Archives for category: North Carolina
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North Carolina: General Assembly Passes HB514, Allowing Local Districts to Set Up Their Own Charters

By dianeravitch
June 6, 2018 //
9

NBCT high school teacher Stuart Egan reports on the passage of HB514 by the General Assembly in North Carolina, which he predicts will set the state back by decades.

North Carolina has a regressive legislature that has dedicated itself to gerrymandering, transgender bathroom bills, charter schools, vouchers, and every ALEC-inspired legislation imaginable since it gained a majority in 2010. The new legislation may well spur the growth of “segregation academies.”

North Carolina, before 2010, was known as the most progressive state in the South.

Since the Tea Party takeover, it has systematically starved its public schools and shown preference for charters and vouchers.

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, North Carolina, Privatization

North Carolina General Assembly Passes Bill to Promote Resegregation of Schools

By dianeravitch
June 5, 2018 //
13

The North Carolina General Assembly, controlled by extremis of the right, passed legislation to use charter schools to promote resegregation. Towns that want to create their own charters for white students may do so under this legislation. Thus, charters have become the white flight academies of the South. National corporations whose workforce is diverse should avoid North Carolina, to avoid humiliating their executives and other employees. Jesse Helms, George Wallace, and Storm Thurmond would be proud to see their dream of school choice and segregation revived in North Carolina.

Statement on NC Senate’s passage of House Bill 514

Keith Poston, President & Executive Director

Public School Forum of North Carolina

Our nation abandoned “separate but equal” long ago – we don’t need to bring it back in North Carolina.

House Bill 514 would allow four towns in Mecklenburg County to run their own municipal charter schools and give preferential access to their residents. This bill, along with its companion municipal funding measure in the state budget, are terrible ideas for North Carolina. Taken together, they set the stage for a slippery slope toward further resegregation of NC public schools.

Two major education challenges we are confronting in North Carolina are inequities in school funding across the state and the growing resegregation of our schools. They both contribute to lower overall academic results and drive the achievement gap between white students and students of color, as well as between poorer students and their more affluent peers. HB 514 will only exacerbate these profound challenges.

Last night the NC Senate made a bad bill even worse by stripping the State Health Plan and retirement benefits from any teacher employed by these new municipally-run charter schools.

At a time when we are courting major new investments from Apple, Amazon and the U.S. Army, the last thing we need are national headlines about a new NC law driving resegregation. HB 514 threatens to become our state’s education version of HB 2.
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The Public School Forum of North Carolina is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on public education in NC. Follow us on Twitter @theNCForum and visit our website at http://www.ncforum.org/.

Categories Charter Schools, North Carolina, Privatization, Segregation

North Carolina: General Assembly Passes Budget to Hurt Public Schools and Enrich Charters

By dianeravitch
May 29, 2018 //
6

Remember that thousands of teachers from across North Carolina took a personal day to assemble at the State Capitol on May 16 to protest the underfunding of public education?

Maybe you forgot, but you are not alone if you did. The North Carolina General Assembly passed a budget without hearings that is a dagger in the heart of public schools.

It contains plenty of goodies for charter schools and cybercharters.

But it expresses contempt for public schools and their teachers. The extremists now in charge of the General Assembly won’t be content until they have privatized every school in the state.

NBCT teacher Stuart Egan explains the budget here.

Categories Funding, North Carolina

North Carolina: Thousands of Teachers Crowd the Streets Around the Capitol in Raleigh

By dianeravitch
May 17, 2018 //
18

North Carolina joined the wave of teacher protests against underfunding.

Read about their protest hereand here (great photo)and here (where teachers cornered the legislator who called them “thugs”).

In the last link from the local paper:

“Rep. Mark Brody spent a lot of time Wednesday explaining that when he wrote “union thugs” were behind the rally that brought thousands of educators to Raleigh, he wasn’t talking about individual teachers.

“It was not intended that way,” he told one group.

“Brody, a Monroe Republican, said he was referring to the National Education Association in his Facebook post.

“Teachers made it a point to find Brody on Wednesday to tell him that they were hurt, shocked or offended when they heard about his comments.

