Yvonne Brannan of Public Schools First NC sent the following comment:
“It is a tragic day in NC for our public schools, their teachers and students. The cuts to education reflect a very aggressive attack on public education. Eliminating $110 million for teacher assistants, eliminating teacher tenure, eliminating class size limits for K-3, no raise again this year, all of these unnecessary cuts wipe out three decades of steady progress. The most damaging is allowing for our hard earned tax dollars to be transferred to private schools. The privatization of public schools threatens the very cornerstone of our democracy and violates our state constitution. This is beyond comprehension and represents the worst public policy I have ever witnessed in NC History. These cuts to public education will have a direct impact at the classroom level, impacting every single one of our 1.5 million public school children. The General Assembly has abandoned the heart and soul of what makes our schools work and has set us on a course that will end public education as a common good in NC. We hope the business community will realize today that this attack on public education is an attack on our economic viability.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
What a tragedy! I fear this dastardly plan will soon be popping up across the nation.
Thanks “W,” Obama for working so hard to destroy the Great American Public School System. Why not drag out “W’s, “Mission Accomplished” sign for this disaster, too?
Aw, come on sweetpea, aren’t you being a little harsh on the Obomber?
Hardly (although I perceive that you are merely being humorous! 🙂 ) “W” destroyed, among a list of other things, the Iraq nation, Obama is destroying public education.
Makes listening to his pearly speeches a hard thing to do (without swearing, that is)!
Sweet pea…it is already rampant across the nation. Charters are gaining ground in every state and the insidious parent trigger laws have already gotten on the ballot, or are about to, in 24 states.
The Waltons of Walmart, who also have pushed the Stand Your Ground laws, are major funders for parent trigger. There goal is not only to privatize our schools for profit, but to break the back of teacher’s unions. These are the folks who pay their employees minimum wage and hire them for only a limited weeks so they do not have to pay them any perks.
The greed of these billionaires is overwhelming.
meant ‘their’ goal…to angry to spell
Amen Ellen ….no truer words you have spoken ! It is sad !!
Why is this President Obama’s fault? Why are you blaming him? It’s your Republican anti-education, Anti-progress, anti-the workers, anti-middle-class and poor people that is doing this, isn’t it?
Thanks Helen….something needed to be said. This when in doubt blame Obama stuff really gets old. Try again above.
*TOO angry TO spell
Yes, Helen. You nailed it!
Lmfao @ blaming Obama getting old. Don’t you think Republicans got sick of the blame game when Bush was President. He was actually blamed for creating Katrina among other stupid, moronic things. Obama is just getting payback from Republicans. Only a little over 3 years left, Liberals taught the right so well!
Bush was to blame for the response, which was pathetic, NOT for the storm. Get your wrong statements straightened out.
I was thinking the same thing…What does Obama have to do with this. He doesn’t make state laws!!! It is the new Republican Gov. and the rest of the Republicans. Stop blaming Obama for everything. Take a political science class to see how our government works.
When OBama was elected, he promised to end the NCLB policy that was crafted by Bush, and designed to “have every child, by 2014, graduate on time with a fully “punched ticket”. Bullshit then, and obviously so from the perspective of now. Well-the O man has made it infinitely worse, with Duncan, and RTTT and test then to death, and his support of all the other crap he pledged to repeal. In many ways he is worse than Bush, because it’s now obvious that the Bush scheme wasn’t doing anything but destroy the already faltering education of poor, largely minority, kids and misserving the rest of the populations in those schools. What OBama knows about educating inner city kids comes straight and only from the uber wealthy and those who feed at their trough.
We can’t blame Obama for the sins of our state government. This is not happening across the country, just in states like North Carolina. Pat McCrory implies this is what his plans were when he was running for office.
We have learned in Los Angeles that decimating public schools deserves bipartisan blame. In our blue state and city, it isn’t Republicans that have pushed these agendas; it’s our own Democrats. Remember, the Rheeformers are life long “progressive” Democrats. Sadly, Obama’s Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, is one of them.
Republicans are always right in some peoples eyes but they are not. Obama is doing all he can more than I can say for Bush, which he is the one that got the world in this situation of being in debt….. The Teaparty is another one that needs to stay home and mind their own business and let Obama do his job….. You must be a republican…. Republican sucks in a lot of things………………..
how can you blame Obama, when all the state house reps and senators are republic
ans ,including the govenor. looks like your head is up your ass !!!!!!!!
no it was not Obama, its the republicans……… and your senators on the republicans…..
You’re a moron. Obama hasn’t cut the education budget. You can thank the greedy fake Christian Republicans in the house for that. I see you have not educated yourself about this issue very well. Go read the bills passed, who voted for them and then let’s talk intelligently. And you’re still a moron.
Hilarious. So let me guess, in order to help your public school system you are going to vote in more state politicians who hate Obama and everything he stands for. Good luck with that. Just so you know, those are the people who hate public education, defund it until it sucks and burn it to the ground. You’ll be getting vouchers for your kids to attend “Dinosaurs Aren’t Real Academy” in the mail very soon.
Our state is controlled by republicans so how is this tied to Obama??
Here in Louisiana we experienced the same draconian legislation over a year ago. It is unbelievable that our public schools are systematically being destroyed by ALEC backed governors and state legislators. They answer to corporate interests, not voters. We elected these people and they have turned on us. Educators need to get busy and let their legislators know that in future elections educators will be voting. Make your voices heard.
Did you really expect anything different when you “elected” these teapublicans? It seems to me that if you’d paid attention you would’ve known this was their goal all along.
You assume there really was a “choice”. Here in the deep south our choices are limited to tea party and ultra conservative repubs. Kind of like the “choices” offered to New Orleans parents in RSD schools… An F school or another F school.
Kinda like the “choice” between Romnutz and Obomber????
amen
‘too’ angry to spell
🙂
Gives me a Smile to start the day!
It is time for NC retired teachers to start running for seats in the state’s legislature.
One of the morons pushing this crap is a retired public school teacher and administrator – Jerry Tillman.
http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/gascripts/members/membersByDistrict.pl?sChamber=S&nDistrict=29
Check out what he says here:
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2013/03/31/3948579/nc-charter-school-bill-is-very.html
I would vote for any retired NC teacher to run for seats in the state legislature. Then, our education system, which I am proud to be a part of, will be where it needs to be, not the bottom of the pike for teacher increase and not the bottom of the pile for class size and learning.
Larry Bell is there…too bad he’s probably alone. He was a teacher and principal before retiring and entering the legislature.
Maybe a seat in the state’s legislaure should be what some of the teachers who loose these job due to lack of tenure protection should go for! Maybe some of hese teachers should run for Pesident in 2016! They could make a real difference for all of our students!
The very conservative don’t want their kids to go to public school with all kinds of folks (teachers and other kids) who might think, believe and live in ways too different from their narrow worldview. And some of them can’t or don’t want to pay for private. These changes in NC will certainly be helpful to them in their efforts to bail on public education. It works for those looking to profit by milking the educational industrial complex too. Maybe it is just because I live in the South, but it seems to me that in K12education we have the proselytizing privatizers and the profiteering privatizers. They make a catastrophic pair for our democracy.
The North Carolina legislature seems intent on turning the state into a cultural backwater.
Dear Feller North Carolina lejushlators: We’ll be meetin today, same as all-ways, round the big stump in the holler next to the live oak. Sober up and come on down cuz we got important bizness to consider. First up, gittin rid a tenure so as thar cain’t be no teachin of EVILution in are skools. Bring yore own shine.
That’s just mean…and familiar at the same time.
You bout got that right Bobby!!
🙂
Cept the meetin’ is down by tha sprang….and they makin’ the shine!
But at the same time we are beholden to Common Core and RttT. So there are also patents who celebrate diversity for their children, but who do not like the testing etc.
Reblogged this on The Mindful Meanderings of Allison Wonderland. and commented:
This breaks my heard to read. As a public school teacher in the state of North Carolina, I’m so saddened to know that those creating educational policy have literally no idea the implications of their current actions.
Oh, sure they do. Their goal is to do away with public education as we know it, and replace it with private schools.
Money shouldn’t be an object for education http://yolandamichellemartin.wordpress.com/category/education/page/3/
“We hope the business community will realize today that this attack on public education is an attack on our economic viability.” It seems that the strategy is to wait for the good will of the business community to come to the rescue. And this when it is the business community that is responsible for the very problems discussed in this note. I am thinking that there has to be an better strategy, one that begins to restore respect in this country for those who work and particularly those who work in education, one that restores resources that a manufactured economic crisis depleted, that won’t restored simply because the economy is getting better. Teachers have worked for little for a very long time and it is teachers’ responsibility to teach, not only a mandated curriculum, but of the actions intelligent people take when they are being oppressed. In other countries, national strikes do have an impact and a national strike here just might begin to change the direction in which we are going, toward a poorer (in many ways) many and a richer few. Look around and see the destruction underway, temporary workers taking the place of the permanent workers, the permanent workers working part time so that benefits can be withheld. This is the business community rewarding a highly productive workforce for bringing in the bucks. It is time we say “no more” and stop insulting ourselves by hoping beyond hope that there is good will in the business community.
Good luck with that national strike idea, Stephen. The US teacher unions are headed by apparatchiks of the deform movement.
Perhaps and it may be that we take another look at the kind of unions teachers have created, or allowed to create themselves while heads were turned. It could be that there is no remedy, but to believe this would be incredibly debilitating. There must be frustrated people who really want to take action; however, it is possible that they are few, the game is over, and there is nothing we can do to make the world a better place for our children.
It’s long past time for teachers to throw over their current unions and to create meaningful alternatives. The leadership of the existing unions has sold out to the deform movement.
The secret and the challenge is for unions to reinvent themselves at a local level so that there is a shift in delegates, who for now and the longest time, have been maintaining the status quo for the NEA and the AFT.
Where are Weingarten and Roekel speaking out about ending a termination hearing (aka tenure) in North Carolina?
If you’re in a “right to work” state unions are marginalized and workers are legally oppressed. This year the finance officer in my district said we will change your benefits. You’ll pay more for your insurance premiums and you’ll take a $500 deductible plan. Period. No discussion, no negotiation, no compromise. Educators are being treated like indentured servants.
