Archives for category: North Carolina
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Peter Greene: North Carolina Has the Worst Legislature in the Nation

By dianeravitch
June 16, 2014 //
57

Peter Greene has scoured the nation to determine which state legislature is most hostile to teachers. Here he explains why North Carolina wins that dubious title.

He begins:

“There are several state legislatures that are working hard to earn the “Worst Legislature in America” medal. Florida, where it’s cool to use terminally ill children as political tools and their families as punching bags, has always been a strong contender. New York State staked its claim by taking the extraordinary measure of overruling local government because they didn’t like its decision. Several states have worked to promote the teaching profession by stripping it of any professional trappings like decent pay and job security.

“But when it comes to suck, North Carolina is a tough state to beat.

“The legislature tried to make tenure go away entirely, but was frustrated to discover that they could not legally revoke tenure for people who already had it. But the wily legislators realized that they had a unique piece of leverage in a state where teachers’ real-dollar wages have dropped every year for seven years.

“The proposal is simple. NC teachers can have a raise, or they can have job security. They cannot have both.

“They may have a raise. And who knows. Some day they might get another one. But they can also be fired for being too expensive. Or they can have job security, but Senate Leader Phil Berger warns that they will probably never see another raise again.

“The message is as clear as it is simple:

“North Carolina legislators do not want teaching to be a career in their state.

“If you want to devote your career, your lifetime of work, to teaching, you cannot do it in North Carolina.”

Categories North Carolina, Teachers and Teaching

North Carolina Republicans Offer Nearly $500 Million to Abolish Tenure–This Teacher Says “No”

By dianeravitch
June 3, 2014 //
61

North Carolina’s Republican-dominated State Senate hates teacher tenure. They hate it so much that they are willing to offer nearly $500 million in higher salaries if teachers are willing to abandon their tenure.

Bear in mind that tenure in K-12 education is not a guarantee of lifetime employment; it is a guarantee of due process rights. Also note that until recently, North Carolina was thought to have one of the best school systems in the South. The state has–or had, at last count–more National Board Certified Teachers than any other state in the nation.

Why Republicans hate tenure so passionately is a mystery. There is no reason to believe that principals are itching to fire teachers. North Carolina has had such a large exodus of teachers from the profession and the state that wise policymakers should be worried about holding on to teachers, many of whom are demoralized by years of legislative attacks on them.

Stuart Egan, a National Board Certified Teacher in North Carolina, wrote the following letter in response to this latest move by the State Senate:

“North Carolina’s GOP legislators certainly appear to have paid attention in English class: The motif of “making a deal with the devil” is a common theme in many works of fiction and in anything they write concerning teachers.

“Sen. Phil Berger is championing a bill that would create substantial pay raises for teachers who relinquish “career status” and longevity pay for “professional status.” The salaries of teachers who do not surrender career status would remain frozen in a stagnated schedule. Career status is often referred to as “tenure,” but that is a nebulous term. Career status does not mean teachers are untouchable. The General Assembly has spun this word to make it appear that teachers have the same “tenure” as college professors. Not true. We can still be dismissed for not performing our duties or upholding standards.

“The past 10 years in NC educational policy is enough to tell us where this is going. Under the ABC plan from years ago, teachers in schools that achieved certain growth expectations would get bonuses. That system ran out of money several years before it ended, but the requirements for teachers did not change. The monetary “incentive” simply was taken away.

“When the state budget began experiencing shortfalls, teacher salaries were frozen. Many of us are making the same salary we did years ago, but now we have more students and more classes as well as increases in the cost of living. Consequently, North Carolina has lost many of its best, brightest and potential career educators. Between a lack of financial security and the near-constant disdain in which legislators hold us, there is little reason to stay.

“When the General Assembly tried a few weeks ago to lure teachers into giving up their career status early in exchange for a monetary incentive, the courts struck it down as unconstitutional. But what many in the general public may not know is that the state did not have the funds to finance that incentive past the first year. It would have had to remove the monetary incentive three years early.

“This is exactly what will happen in the proposed legislation introduced this past week. The General Assembly already faces a shortfall for next year, and the salary increase for those who give up their right to due process will be removed because the money does not exist.

“To look at this latest deal another way, it would cause North Carolinians to lose advocates for the public school system. In a time when the state budget siphons off money for a voucher program to promote privatized education and decreases the average amount of money spent per pupil, you need to have teachers speak up for students and schools. Removing the right to due process leads to those same teachers being afraid to do so for fear of reprisal.

“Whether you call it career status or tenure, the concept helps keep public education in the hands of the public. It is so valuable to public schools that Sen. Berger and others are willing to pay more than $400 million to take it away. North Carolinians should take note and wonder why our legislators want teachers hamstrung by either low pay or worry about keeping a job more than they want our students to receive the best education possible to prepare them – and North Carolina – for a modern and innovative job market.

