Rest in Peace North Carolina House Representative Dr. Fulghum...
About a year ago I went on a campaign to contact members of the North Carolina House of Representatives to urge our representatives to review teacher pay and benefits. The letter I wrote in one of the first posts on my blog (You can scroll down and find the letter.) At the time I invited any representative to tour a school in Wake County to see, first hand, the typical day of a teacher.
Of all the Representatives that I contacted Dr. Fulghum was the ONLY person to actually call me to have a conversation about his interest in visiting a school and show genuine interest in coming to the aid of educators. Needless to say I was thrilled to hear from someone because I never expected to be contacted by mail much less get a phone call from a member of the House of Representatives.
But I heard from Dr. Fulghum.
He was a true defender of the people and will be sorely missed by many.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Friday, July 11, 2014
Over the past couple of weeks I have experienced, through personnel observation, teachers getting ready to go back to school in the fall as well as those teachers who are on a year round schedule finishing up there first week.
Here's is what I have observed....
For all those teachers who will be returning to the classroom in the fall they have begun to amass the supplies that they will need for their classroom. This includes composition books, folders, pencils as well as many other items which one can find in the school supplies section of most retail stores. For those of you in the field you understand exactly what I'm speaking about. But those others this is the right of passage for teachers to prepare for the new school year spending money out of their own pockets for supplies for their students and the classroom.
While our government is gracious, did I say gracious, to allow for teachers to get a $250 dollar credit on their taxes it doesn't even begin to compensate the actual amount teachers will spend to have the tools they need for their classroom each year. For many that figures can top the $1000 mark!
Not only do many teachers have to scramble to make ends meet to help support themselves and a family they are also called upon to support a classroom family. Personally I think this is asking too much. Could you imagine showing up to work for IBM, Microsoft, or any other company and having to supply your office with computer paper, staples, and scotch tape? Well unfortunately this is what our hard working educators are being asked to do. Hello is any legislator listening?
So what is my point here? Well over the past two years our State Legislators have grappled with trying to put together a budget that includes how to compensate teachers. And here we are 11 days after a budget should have been in place and these esteemed folks still haven't figured out what their going to do. Is it going to be 3%, 5% or have some have suggested 11%. Heaven forbid if its 11%. That means a teacher making $40,000 a year will get an additional $4,943 a year or $411 a month. On face value that seems like a great increase until you consider that it has been over six years since a teacher last had a raise. So to amortize this over those past 6 years we're really taking about $68 a month raise but given inflation and the six years after taxes that works out to around $55. Is that all teachers are worth?
But hey our State Representatives have more pressing issues to deal with in the budget. They still are arguing whether or not to increase the advertising budget for the state lottery. Really!! So we can all experience more stupid television commercials.
Oh a final point. Those teachers that were shopping after the end of the first week of school were including bottles of wine along with their supplies purchases. It must have been a challenging week for them.
Thanks for the great week. Teachers have learned to endure those hardships. Remember that all of you can inflict the same hardship at the polls and cast your vote to send those unsupportive legislators back home.
Here's is what I have observed....
For all those teachers who will be returning to the classroom in the fall they have begun to amass the supplies that they will need for their classroom. This includes composition books, folders, pencils as well as many other items which one can find in the school supplies section of most retail stores. For those of you in the field you understand exactly what I'm speaking about. But those others this is the right of passage for teachers to prepare for the new school year spending money out of their own pockets for supplies for their students and the classroom.
While our government is gracious, did I say gracious, to allow for teachers to get a $250 dollar credit on their taxes it doesn't even begin to compensate the actual amount teachers will spend to have the tools they need for their classroom each year. For many that figures can top the $1000 mark!
Not only do many teachers have to scramble to make ends meet to help support themselves and a family they are also called upon to support a classroom family. Personally I think this is asking too much. Could you imagine showing up to work for IBM, Microsoft, or any other company and having to supply your office with computer paper, staples, and scotch tape? Well unfortunately this is what our hard working educators are being asked to do. Hello is any legislator listening?
So what is my point here? Well over the past two years our State Legislators have grappled with trying to put together a budget that includes how to compensate teachers. And here we are 11 days after a budget should have been in place and these esteemed folks still haven't figured out what their going to do. Is it going to be 3%, 5% or have some have suggested 11%. Heaven forbid if its 11%. That means a teacher making $40,000 a year will get an additional $4,943 a year or $411 a month. On face value that seems like a great increase until you consider that it has been over six years since a teacher last had a raise. So to amortize this over those past 6 years we're really taking about $68 a month raise but given inflation and the six years after taxes that works out to around $55. Is that all teachers are worth?