To the remark about insurance plan changes: that’s called the real world. Corporate employers set the insurance premiums and deductibles, etc. and if you don’t like it, you look elsewhere for a job. Why should public employees think that’s unfair? We shop for jobs based on what salary and benefits we think are the best. Sometimes we have to move our family to get what we want. We don’t have anyone to go whine to-we just get busy finding something that works for us.
Edna,
Such toleration explains largely why we Americans have such income disparity and class differences. . .In other countries, citizens don’t put up with inequities nearly as much.
We should have a single payer system. . . we should make taxation fairer, and we should be using the money saved from not going to war on healthcare. But our Congress and Senate still choose to go to war.
There are both philosophic and pragmatic motivations here.
Teachers in right to work states cannot strike. If we strike, then we can be fired. That’s like handing our careers on a platter to TFA. What caused this attack on public education?
Caught without any recourse. Tragic and pitiful, and not the best situation for those who teach others how to live effectively in a democracy. Outsmarted and by whom?
And the further punishment for CTU members who were axed in the bloodbath? A job fair in Chicago sponsored by Clark County, Nevada. Yessiree, folks, come out and teach in our right-to-work state! You’ll never see a union again! There–that’s for all the trouble you caused us–striking, protesting, joining forces with parents to save their children’s schools, holding public teach-ins–you’ll never cause any trouble, anywhere, ever again. (And while we’re at it, we’ll punish all those children, as well–we’ll crowd them into classrooms, force them to walk much, much farther– through gang territory and past abandoned buildings in order to get to a classroom taught by an undertrained newbie!)
Right-to-work is not the same as not having the right to strike. RTW merely outlaws closed union shops in both public and private employment. 37 states prohibit teachers from striking, and many of those are NOT RTW states.
NC employees do NOT have collective bargaining rights. NC employees are NOT allowed to strike. NC is a right to work state.
Mr. Laver,
You are spot on. At this point, there can be little doubt that the corporateers/banks/Wall Streeters do not care about an informed electorate, workers, the poor, the infirm, the elderly, children, etc. Public education is a cornerstone of our democracy and is under siege. The streets call.
It looks like South Carolina is having lots of problems, as well. See: http://www.theitem.com/opinion/columnists/a-sumter-teacher-s-list-of-grievances/article_10fefa25-4a91-5ba9-aef4-cb1e153c7f01.html
This is beginning to sound too familiar in many states in the U.S.
This is not only familiar..It is so very real…..
How long can this go on in our country??
I wrote a long reply but am not going to post…why bother?
Have posted before..deaf ears…but do know of an action plan in place for the NC teachers..
Teachers do rely on the retired teachers to speak for them.
I was talking to a very successful business man last night who said he had been a republican all of his life but after watching what these politicians have done to destroy public education in this country, he will not be voting for any republican in the upcoming elections!
But..do the democrats do any better?
Both the GOP AND the Democrats are behind this horrible reform. The democrats are slightly worse. . . I have only voted for Democrats. I will now vote for neither.
Same here Neanderthal and Robert, I am a 4th generation democrat, will be changing my party to something else. Keep voicing your views N, I think it helps. Look at what just happened with NCLB. It is baby steps, but it is something. Please continue to bother.
I think both parties are in bed together. They have created a huge divisions in the American public with their accusations and mud slinging. Divide and conquer…
Eric Guckian was referred to Governor Pat McCrory by McCrory’s pal and former campaign manager, John Lassiter. Lassiter says that “one of the most important things you have is your reputation. You won’t find me doing things that discredit what I stand for.” So we can only presume that Lassiter is proud of what McCrory and Guckian are doing to public education in North Carolina.
Guckian has stated that Governor Pat McCrory and his Republican brethren want to make North Carolina the “education leader of the world.” And how will they do that?
They say they will create an “opportunity culture for teachers” that is based on (1) “more meaningful assessments measures including student achievement,” and (2) “Innovative, revenue-neutral ways to dramatically increase teacher salaries,” and (3) Meaningful rewards for our most effective educators,” and (4) “Job-embedded supports that value field-based outputs rather than theory-based inputs.”
In plain speak what it means is more significant high-stakes tests, and merit pay for teachers, and more charter schools, more virtual schools (“digital learning”), and vouchers.
Guckian formerly headed the New Leaders project in Charlotte. New Leaders had a contract with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools ––under former superintendent (and Broad Academy grad) Peter Gorman, who now works with Joel Klein for Rupert Murdoch –– to deliver principals. As the Charlotte Observer reported, “New Leaders, and gotten only a handful of principals, a cost of roughly $400,000 each for recruitment and training…The initial agreement called for CMS to provide residencies for up to 40 New Leaders recruits through the current school year and up to 56 through 2014…A partnership with Winthrop University has provided more principals than New Leaders has…”
Eric Guckian is helping to unravel public schooling in the Tar Heel state, yet he admits that “I’ve been out of the classroom for ten years, I don’t claim to know what’s happening in the classroom.”
John Lassiter, the man who recommended Guckian, says that the ultimate outcome of government is that “we have responsible citizens who pay their taxes and support their families.” I seriously doubt that dismantling public education is the best way to achieve that. But conservative Republicans care not. At the same time they cut funding for public schools, they gave big tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy.
This is the face of education “reform” in North Carolina.
And so much for John Lassiter’s “reputation.”
These people do not know what the H**lll they are doing.
The only thing I do know for sure is that the NC is actively looking to find the right candidate for the next election.
To all of the greedy political people in place….enjoy your 4 years..
It’s hilarious that sweet pea wants to blame Obama for this…
She should, but he is only part of the cause. An important part, but not the sole part. . .
Who is the mayor of Chicago? Associate of whom? Sweet pea may be pointing his finger in the right direction for, if you notice, this is a president who has not done much to illuminate the public on the realities educators face, possibly because he is reliant on those with money to bankroll his party and those doing the bankrolling are the ones doing the undermining that has led to the problems educators are facing. It is indeed difficult to begin to grasp the totality of the undermining that is going on and even harder to allow oneself to contemplate the real motives, but, risking being thought of as a paranoid conspiracy theorist, we the people are becoming we the serfs and this is validated by so many a trend that one would have to be blind not to see what is happening, what is being done by a few to insure the many are so complacent as to allow this transition to take place without the least bit of resistance. Education and the economy are obviously linked and the economy we have is directly linked to the economic situation in which we find ourselves. The buy education now movement is about profits, but not those to be made directly off the schools. The real profit is in insuring that the people are so docile as to accept the undermining of their quality of life without confronting those responsible for the undermining. The many have been told that this is the America we have to accept. Real Americans accept nothing that works against the perfecting of the union, nothing that works to diminish the power of the people to have their opinions heard and debated in forums where good ideas are respected because they are good, where good ideas are good because the are ideas that promote the general welfare, that welfare understood in terms of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If we are seeing general undermining of our welfare, then, as Americans, we must do something to change the direction in which the nation is going.
I thought that was funny also. Bet she’s a conservative Republican who still doesn’t believe Obama is an American.
I agree with you on that!
Ohio cut funding for public schools, increased funding for charter schools, further deregulated charter schools, expanded vouchers statewide, and a friend forwarded an email he got from Michelle Rhee’s OH lobby shop celebrating the budget as a big win for students. Reformers win, my school district loses.
They’re celebrating the worst budget for public schools in 15 years. This budget will directly harm every single public school kid in this rural district. A direct hit to each and every one of them. I guess the plan is to destroy rural public school districts just like they’ve destroyed urban public school districts. We’re next!
Meanwhile, Arne Duncan is lashing out at critics again. He’s upset that Bridgeport CT parents didn’t greet reformers as liberators. Philadelphia public schools are imploding, Chicago public schools are imploding, who knows what public school kids will do in Detroit, and the Sec of Education is busy defending his friend in Bridgeport CT.
Unreal. It’s almost August. They’ve dismantled 2 city school systems, another is bankrupt, and they seem completely unconcerned that the kids are going back to school in a month. This is “school reform.” Chaos.
Let the games begin: age, race, sex, size, discrimination to be rampant. Not proud to be a US citizen today.
Who will be able to afford to live/ retire ? How can what was once the supposedly greatest nation on earth continue? Public education provided by Walmart. These will be the dark times.
As I reflect on how I spend my money, I realize we should all be supporting businesses that promote a healthy middle class. I will try to start that list.
We are going to Disney; however had I known what was to come back in February, I would spend my money right in my own state which is not “right to work” or “stand your ground”. No OBX rental next year nor will we be visiting Charleston.
We really do need stronger unions.
Mom/speducator,
Our government’s and big business’s mission is to reduce America to low wage, low tax nation, all in the name of “civil rights fulfillment” and makine efficient use of taxpayer money.
It is a scam, and will only further stratify our country to turn into Central and South America, where the middle class is miniscule and always hard pressed.
The American people’s misery and wilingness to find consensus in pushing back against the plutocracy is our only hope.
For anyone with children in their teens, I would encourage them to find ways for their children to immigrate not even to Canada, but to Western and Northern Europs and ex-pat. When there’s a will, there’s a way. For younger people, it is far more do-able than older and middle aged people.
So ironic, I was thinking last night of looking into Norway, Sweden etc for my teens.
Also, I don’t know if you’ve seen this, but check out the NYTimes puff piece on Vallas:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/22/education/change-agent-in-education-collects-critics-in-connecticut-town.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
“Mr. Vallas was hired in late 2011 to much fanfare: a nationally known advocate of change in education, with stints in Philadelphia, Chicago and New Orleans on his résumé, coming to the aid of a modest school district mired in budget cuts.”
He’s a “change agent” although he’s been destroying public schools for a decade now. His resume includes parachuting into Philadelphia and Chicago public schools; both school systems are melting down, but the Times doesn’t mention that. New Orleans schools are 80% privatized, and they’ve destroyed the black middle class there, so there’s another “success” on Vallas resume.
But the most embarrassing part of this puff piece is the quote from Arne Duncan, where, as usual, he demeans and insults his critics:
Arne Duncan, the federal education secretary, said the opposition to Mr. Vallas was “beyond ludicrous.” He said too many school districts were afraid of innovation, clinging to “archaic ideas.”