“This teacher will not sell his soul, no matter how attractive the devil tries to make the package. There is too much at stake – for teachers, for students and for North Carolina’s future.”

Stuart Egan, NBCT
West Forsyth High School
English Teacher, Career Status

After Stuart sent the letter above, he added this sad postscript:

Concerning the high teacher salary raises in NC tied to tenure forfeiture, I saw this in my local paper (Winston-Salem Journal) after I sent my previous letter. It seems that to fund these raises, Senator Berger pushed through a budget that “would cut financing for teacher assistants, classrooms teachers, administration and transportation to pay for teacher raises.” Therefore, the county school system would have to request from the county that loss of money to cover the positions lost. But the county commissioners cut the local school budget already. The result would be “the loss of more than 250 early grade teacher assistants and 28 classroom teachers, according to preliminary estimates from the district’s finance department.” That is devastating to the K-3, elementary level.

I have a child with special needs in kindergarten who happens to have Downs Syndrome. If his teacher does not have an assistant, then positive results will not be seen as quickly and effectively in his education. Interestingly enough, if I as a high school teacher (or his regular teacher in elementary school) take the salary increase and make a “deal with the devil,” I may have a direct impact on my own son’s education.

Public education should never be this cruelly ironic.

If this is happening in a place like Winston-Salem, imagine the effect on rural counties in North Carolina.

http://www.journalnow.com/news/local/emory-says-teachers-job-loss-inevitable-under-n-c-senate/article_ac04391e-2aae-58df-8370-8a6c67f1869b.html

Categories North Carolina, Teacher Tenure, Teachers

HISD Hiring Teachers in North Carolina!

By dianeravitch
May 31, 2014 //
29

The Houston Independent School District is taking advantage of abysmal salaries in North Carolina. HISD is holding a job fair today in Raleigh, hoping to poach some of NC’s terrific but underpaid teachers.

“HISD is promising a starting salary of $46,805.

“In a response to the ad posted on Facebook, North Carolina state Representative Graig Meyer (D-District 50) notes the average salary for teachers in North Carolina is $45,737, and the starting salary is much lower.”

NC salaries are 46th in the nation.

The free market at work.

Categories North Carolina, Teachers

North Carolina Teacher Takes Senator Curtis to Task

By dianeravitch
May 20, 2014 //
37

This letter came from Stuart Egan, one of North Carolina’s National Board Certified Teachers. The state has more NBCTs than any other, and almost the lowest salaries of any state. Egan responded to Senator David Curtis’s letter brushing off science tea her Sarah Wiles.

Stuart Egan writes:

I am a high school teacher from Winston-Salem / Forsyth County Schools.

On Monday, May 12, I read an article on WUNC’s website that published a letter (response) written by Sen. David Curtis to a young teacher in the Charlotte area. It can be found on the following link: http://wunc.org/post/teacher-email-legislators-draws-harsh-reply#.U3F64LlKCEE.email. It deserves a public response.

Dear Senator Curtis,

I have given your email response to Ms. Sarah Wiles’s letter entitled “I am embarrassed to confess: I am a teacher” much thought, and I am embarrassed that you represent our state with such an attitude as was displayed. You are right: Teachers do have an incredible influence on students, However, your response only highlighted the uninformed, and, quite frankly, pompous stance that many in the NC legislature have adopted toward public education.

It is obvious that you were blessed to have great teachers in your life to enable you to achieve all that you talk about on your website, davidcurtisforncsenate.com. Think of all those teachers who helped you in elementary school, middle school, high school, undergraduate school and medical school. Clearly, they instilled in you a love of learning that has carried you throughout your life. Your life also seems to center around your faith, which probably was influenced by Sunday school teachers, pastors who went to schools and seminaries, and by the teachings of the greatest of teachers – Jesus Christ.

My concern is that your North Carolina constituents are “picking up on your (negative) attitude” toward the teaching profession. Since you naturally want the support of teachers in the next election cycle, here are my suggestions for what you could investigate and consider. I simply took your original itemized remarks from your “imaginary conversation with a private sector employer” and responded to them.

1. “You (Ms. Wiles) expect to make a lot more than you made as a teacher because everyone knows how poorly compensated teachers are.” Of course any teacher who makes a move to the private sector would expect more monetary compensation. Almost every other profession that requires a similar level of education and training as the teaching profession makes more monetarily than a teacher.