But hey our State Representatives have more pressing issues to deal with in the budget. They still are arguing whether or not to increase the advertising budget for the state lottery. Really!! So we can all experience more stupid television commercials.
Oh a final point. Those teachers that were shopping after the end of the first week of school were including bottles of wine along with their supplies purchases. It must have been a challenging week for them.
Thanks for the great week. Teachers have learned to endure those hardships. Remember that all of you can inflict the same hardship at the polls and cast your vote to send those unsupportive legislators back home.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
I was driving down the road the other day when I heard a strange noise coming from my car's engine. Not knowing what it was I pulled over to the side of the road and got out raising my hood to see what was going on.
Yep! There was a rattling noise coming from somewhere. Although the engine seemed to be running I knew that if I didn't get a service technician to check it out soon it may develop into a larger problem. I climbed back into my car and drove straight to the dealership and explained my problem to them. The mechanic I spoke to asked me to leave the car overnight so that he perform a thorough inspection to locate the source of the trouble, which I agreed to do.
At the time I was assured that once he had a chance to diagnose my engine he would be able to find the problem and fix it. When I returned the next day I was told by the mechanic that he thought he found the trouble and fixed it but he wasn't sure. According to the him he had to replace some expensive part and was hopeful that it would correct the problem.
Paying my bill I drove away hoping to have no more trouble especially after the repair bill I just paid.
If only I had been so lucky.
You see, it turns out that the mechanic did not really find the trouble but replaced a part that he thought was causing the problem. I had to return several more times before they were finally able to find the root of the trouble and repair my car. However, it was not until after I had spent a couple of thousand dollars and countless hours driving back and forth to the dealership.
My biggest disappointment was thinking that as a professional the mechanic would be able to find and correct my problem efficiently and in a fair manner. But because he chose not to analyze the trouble and seek solutions based on his knowledge of engines it ended up costing way too much money and time.
Does this story sound familiar?
Well it should- because this scenario has been repeated over and over again but at the state level of our government in terms of teacher salaries. You see our esteemed Legislators and Governor have continued to propose one bad idea after another in order to correct injustices with how to compensate teachers in the State of North Carolina.
Early in his administration Governor Pat McCrory decided that the state had no money available to give teachers a pay raise despite that fact that his administration doled out thousands, if not millions, to pay for young inexperienced "kids" to work in some hand picked positions.
I could go into the story of the issues with the Department of Health Services (DHSS) who paid the millions of dollars to some fly by night computer company from Canada to develop software just to administer social service programs around the state. What I wonder is why was this company was selected given the fact that the Canadian government fired them for gross incompetence's....waste at the highest level!!
This waste and indulgence left the governor being able to justify to a public that elected him why he had no money to raise teacher salaries but said, "he planned to sometime in the future."
Right!
Sure, he inherited some problems but when a twenty-something gets a primo government job making over $50,000 a year because he worked on the governors election campaign truly doesn't sit well with the voting public. Besides doesn't the Governor know that teachers have heard this same story over and over again for the past thirty years? Better yet, does he care?
It leads me to wonder how many of our legislators have a second or even a third job to make enough money to pay their bills? How many of their children could qualify for free and reduced lunches at the very schools they teach?
My guess is not one of them. Although they have managed to give themselves nice raises over this same time frame they have continued to withhold mandating an adequate compensation structure from hard working teachers with the attitude that if "they don't like they can find other work." This has been pointed out quite clearly with the latest proposal to do away with extra compensation for teachers with a Master's Degree. Let me ask you would you have brain surgery from a doctor that just went to medical school or that same doctor that trained as a neurosurgeon? My guess is the later.
So why wouldn't the state be willing to pay a teacher for having the desire to get additional training to become better at their profession? I thought I heard somewhere that the state wanted to attract the best and the brightest. Hmmm, seems to me a bass-ackwards way of doing things. Yet we are left to wonder why thousands of teachers either leave the profession or move to a state that respects them more and shows it by paying them a "professional" salary. As Rodney Dangerfield once said, "I can't get no respect."
Hello out there! ...teacher salaries are lower than the guy that collects my garbage each Monday!!