“This, to me, is just another painfully obvious, crystal-clear example of people caught in an old paradigm,” Mr. Duncan said in an interview. “This is the tip of the iceberg.”
What is this collection of phrases he spouts? Is Duncan a a parody of a 1990’s CEO?
Got that Bridgeport parents? You’d support this clown who has a degree in political science and a ‘consulting firm’ on the side and has failed in every school district he’s ever worked if you weren’t “caught in an old paradigm”
School reform can’t fail, it can only be failed. The problem is parents and teachers, not reformers. We just don’t understand the brilliance of these folks.
Georgia is far down the road of this Republican (thanks Obama) status quo, cookie cutter, one size fits all legislation package. The Tax Credit Scholarship program for private schools sucks over $50 million from public schools annually – it appeases those who don’t agree with separation of church and state. We have an appointed Charter Schools Commission to appease the Milton Friedmanites and the Walton FF. The Parent Trigger was a close one but failed. We have the “new” teacher evaluation system written into law and a school 1-100 grading scale based on the Common Core assessments no one has seen yet let alone piloted to appease Gates and our Chamber of Commerce. The only “choice” that is not represented by lobbyists or legislators is supporting our open public schools. Our PTA? Silenced. Teachers associations? Tired. Parents – clueless. Maybe they’ll start to pay attention when kids no longer fit in the classroom or the local open public school is shut down.
There are 3 million teachers in the nation. 23,000 BAT’s. This seems like a planned, full frontal assault. 2,977,000 troops needed in this fight.
There are some of us, veterans in the longstanding underground subversive mode, who have been fighting for far longer than the newly self appointed BATs and we wish you well. Start standing up to those lackey admninistrators, start accruing those letters of reprimand, start telling the parents how it really is, start telling the students to stand up for their own rights, start refusing to teach to the test, quit “going along to get along”.
Jaded, maybe we should get our local unions to support busses leaving somewhere on Sept. 6th , Marching on the 7th and then home again during the night. DC? Charlotte? NYC? Philly? Anyone who is within a 7-8 hour drive should be able to do it??? No need for lodging and it’s on the weekend.
I just feel the 10,000 Rally in Albany NY was covered by the media and it was an effective action.
What is described in the article above is taking place in multiple states. The question I have is why. I know the Republican Party has been taken over by the tea party, a group of people I think of as kooks. I know that wealthy benefactors are financing the efforts of the tea party republicans. I know that the U.S. Supreme Court, in an opinion using questionable and much criticized reasoning, has cleared the way for corporations to put unlimited amounts of money into political campaigns. I know that moderate republicans have lost their voice due to the vast sums of money available to their tea party adversaries. I know that state governments in many states are engaging in education “reform” and seeking “accountability” from teachers. I know that the “reform” involves closing schools, cutting budgets to the bone, firing teachers, hiring Teach For America teachers with little training or experience, enticing parents to remove their kids from public schools by use of vouchers, and support of charter schools to replace public schools. And I know that the reformers focusing on teacher performance as the sole cause of the problems in some schools, are ignoring other causes like poverty, hunger, and environment.
Additionally, I have read on this blog and elsewhere that the reform efforts have been a failure in many instances, and yet the same ineffective “reform” measures are still being implemented.
And by the way, I do not think there is a nickel’s worth of difference between republican and democrat education policy, so we probably cannot look to democrats to put an end to the “reforms” that are destroying public education.
So the question is why is this being done. I do not buy that the reformers are misguided and do not understand all the implications. I think they have some bigger picture in mind. Can any of you readers speculate about what is going on?
Duane, i agree with you completely. I just see too many “going along to get along”. Keep doing what you are doing. More people, no matter who they affiliate with need to take a stand.
First of all, there has never been any such thing as “tenure” in K-12. It shouldn’t even be called that in the first place. What teachers have had is the IDENTICAL civil service protections police, fire, and other public employees have. What I suggest is that there be lawsuits filed against the legislature for disparate treatment. After all, a public service job has long been considered a property right that cannot be taken away without “due process.” How is this fair that teachers don’t have this right anymore in NC but police and fire are still allowed it?
Susan Nunes,
Polics and Firefighters will be left alone, relatively speaking for two reasons:
1. They are both male dominated professions. Testosterone gets more voice and makes more voice.
2. They will be needed as more middle and working class people in private and public sector display varying levels of civil protest and unrest. The government, now choked by plutocrats, will need to contain the crowds. We are slowly morhping into a police state.
I have nothing against either profession, but I hope both will not become corrupt, like they are in China, and oppress and hurt those whose tax dollars pay their salaries and who are civil servants themselves.
I know that, Robert, but this disparate treatment is grounds for teachers to sue. It is clearly unconstitutional to deprive one group of government employees civil service protections while allowing others to still have them.
It was really important for privatizers to conflate these civil service protections with college and university tenure, which really is a lifetime appointment (and based on the concept of academic freedom), and lie to the public saying there are all of these “bad teachers” who “can’t be fired.” Of course they can, very easily, or pushed out.
“It is clearly unconstitutional to deprive one group of government employees civil service protections while allowing others to still have them.”
You are mistaken.
Susan,
I agree.
when do teachers become enraged enough to all walk out en masse, or at least start teaching to their contract!
Power never takes a back step only in the face of more power.
Malcolm X
Their goal is to destroy kids for the sake of greed. Nothing else
NC teachers need to strike!!!
Any of you whom are in favor of unions should take a hard look at any industry that has ever been unionized. They are either defunct or bankrupt. Automobiles, trains and railroads, the usps, airlines, etc. You know who makes good products at reasonable prices while still employing thousands and turning a profit – private industries, or companies in at will states. Detroit is bankrupt bc of the unions. Paying someone in their late 40’s 80% of their pay and full benefits bc they worked for 190 days per year is absolutely absurd. There are millions of americans who will work into their 70’s and 80’s who worked harder and longer. If you want the public school system to survive you’ll have to let go of tenure and increasingly expensive retirement benefits.
@Duane Swacker, @sweetpea62013, are y’all SERIOUSLY trying to say that this legislature, which has been HIJACKED by the ridiculous TeaThugLicans, is somehow Obama’s fault? Unbelievable…
North Carolina teachers Are not unionized. It is illegal in NC. So what is your argument now?
Parent choice is not the problem. The problem is the idea that teachers are babysitters. If we were treated as skilled professionals, we would be in better shape. Every idiot who ever went to public school thinks he knows what is right for schools…call me “disgusted”.
I think “tenure”, such as it was, was a disgrace! I have seen total slackers drawing the same pay as the best. If my kid was in private school, I would expect a tax break. Middle schools are forced to teach financial literacy, CPR, evolution, climate change, reproductive health, RIDICULOUS. We can’t even handle the 3 R’s anymore, much less all the other mess. There are soooo many problems, I can’t imagine a positive resolution…FYI: yes, I teach middle school and want a raise as much as the next person, but that’s the least of the problems for public school in NC.
Disgusted
Reblogged this on breathetocreate and commented:
Why does it feel like a snowball bowling over what we once thought was a democracy?
This is who our carolinians wanted in office they wanted a change now they got it….whod a thought…..well i did thats why i did put the kkk in office
Perhaps a blue flu is in order…
I work in the school system and know for a fact that we have teachers with assistants that have only 3 kids a day tops, and teachers that have retired, gotten their tenure in and work at will and make loads of money, there has got to be a balance between frivilous jobs and needed parts of education
Loads of money???
You do not have a clue..
Dan, you sound like a bitter, disgruntled school employee. Please correct me if I am wrong, but you are not a teacher. What exactly is your position in the school system? You resent retired teachers coming back to work at will… are you talking about subbing? If so, what’s wrong with that? I would appreciate a retired teacher subbing for me. As for teachers with aides, some children are required to have an aide. This is written in their IEP.
Yes, some classes do have very low numbers with a teacher and a teacher assistant because of working with students with special needs. Those students NEED the extra small class setting to meet their needs. I don’t this is a waste of money. All students need an education right?
First of all Dan, I dont want to sound ugly, but what part of the school system do you work? Are the classes that have 3 students all day, a special needs class? Are they students with sever physical, mental, or behavioral disabilities? Futher more, I have worked in the school system for 22 yrs, I am a teacher, have family memebers, and numerous friends who are teachers (retired or presently still working) and I have never witness any teacher making LOADS of money, as a matter of fact most of us have to work other jobs to make ends meet.
Maybe the ending of frivilous spending should begin with our legislature and other goverment officals who are making these ridiculous decisions. In other words the ones who are making hundreds of THOUSANDS of dollars (not to mention not having to pay for heath insurance) making decision on budget cuts for those of us making 30 to 40 Thousand a year. I wonder who taught them to read and sign their name? Probably an uderpaid, devoted TEACHER!!!!
Dan,
You sound clueless…and if you are a teacher I am shocked…
Loads of money…If a TA is with a teacher with just 3students it might be because they are BED (behavioral problems) or special needs.These students are hard to handle. I don’t think tenure should be taken away. I am a great teacher. And I do not make a lot of money. I am not paid for what I am worth. I also have a nursing degree which is required to teach my curriculum. I don’t get paid for that part of my education either.
I am one of those assistants in that classroom, a special education classroom. I would like to see you do it. I want you to change a teenagers diaper while keeping them from tearing up the changing area and watch two other children and keep them safe from each other. I love these kids but they have no sense of danger. They think something a do it…please Dan…do something before you knock it. Do you know how hard it is to be a special ed teacher…well look up the job postings for a special ed teacher…yea there are jobs for them everywhere…they are always in demand cause its the hardest job in the school. These teachers make lesson plans that don’t reach all of their children cause they don’t have the resources to reach all of them and they constantly have interruptions. I worked in a classroom that had slightly behind students and completely not there students. There was also one who like to scream at the top of their lungs constantly. I love my job but I know I wont have it forever cause I don’t think my nerves could take it for 30 years.
Please tell me how is the best or most effective way to lobby and/or support our teachers. These people are the most valuable and vital asset our kids have and this legislature is destroying them along with our children’s future. Its time we parents stand up for NC teachers and our kids- just need to know where to start!
Join the Public Schools First NC and join the Network for Public Education to support teachers.
Kim I think you have hit the nail on the head! Teachers can stand up for themselves all day long and it will only appear that we are lazy money grubbing employees who want to collect heaps on money! Haha!! I want to scream at all the parents out there….the legislature did not only hurt me, they crucified your children!!!