“I’m a grandmother, not a thug,” said Ira Reed. She works for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg arm of the N.C. Association of Educators, retiring from work in local school districts after 39 years.

“Reed defended unions after Brody said his strong opposition to public employee unions were at the root of his “thugs” Facebook post.

“I’ve been schooled a lot in the last couple of hours,” Brody said. “I support the message that you’re bringing. I just don’t support the method.”

“Brody said teachers shouldn’t have had their rally on a school day. At least 42 school districts, including the state’s largest, canceled classes Wednesday.

“During the wide-ranging conversation, Brody agreed with Reed that teacher “pay-for-performance” was wrong. He said also that he wants to eliminate end-of-grade exams, eliminate Common Core standards and return control of school calendars to the local districts.”

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article211269714.html#storylink=cpy

Categories North Carolina, Resistance

Justin Parmenter: Here Come the N.C. Teacher Thugs!

By dianeravitch
May 14, 2018 //
19

Justin Parmenter writes here about a state legislator in North Carolina who denounced the teachers who plan to protest on May 16 as “thugs.”

He says, here come the teacher thugs!

He writes:

Brody is right to be concerned about the more than 13,500 thugs who will be storming Raleigh on Wednesday. After all, these thugs bring a very special skill set that make us extraordinarily effective advocates:

We are black belts in sarcasm and penmanship. Just wait til you see our signs.

We can hold our pee all day long.

We reserve a special teacher voice that demands attention.

We are very good at waiting in line (no cutting).

We can go 8 hours without sitting down once. The secret is in the shoes.

Most importantly, these thugs are experts in fact-based arguments.

Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Categories Budget Cuts, Education Reform, Funding, North Carolina, Resistance, Teachers

North Carolina Charter Teachers: We Refuse to Be a Trojan Horse to Destroy Public Schools!

By dianeravitch
May 13, 2018 //
8

http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/article210896254.html

Two charter school teachers in Durham, North Carolina, write that their schools are closing on May 16 to join the protest against the Legislature’s underfunding of public schools.

Taylor Schmidt and Morgan Carney, teachers at Central Park Charter School, reflect on their school’s advantages and point out:

“As the 10th largest economy in the nation, North Carolina is currently ranked 39th for per-pupil spending. Public school teachers often reach into their own pocketbooks to buy essentials like pencils and copy paper for overcrowded classrooms, nevermind having the financial support to take 95 sixth graders on a bus to a local farm for project work.

“Adding to these challenges is the broken system of creating and managing charter schools in our state, a system that includes our own school. Soon after we arrived at Central Park, structural shortcomings became apparent. Students of color comprised 81 percent of the demographics of Durham Public Schools in 2013, while students of color at Central Park comprised only 29 percent of the student population. Whereas 66 percent of students in Durham Public Schools were eligible for free and reduced lunch, only 7 percent of CPSC students were eligible for the program.

“This realization led to greater clarity: regardless of our intentions, we had become part of the problem of school resegregation. We petitioned the state to become the first charter school to give weighted lottery preference to economically disadvantaged families. We have changed our policies to provide free and reduced-price lunches and transportation assistance. While there is more work to be done, each year the socioeconomic diversity of our student body better reflects the strengths found in the rich diversity of our community and delivers on the mandate for NC charter schools to provide increased learning opportunities for those most in need.

“In 2018, Central Park is arriving at another moment of clarity. We recognize that, despite positive intentions, we are still part of the problem. As a charter school, we play into a system that has strayed from the original goals. The charter school system has been turned into a Trojan horse that severely underfunds our state’s public schools, creates competition for resources, resegregates our schools, and provides blinders to cover the increasing privatization of North Carolina’s educational institutions through for-profit charter schools. The mission of our school, and the original mission of charter schools, forbid us from staying silent on these issues.

“We intend to actively fight against resegregation of schools by race and class in North Carolina. We stand against privatization, vouchers, and for-profit charter schools, believing passionately that we must serve in collaboration and partnership alongside our communities’ public schools.”