So getting back to my story.
Over the past year our governor has acted like the mechanic, he has proposed fixes for a broken education system without giving any forethought to how it needs to be done.
Up to this point his office has proposed giving NEW teachers a few thousands more when they get hired because he wants to attract the best and brightest. They haven't thought about how to keep them once they have spent the first couple of years training in North Carolina only to leave for greener pastures. While I am sure for a while they will value getting by with this extra money, I say good luck getting a raise after that.
Look what's happening to teachers with many years of experience. They are left with a bad taste in their mouth because once again they were passed over. For many of you that don't realize it each year a teacher stands to lose almost a thousand dollars a year due to increased costs of health insurance premiums and having to pay higher taxes.
A funny thing, but certainly not the Ha! Ha! kind either; recently happened to a teacher friend that went to refinance a house and was asked by the mortgage lender why her salary went down each year. She just looked at him and suggested he propose that very same question to the governor.
How about the Governor's latest proposal to reward the top 25% of teachers in a district with a few thousand extra dollars a year providing that they give up tenure. Now I am not a strong advocate of tenure for anyone, especially legislators, only because I know that many in the profession are not doing a good job and should be moved on to seek other options, but we are talking about teachers that are in the top 25% of their profession. The governor should be pulling out all strings and giving them a lifetime job if they are that good just to ensure that they DON"T go to another state or quit teaching. But to take something away from your best and brightest seems to me another way to ask teachers to bend over and get kicked in the ass....again!
And now, the governor has a new proposal which is to pay only 450 teachers in the entire state of North Carolina $10,000 for sharing ideas. Really!?? ...that's funny!
Governor, do you realize that teachers share ideas with their colleagues every day? So now you want to pay only a handful of teachers for their ideas. How are you planning to determine what constitutes a good idea? What are you going to base this on? Do you realize that a teacher can get paid posting their ideas on the Teachers Pay Teachers web site? So why would these other teachers be motivated to share ideas for free? Because our teachers are true professionals and want to the best for all students; that's why!
So Governor McCrory, it's time to open your mouth again, and insert your other foot. You are truly surrounded by idiots who have allowed you to be sucked into their hair brained schemes.
Remember this debacle during the next election and you find yourself being a one termer- oh and then having to cozy up to your friends at Duke Energy to ask for a job!
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
North Carolina Group Urges Teachers to Reject Contract Offers
From reading the latest barrage of articles that have been in the press over the last year, maybe just maybe some legislators are starting to take notice to the fact that SOMETHING needs to be done to encourage teachers to continue teaching is this state as well as ensure that teachers are interested in moving to North Carolina to teach!!
Regardless of whether it is realized or not teachers have the power to make change that doesn't involve standing in the cold on the legislative lawn in Raleigh. Use the power of the vote! I have previously posted that there are some elected officials that will NEVER agree to giving educators raises. Why? Because the good old boy network is still alive in this state and our esteemed elected officials think that teaching is just of uppity women who belong at home taking care of the house and kids while the man should be out earning a living. VOTE! VOTE! THSE IDIOTS OUT OF POWER!!
In my opinion teachers do not need to be fighting the smaller battles over such things as tenure. The only people working on fat contracts are the fat corporate cats and professional athletes. So use the energy to fight for the right to be paid, fairly. While you are at it stop paying for school supplies out of your pockets and force the school district to fund classroom needs. How long will administrators tolerate blanks walls in classrooms and watch teachers use minimal teaching tools; especially technology tools that are necessary for the 21st Century classroom, before they too take a stand.
How about the idea to reward teachers that fall into the top 25%, rated by the principal. What a farce this is. Think of this situation. School A has ranked their top 25%, and School B has ranked their top 25%, and School C has ranked their top 25%. Each of those teachers receive a 4 year contract and a token raise. Then it gets tricky! What is one teacher from school B and one teacher from school C transfer to school A? How can they now be in the top 25% when school A already has their top 25%? Mathematically it can't happen--so does that mean those 2 teachers have to rescind the contract and forego the raise?
Governor stick that in you pipe and smoke that.
RALEIGH, N.C. — A group representing North Carolina teachers said Monday it is expanding efforts to fight a state law that phases out job protections in place for more than 40 years in favor of employment contracts that supporters say will promote sharper classroom performance.
