Members of the Durham school board voted unanimously yesterday to join a lawsuit against the law eliminating “career status” protections afforded to veteran teachers.
Guilford County and Wake County are also opposing the llegislature’s mandate to identify the “best” teachers and offer them a bonus to abandon due process. Think how dumb that is: find your best teachers and make it easier to fire them.
Members of the Durham board are defending their teachers against the legislature’s nonstop assault on career educators, which is causing an exodus of experienced teachers from the state.
“If the governor and the North Carolina General Assembly won’t stand up for our children’s teachers, then we will,” said Heidi Carter, Durham school board chairwoman. “This 25 percent mandate is not about rewarding excellence in teaching. It’s about coercing teachers to give up a right they’ve justly earned. And that’s a right to salary protection and a right to due process.”
Durham will join a soon-to-be-filed lawsuit by Guilford County Schools asking for an injunction preventing school districts from implementing the provision. A separate lawsuit has been filed against the measure by the North Carolina Association of Educators. The statewide teacher group has also led a “decline to sign” campaign asking teachers to not support the provision.
Lawmakers asked school districts to identify their top 25 percent of high-performing teachers and offer them a new four year contract with a $500 annual salary increase. In exchange, those teachers lose their tenure.The pay provision, included in the state budget last July, aims to reward teachers based on performance instead of having a tenure system that authors of the measure say “fosters mediocrity and discourages excellence.”
“Career status,” or teacher tenure, does not prevent a school board from firing a teacher, board member Leigh Boardley said.
“What career status provides for teachers, among other things, is their right to due process,” she said. “Their right to a hearing if they are fired. I think that’s a really reasonable thing for our staff to get for the hard work that they give us.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The right-wing Republican dismantling since 2010 of the progressive education policies for which NC was nationally known is an absolute travesty. Budget cuts resulting in the loss of teachers and paras, larger classes, almost no money for books and supplies, efforts to abolish teacher tenure, charter school proliferation, and a long-term freeze on teacher salaries that rank 46th in the country and amount to an unlivable wage for most — this is utterly unconscionable. Glad that Durham, Guilford, and Wake Counties have the fortitude to stand up against those in power who seek to destroy the public schools and to turn to the courts for protection of school children, their teachers, and quality public schooling.
Buncombe County votes tonight.
I think that only in the courts is there a chance to reverse the damage that is being done to public education in the United States. The wheels of justice move slowly and there is always to risk of crooked, biased judges if the oligarchs have managed to pack the courts in their favor.
It’s obvious that public opinion doesn’t matter to the oligarchs behind the movement to return the United States to the age of the Robber Barons during the industrial evolution before labor unions in the late 19th century.
Yes, I agree. For example, a judge has just allowed a class action suit against DC public schools during the reign of Michelle Rhee. These teachers claim that Rhee lied about the budget in order to dismiss veteran teachers. There is evidence that she did so.
If this case works its way to the Supreme Court, we may only hope that the nine justices will not be biased or controlled by the oligarchs. Once the Supreme Court is petitioned, it usually takes 12 to 24 months before a decision is issued.
What may work against the oligarchs is the fact that Supreme Court justices don’t have to run for reelection. They are appointed for life.
‘ The pay provision, included in the state budget last July, aims to reward teachers based on performance instead of having a tenure system that authors of the measure say “fosters mediocrity and discourages excellence.” ‘
Where is the evidence that tenure encourages mediocrity? Under that logic, teachers who have achieved some sort of career status should be poorer teachers than those who have not received tenure. I have not seen any research to support that contention even if the only measure of competence is student test scores.
Many in America have been led to believe teacher tenure means total job protection for even incompetent teachers and they don’t know how this so-called tenure is earned and how a teacher can lose it and may still be fired even losing their credential for life.
I’m sure that few outside of public eduction know that it takes two or more years to earn a higher level of job protection and during those early years, those new teachers are observed and judged as competent or not and may be fired without cause.
All tenure does is say that the teacher earned their spurs and proved to observers, mostly administrators, that they were competent teachers in the classroom.
Who stands to lose the most if this so-called tenure is lost. About half of teachers are registered Democrats, or would the 25% of public school teachers who are registered Republicans be at risk?
Without this so-called tenure (a fancy word for a level of job protection but certainly not total job protection) liberals, progressive or even conservatives—depending on what party ruled a State—could easily get rid of teachers who were registered with the opposition political party to insure that their party would have a better chance to indoctrinate the national children.
Teachers could be targeted for all sorts of reasons without some job security. It takes four years in Illinois to earn due process rights. You are probably right, though, that those who argue the danger of mediocrity probably do not understand what tenure means at the K-12 level.
