RALEIGH (January 19, 2023) â For several years, state leaders have talked about improving early literacy in North Carolina through the data-based Science of Reading. But a consultantâs report to the UNC Board of Governors this week found that nine UNC System colleges of education still arenât doing enough to teach prospective teachers how to… READ MORE
K-12: Symptoms of lousy pay
RALEIGH (September 29, 2022) â Imagine youâre a ninth-grade math teacher with 36 students in your class. Beyond the histrionics and hormones that rage at that age, just how much attention can you give each of those kids? Yet with thousands of empty teacher jobs across the state, such class sizes happen even in 2022… READ MORE
4,400 invisible teachers
RALEIGH (September 1, 2022) â More than 1.3 million students started the public school year in North Carolina this week. Yet more than 4,400 teachers who should have been at the front of those childrenâs classes werenât there, because school officials couldnât fill the vacancies. And 3,600 more teachers across the state still arenât fully… READ MORE
Don Martin: A middle ground on teacher pay plan?
EDITORâS NOTE: With school set to resume soon across North Carolina with thousands of teaching positions still vacant1 and a new pay plan being floated for K-12 teachers, Don Martin, retired superintendent of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools, shares his views about the plan. WINSTON-SALEM (August 10, 2022) â In 2020, the Forsyth County Commissioners asked… READ MORE
A pay cut
RALEIGH (July 6, 2022) â With the 2022-23 budget they unveiled and adopted last week, state legislators simply arenât taking care of their people â our people. The state has a $6.5 billion revenue surplus this year. Let that sink in: $6,524,141,444.00.1 Yet this state continues to systematically underfund public education. By one estimate, the… READ MORE
2 + 2 = Teachers!
RALEIGH (August 27, 2021) â State education leaders sealed an agreement this week to expand a program for aspiring teachers to start their education at a North Carolina community college and finish at one of the stateâs public universities. Thomas Stith III, President of the NC Community College System, and UNC System President Peter Hans… READ MORE
HELP WANTED: Teachers of Color
RALEIGH â Whatâs wrong with this picture? Last year, 53% of the public school students in North Carolina were students of color â yet nearly 80% of their teachers were white.1 âNorth Carolinaâs educator workforce has been unable to match this rich diversity,â says a new report from the Developing a Representative and Inclusive Vision… READ MORE
Colleges to help communities âgrow their ownâ teachers
RALEIGH â It had nothing to do with the coronavirus, but the State Board of Community Colleges took an important step last week to expand North Carolinaâs pipeline of future teachers. The board approved two new teacher-preparation transfer degrees â an associate in arts in teacher preparation and associate in science in teacher preparation â… READ MORE
NC teacher pay: Keep going
RALEIGH â Weâve said it before, and weâll say it again: Teacher pay in North Carolina is headed in the right direction. The National Education Association released estimates in March that indicate average pay for North Carolinaâs K-12 public school teachers now stands at $53,975, ranking North Carolina 29th among the states.1 Thatâs an increase… READ MORE
Reward all our teachers
RALEIGH (May 2, 2019) â The 2019-21 state budget the N.C. House is moving to approve this week continues to award healthy raises to K-12 teachers and makes some strategic investments in higher education, especially in the area of capital. But it doesnât do nearly enough for our public collegesâ and universitiesâ human capital. House… READ MORE