The North Carolina Association of Educators is urging teachers statewide to protest Wednesday against the state's decision to scrap requirements that school administrators follow a defined process when firing a teacher. The new law approved last year ending teacher tenure starts a five-year process that moves all educators into employment contracts that make it easier for them to be dismissed.
The NCAE wants teachers to pledge that they won't accept offers of a four-year contract with pay raises totaling $5,000 in exchange for giving up tenure rights earlier. The state law directs school districts to pick the best 25 percent of its classroom teachers and offer them the tenure-ending contracts beginning this year.
"It's a show of unity and teachers standing together and showing support for one another," said NCAE President Rodney Ellis. The law offering raises to a quarter of selected teachers was "divisive" because some of the best teachers will resist sharing classroom tips with colleagues they may see as potential rivals for raises, Ellis said.
The protest will come a week after Gov. Pat McCrory's teacher advisory committee recommended that he work to modify the tenure law with "concrete standards" for selecting teachers who receive contracts and bonuses.
The committee's recommendations, released Monday by McCrory's office, said "teachers support the elimination of tenure, as long as there is a career pathway based on a variety of factors and clear, objective standards."
The panel also said the state — now near the bottom in teacher pay — should raise the current base pay for new teachers of $30,800 to make it more competitive with other states. The pay scale also should be frontloaded to focus on the first 15 years of teaching, and annual experience-based increases should be granted only to those who meet proficiency requirements, the report said. Teachers also should be rewarded with higher pay for advanced degrees, which is being phased out, or get money to pay for such a degree, it said.
Veteran teachers lose their tenure protections in 2018. Beginning with the current academic year, teachers who haven't worked the four years in a school district needed to qualify for career status were being offered one-year contracts, the lawsuit said.
North Carolina law for more than 40 years has said veteran teachers can't be fired or demoted except for a series of listed reasons that include poor performance, immorality and insubordination. Career teachers also have the right to a hearing where they can challenge the reasons offered for their firing or demotion.
The NCAE is aiming to increase protests by teachers that have included petitions, walk-outs and lawsuits against a series of legislative changes last year. In December, the group filed lawsuits against the end of teacher tenure as well as a law that will allow taxpayer money to be used by low-income students wishing to attend private or religious schools.
A spokeswoman for state House Speaker Thom Tills, R-Mecklenburg, did not respond to a request for comment Monday. A spokeswoman for Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, declined to comment until more details of the NCAE's protest are known.
A handful of local school districts have adopted resolutions urging that the teacher contract plan be repealed by lawmakers. Guilford County's school board is expected to vote next week on a proposal to reject the law's requirement that they selected about 980 teachers in their district out of nearly 4,000 eligible to receive four-year contracts and accompanying raises, The News & Record of Greensboro reported (http://bit.ly/1dmZ4ZN).
The North Carolina law made the state the second after Florida to drop tenure protections in favor of employment contracts, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality. Teachers in Washington, D.C., also lack tenure rights. Rhode Island allows the teachers to be fired if they have two years of being evaluated as ineffective.
A lawsuit that started in Los Angeles last week challenging California's law granting tenure rights to teachers is being closely watched by educators around the country.
Regardless of whether it is realized or not teachers have the power to make change that doesn't involve standing in the cold on the legislative lawn in Raleigh. Use the power of the vote! I have previously posted that there are some elected officials that will NEVER agree to giving educators raises. Why? Because the good old boy network is still alive in this state and our esteemed elected officials think that teaching is just of uppity women who belong at home taking care of the house and kids while the man should be out earning a living. VOTE! VOTE! THSE IDIOTS OUT OF POWER!!
In my opinion teachers do not need to be fighting the smaller battles over such things as tenure. The only people working on fat contracts are the fat corporate cats and professional athletes. So use the energy to fight for the right to be paid, fairly. While you are at it stop paying for school supplies out of your pockets and force the school district to fund classroom needs. How long will administrators tolerate blanks walls in classrooms and watch teachers use minimal teaching tools; especially technology tools that are necessary for the 21st Century classroom, before they too take a stand.
How about the idea to reward teachers that fall into the top 25%, rated by the principal. What a farce this is. Think of this situation. School A has ranked their top 25%, and School B has ranked their top 25%, and School C has ranked their top 25%. Each of those teachers receive a 4 year contract and a token raise. Then it gets tricky! What is one teacher from school B and one teacher from school C transfer to school A? How can they now be in the top 25% when school A already has their top 25%? Mathematically it can't happen--so does that mean those 2 teachers have to rescind the contract and forego the raise?
