, I tend to think of this part of Dickens’s classic holiday novella. “At this festive season of the year, Mr. Scrooge,” said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the Poor and … Continue reading “Pro-Life” Means Taking Care Of Those Who Are Already Born