T. Keung Hui’s report for McClatchy Regional News this past spring entitled “N.C. teachers are now averaging more than $50,000 a year” is really not what it appears to be simply because that average salary is being bolstered by the very people that the NC General Assembly wants to rid the state of: veteran teachers … Continue reading The “Ignoramasaurus Rex” – How The Average Teacher Pay Increase in NC is Not Really Real

NASA’s Global Climate Change website is dedicated to educating people about human influence on the environment. Under the “Scientific Consensus” tab it states, “Multiple studies published in peer-reviewed scientific journals1 show that 97 percent or more of actively publishing climate scientists agree: Climate-warming trends over the past century are extremely likely due to human activities” (http://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus/). … Continue reading North Carolina’s Man-Made Educational Climate Change

Today a first occurred for West Forsyth Titan Athletics - both the boys and the girls' teams won the Regional Meet. While both have qualified to run as teams in the state meet, the fact that both teams won today's regional meet against rather stiff competition was impressive. This was the first meet I have … Continue reading Summer Miles, Fall Smiles – Titans Win Boys and Girls Cross Country Regionals

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 renewal are being released. If you succeeded, I congratulate you. It’s not easy to become and remain certified. When I … Continue reading National Board Certification Renewal Score Release Day – An Argument to Invest More in Teachers

Remember Michelle Rhee’s visit to North Carolina last year for a “closed-door” meeting (February 7th  ,2017) with lawmakers brokered by an educational lobbying body of business leaders called BEST NC (coupled with the NC GOP’s invitation to Betsy DeVos who had just been confirmed as Trump’s secretary of education)? It was another ominous omen of what has been … Continue reading Stop the Privatization of NC’s Public Schools – It Starts At the Polls

Almost four years ago, Sen, David Curtis delivered a rather uneducated response to a letter from a young teacher in which he outlined a close-minded viewpoint of the teaching profession (http://wunc.org/post/teacher-email-legislators-draws-harsh-reply#stream/0). Needless to say, it garnered quite a response from teachers around the state. Other public education critics have gone out of their way to … Continue reading Dear North Carolina Lawmaker, Exactly What is the Job Description of a Public School Teacher?

From WSOCTV.com on October 23: The Rowan-Salisbury School District is considering making changes to hiring requirements for teachers as it looks to widen the field of candidates to educate your children. A new proposal being considered by the district drops a four-year college degree requirement for applicants hoping to be hired as a teacher. Instead … Continue reading Lowering Hiring Requirements in Rowan-Salisbury School System is Simply a Bad Idea

Sen. Phil Berger is playing politician again. In this election year, he and his GOP comrades have ramped up their “strong talk” on their commitment to adequately fund public schools and pay teachers a comparable salary on the national level. And part of his talk is defending himself against the vicious attacks from those who … Continue reading Do Not Believe The Hype of #NCSuccessStory – Spinning a Narrative on NC’s Public Schools

In 2012, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation for the "Read to Achieve" initiative. Six years later, it has not really achieved. From a recent Charlotte Observer report: The General Assembly passed Read to Achieve legislation in 2012. It was modeled on literacy efforts in other states, including the “Just Read, Florida!” program created by Gov. … Continue reading The Underachieving “Read to Achieve” – Stop Listening to Jeb Bush and Invest More in Early Childhood Education

“We will continue to use data-driven analyses, including feedback from classroom teachers, to drive changes ...." - Mark Johnson last Friday concerning the report on the ineffectiveness of Read to Achieve. The idea of using data to drive policy is not a new occurrence. But it is sometimes hard to quantify the qualitative aspects of … Continue reading If Mark Johnson Wants to be “Data-Driven,” Then He Might Want to Look at These Data