Governor stick that in you pipe and smoke that.
RALEIGH, N.C. — A group representing North Carolina teachers said Monday it is expanding efforts to fight a state law that phases out job protections in place for more than 40 years in favor of employment contracts that supporters say will promote sharper classroom performance.
The North Carolina Association of Educators is urging teachers statewide to protest Wednesday against the state's decision to scrap requirements that school administrators follow a defined process when firing a teacher. The new law approved last year ending teacher tenure starts a five-year process that moves all educators into employment contracts that make it easier for them to be dismissed.
The NCAE wants teachers to pledge that they won't accept offers of a four-year contract with pay raises totaling $5,000 in exchange for giving up tenure rights earlier. The state law directs school districts to pick the best 25 percent of its classroom teachers and offer them the tenure-ending contracts beginning this year.
"It's a show of unity and teachers standing together and showing support for one another," said NCAE President Rodney Ellis. The law offering raises to a quarter of selected teachers was "divisive" because some of the best teachers will resist sharing classroom tips with colleagues they may see as potential rivals for raises, Ellis said.
The protest will come a week after Gov. Pat McCrory's teacher advisory committee recommended that he work to modify the tenure law with "concrete standards" for selecting teachers who receive contracts and bonuses.
The committee's recommendations, released Monday by McCrory's office, said "teachers support the elimination of tenure, as long as there is a career pathway based on a variety of factors and clear, objective standards."
The panel also said the state — now near the bottom in teacher pay — should raise the current base pay for new teachers of $30,800 to make it more competitive with other states. The pay scale also should be frontloaded to focus on the first 15 years of teaching, and annual experience-based increases should be granted only to those who meet proficiency requirements, the report said. Teachers also should be rewarded with higher pay for advanced degrees, which is being phased out, or get money to pay for such a degree, it said.
Veteran teachers lose their tenure protections in 2018. Beginning with the current academic year, teachers who haven't worked the four years in a school district needed to qualify for career status were being offered one-year contracts, the lawsuit said.
North Carolina law for more than 40 years has said veteran teachers can't be fired or demoted except for a series of listed reasons that include poor performance, immorality and insubordination. Career teachers also have the right to a hearing where they can challenge the reasons offered for their firing or demotion.
The NCAE is aiming to increase protests by teachers that have included petitions, walk-outs and lawsuits against a series of legislative changes last year. In December, the group filed lawsuits against the end of teacher tenure as well as a law that will allow taxpayer money to be used by low-income students wishing to attend private or religious schools.
A spokeswoman for state House Speaker Thom Tills, R-Mecklenburg, did not respond to a request for comment Monday. A spokeswoman for Senate leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, declined to comment until more details of the NCAE's protest are known.
A handful of local school districts have adopted resolutions urging that the teacher contract plan be repealed by lawmakers. Guilford County's school board is expected to vote next week on a proposal to reject the law's requirement that they selected about 980 teachers in their district out of nearly 4,000 eligible to receive four-year contracts and accompanying raises, The News & Record of Greensboro reported (http://bit.ly/1dmZ4ZN).
The North Carolina law made the state the second after Florida to drop tenure protections in favor of employment contracts, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality. Teachers in Washington, D.C., also lack tenure rights. Rhode Island allows the teachers to be fired if they have two years of being evaluated as ineffective.
A lawsuit that started in Los Angeles last week challenging California's law granting tenure rights to teachers is being closely watched by educators around the country.
Monday, January 27, 2014
McCrory Teacher Pay Plans Still in the Works
Ads lure NC teachers to Virginia
Low morale and no pay increases within the past five years have contributed to an increase in teachers leaving North Carolina schools.
But Virginia wants them.
The Western Virginia Public Education Consortium is advertising an upcoming two-day teacher recruitment fair in community newspapers across North Carolina.
The classified ad announces vacancies in 17 Virginia school districts.
The ads come as Gov. Pat McCrory recently announced increasing teacher pay as part of his 2014 agenda, vowing to push the issue during the upcoming legislative session. Pay raises have already been authorized for employees in high-demand professions such as medicine, accounting, auditing and information technology. About 1,200 nurses and 600 law enforcement employees will receive increases ranging from 4 to 10 percent.
“Teachers in North Carolina had one raise in the last five or six years, and that is unacceptable to me, and unacceptable to the Legislature and unacceptable to the people of North Carolina,” McCrory said.
