The General Assembly in North Carolina has devoted its efforts since 2010 to destroying the public education system and undermining the teaching profession. The Tea Party took control of the legislature in 2010 and proceeded to enact as many unjust laws as fast as they could while gerrymandering election districts to retain control. A Democrat won the governorship by a narrow margin in 2026, but the Far-right legislature has frustrated him repeatedly and stripped him of power and appointments to the greatest extent possible.
High school teacher Stuart Egan has chronicled the war against public schools and teachers on his Blog, Caffeinated Rage. In this post, Egan describes the current state of that war.
In this post, he writes about the new state superintendent, whose only previous experience was two years of TFA, and who now acts as a lackey for the Tea Party. (Curious how many TFA alums end up aiding governors who want to destroy public schools.) The legislators passed a class size reduction mandate without funding it. Reducing class size is a very good thing, but without funding, it means cuts in every area and elimination of courses and electives. It means chaos by design.
State superintendent Mark Johnson is avid for “personalized learning” (aka depersonalized learning).
Egan explains the hoax of personalized learning, and he calls out Johnson for his failure to provide leadership:
“Time, resources, classroom space, and opportunities to give each student personalized instruction are not items being afforded to North Carolina’s public school teachers. In fact, as state superintendent, Mark Johnson has never really advocated for those things in schools. Actually, he has passively allowed for the class size mandate to proceed without a fight, has never fought against the massive cuts to the Department of Public Instruction, and devotes more time hiring only loyalists and spending taxpayer money to fight against the state board.”
There will be a rally in Raleigh on January 6 in opposition to #ClassSizeChaos. If you are in the state, be there.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The oped you link to argues against the proliferation of online education and ed tech in the guise of so-called “personalized learning” which is really depersonalized learning that has no evidence behind it. In contrast, class size reduction is a research-based reform that has been proven to work for all kids but especially those who are disadvantaged. There may be arguments against the class size mandate in NC especially if its not properly funded, but they are totally absent here.
Please join us at the rally in Raleigh, NC!! 1-3pm Halifax Park! I’m one of the speakers and we want to send a strong message to the NCGA! I’m also opposing our Senate President Pro Tem, Phil Berger in November! I’m a lifelong educator and a woman who’s standing up for NC! Come join us!! It might be cold but we are going to heat things up!
Jen: what’s your position on reducing class size in general? Also, I see this from your campaign website: ” As an expert in effective instruction, Jen would like to see teachers rewarded for encouraging more rigorous and engaging classroom instruction such as engineering, student centered projects, problem-based learning and active dialogue.” Rewarded how? thanks Leonie Haimson
See my work at uncgtlc.org . TLC is the Teacher Leader Collaborative. I believe teachers should be rewarded first and foremost by being treated like the professionals they are, paid at least at the national average, given autonomy to make instructional decisions and celebrated!
Is she advocating more STEM? I noticed that her website also says that of we want “world-class schools” and “a more competent, career ready workforce” then we have to invest in public education.
How exactly is this different than corporate-style reform?
Where is any mention of the role of public schools in developing and nurturing democratic citizenship?
I LOVE that you are asking so many great questions! If you google me I’ve written opEds across my state about the importance of Public Education in our democracy!
I think problem-solving, and empowering teachers, and encouraging inquiry are all good things. However, one need not dive into the whole STEM thing to accomplish those. STEM is a farce. It’s based on the notion that there’s a STEM “shortage” or “crisis,” and those things are simply not true.
Yet, you seem to place a special emphasis on STEM. I’m wondering why.
The fact that certain forces have jumped on STEM education as a means to create more STEM workers is beside the point. Just watch the process the kids are going through. They are thinking and creating enthusiastically. That kind of activity is valuable no matter what they do for career. Just because some people only think in terms of a future (cheap) work force should not diminish the opportunities the kids have to explore our world through STEM education. Right now, there is an emphasis on STEM. When you think of the goal of providing a well rounded education to create an educated citizenry, it has been neglected somewhat, certainly at the elementary level. The rhetoric of the current time colors our reaction to worthy efforts to improve education. In my final iteration as a special ed teacher, I taught reading. I talked about reading a lot, more than some people wanted to hear, I’m sure. My job was important to the future paths of my students (high school). It was not the only subject of importance, but it was my area of expertise, and I framed my understanding of a lot of issues from that viewpoint. I still found myself wanting to join those students in the video in their classrooms as they worked on their engineering problems.
State Senator Phil Berger is possibly the worst Tea Party elected official in North Carolina. He hates public schools and teachers. He led the way on charters and vouchers and cyber charters. He defunded the highly successful NC Teaching Fellows program at UNC, which produced career teachers, and shifted the funding to TFA.
JEN Mangrum is brave to take him on.
Stop nitpicking whether her words are your words, whether she is exactly correct on every issue you care about.
I’m for Jen.
“Stop nitpicking. . . ”
The day that any candidate for public office is declared ideologically pure by whomever and declared off limits to questioning is a day I fear for our country. Fortunately, that is not a feature of our political system.
