This past week The Network for Public Education and the Schott Foundation released a report called Grading the States which ranked how states treat public education (http://schottfoundation.org/report/grading-the-states). It is easy to look at the political leanings of research groups which conduct studies and see a particular bent, but the Network for Public Education is headed … Continue reading All of This “Reform” and North Carolina Ranks 48th

If due-process rights are not restored for new teachers, then the idea of having a rally or a march like that one on May 16th to advocate for students and schools ten to fifteen years from now would likely never happen. They are that important! Their removal was a beginning step in a patient, scripted, … Continue reading Due-Process Rights and Career Status for Teachers Are That Important

It's a simple document. Easy to find. AND VERY POWERFUL. If you know any college student who will not be home in November, send him or her this. If you know of anyone who might not be able to go vote at a polling station on Election Day or will have a hard time getting … Continue reading One of the Most Important Tools In Helping Our Public Schools – The Absentee Ballot

In this session of the North Carolina General Assembly, lawmakers roaming the halls of West Jones Street have produced some rather contradictory and antithetical pieces of legislation and ignored the very premise of a representative government: allowing the voice of the people to be heard. This is especially true with issues on public education. On … Continue reading Not Allowing for NC to Vote on a Statewide School Bond is Yet Another Way the NCGA is Hurting Public Schools

When personalities are placed before principles, then people suffer. When partisan politics are placed before the public good, then people suffer. In the wake of the Parkland, FL school mass shooting, almost every state legislature at least brought forth legislation or formed a committee to suggest legislation to address how to stop the possibility of … Continue reading The Failure of the NCGA to Address Lack of School Psychologists

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

400 years since he died. Four centuries. Multiple generations. New countries discovered. And we still read his work and revere it as a mirror of human nature. There is a bit of a revival taking place in some schools involving Shakespeare. The Common Core asks that student in each grade level come engage with Shakespeare … Continue reading “Lord, What Fools These Mortals Be” – What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Education Reform in North Carolina

If you braved the cold temps in 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