Education professionals have taken a “wait and see” approach to McCrory’s promise.
“Teachers remain skeptical about how we’re going to get there, when we’re going to get there and what it will look like,” said Rodney Ellis, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators during a recent appearance on WRAL’s On the Record. “We’re anxious to see what the governor has in mind.”
Teacher pay
Teacher pay has been a hot issue in recent years and was highlighted during a number of protests last year. Thousands of teachers sporting red shirts traveled from across the state to Raleigh in July for one of the weekly “Moral Monday” protests. Their presence created one of the largest such protests of the year as educators rallied for increased teacher pay among other educational topics.
Melissa Russell-Ausley didn’t attend that rally but the Johnston County high school teacher wore red in support.
“It is alarming and shameful the number of teachers whose children are on free and reduced lunch,” she said.
Russell-Ausley isn’t surprised by the Virginia recruiting effort.
“They’re poaching the best and brightest of our talent, and right now it’s prime picking because they know we’re unhappy,” she said.
State education leaders have cited pay as a reason why teachers are either working in other states or leaving the profession. North Carolina’s teacher turnover rate was 14.33 percent in 2012-13, an increase from 12.13 percent in 2011-12, according to a North Carolina Department of Public Instruction report.
"The statistics that trouble me are the hundreds of educators who left their jobs in 2012-13 to teach in another state or resigned because they were dissatisfied with teaching or wanted a career change,” state Superintendent June Atkinson said in December. “I am concerned that if changes are not made, low pay and a lack of support will push even more educators out of North Carolina classrooms and the teaching profession."
North Carolina teacher salaries ranked 49th in the nation in 2011-12 with an average pay of $45,947, according to the National Education Association. Virginia ranked 31st with an average pay of $50,574.
“I think it’s very strategic and very targeted,” said Mark Jewell, NCAE vice-president, of the ads.
A similar ad lured Jewell to North Carolina nearly 17 years ago.
“Bottom line, teachers do have to pay their bills,” he said.
Credits: WRAL TV, Raleigh, NC
But Virginia wants them.
The Western Virginia Public Education Consortium is advertising an upcoming two-day teacher recruitment fair in community newspapers across North Carolina.
The classified ad announces vacancies in 17 Virginia school districts.
The ads come as Gov. Pat McCrory recently announced increasing teacher pay as part of his 2014 agenda, vowing to push the issue during the upcoming legislative session. Pay raises have already been authorized for employees in high-demand professions such as medicine, accounting, auditing and information technology. About 1,200 nurses and 600 law enforcement employees will receive increases ranging from 4 to 10 percent.
“Teachers in North Carolina had one raise in the last five or six years, and that is unacceptable to me, and unacceptable to the Legislature and unacceptable to the people of North Carolina,” McCrory said.
Education professionals have taken a “wait and see” approach to McCrory’s promise.
“Teachers remain skeptical about how we’re going to get there, when we’re going to get there and what it will look like,” said Rodney Ellis, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators during a recent appearance on WRAL’s On the Record. “We’re anxious to see what the governor has in mind.”
Teacher pay
Teacher pay has been a hot issue in recent years and was highlighted during a number of protests last year. Thousands of teachers sporting red shirts traveled from across the state to Raleigh in July for one of the weekly “Moral Monday” protests. Their presence created one of the largest such protests of the year as educators rallied for increased teacher pay among other educational topics.
Melissa Russell-Ausley didn’t attend that rally but the Johnston County high school teacher wore red in support.
“It is alarming and shameful the number of teachers whose children are on free and reduced lunch,” she said.
Russell-Ausley isn’t surprised by the Virginia recruiting effort.
“They’re poaching the best and brightest of our talent, and right now it’s prime picking because they know we’re unhappy,” she said.
State education leaders have cited pay as a reason why teachers are either working in other states or leaving the profession. North Carolina’s teacher turnover rate was 14.33 percent in 2012-13, an increase from 12.13 percent in 2011-12, according to a North Carolina Department of Public Instruction report.
"The statistics that trouble me are the hundreds of educators who left their jobs in 2012-13 to teach in another state or resigned because they were dissatisfied with teaching or wanted a career change,” state Superintendent June Atkinson said in December. “I am concerned that if changes are not made, low pay and a lack of support will push even more educators out of North Carolina classrooms and the teaching profession."