MOST politicians wouldn’t have jobs if they weren’t politicians. And they are always looking for $$$$$ to get re-elected. OY! Guess, we do NOT have a representative government after all. The politicians represent their campaign contributors of BIG MONEY. Thus..Gates and the rest of the money gang get their lame ideas heard by the politocos who want their money…HORRORS!
Baby steps, baby steps.
You want to know what “fosters mediocrity and discourages excellence?” Teachers being payed a salary that ranks 46th in the nation. You want to know what “fosters mediocrity and discourages excellence?” Teachers being punished and treated like the enemy by their state government even when they are highly qualified professionals spending each day trying to improve the lives of the future of our state and country. You want to know what “fosters mediocrity and discourages excellence?” The most successful teachers leaving the state and/or profession for greener pastures because they are tired of being treated like insignificant pawns. The education system and policies in North Carolina have become the laughing stock of our country, and their will be an entire generation of students who suffer because of it.
Well said. Thank you.
Greg, I hope you send these comments to the School Board, Superintendent, and all of the elected officials who are all going around in circles trying to make excuses for themselves and blame others for the big mess they have created…and all for the sake of Political Gain and Money$$$$
These Powers sitting in the Political Press Box who mandated this CC$$ gibberish have truly created the most disorganized and muddled curriculum ever known to mankind.
It is a shame that the teachers are left flailing as they plead desperately for help from the eduguards gazing greedily from the shore
It is a shame that the students are being taught a test and nothing more.
The people who made these decisions should be ashamed of taking the money and throwing it at every Tom, Dick, and Harry that came out of the woodwork claiming they were the experts . NOT
They handed Million$$$ to the Big P..(Test Prep and all that $$tuff)
Someone has made a killing off the RTTT funds while the children of this state have gained nothing and will suffer.
I have always been taught the you learn from your mistakes.
You do not blame others, you put your cards on the table and find another plan even if you have to start all over.
This State needs to fess-up. They have failed this generation and they need to START-OVER!!!!!
ooops correction
I have always been taught that you learn from your mistakes.
See how easy that was.
I admitted my mistake and corrected ….
I am sure that I could have worded the sentence much better but it is 4:34 a.m. …
If I have to start over……then I will…
Buncombe passed a resolution against it too; but they are not refusing to comply.
Martin Nesbitt died; that’s not good.
He just stepped on on Tuesday.
Sad News
Correction
He just stepped down on Tuesday
I am certain it was hard for Senator Nesbitt to have a front row seat to witnessing all that has gone on in Raleigh these last two years. I would dare say it just might be what made him sick (of course we can’t know that, but having seen this abrupt and hostile affront to an institution he fought for was surely not invigorating). He loved NC. His mother had been a teacher and then served in the legislature herself.
Good for Durham,
and in other news in NC:
http://www.wral.com/state-testing-change-could-mean-more-students-passing/13457390/
I an trying to figure out what this means:
1)Are they admitting the test is too hard?
2) Are the EOGs such a mess that the scores are almost meaningless?
3) Are they trying to save money by reducing the number of students who would be affected by Read to Achieve?
4)All of the above
5)None of the above
What % of correct answers gets a “3” now?
Why is it so hard to find details about how these tests are scored and structured? If they are such an important part of my child’s education, why is it so hard to find details?
Concerned mom:
There has been a lot of pushback from parents and teachers letting DPI know that the benchmark was too high. So I think there has been consideration given to that feedback (thankfully).
June Atkinson has wanted to de-emphasize the EOG anyway, because they are already tracking data throughout the year. . .she described it to me as they are already taking a home movie of the children as they progress, so why then take a snapshot also?
The General Assembly will want Read to Achieve to be budget neutral—so they are probably letting DPI know that NC cannot fund 50% of third graders going to “camp.”
The reason it is hard to find details is that they are making it up as they go along, and DPI only has the authority to structure and maintain that which our legislature and DOE hand them. Also, I imagine there is some political grappling in the process (which is to be expected when more than two adults with opinions gather to make decisions). I think one of the many, many, many negative side effects of our ALEC guys bringing canned legislation in, or copy cat approaches (like Read to Achieve, copying Florida) is that these things are not really thought through well, nor are they responses to genuine concerns expressed by citizens of NC.
In short, DPI is having to work around laws passed by inexperienced people who have not done their homework, while also being influenced by an unfortunate faith in Race to the Top and all it promised. My prayer every day is that DPI will quit defending Race to the Top and actually confront our issues at face value. . .where we are for real with things, and not where it sounds like we should be.
Joanna,
Thank you for taking the time to explain things to me.
I hope this will lead to the removal of A-F grades for schools.
That is also something Dr. Atkinson is against. She told me herself.
That is to say, she is against the grading of schools.