When 500,000+ people in the state of North Carolina could have health insurance if North Carolina simply expanded Medicaid as so many other states already have, then you are dealing with a legislative body that is not interested in helping many stay healthy. And when we as a state are at a budget impasse while … Continue reading Dear NCGA, You’ve Made Financial Literacy A HS Requirement – So Practice What You Preach & Expand Medicaid

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 … Continue reading Sen. Jerry Tillman, How’s That Innovative School District Working For You?

When Pat McCrory was governor, the GOP super majority changed budget protocol and made the state budget a biennial process. In an odd-numbered year, a budget is set forth to encompass the next two fiscal years. Amendments to the budget can be made in even-numbered years. Furthermore, if a budget is not passed, then the … Continue reading Please Remember That NC’s State Budget Is BIENNIAL – It Covers TWO Years

... ask the right questions. Funny that Mark Johnson asked us how to make North Carolina's schools better. We answered by making sure that he would not have an office next term in Raleigh that directly impact public education. But here he is referring to that biannual tradition known as the North Carolina Teacher Working … Continue reading “ASQNC” – We Have A New Teacher Working Conditions Survey That Still Does Not…

When starting to filter through the data-rich and incredibly detailed Leandro Report (released toward the end of 2019) many of the very issues that public school advocates have been calling attention to for years were not only echoed, but were also explained in context of other issues that affect our public education system. These 12 … Continue reading Would Like For Lt. Gov. Dan Forest To Explain These 12 Glaring Data Exhibits From The Leandro Report

Over 50% of the state budget for NC is spent on public education. Currently it stands around 56-57%. And yes that is above the national average. And there is a reason for that. Before we had a Republican-controlled legislature, the state spent an even higher percentage on public education because THAT IS WHAT THE STATE … Continue reading Just Remember, A Vote For Dan Forest Is A Vote For Betsy DeVos And The Privatization Of Public Education In NC

These are two incredibly worthwhile articles for two groups of people: those who teach in our public schools and those who do not. Both are from The Bitter Southerner, a publication out of Atlanta described as: "If you are a person who buys the states’ rights argument … or you fly the rebel flag in … Continue reading About “Failing Government Schools” and “Teacher Burnout”

In 2011 North Carolina got a super-majority in the NC General Assembly and the rise of Sen. Phil Berger as the most powerful lawmaker in the state. Then we got the removal of due-process rights, graduate degree pay bumps removed, less per-pupil expenditures, vouchers, unregulated charter school growth, school performance grading system, class size cap … Continue reading The Karmic Possibility Of The State Superintendent Election

...and it looked a lot like a ballot. While the traditional Teacher Working Conditions Survey covers perceptions of school environments and attitudes, nothing can truly represent a "working conditions survey" like a ballot - especially the one presented to teachers and other public school advocates this past Tuesday.   When the man who currently "leads" … Continue reading Teacher Working Conditions Survey Is Available; However, We Filled One Out On Primary Day..

A recent perspective from the 2019 NC Principal of the Year Matt Bristow-Smith in EdNC.org entitled "NC’s school performance grade model does harm to poor schools" is a crystal clear account of the stigmatizing effects of our current rating system. As a principal in a rural school system, Bristow-Smith thoroughly explains the blatant shortcomings of … Continue reading Just Eliminate The School Performance Grading System