Please consider joining Public Schools First NC. We are organizing across the state in support of public education and our teachers!
It’s about time. Selflessness is a thing of the past. When I was in grade school the teachers cared more about properly educating young minds of mush more than they cared about their pay checks and perks. Our states are broke. Our education system is turning out morons who not only do not know the basics but don’t even know HOW to think. How to reason, question and look for answers. It’s time to bust unions, before they destroy all that we have left. But for socialism, dumber and beholding of unions and government is better. So there you go …. quit whining. I have a total of 4 years of higher education and make 1/2 or less of what teachers make, I have no benefits, not even health insurance … and my hours were cut 2 hours per day or over $240 per month in the past month. No longer full time so won’t qualify for vacation, days off or any kind of insurance. Yet I pay more and more taxes, get deeper and deeper in debt to the government, who pays for teachers to have better than most of the people in the private sector. Better get used to it. If you think we should pay OUR FAIR SHARE, your liberal butts will have to divvy up YOUR “fair share” too.
There’s so many point in here where you are just flat out wrong. I’m happy to teach you, although I will first warn you I am one of those over privileged teachers making gobs of money, whilst sitting on my rear in a class of 40 middle schoolers. I just let them run wild.
1. There are no unions with bargaining power in NC, it’s a right to work state.
2. After 8 years and a Masters Degree, I make 42.5k, hardly draining your tax dollars, in fact you’d pay a babysitter to watch your child more then me.
3. Here’s a shocker, I pay taxes too, the same as you so while my salary has remained level, my taxes have gone up, technically, I make less now then I did 4 years ago, well if you include my health care expenses and the Social Security tax increase I REALLY make less.
4. You are an idiot.
Alt-F,
Obviously you have never been in a classroom. You should not be on this site making ignorant comments without having the knowledge of what teachers do. We are not whining…we are just trying to help people understand how detrimental this is to children. I feel sorry for this state, because it just keeps going downhill more and more each year. So many people will suffer and not just teachers..but mainly the children.
We are lucky our taxes aren’t higher. North Carolina taxes aren’t nearly as high as other states. Also-FYI we don’t have a union in this state.
ALT-F, where is your evidence that schools had been turning out morons who do not know how to think. Believing a sound bite from the news? That is a bit moronic.
There isn’t a teacher who went into the profession for the money. It simply isn’t there. We became teachers because of our passion for children and the belief that we can make a difference. We are not whining. We are educating the misinformed. Current policies are to the detriment of students and the general characterization of teachers by reformers is false.
Perhaps he speaks from first hand experience as a product of that system
this is a hoot. charter schools are exactly what people wanted for a better education for their children, now they have the opportunity to do so and a scumbag union tries to railroad the pupils the same way they have been scandalizing their members all these years. the charter schools have a higher success rate than public schools and they are not drowning in the sea of union pension debacles. I am a firm believer in getting paid what you are worth but over the years the unions have fought it tooth and nail. crappy teachers are allowed to keep their jobs even though they are ineffective because of tenure. these teachers claim to be in it for the children but year after year the students are less and les prepared for the future because of LAZY teachers who are only required to show up for work. I am glad to see my tax dollars finally going into a worth while venture by the government to actually improve something. If the children receive a better education than the union driven public schools then I vote hell yes in favor of the children.
Just FYI – North Carolina teachers aren’t allowed to unionize. It’s against the law. So I don’t think they can be blames for anything. And unless you’ve actually spent any time in a school educating children and spending half of your check to do just that, maybe you should do that before you make any more statements like above.
Ummm, there are no unions in NC, it’s a right to work state. And seriously, LAZY come teach 40 middle schoolers for a day and keep them from going all Lord of the Flies on your behind. Oh and that’s a literary reference which I’m sure you know because one of our LAZY teacher selves made you read it. Oh and do your research because Charter Schools don’t have a higher success rate. You are really an uninformed idiot but I thank you for giving me a place to put my anger at all the stupid uninformed souls out there that decide to weigh in on subjects that they have absolutely no idea about.
There are no unions in NC. I worked there for 6 years. You get paid nothing. I could not live on my own with my salary. NC teaching benefits /healthcare are expensive. I moved to PA and doubled my salary about 10 years ago. PA has unions because states like NC take advantage of their teachers. The pay is horrible in NC. Teachers teach because they want to help their students. They are not in it for the money. Teachers are constantly going back to school. I have a Masters of Education. NC paid me only $1,000 a year more. Why shouldn’t teachers be paid a decent living? Every other career gets paid for hard work & dedication.
A cap on the students in the class- I had 30 students in my class in NC. I have never had that many students in PA.
Yet with all these drawbacks in NC, the state attracts wonderful teachers and staff. I loved working in NC. I loved the students, parents and staff members. We worked hard to support our students. I tutored my students after school 3 times a week free of charge to help my students. I planned outside trips to give my student different experiences. I trained other teachers in literacy strategies- free of charge. This is what teachers do.
You have no idea.
Anything you can get the government out of is a win win. Schools will run better be more productive. Kids will receive a better education and someone can make a profit. Awesome. What’s wrong with profit. That’s what pays taxes so people can be lazy.
Tom, don’t you want your tax dollars to be spent on education? Or do you prefer to spend it to pay off stockholders and investors?
He most likely prefers neither, but the idea that throwing money at public schools increases student performance has been disproven again and again.
The only cure for incompetence is competition. The notion that only the State can provide a service called “education” is ludicrious. It’s time to allow private innovation to take a crack at it.
As for myself, my wife and I do without smart phones and cable so she can stay home and teach our daughter herself. We’ve elected to take personal responsibility for our daughter’s education. If more parents did the same, this whole argument would be suddenly less important.
Ads clove, there is zero evidence that schools improve by competing. Who gave you that idea?
Competition always improves performance!! It’s the mentality in which the competition is implemented.
There is zero evidence that schools improve by competing for higher test scores. Instead, they narrow the curriculum, focus more on testing, and education gets worse for all who compete. Why not have families compete? Or churches? Sounds ridiculous, no?
I really appreciate your question/comment “why not have churches and families compete?” I think that is exactly what most American churches already do: they compete for more members, more money. It’s this sort of short-sighted, fast-gain competition that got the U.S. into the pickle of its present situation. More, more, more! Individuals seem to think more along the lines of “more for me!!” and less about “abundance for all.” What a pity. If Americans took care of each other, the country would possibly have less economic problems and less social strife. Greedy, greedy people.
Diane, if you’re concerned that competition will “narrow the curriculum, focus more on testing, and education gets worse”, don’t worry. The Common Core will do that for the public schools without needing competition. My daughter is entering the 7th grade without the ability to read and understand unknown words (no phonics taught) and has no idea about American history, and let’s not even talk about her math skills (and they had her in what they called advanced math, without basic division skills). so she will be homeschooled from now until she graduates. If this actually is passed and I can get credit to send her to a private school, I may.
Debbi
Debbie
Your child is an NCLB baby
There is zero evidence that competition improves education??? Have you ever been to China??? Even science proves that competition increases pretty much every aspect of a species…..
Scientist,
NCLB was based on competition. It has been an unmitigated disaster. Schools work best when they are embedded in their community and meet the needs of their community.
Too bad the knuckleheads have to teach now. Teachers will leave the weak will remain and the system will fall in on itself. You want it!! Thank God mine are grown. My grandkids will never know the joy me and my children had. This generation of penny pinchers deserve what they get,
It’s not the “generation of penny pinchers” who’ll be doing the suffering – younger folks will have the pleasure of that experience.
Yeah Tom, we’ve seen how well that works in our for-profit health care and prison systems . . . . For CEOs and shareholders to profit at the expense of someone needing a kidney or someone without legal representation IS highly immoral. And now you think it’s good that only well off kids will get a decent education?
EXCELLENT commentary! Thank you.
Tom
Wow you are so smart! The business model is so successful and effective. We have the evidence, banks never commit fraud, oil companies never destroy the environment, corporations pay their fair share and care about communities. Privatization works! Oh and the CEO”s deserve the billions of dollars they give themselves as they rip off the people who provide the labor and creativity.
Yes, There is something wrong with looking to make a profit off our TAX DOLLARS! The money we pay in taxes is to support our state and social systems not for someone to try to make a profit from then run away with it as a PROFIT and buy a big house and jet. I like money too but this money is set aside to educate and take care of NC citizens
The United States spends more money per capita on education than any nation on earth, yet gets mediocre results at best. http://rossieronline.usc.edu/u-s-education-versus-the-world-infographic/ Clearly something needs to change drastically, and the last thing we need to do is throw more money at the problem. Instead of complaining about the legislature reducing education spending, you ought to be asking why so little of the education budget finds its way down to the classrooms.
Jdbolick,
The US does not get mediocre results. You are wrong. How did we get to be the greatest nation with the biggest economy in the world? Read my new book, “Reign of Error,” which explodes the myth of “failing schools” and “Medicare results.”
The US became the largest economy and strongest nation because post-WWII we were the only industrialized nation that didn’t have its factories and manufacturing facilities blown up and destroyed thus effectively allowing us to corner the global marketplace. Clearly North Carolina education did not teach you this.
You are clearly proving that NC education is horrible. We have produced mediocre results for the past 20 years compared to other nations. The US had become the biggest economy largely for two reasons. First, our military via the Monroe Doctrine has allowed us to secure economic interests overseas. Secondly, post-WWII we were the only industrialized nation in the world that did not have its factories and manufacturing facilities blown up and destroyed. There was a fear in the late ’40s and early ’50s that companies like GE were going to take over the world. There has literally been hundreds of studies conducted on the correlation between student performance and money spent on education and almost all of them concur that there is NO correlation.
Dmh724,
America has a great education system. America has a terrible child poverty problem. We lead the advanced nations of the world in child poverty. We have also abandoned efforts to desegregate our schools. Therein lies our problem.