Read more here: http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/article210896254.html#storylink=cpy

Categories Accountability, Charter Schools, Education Industry, Education Reform, Funding, North Carolina, Privatization, Resistance, Teachers

Justin Parmenter to N.C. Teachers: Professional Teaching Standards Support Your Right to Speak Out on May 16

By dianeravitch
May 12, 2018 //
2

North Carolina teacher Justin Parmenter says that some districts have resorted to intimidation tactics to discourage teachers from showing up at the State Capitol in Raleigh on May 16.

But, he writes, North Carolina professional standards encourage teachers to act and speak on behalf of improving working conditions for teachers and students.

He writes:

“On the contrary, the North Carolina Professional Teaching Standards actually encourage teachers to be active in their advocacy and work to improve teaching conditions and change policies that negatively impact our profession.

“Take a look at Standard 1 for yourself:

“Teachers lead the teaching profession.

“Teachers strive to improve the teaching profession. They contribute to the establishment of positive working conditions in their school, district, and across the state. They actively participate in and advocate for decision-making structures in education and government that take advantage of the expertise of teachers. Teachers promote professional growth for all educators and collaborate with their colleagues to improve the profession.

“Strive to improve the profession
“Contribute to the establishment of good working conditions
“Participate in decision-making structures
“Promote professional growth”

He recommends that you take a selfie on May 16:

“While you’re at the General Assembly advocating on behalf of your students and colleagues, be sure to get some pictures of yourself. They will serve as useful evidence of your distinguished performance on Standards 1c and 1d.”

Categories Accountability, Education Reform, North Carolina, Resistance, Teachers

Stuart Egan: North Carolina Teachers Will Confront Legislators on May 16

By dianeravitch
May 5, 2018 //
4

 

The General Assembly convenes in Raleigh, North Carolina, on May 16.

Stuart Egan writes that teachers will be there to meet them. 

On May 16th, teachers in North Carolina will begin to make a stand for their profession and the state’s public schools.

What these teachers and advocates want Raleigh’s lawmakers to understand is that there is a difference between “rewarding” teachers and respecting the teaching profession and the public schools.

A reward is something that is given in recognition of someone’s service, effort, and/or achievement. One could get a reward for doing well on a project or completing a task. Some could look at a bonus check as a reward for accomplishing a goal.

However, NC’s teachers want more than a reward from the General Assembly. They want respect for all of our public school teachers and the public schools which serve a vast majority of our children.

To have respect is to have a deep feeling of admiration for someone because of his abilities, qualities, and value. It is understanding that someone is important and should be taken seriously.

In this highly contested election year, many will be fooled by lawmakers wanting to “reward” the teaching profession with bills that might offer more pay or actually fund a mandate and mistake that for respect. Respect goes much deeper.

That is why teachers and advocates will march and rally on May 16th when the NCGA reconvenes because it reminds policies makers that there are many stark differences between rewards and respect.

 

Categories Accountability, Education Reform, North Carolina, Resistance, Teachers

North Carolina: Major Districts Will Close on May 16, Anticipating Teacher Walkouts

By dianeravitch
May 3, 2018 //
1

 

Major school districts in North Carolina have decided to close school on May 16, when teachers will mass in the State Capitol. That is the day the General Assembly reconvenes.

There are few states in which the state legislature has been more punitive towards teachers and public schools than North Carolina.

#RedForEd rolls on.

Categories North Carolina, Resistance, Teachers

Justin Parmenter: Why North Carolina Teachers Are Likely to Join the Teacher Walkouts

By dianeravitch
May 3, 2018 //
14

Justin Parmenter, a teacher in North Carolina, explains that teachers in his state have good reasons to walk out, like teachers from West Virginia to Arizona. The state legislature has kept their pay low and failed to fund the schools adequately. At the same time that the Tea Party dominated legislature was administering cuts to schools and teachers, it was cutting taxes for corporations and expanding charter schools.

Consider the facts of the last several years:

The day of reckoning in North Carolina is May 16, when the Legislature reconvenes.

Expect to see teachers at the State Capitol on May 16.

They will be there to demand that North Carolina make good public education a priority.

Categories North Carolina, Resistance, Teacher Pay, Teacher Shortage
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