Sometimes you can get a glimpse of the culture of a school by the amount of garb students, faculty, and community members wear that dons the name, mascot, or colors of the local high school. At my school, they call it “West Wear.” And I  have a closet full of it much to my wife’s … Continue reading The Best Spirit Wear You Can Own Comes From Your Local High School – And It Makes Great Presents for the Holidays

Let us praise great high school coaches. If you teach long enough in the public schools, you will be fortunate enough to come across some great individuals who coach sports teams all the while teaching these very players lessons of life and success even in the wake of defeat. And I want to praise great … Continue reading Let Us Praise Great High School Coaches

From our State Treasurer: "Did You Know? During 2017, the state spent $3.3 billion on medical and pharmacy benefits. At the same time, costs have increased 5 to 10 percent while funding for the Plan only saw a 4 percent increase. In addition, the state has a $34 billion unfunded liability for retiree health care. … Continue reading About That Letter From the State Treasurer to Teachers With the State Insurance Plan

I could not tell you how many times a student has asked me what my SAT score was – probably to compare his/her score against mine.  (To tell you the truth, I do not remember as most colleges when I applied for school took the best combined score). The problem is that there really is … Continue reading Distorting How Our Public Schools Are Really Performing – Raleigh’s Use of “Revisionist History” Concerning Public Education

So, are you a glass is half- empty person or a glass is half-full person? It’s a generic question. I know. Preferably, I would like to be around a water source and not worry if I had enough to fill a glass and just drink my fill. But there is another way to never have … Continue reading When a “Zero” Becomes a “50” And Other Miracles in Educational Reform

The GOP-led NC legislature’s 2013 decision to end graduate degree pay bumps for new teachers entering the teaching profession was not only misguided, but another wave in the assault on public education here in the Old North State. I confess there exist numerous studies that have shown that advanced degrees do not correlate with higher … Continue reading NC Should Re-institute Graduate Degree Pay For Teachers For Many Reasons

Did you know that North Carolina has more Nationally Board Certified Teachers than any state in the country? Simply go to this site and compare – http://www.nbpts.org/in-your-state/. This morning score reports for those who were seeking first time certification are being released. If you succeeded, I congratulate you. It’s not easy to become certified. Less than … Continue reading National Board Certification Score Release Day – An Argument to Invest More in Teachers

No really. It's not rhetorical. It is in an article written by Dana Goldstein, who is an educational journalist for the The New York Times. The title of the article proposes the very question that lawmakers like Phil Berger and Tim Moore need to answer. Considering they spearheaded a budget approved through a nuclear option, … Continue reading A Question For North Carolinians About Public Education That Needs Answering

"North Carolina's teacher income is rising faster than any other state." — Tim Moore on Monday, February 20th, 2017 in in social media posts and a press release.   Around the same time that Moore made that comment, this was reported. "The average salary for a North Carolina teacher has increased to more than $50,000 a year for … Continue reading Rep. Tim Moore Literally Just Proved That We Should Pay Teachers Much More (Pun Intended)

There seems to be something amiss when your high school’s football team plays two home games 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!