You can find data to support any argument. I looked at your link and found my own. Do you trust the CIA. HAHA. Here is what they say. In 2009 the ranked us as 60 in education spending. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2206rank.html
I think you need to take a closer look at who these other countries are educating. For example, do you really think China and Japan offer education to EVERYONE? The results of those test are skewed by who is taking them. I’m pretty certain those kids working for pennies aren’t spending their free time in school being tested by a government that wouldn’t want to appear less. Seriously people are you all so uninformed and selfish? I don’t know one teacher that doesn’t work their behind off. Stop talking and posting when you don’t know what you are talking about. Get informed and then post.
Well said, Bernadette.
Where are we ranked in education in relation to the other states? We have been around the bottom forever. Maybe these changes will start helping. It’s not a money issue. Ten or twelve other states have vouchers and its been a good thing for them, not the horror stories some here try to make it out to be. Read the reports and studies. Even public school test scores go up when there are vouchers and choices in education. Common Core is the bigger issue and the fact that NC educators haven’t spoken out against it or demanded we get out of it is quite telling.
Tami,
Vouchers have never shown better results than public schools. I have read all the research. Whether it was Milwaukee, DC, or Cleveland, students in voucher schools do not outperform students in public schools.
Milwaukee has had vouchers for 22 years, and there have been no academic gains at all.
I live in Milwaukee and there are no academic gains because of socioeconomic problems. Its hard for children to perform well when 50% of adult black males are unemployed.
You are also only looking at half of the equation. Wisconsin has traditionally been around 5-7th in the rankings for best State education. If you go one county west of Milwaukee into Waukesha and you see graduation rates that are 95%+ if not 99% with ACT scores that crush the national averages. A lot of the vouchers have allowed inner-city kids to go to these schools in neighboring counties to receive insanely superior educations. We also have school choice which has been a success here.
Milwaukee’s problem is that they haven’t had a Republican mayor for 100 years and they keep electing Socialist (yes actual socialist party) mayors.
Diane,
What is your opinion of parent choice within a school system? If my neighborhood school is poor should I have the option to transfer her to another school in the same district? Same district, same tax base, same school board.
Not true! Surely you understand that democrats fight for educational rights and always have..it’s why teacher organizations back democratic politicians. Look at how quickly the republican governor has started cutting money in NC for education, poverty programs! McCrory could care less about teachers or assts. Because they don’t bring in money!
Pardon me, Lynn Timon, but I can’t tell if you are being sarcastic when you say, “democrats fight for educational rights and always have…it’s why teacher organizations back democratic politicians.” Assuming that you are not being sarcastic, I must point out to you that you make at least two errors in this statement. For one, you imply that teacher organizations represent all teachers; not all teachers belong to an organization nor, are all teachers democrats. Secondly, democrats have not always fought for educational rights especially, here in the south. If you truly believe so, and aren’t being sarcastic, you might want to study your U.S. history a little more closely. Double check to see what party held slaves, implemented segregational and discriminatory laws (ie, “Jim Crow”), and attended the local KKK club meetings. With that said, I do not agree with how legislators have chosen to handle the problems facing public education, and I am sure they will hear from their constituents, me included. Teachers and TA’s may not “bring in money” but, we do pay taxes just like everyone else, and we do excercise our right to vote. Incidentally, don’t assume that democrat = good public school legislation and republican = bad public school legislation. They just happened to get it wrong here.
I’m sorry, but I came up through the NC public school system and the progress you said was being made was really progressiveness/liberalism not improvement. I am 26 years old and am working on a second doctoral degree DESPITE the public school system. The schools work because of competent teachers and students who care not because of how much money is spent and how many tests given. That’s what private schools know and public schools have lost. I’m sorry you feel the way you do, but for someone who was affected by a poor NC school system that was under steady progress as you say it was I know that the public schools have been going downhill a lot longer than you would have people believe.
Class of 2002, and I agree with everything you just said Adam. I now have a child in school, I chose to place her in a charter school. You know why? Because the parents that place there kids there want there kids there. Not because they have to go to that school. You know what you get when that happens? Students that have active at home parents that make sure they are doing their work and you do not end up with a bunch of students that day in and day out keep interrupting the school day. Because if they do they get kicked out of the school. So yes I feel sorry for the teachers that will have to deal with less money. It is never a good thing to loss money. You can always go work for a charter. As for the public schools having to many kids in them. The more charter schools the less in the public sector. Win/Win. I only hope and wish that this argument is for the well being of the children and not because if there are less kids in the public schools that will mean that you will not need as many teacher in the same schools. Again its hard to loss your job, but there are other opt. My take on it, stop fighting about who gets the money, and start fighting for the children. Before you say that is what you are doing, take a good look and breath. I feel as if this is over teacher pay, and the minds of the students a far, far second. Just my two cents.
So you’re saying that active parent involvement is key to a good education? How novell
I think it needs to be said that the loss of pay raise for teachers began under Bev Purdue, a Democrat, so blaming this just on Republicans is unfair. North Carolina has been one of the worst states for paying teachers for a long, long time, and this is across party lines. It needs to change. They are not giving schools enough money to do what needs to be done. As the mom of a special needs child, I have to fight for what he needs because of budget cuts. As a special needs teacher, I have to pay out of pocket for supplies for my students. It’s wrong.
Teacher pay was frozen twice under Jim Hunt. Libs in NC have been waiting for a chance to throw stones at conservatives. And this ‘invented disaster’ is what they came up with. I suggest you write to 0bama and ask him to send stimulus money to cover the budget cuts in NC or you can elect nutty liberals and become Detroit. After all for all you libs, money grows on trees, right?
Wow, Linda Jones, you need anger management therapy! You could also do with a decent education yourself in order to gain a sense of perspective and a bit of logical thinking.
Teachers will not walk out, and this is why. I started teaching for the children. My students deserve the best. Even if that is not what the elected officials in our fair state of North Carolina want. I will continue teaching until they tell me to leave, or until I reach 30 years. Which ever comes first. I am disgusted with what is going on and I only vote democratic. It always surprises me that so many teachers vote republican! Seriously?However, those of us who are in the classroom for the right reasons will continue to try to do our jobs, under the worst circumstances, because we love what we do. It is a calling, and how do you turn away from that? I don’t know. I wish I could, honestly.
Several comments here about great retirement benefits. I have been teaching for 16 years if I decided to retire after 20 years my retirement would be somewhere between $15,000 and $18,000 based on my current rate of pay which I don’t think is going to change too awfully much. If I work for 30 years my retirement will be somewhere between $32,000 and $35,000 per year. Currently I will have my medical benefits however, I see that benefit going down the tubes long before I hit retirement. My school just went through a brutal budget process and several teachers lost their jobs and programs were cut in other ways. Guess who voted the budget down – retirees. They felt that being on a fixed income it was just too much of the community to expect that they could support the school. Can I just say that they have worked and paid their dues and are now reaping the benefits of their long years of hard work. Apparently the rest of us do not deserve or have a right to that same opportunity. Also, do they stop and think that now there is less money going into the Social Security fund to support those currently receiving benefits and voting down a budget that would require them to pay an extra $50 per year may mean they don’t get a cost of living raise down the road. And whose fault will that be, the teachers of course. I have been steadily working since I was 14 years old, I have made choices and worked hard to get where I am today and for anyone to look at me and say it is unfair for me to have what I have because they have less than I do is ridiculous. I come from a poor background and was raised by a family who believed in education and hard work. The saddest thing to me right now is that same family has been turned against education because of the way the government and media have chosen to portray teachers and schools. Do I agree with the way our governments have chose to run our schools, no I don’t but do I agree with their solutions, no I don’t. They don’t know what the hell they are doing and far be it for anyone to suggest they ask the experts. Oh wait, I forgot, the highly qualified teachers they pushed us to become don’t count for anything. All of you who think you know what a teacher’s day is like please come spend a day or two with us.
They cut millions in education in NC to give corporations $365 Million in tax cuts.
So with Citizens United, they have financed their own re-election campaigns for next year by giving the corporations the money to donate.
See how Teabagastan Politics work?
Thats not what the Tea Party wanted. Tea Party wants a solvent government that doesn’t come in the form of excessive taxation, nothing more, nothing less.
Well, they’re not getting it.
Not sure where your kids are going to school but in the public school where mine attended, teachers had assistants, class sizes were reasonable, they had duty free lunch most of the year, were lavished on by the PTA at least three times yearly, and had the resources they needed because the parents supplied everything the school system did not. Almost all had smart boards in their rooms, there were new laptops and desk tops purchased last year along with I pads for teaching/testing. I saw no lack of what was needed to teach successfully there. However, neither of my children, both with very individual needs (one needing special education on a daily but limited basis and one needing acceleration in math and reading) had those needs met. So, we pulled them out. What our public education system does is makes robots out of our children requiring them to learn this “core curriculum” that is supposed to make our kids globally equal and competitive with those from more advanced countries educationally. The only true mathematician on the board who developed the core curriculum said it clearly put our children two years behind the mark by the time they were in fifth grade and even farther as they became high school students. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my kids in the middle of the governments mess whether federal or at the state level and it is a mess when it comes to education. My special needs son scored higher on tests than he ever did in public school because he got what he needed. My kids are now part time students at a private Christian academy and part time home school students…don’t worry, we didn’t take any money from anyone. I’m just saying, those who are judging should have a reason to judge. Lastly, you should know that our principal was replaced by someone who totally embraces the new curriculum and classroom situations…we lost fifteen excellent teachers…another reason to run from what the public has to offer.
It must be nice to have that option to do that with your children. It’s also great to know that the school your children attended had parents that were involved and very resourceful. Take a look into the other side of your dream world…we are the ones who are suffering from these cuts. Even though you didn’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t a big impact on others.