North Carolina teacher salaries ranked 49th in the nation in 2011-12 with an average pay of $45,947, according to the National Education Association. Virginia ranked 31st with an average pay of $50,574.
“I think it’s very strategic and very targeted,” said Mark Jewell, NCAE vice-president, of the ads.
A similar ad lured Jewell to North Carolina nearly 17 years ago.
“Bottom line, teachers do have to pay their bills,” he said.
Credits: WRAL TV, Raleigh, NC
Friday, January 24, 2014
A Chance for People to Speak
Raleigh, N.C. — Wake County Public Schools Superintendent Jim Merrill was prepared to listen, but for the first of the district’s “direct line” forums Thursday night, he had a direct line to one parent - and lots of empty seats.
“This is new to us, we are not used to this,” said Brian Mountcastle, the lone parent at Thursday’s meeting.
School employees, parents and the public are invited to five forums around the county to voice their ideas and concerns about the district.
Some of those thoughts may end up as part of a new strategic plan for the school system.
“I may use those to help guide work with my leadership group,” Merrill said.
Mountcastle may have been the only parent at East Wake High School for the first “direct line” meeting, but it’s not due to a lack of issues in eastern Wake County. A work group was formed last year after a curriculum audit found inconsistent teacher expectations and unevenly distributed resources in area schools serving needy students.
“Get our test scores for our students up,” Mountcastle said. “We need to get our teacher enthusiasm back up.”
Mountcastle has an idea for why he was the only attendee.
“We have not had this kind of outreach historically,” he said. “Maybe the local community does not expect much.”
District leaders vowed to not give up on its community outreach.
“If we, as an administration demonstrate that it matters, they will come,” said Stella Shelton, the district’s interim chief of communications.
Upcoming forums:
January 27
Broughton High School
January 29
Panther Creek High School
February 3
Southeast Raleigh High School
February 17
Wakefield High School
Speakers may begin signing up on-site at 4 p.m. each day in the lobby of the school auditorium. Each speaker is allotted three minutes and one appearance at the direct line events. School employees speak from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Parents and the public speak from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
“This is new to us, we are not used to this,” said Brian Mountcastle, the lone parent at Thursday’s meeting.
School employees, parents and the public are invited to five forums around the county to voice their ideas and concerns about the district.
Some of those thoughts may end up as part of a new strategic plan for the school system.
“I may use those to help guide work with my leadership group,” Merrill said.
Mountcastle may have been the only parent at East Wake High School for the first “direct line” meeting, but it’s not due to a lack of issues in eastern Wake County. A work group was formed last year after a curriculum audit found inconsistent teacher expectations and unevenly distributed resources in area schools serving needy students.
“Get our test scores for our students up,” Mountcastle said. “We need to get our teacher enthusiasm back up.”
Mountcastle has an idea for why he was the only attendee.
“We have not had this kind of outreach historically,” he said. “Maybe the local community does not expect much.”
District leaders vowed to not give up on its community outreach.
“If we, as an administration demonstrate that it matters, they will come,” said Stella Shelton, the district’s interim chief of communications.
Upcoming forums:
January 27
Broughton High School
January 29
Panther Creek High School
February 3
Southeast Raleigh High School
February 17
Wakefield High School
Speakers may begin signing up on-site at 4 p.m. each day in the lobby of the school auditorium. Each speaker is allotted three minutes and one appearance at the direct line events. School employees speak from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Parents and the public speak from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Standardized Testing. It's a joke!!
Standardized testing is another way that our legislators have continued to take control of the classroom.
Imagine that we have elected officials that believe that teachers are not capable of evaluating their own students so they have spent MILLIONS of dollars creating tests for you! Isn’t that commendable of them?!
Could you imagine if they spent half that money giving you more resources for your classroom, or better yet giving overdue pay raises. How can this be the only ideal way to evaluate a student when it is clear that they all learn differently? How does standardized testing fit into the concept of differentiated learning?
What makes this situation even more compelling is that teachers are evaluated on how well a student does on this assessment.
Anyone out there ever try to force a student to learn? It can’t be done. A student will only what and when they see the value is what they are hearing.
Could you imagine if they spent half that money giving you more resources for your classroom, or better yet giving overdue pay raises. How can this be the only ideal way to evaluate a student when it is clear that they all learn differently? How does standardized testing fit into the concept of differentiated learning?
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