Questioning in search of clarification of a candidate’s views, policy beliefs, prior actions in those regards should be regarded as a positive for all involved.
No candidate for any Office is 100% pure. Actually I don’t know anyone who is @100% pure. I am not. Are you?
But when an educator fearlessly challenges the most powerful man in the state, the one who has done the most to damage education and opportunity, I don’t see the point of arguing that she is only 92% Perfect, while he is 0% good.
I should be against the Tea Party favorite as well, but, like the many newly elected here in Virginia, it’s an uphill struggle to educating about STEAM versus STEM. Arts Teachers and folks who advocate FOR Discipline Based Arts Education have been sitting in the back of the bus waiting and trying to educate the tide that advocates STEM. DBAE is simply not being taught in teacher preparation programs and Kiddy Art has been replaced by high tech requirements that are not developmentally appropriate.
I applaud JEN Mangum, but will ask — for the sake of North Carolina’s once very strong Arts Education program– to consider that STEAM. STEAM and DBAE are curricular supports. STEM is marketing tech that omits the very set of subjects that motivates kids and recognizes real learning. Testmaniacs have reduced our time with students or cut Arts out completely.
Thank you for everything you do…and please try not to scold, especially since Arts Educators are the first ones cut by STEM advocates. We’re seeking a renewal of a curricular framework that aches for developmentally based reasoning. ❤
Sue, I agree completely. It’s difficult to share my entire philosophy and history (30+ years in education) but I am a strong advocates for the arts!
I kept my voter registration in North Carolina through 1984 just so I could vote against Jesse Helms. If I could go back and vote again there, you can bet I would vote for anyone opposed to an incumbent Tea Party candidate. Moreover, I knew Rob and Bet Mangrum, who made wonderful pottery.
Duane may be right, we have a right to question any candidate and we have been cuckold a few times, but when it come to the ballot box, we need to give our allies a break, any break.
I prefer that Duane examine the disgusting role played by Phil Berger, leader of the Tea Party destruction team.
Point taken, but the premise of the op-ed is really about personalized learning as the class-size mandate is referred to only one time.
The reference to the class size mandate is simply a point made to show how Johnson has lacked a spine in speaking out against it and so many other issues. My blog talks a lot about that mandate specifically in many posts that refer to HB13.
It is not funded and has already forced school systems to eliminating arts and P.E. classes in elementary schools and taking away of teacher assistants. Furthermore, there is no money being given to accommodate the rise of classroom space needed to fulfill the mandate and it will create overcrowded classes in other grades and subjects not effected by the new law.
Parents may kill “personalized learning”. We have one high school science teacher who has adopted the whole thing- the playlists, the dashboard, the endless assessments.
They test A LOT in “personalized learning”- the tests are online and short but in my opinion my son is just going thru the motions because he’s tired of being tested constantly so I don’t know how accurate these “check up tests” are anyway.
It’s really unpopular. I have heard nothing but complaints. This is an “honors” science class and the parents are pretty vocal about it when they’re unhappy, and they are unhappy.
Parents don’t realize how much power they have. See the post on how parents kicked the Summit Online Platform out of their schools in Connecticut and the Superintendent didn’t know why. He forgot he works for them.
Yes, parents can have a lot of power, but it takes a hell of a lot of work. Those Connecticut parents did a lot of organizing and worked hard for that victory, uphill all the way. In communities like mine, where nearly every parent is working at least full time, if not two or three jobs, and where many parents don’t even speak English, that kind of organizing is much, much harder to do (believe me, I’ve tried). One or two squeaky parent wheels (like me) can’t accomplish much. It takes months of packing school board meetings and hounding school board members in every venue possible. Power doesn’t yield easily, even when it comes to doing what is actually their job.
I am reminded of David vs County School Board, one the the five cases the NAACP wrapped together to make Brown vs Board of Education. It all started with Barbara Rose Johns, a student, one student who organized a strike. She carefully planned and put together a tight knit, small group of her high school peers to support her when she spoke to a schoolwide audience (with the teachers and principal asked to leave so they wouldn’t lose their jobs). She was very brave. And she worked very hard.
My point is that she didn’t go first to the school board, the governor, or the NAACP. First, she went to her friends. Then she went to the school. It started very small and grew.
Oops! Davis v County, not David v County.
Personalized instruction makes teachers very unpopular, in my experience. There’s a reason. Computer systems cannot have teacher personality. Those online instruction systems are frustratingly poorly put together. There are bugs, viruses, and programming glitches. There are auto-functions, tons of them. And they’re boring! Learning is more fun when it personality-ized. And you learn more when you’re having fun, unleashing greater potential. Personalized instruction holds students back.