@momof2boys
I am sorry that your boys did not get what they needed in their school. I teach in a small rural school with 125 students PreK -12 grade. We pride ourselves on being able to meet all of our students needs because of our size. Even with the budget cuts our teachers will continue to work hard to ensure their students are successful. Sadly one of the areas affected with the budget cuts was special education services. The resources we have will now be spread more thinly among the students that need them. Decisions are made in schools everyday based on resources and money not on what is best for students. Classroom teachers have little or no control over those decisions but often are blamed for them. Did you know that state aid for students follows the students to the school they attend. Sending your child to a private school means that the private school will get whatever funding is available. The state aid formula is based on student population so when a child is absent or attending another school things like lunch aid, textbook aide, library aide and more are lost and sometimes aid for special services is also lost. In my state (NY) if a child attends a private school within a 15 mile radius of their home school the home school has to provide transportation, so in our case not only do we lose money our cost can actually go up not having them in school. Parents absolutely have to do what is best for their children and your children are getting a better education at their private school that’s wonderful. Please understand that private schools do not have to follow the same rules and regs that often times tie the hands of public schools. It is not always that we don’t want to do what is best or needed sometimes it is because we can’t. I care deeply about all of my students and I fight for them in so many ways everyday. Right now, I contact our state government on a daily basis in many ways telling them how their decisions are hurting not helping our children. Many teachers are trying hard to change the way things work in our schools sadly, we are the minority. Maybe more parents removing their children or making themselves heard in other ways can make a difference. You are doing a wonderful thing fighting to get your children what they need, they are lucky to have you.
Unreal. If everyone is truly disgusted by this, find out all the legislators who made this happen. Copy down their names and get that information to everyone. VOTE those people OUT of office. Ignore if they are Republican or Democrat. The overwhelming problem we keep having is that people vote down party lines no matter what that party’s stance is on the truly important issues. People vote for politicians based on their social stances instead of the key economy and education stances.
If everyone would take action and stand up to the issues in our State Education System, changes would happen. Write letters, call complain!….If that doesn’t work, be sure to help our child’s teacher with supplies and support. The ones still teaching do it out of love for the profession, not to be lazy. Most teachers spend over $400 dollars out of their own pockets to open their classroom each year. Not too many congressman have to buy their own tissues, their own pens to write with and bring toilet paper from home due to budget cuts. Please support the public education system. The vouchers will not make a difference, they only take away from the children who are in public schools. A good private school is much more expensive than a voucher. Support your teachers, they barely make enough money to live..Offer help if you can’s offer supplies. Help is always needed.
Agree.
Our children deserve better. To balance the budget should NEVER equate to cutting monies going to our public schools. Classes are already too large with a 1:25 or 30 ratio. We may need to cut other services but, add to the school budget. Let’s try hiring more teachers, reducing class size, and see what happens. Loretta Cook , Proudly a Retired Public School Teacher
I understand what you’re saying, and I applaud the teachers that really do care, but the problem is (and most people don’t want to acknowledge) there is only so much money to go around! You can not get blood from a stone. People are getting taxed to death, and when you say cut money somewhere else…where? the police departments? the fire departments? the sanitation departments (boy would everyone complain quickly if no one came for your garbage). What I’m saying is….we (and the government) can’t keep printing money and spending money we just don’t have!
The taxes have gone down for the upper echelon tremendously since Reagan. If they and the corporations paid the taxes they should, we wouldn’t be in this situation. The 0.5 percent have had every tax loophole added and their effective tax is a fraction of what it was years ago. The middle class is sinking under the weight. All public service is failing. See this link- spend 6 minutes watching:
Agree.
I meant that I was in agreement with Loretta Cook.
Spin. Spin. Whine. Spin. Ms Brannon, please site some sources. I too had a special needs child in this ”messy” system. His mother and I quickly bought into his proposed IEP, supported the teachers fully and only gave feedback only when asked. We let the teachers teach and not hover over them too. He excelled, all the way through a major NC University which by the way accepted his updated high school junior year IEP. All of this started in an under budgeted, grossly overcrowded and notoriously perceived poorly preforming inner city middle school. A school where the teachers were more concerned with student performance, the whole student. Not poorly informed sets of college educated parents who gleefully toss about their unused or unassociated school day after name academic abbreviations. They also ignored the tenure argument publicly and other archaic concepts that protect underachieving educators. And that private school / home school thing really pulls the rug out from under your helicopter.
Being a retired educator I can tell you that most teachers that quit enmass after the arrival of a new principal have had thier feet held to the fire of a full academic day, as per thier contract and resigned or tranfered over things like planning periods and lunchroom duties. I witnessed one resignation over a teacher reporting to school and hour and twenty minutes late every day because she had first period planning and chose to do it at home.The new principal put a stop to it.
Don’t get me wrong, we would most likely agree and even embrace 95 perecnt of other topics, just not this one.
Very enlightening article on Education in the U.S. We are 2nd in the number of hours taught per year, teacher salaries are not in the top 10 and we have more government involvement than most countries. Worth a read
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/11/oecd-education-at-a-glanc_n_1874190.html
It’s so we stay nice and dumb, just like the wealthy like it. That way they get generations of cheap labor
Right you are!!
GIve Success,
You hit a nail on its head!
I agree… the writing is on the wall- how many different ways do they have to tell you, the gov’t has become a money grubbing beast, they do not care about you or your children period…. you can’t fix a beyond broken system….this is pathetic…most of you are so ignorant you blame parties…. they are all the same, they laugh at the ignorance and gullibility of you
..do not let them distract by division, it’s the oldest trick in the book…
Protest… if you let them get away with it, they’ll take even more next year, apathy in this country is the biggest deficit!!
and they wonder why our younger generation can’t read, write, count , or take responsibility. it takes money to raise children and the one place you really can’t afford to cut the money is in schools, Maybe the reason colleges are raising their tuitions is because not so many young people qualify to attend. Oh well, has the power that be in NC thought of how much it will cost them in unemployment benefits for the people who suffer from these cuts? Politics has a had in too many places now.
what does this mean for the pre-k program ?
NC pre-K was left relatively unscathed. To the best of my knowledge, there were no changes to eligibility guidelines.
5,000 slots are set to expire. The budget adds 2,500 slots. So there is a net loss of 2,500 slots. So everything is relative. There are 2,500 children who will not have access to high quality pre-K.
Well, lets see. No matter how much money you spend, until parents change you will have the same educational results. The parents are responsible for the child’s learning, behavior, and attitude towards school, stop expecting the school system to do it, they are their to facilitate learning, they cannot force it. One person cannot possibly meet 20 to 30 different kids 100% at their level, not possible, stop expecting them too. It makes me so angry when a parent expects a teacher to cater to their child, GET REAL. You as a parent could not cater to the needs of 15 to 30 kids. If you want your kids catered too, hire a private teacher.
We had 30 in my 1st grade class with no assistant, in a very poor region of NC. Yet the majority of us were successful and we did not have behavioral issues. The differences:
1) The parents supported the teacher (in other words, parents did not say the teacher was lying and their kids were perfect).
2) There was clear discipline for behavioral issues (which were clearly defined, fully enforced, and again supported by the parents unlike today were parents again have no clue and make it near impossible for the school to handle discipline issues effectively)
3) Parents did not override the teachers recommendation to repeat, you simply repeated the grade (and parents, repeating will not scar the child for life, it will allow them to socially develop instead of continuously falling behind)
4) Students with true special needs were not thrown into a classroom with 29 others limiting all students ability to learn (I fully believe true special needs should have their own class to better support their needs, majority of teachers are not trained to handle special needs. Having a special class versus throwing them into a mainstream classroom would benefit both the teachers ability to teach students without special needs and truly trained special needs teachers to teach those with special needs- I know, yell at me, but no one benefits in the current system).
5) It was possible to fail, we did not get 3 attempts to pass a test, if you failed, you failed. And guess what, when I failed mom did not call the teacher, she blamed ME, it was MY failure. And two bachelors and a masters degree later, I still totally agree, it was MY fault. I have noticed college students cannot cope with failing an exam and not being able to retake it, no offense, the real world does not give you a second chance and not everyone gets a trophy.
So go ahead and say how wrong I am, I can assure you it will not hurt my feelings nor will it alter my stance. I was disciplined, I failed, I was poor as a child (hey dad warmed my bottles between his legs in bed at night because they could not afford to use the stove), yet they never expected the school to buy my lunch and they made sure I was learning the material, and I was clearly taught the value of an education. Not from the school, from my parents. Parents STEP UP.
DP, you have made so many good comments — I want to underline them — specifically that parents need to do better parenting! And people who don’t know how to parent need to stop having kids. Or at least, get help in the effort to raise responsible children.
It doesn’t cost a lot to teach good attitudes and study habits, so even poorer families can “STEP UP” and be better parents. We hear stories all the time about successful people who were brought up by poor parents who were determined that their kids would do well and they did!
This…exactly.
An inconvenient truth is that while America spends more money on education than any other industrialized nation, as was previously stated, more and more of those funds paid in taxes by 40 something percent of the population is going for the care and education of ILLEGAL aliens, their ESL teachers, their ESL assistants, their books written in Spanish, their healthcare, their interpreters etc. etc. etc. and for the sole person of making sure the democrats have a voting base. Many parents are turning to charter schools and private schools to ensure their children get a better education and are not left twiddling their thumbs while Juan gets the attention because he doesn’t yet speak English. The parents of those children should be allowed to spend their portion of the tax pie at whichever school they choose.
To be honest, and, though I’m a Substitute Instructional Assistant, I feel that if it would be feasible for a classroom to be sufficiently functional without an assistant it should be, as any manner of employment should not exist for the sole purpose of providing employment. But no school or class should be understaffed so as to compromise student welfare or overburden instructors to the extent of diminishing their productivity, and by especially eliminating class size limits and assistants this is precisely what would happen.
Eliminating teacher tenure [and pensions] is also counterproductive in that this could very reasonably and negatively impact teacher performance, and, as you’ve previously stated, discourage acquisition and retention of quality educators, in light of job insecurity. That’s not to say that a teacher’s performance shouldn’t be taken into account, because it should. Nonetheless, efforts to eliminate instructors based on student performance should be offset with proper and continuous training through which all instructors would be empowered with proven methods of instruction and other pointers for improving student performance.
Teachers enable all professions, and they should be rewarded with the best of incentives to assure that students receive the best education.
As for the privatization of public schools, the notion of private investors sharing costs of funding public education with the government would actually be an excellent idea if all schools would be held to a uniform set of standards that would assure equity of educational quality to all students. And the fact that the potentially private public schools would receive federal funding should present a legal obligation for them to in fact be held to those standards.