Thanks for you reply Jen but I see nothing at that websiteor on your campaign website about class size. Paying teachers a proper salary is important, as is celebrating their accomplishments, but I think most teachers and parents agree that class size is also key to offering students and their teachers a better opportunity to succeed. I understand that in NC they are not funding the class size mandate properly, but what is your proposal to address that problem? thanks Leonie
Leonie,
Our proposal is to a) either fund the mandate or b) postpone the mandate until we can resolve the issues. I have spoken to principals across the state that are considering cutting not only the arts but possibly PreK programs. We need to address class size in a way that doesn’t negatively impact teachers and students.
There is an article coming out today (or soon) from NC Policy Watch on this issue and I believe I will be quoted. I believe this mandate is not about class size but about the larger issue and narrative of public education and the drive to defund it and deconstruct it.
I BELIEVE WE SHOULD INVEST IN OUR PUBLIC EDUCATION!
The website addresses your question about what I believe is world-class instruction for all students. (My area is elementary)
Jen
Hi Jennifer,
I just finished reading one of your op-eds in the News Record on our educational values, and what you observed on a recent trip to Finland.
http://www.greensboro.com/opinion/columns/jennifer-robinson-mangrum-does-our-lack-of-education-spending-reflect/article_c4f8ad5b-1987-579c-a108-1943261ff26c.html
You highlighted “student self-sufficiency, problem-solving and joy.” All well and good. But here’s what others have noted:
“Poverty impacts learning in dramatic ways and for learners to transcend that barrier, they must first overcome the overwhelming and debilitating effects of poor nutrition, poor health care, inadequate clothing and housing. Child poverty in Finland is 5.3 % but child poverty in the United States 23.1 % ”
Finland has a universal, publicly-funded health care system and its public schools have health clinics. Kids who need help –– academic, social, physical –– get it early on. This is especially important –– critical –– in very early childhood. As a technical report from the American Academy of Pediatrics notes, the developing brain is “an integrated, functioning network with billions of neurons and trillions of connections…this network serves as the biological platform for a child’s emerging social-emotional, linguistic, and cognitive skills…longitudinal studies document the long-term consequences of childhood adversity…alterations in a child’s ecology can have measurable effects on his or her developmental trajectory, with lifelong consequences for educational achievement, economic productivity, health status, and longevity.”
In Finland, there are “no lists of best schools or teachers.” The Finns are not interested in the kinds of inane lists prepared in the U.S. by the likes of US News & World Report and Jay Mathews of The Post. “The main driver of education policy is not competition between teachers and between schools, but cooperation.” And trust.
In Finland the citizenship purpose of public schooling is taken seriously. In Finland, the goal of education reform is equity, with all of the attendant policy programs aligned. Education is seen “as an instrument to even out social inequality.” That is simply not the case in the U.S.
Finland is making good use of research that comes mostly from the U.S. Indeed, “the United States generates eighty percent of the research in education worldwide. If American education research is a good enough to base the design of one of the very most successful public education systems in the world, why is it not good enough to use in the United States?”
Frankly, we simply cannot overlook any longer the citizenship education mission of public schools. Look at what we now have, in North Carolina’s legislature, in Kansas, in Oklahoma, in the White House…..
Democracy, let me remind you that Jennifer has the courage to run against Phil Berger, the leader of the Tea PartybState Senate, dedicated to stamping out public education and democracy in NC. Please do not nitpick her education agenda.
Teachers, parents, students all have the right to question anyone’s take on public education. All have been burned by slick talking edupreneurs and edudeformers. Questioning a candidate is good and should be encouraged. My response from above to Diane’s “stop nitpicking” comment:
“Stop nitpicking. . . ”
The day that any candidate for public office is declared ideologically pure by whomever and declared off limits to questioning is a day I fear for our country. Fortunately, that is not a feature of our political system.
Questioning in search of clarification of a candidate’s views, policy beliefs, prior actions in those regards should be regarded as a positive for all involved.
Of course we have every right to ask questions. We also have the responsibility to understand what is going on in North Carolina. Jen answered Leonie’s concerns about class size very well; it was obvious that the way the issue is playing out in NC had implications beyond that one issue. Unless we are interested in a standardized approach to education policy that is to be enforced across the country then we had better recognize that priorities may differ according to more local differences. I feel like Jen has been very respectful of our questioning; I hope that the critical tension I perceive is more a reflection of the difficulty of dialoguing via a blog and my own prejudices than the intention of anyone on this blog.
Thanks so much for spreading the word about our #ClassSizeChaos rally on January 6th, Diane.
There will also be a Twitter Storm on Tuesday, January 9th from 4:00-6:00 PM (Eastern Time) and would like to invite everyone out there who uses social media to support us and get our hashtag trending so we can demonstrate to our officials that the people do NOT want this unfunded mandate!
Details here: https://www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org/2017/09/28/classsizechaos-twitter-storm-a-comin/
And if you want to see pictures of our creative Durham educators advocating for our public schools and against the #ClassSizeChaos via our weekly Red4Ed campaign, check out our DAE Facebook page: https://m.facebook.com/groups/2399109436/?ref=group_header&view=group
(Several schools took posed pictures dramatizing what it might be like without specials teachers, what it might be like to have to teach from a closet or a cart in the hallway, etc.)