Why is it that something as important as education is so divided? If we want a stronger education system we need to listen to teachers’ concerns, parents’ concerns and students’ concerns and focus on what “education” means in America. I teach in a North Carolina public school and I challenge parents and guardians to spend a day with your child and see what is expected of a teacher and who is in class with your student. I do not think most Americans know what is being asking of public schools and the employees. Public schools are asked to educate every child. Think about that for a moment. EVERY CHILD! If this many people are passionate enough to voice opinions, why can’t we channel that passion and create something to be proud of? If you have the time to home school your children, why not have your child in public school and volunteer? If you have the resources to send your child to private school, think what those resources could mean to a public school. Maybe it sounds simplistic, but I know if some common sense were used, we could solve this issue. If we LISTEN and THINK we can solve this issue. We is WE and that means parents, students, teachers, business, society. We all share in the success of an education system and we all share its failure. In the meantime, I will be working my 12-15 hour days, laughing with my students, teaching them that they are their own greatest resource and are capable of learning and rising above any set of circumstances. The future of our country really does depend on education. Get the facts, don’t believe every sound bite and get involved!
A very apt analysis of both parties. As the old, but true statement concerning their divergence of political party thought goes, “There’s NOT a dime’s worth of difference between them.”
Might be down to a penny, at the present time.
Since we live in a two party, no choice world, I may not vote. One party, the GOP, is owned not only by the corporate raiders and cabal, but what’s left of their allegiance goes to the Tea Party Poopers and the religious, “an’t Christian” right.
Hard to wear a funny hat and wave the flag for such disgusting porkers who feed at the public trough!
Sweetpea,
Both parties are rotten to the core, save for a handful of pols form either side.
The fact that this is perceived as being a political debate is pathetic. It’s time to say to hell with the left and the right and just worry about WHAT’S TRULY RIGHT. Anyone supporting these cuts to education should hang their head in shame.
This is not right. If you want your child to go to a private school, then you pay for it. I am a sub and I see what goes on in elementary schools that demands a TA. Another bite of our children’s education bites the dust. Good teachers work hard and deserve raises and a time to retire and enjoy peace knowing they have done their best to provide the students what they need to go in in life. We do not need private schools. Can’t shelter children from reality. I feel sorry for children today.
1) The system is broken from top to bottom. The vast majority of people making these decisions have not set foot into a classroom since they graduated from college.
2) An administrator makes any where from double to four times as much money as the teachers who work 50+ hours a week teaching, prepping, and grading.
3) Common Core, NCLB, Race to the Top, and any other program designed to “make education better” are nothing more than band-aids that only slow the bleeding. We need to completely reconstruct our education system from the bottom up and focus more on the individual needs of every child through curriculums designed to highlight the creative exceptionalism of each child.
4) Cutting money from the public system to then allow room for vouchers should be a red flag to any citizen with an ounce of common sense – we’re not addressing the issue of horrible school reforms of the past, but instead we’re aiding in the speed of how fast our public system will die. If every child deserves a quality education, why aren’t we evaluating our current system and finding ways to completely reconstruct it in a way that it is successful.
5) For everyone on this board who has attacked educators and their apparent “lazy” behaviors, it is obvious that you have no idea what is happening inside the classrooms now. Since “A Nation at Risk”, teachers have been slowly stripped of their ability to do what it is that they are overpaid to do: teach. Instead, they have been forced into a world of teaching to a test that barely covers the amount of practical knowledge students need. I am an English Teacher at a community college here in NC, and every semester in my 2-3 freshman comp classes I see the results of NCLB. I have 30 18-21-year-olds who can’t write a complete sentence. I have never blamed a single high school teacher, middle school teacher, nor have I blamed any elementary teacher for this lack of skill. 15 years ago when I entered the profession, the quality was much higher even for a community college. I have witnessed the slow decline of intelligence, and it has nothing to do with the teachers, but the resources that these teachers are losing. You want to support the cut in funding? Fine. Let’s divert the money that administration is getting into better programs, let’s re-envision how education works and construct a system that allows for the money we are dealt, and let’s face the facts: “bad” teachers make up less than 5% of the working population. The rest of the teachers out there are fighting to keep this sinking ship afloat.
If you think you can do a better job, get the damn degree and do the job yourself. Other wise, let the people who have been trained to do this job do their job.
Really want to see the data that shows charter schools score consistently better…
Next, tenure in NYC only guarantees due process… Teachers who don’t cut it can and are sent packing.
Finally , if you want to talk schools and data let’s talk about the world’s top performers. They have national curriculums, teachers are treated with respect and paid a fair wage.
If you are not educated on the issue please refrain from ignorant conversation.
Charter schools do not get better scores than public schools, except for those that exclude the neediest students, the students who might pull down their scores. Many high-scoring charters take small numbers of students with disabilities and English language learners. Many have high attrition rates.
Based on many of the comments I’ve read here, I think many of your are missing the bigger picture in all of this. You see the trees but not the forest. Ultimately, when public schools “fail” and parents actively seek private alternatives in the form of private or charter schools, you give up the right to have any voice in your child’s education. Public education allows you a voice in an elected Board of Education. I see this as the elephant in the room. We are steadily stripping public schools of their ability to teach by piling on unfunded mandate after mandate and moving towards a private, or corporate model (which has no evidence base as being superior on a global basis). I personally think we need to educate ourselves and work to save our public schools. I fear a world where we have no voice in our educational system.
What happened to the NC EDUCATION LOTTERY? I thought the reason we brought the lottery to North Carolina to begin with was to heal our schools. The billions of dollars we’ve made in o
NC lotteries should go to the schools, to the teachers, & towards health care for the teachers! I don’t know where all the money is going!! All I have seen are cuts left and right in our school systems and our teachers pay…????
Education needs to be the priority! Why would you bite the hand that feeds you? Our teachers are our future, They cannot teach our children effectively if they have to go out and get a part-time job just to pay the bills.
Those lottery funds went into the schools as politicians used them to justify removing other money from public education for a net loss. Now the legislature just decided to gut the whole fish. Never believe someone who tells you we can pay for schools, or anything else, with revenue from gambling. Don’t take that bet.
“No choice” is fast becoming the mantra of the encroaching corporate state we exist in!
No Choice about having the government SPY in every conceivable way, 24/7, KILL LISTS that have unknown military armies perpetrating murder across the globe in the false name of “security”, voter’s right suppression, and worst of all, bankers writing their “rules to live by”…with rumblings of a far worse economic disaster than ’08 looming on the horizon due to Benacke’s money printing insanity.
NO CHOICE RAGES ACROSS OUR NATION! Public schools are just one of the many victims!
Um, there are no teacher unions in NC.
I support public education, but you comment that “The privatization of public schools threatens the very cornerstone of our democracy…” is a bit dramatic. What threatens our democracy even more is the bureaucratic structure of public education, lack of accountability in public education focused in the “end product” and teaching by many, not all, that the government is the solution to all our problems. There is a reason that private school and home school students out perform public school students.
Richard Davis, you are misinformed. Public education–doors open to all–is an essential cornerstone of our democracy. Where public education does not exist, education is far more segmented by social status than it is in this country. The more privatization, the more segregation and social stratification. As for results, private schools get higher scores because they enroll kids from rich families, who have greater advantages. Charter schools do not outperform public schools. How would you know if homeschooling is “better” than public schools since there are no ways to compare them?
Yes. There is a reason why SOME private schools may out perform SOME public schools. Private schools nor Home schools have to adhere to the same regulations and testing procedures of the public schools. AND Private schools can accept or deny applications as they see fit. Public schools accept all and teach the students that parents send to us. They send us their best and we try to improve their educational circumstances. We are not selective.
That depends entirely on where you live. In some states (including the one I live in) homeschool kids are expected to perform at a higher level on standardized testing each year than their public school counterparts. So, you are correct, homeschools do not have to adhere to your regulations….they have to adhere to stricter regulations. They also do so with flying colors.
Erin,
I don’t know of any state where homeschool kids take the same tests as kids in public school. Do you know?
My daughter went to a private school then switched to a public high school and was very far behind. My wife teaches in high school and gets these transfers and many are so far behind they can’t even read. I am sure there are some that excel but there are many that the parents help with the kids grades.
Richard, those reasons for higher performance are smaller classes, more 1 on 1 attention and the selective nature of those groups of students. Private schools kick out behavior problems; private schools do not take most students with learning disabilities or special needs – some of which severely impact performance or raise costs dramatically. I gather from your post you oppose increasing bureaucracy, but that is exactly what has happened because of NCLB and Race to the Top. A new layer of bureaucratic positions was needed to keep track of all the data and coordinate the testing – money spent wastefully.
I am accountable to every one of my students. I have to look them in the eye every day; and I have to heartbreakingly tell some of them they did not pass a test they worked hard – or not so hard – to pass all year long. Now if you give me private school models, I could send some of those kids I know won’t do well someplace else, but I believe every child deserves a quality education. We take them all, brilliant and belligerent. If increasingly larger segments of our population are not adequately educated when school choice, voucher, and charter school programs come clean about admissions then yes, democracy will be threatened in this nation.
It’s time to freeze unaffordable pension and healthcare benefits for local and state employees. Suggest giving raises to equal the private sector and put in matching 403(b)/401(k) plans. Why should government employees get to retire in their early 50s after only 30 years of service, when the private sector has to work to age 66+ with no fat healthcare and retirement benefits?
How does paying a teacher an inflation adjusted pension for as long as they live help educate my kid now? If they live into their 90s, these benefits end up being potentially more than they earned while working. This is money we could be using to raise salaries and educate kids now! If Government employees want to retire early, let them. Save your money just like the rest of us.
AMEN CEST LA VIE!!!! agree 100 %
You are both misinformed.
Always helps to get your facts straight. no teacher retires in their 50’s and gets a pension-anywhere. If there were such benefits, they went away years ago. If municipalities funded their pension obligations in a timely fashion, there would be no issue.
Cest LaVie,
I work in a public NC school. You do not pay for my pension. I do. It comes from my paycheck.
100 % right. I also work as a High School Teacher in a public school.
I also work in a public school. Thank you B. So many people are misinformed. Our salary package includes our health insurance and pension. We take a smaller paycheck (not complaining) because we negotiated our pension as part of our total package. Why can’t people understand that? Suddenly everyone feels like public employees are the enemy. Thank you Wisconsin Gov. Walker you have successfully spread your hate of teachers nationwide.
“It’s time for” you C’est LaVie to drop one of your family’s two incomes to stay home to educate your own child or children and 29 of your neighbors children for a teachers income with no pension for the next 25 years. Or you could pay the cost of a state university from K-12 for private school and then pay for university after that. If your child has special needs or a learning disability get ready to pay for the specialist, therapists and the assessments yourself….but don’t go to someone with a master’s degree for that…. cause we all know a more educated teacher is not a better teacher and you know, after all, education is just about the money we pay teachers…Why do those old biddies live so long anyway??? That’s life (in the third world)
North Carolina takes 7 percent of teacher salaries to pay for individual pensions. Multiply 7 percent times 30 years plus interest compounded and I would think teachers are still getting cheated.
@ Erin, Home Schooled children in North Carolina ARE NOT taking test or school work at a “higher level.” They do the bare minimum and that is it! Some children that live beside me were Home Schooled and it was a joke! Private Schools can make a HUGE amount of money and that is the only reason it is going in that direction! Has nothing to do with better education or concern for the children! A local man, owned a building, property and became the principal of a Private School, then charged the school rent for all of it and was paid a hefty salary! Nice laws, huh? He’s loving it!
Cest LaVie,you are also misinformed.I don’t know what state you are referring to but it is not NC school employees.The retirement we receive comes out of OUR own paycheck.403/401 plans?You must be kidding.Our school employees would be much better off working else where.I KNOW the LONG hours,the work taken home,the constant furthering of education and so on our school employees go through.Public school employees salaries are public knowledge.Check it out for yourself.Just remember it is not for 40 hour weeks.Oh no much more than that a week.3 months off in the summer?? NOT in our schools.There vacation amounts are NO greater than the “private sector” you refer to.Just because the school is closed to students does not mean it is closed to school employees.It is not.
In case you are wondering NO I am not a teacher.I just wished everyone could spend time in our public schools.Honestly you would wonder why would anyone wants to work there.They LOVE their jobs because they love the kids and truly care about the education of this country.Its high time the rest of this country realizes this too.Cutting education is hurting every human being in this country.
Well said Kathy!!!!
You said that right. amen sister
The only reason why our state is doing this is to cut our debt and I don’t call the last three decades progress
Kathy, you said if anyone spent time in the public schools..”you would wonder why would anyone wants to work there”….can you explain that. Please. In as much detail as possible. Thanks
Ray,
I was responding to what Cest LaVie had posted earlier.Below is her post.
It’s time to freeze unaffordable pension and healthcare benefits for local and state employees. Suggest giving raises to equal the private sector and put in matching 403(b)/401(k) plans. Why should government employees get to retire in their early 50s after only 30 years of service, when the private sector has to work to age 66+ with no fat healthcare and retirement benefits?
How does paying a teacher an inflation adjusted pension for as long as they live help educate my kid now? If they live into their 90s, these benefits end up being potentially more than they earned while working. This is money we could be using to raise salaries and educate kids now! If Government employees want to retire early, let them. Save your money just like the rest of us.
Ray people such as her are so misinformed.I am not a teacher as I stated earlier but I am a school employee.I know what little pay teachers receive.The rules,regulations and red tape they go through.The hours they really do work and their so called pension & healthcare are no better than most “private sector” jobs.
When you know what all teachers “jobs” really involve,their pay and benefits then you wonder why does anyone want to be a teacher.
Its because they love the kids and hope to make a difference in this world.Even if it is one child at a time.I for one am grateful for our public school employees.
I hope I explained that well enough.Thanks for giving me an opportunity to do so.
Yes, I agree, ““It is a tragic day in NC for our public schools, their teachers and students.” But, i cannot agree with placing all of the blame for the demise of Public Education in North Carolina on ONE political party which has been in power for TWO years of the past 140 years. I am a teacher of 32 years and have had my salary “frozen” at least 5 times and even had to “return” 1/2 of 1% on one year. NONE of these incidents occurred during a Republican Legislature! Neither political party values teachers and education in this state. Salaries at the public school and university level have steadily lost ground for the past three decades and are now among the lowest in the nation. This DID NOT happen within the past two years. That is because teachers are told to blindly support ONE party while holding the other in contempt……………even though the legislature has been in controlled by Democrats for the past 140 years prior to these past two years. Also, it’s time we look at the “inflated” pensions of so many educators (and other state employees) who are “socially promoted” for the last four years of their career in order to pull a MUCH higher retirement for the rest of their lives than they should have. Therefore, if one’s salary averaged $40,000. a year for 26 years and $70,000. for the last four years, their pension is based on the “70,000. These people are unfairly draining the retirement system and there are THOUSANDS of them. Lastly, if teachers would promote a teacher union, like SO MANY other states have, they wouldn’t have to suck up to one political party (which takes them for granted), then complain when the other party gets in and holds them in contempt.
Yes, I agree, ““It is a tragic day in NC for our public schools, their teachers and students.” But, i cannot agree with placing all of the blame for the demise of Public Education in North Carolina on ONE political party which has been in power for TWO years of the past 140 years. I am a teacher of 32 years and have had my salary “frozen” at least 5 times and even had to “return” 1/2 of 1% on one year. NONE of these incidents occurred during a Republican Legislature! Neither political party values teachers and education in this state. Salaries at the public school and university level have steadily lost ground for the past three decades and are now among the lowest in the nation. This DID NOT happen within the past two years. That is because teachers are told to blindly support ONE party while holding the other in contempt……………even though the legislature has been in controlled by Democrats for the past 140 years prior to these past two years. Also, it’s time we look at the “inflated” pensions of so many educators (and other state employees) who are “socially promoted” for the last four years of their career in order to pull a MUCH higher retirement for the rest of their lives than they should have. Therefore, if one’s salary averaged $40,000. a year for 26 years and $70,000. for the last four years, their pension is based on the “70,000. These people are unfairly draining the retirement system and there are THOUSANDS of them. Lastly, if teachers would promote a teacher union, like SO MANY other states have, they wouldn’t have to suck up to one political party (which takes them for granted), then complain when the other party gets in and holds them in contempt.
Nick,
What really is a tragedy is someone always has to play politics blaming it on one party or another.This further divides this country.Neither helps the kids or the world for that matter.
Must read: Public School Teachers: New Unions, New Alliances, New Politics
Wednesday, 24 July 2013 09:27
By Michael D. Yates,
…”The flashpoint of the war being waged by capital and its political allies against the public provision of services is education, especially that which serves poor and minority communities. Billionaires like Bill Gates (Microsoft) and the Walton family (Walmart) have established organizations and contributed enormous sums of money to do two things. First, they seek to revolutionize the way in which students are taught. Here they have achieved great victories, with two presidents enacting sweeping laws: No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top. Both condition federal aid to schools upon what has been described as “teaching to the test.” Literature, art, music, and all critical education are to be sacrificed so that children do well on standardized examinations. Then, how schools and their teachers fare, including whether or not a school continues to exist, depends on students’ scores. Second, these plutocrat “reformers” want to alter radically the way in which schools are organized. The best way to describe their aim is to say that they want them schools to resemble assembly lines, with students as outputs and teachers as assembly-line-like mechanisms who do not think or instill in their students the capacity to conceptualize critically and become active participants in a democratic society. And this Taylorization of schooling has a military-like component, with pupils expected to react to commands with rote discipline and respond unthinkingly to rewards for appropriate behavior. For a good example of what is in store for our children, see the astonishing article “The Silent Treatment: A Day in the Life of a Student in ‘No Excuses’ Land,” in the excellent “edushyster” blog, about a proposed charter school in the impoverished working class town of Fall River, Massachusetts. The movements and speech of the students in this school will be controlled from the time they enter the school bus until they return home. They will speak only when addressed by their teacher, and their responses will be tightly choreographed. Needless to say, the achievement of these horrible goals is most likely to occur if the schools are privatized and the unions destroyed.” …
As a parent with a 2nd and 3rd grader in the NC school system (CMS) I am truly disappointed with NC schools and the disparity between the haves and the have nots. I believe Diane referenced by privatizing you increase segregation in schools. 3 years ago are school was fairly balanced with a 45% Caucasian to 45% Black ratio and 10% other. This year it was 17% to 75% and 8% our large neighborhood which feeds the elementary school can not support the school so children are being bussed from other neighborhoods. 80% of the kids at our elementary school get a free lunch, tardiness is out of control, people have moved out of our neighborhood (which is integrated with many hardworking people) to get out of the school district. I know for some of these kids school is the best part of their day because at least they are being fed twice and someone is paying attention to them. The teachers are overworked and underpaid and deal constantly with discipline issues, dispersion, no substitutes, and few if any TA’s. The system is broke and the bureaucracy doesn’t care. We are going the Charter route this year because we have 2 teachers per 22 students no free lunch and no public transportation, which means the parents have to be involved. Charter schools may not test “higher” but give me a school were parents are involved at a high level with their children and their school whether it’s a charter or public and you will have a great school. We as parents have to bear responsibility for our children’s education. I believe most parents feel that the system has failed on the public school level regardless of the dedicated teachers of which their are many.
As a teacher assistant for the last 13 years and school bus driver, I have seen both the highs and lows of the educational system. The only thing I can think of to really get the point across is…we are only hurting the children and their future. The teachers and assistants are there because they truly love their jobs and the children. They care that the children don’t get hugs everyday, so they give them. They care that they get something to eat everyday, so they make sure they eat breakfast and lunch. They care about their grades, so if a student needs extra tutoring, we stay after school and help them. On our own time! We are not only educational teachers in a reading, writing and arithmetic sense, we are also, nurses, guidance counselors, psychologists, mediators, you name it! But, we do it for the children, not the paycheck! I am probably going to loose my job, and it will break my heart thinking about all those children who need that extra boost in their lives, and now might not get it . Hug your children extra tight before they go off to school in a couple of weeks! And do all you can to help the teachers help your children succeed, because they will need all the help they can get!!!
Marcia,
Its ‘lose my job’ not ‘LOOSE my job’ .
You forgot the apostrophe. (It’s)
🙂
Carl,
I am sure you did not think that maybe her loose was a typo before you posted.I do not know you but I assume you did not mean to sound like such a jerk.
You said it perfectly.It is all about the kids.Most people who do not work at schools have NO idea how we go above and way beyond the job description.It sure is not because of the money we make.It sure is all about the love and compassion in our hearts.