2. “You expect at least eight weeks paid vacation per year because that is what the taxpayers of North Carolina gave you back when you were a poorly compensated teacher.” You mistake eight weeks of vacation with what is actually unemployment. Teachers have 10-month contracts. What you call “vacation” is actually unpaid time that is spent getting renewed certification, professional development, or advanced degrees—all of which are paid with teachers’ own money that gets taxed by the state. Until recently, the only way teachers can get a pay increase is to fund their own advanced education. But even that is no longer the case because of a crusade led by Pat McCrory and Thom Tillis to eliminate advanced-degree pay increases. Would you expect those who get their MBAs or MDs to forego the expected increase in salary? Of course not. Yet many of NC’s legislators seem appalled that teachers would expect the same.

3. “You expect a defined contribution retirement plan that will guarantee you about $35,000 per year for life after working 30 years even if you live to be 104 years old.” It is ironic that you talk about retirement plans for teachers, especially to younger professionals in education. Our retirement is tied to our salary. By law, we have to pay into the system. And don’t misunderstand me; I am grateful to have that. But when my pay stays frozen, my contribution to retirement stays frozen as well. As prices climb and as inflation exerts its influence, what I may get decades down the road probably will not support me and my family. Considering my age, I may not have the Social Security benefits that you will enjoy. In fact, the way it works now is that I pay into a system that will benefit you before I see any return in my own life. It is also ironic that you, too, will receive retirement pay from the state as a legislator, but have much more say about your state pension than I get with mine. If you need reminding, simply reference the following article:http://www.newsobserver.com/2012/02/26/1884711/amid-retirements-state-lawmakers.html.

4. “Your potential employer may tell you that he has heard that most North Carolina workers make less than the national average because we are a low cost-of-living- state, private sector workers making 87% of the national average and teachers making 85% of the national average.” You imply that low teacher salaries are justifiable because of low cost-of-living expenses; however, that logic does not hold water unless you can prove that the cost of living has frozen in North Carolina. It would help to study the relationship of consumer indexes and teacher salaries for NC and the surrounding states. Furthermore, if you want to attract more industry and business to North Carolina, you need to convince companies that their employees’ families will have a good education system and a quality of life based on their productivity and company success instead of the state’s cost of living.

5. “The teachers union has convinced parents that teachers are grossly undercompensated based on a flawed teachers union survey of teacher pay. “ Where is a teacher union in North Carolina? Are you referring to NCAE? That’s not a union; that’s an association. If you want to see how a teachers’ union works, go to Chicago and New York City. Now, those are unions.

Whether you are in Denver, NC, or Denver, CO, you need to understand investing in teacher pay is not to quench some thirst for greed. It is needed to keep the best and most experienced teachers here in North Carolina, teaching our students because those students are the biggest investment we have. Many of them go on to be successful private sector employers. Your website devotes a great deal of space explaining the importance you place on family-centered values. I think the vast majority of NC families believe their children – who are the future of this state – are valuable enough to make teacher pay attractive to the best educators, regardless of the cost of living.

And last, whether you intended it or not, the tone in your response to Ms. Wiles came across as condescending and patronizing. It was not a tone or attitude you would want to witness in a classroom, and it certainly is not an attitude North Carolinians want to witness in their legislators.

Sincerely,

Stuart A. Egan, MAEd., Ed. S., NBCT

West Forsyth High School English Teacher

10-month employee, 12-month educator

Categories Education Reform, North Carolina, Teachers

North Carolina Teacher: “I Am Embarrassed to Confess: I Am a Teacher”

By dianeravitch
May 20, 2014 //
86

Sarah Wiles, a science teacher in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools with six years experience and a master’s degree, sent an email to every member of the North Carolina General Assembly with the subject line: “I am embarrassed to confess: I am a teacher.”

This was her email:

“From: Sarah Wiles

“Sent: Tuesday, May 06, 2014 6:47 PM

“Every year there is a debate on teacher compensation. This is only exacerbates during election years. However, nothing happens. As a sixth year teacher, I have only seen a pay increase once (and then again after plunging myself into debt by earning my Masters in Education). I have attended rallies, joined NCAE, petitioned, and worn red (or blue and white, or whatever color of the rainbow I was required to wear to “show my support’). Nothing ever changes, except my wardrobe. So, that brings me to this one request: leave me alone.

“I am so tired of being lied to about how important I am and how valuable I am. I am also sick and tired of politicians making my profession the center of attention and paying it lip-service by visiting a school, kneeling next to a child, shaking my hand and thanking me, telling the nightly news that I deserve a raise, and then proceeding to speak through the budget that I am not worth it. If you aren’t going to do anything, and you know nothing will change, just leave me alone. I would rather be ignored than disrespected.

“And on the topic of disrespect, our salary is disrespectful. I tutor my own students for free four days a week after school until I have to go to my next job. I tutor outside of school for pay about fifteen hours a week, and that includes weekends. I also babysit. And I manage pools and teach pool operator classes. And, I currently have an application for summer school being reviewed. I get home at eight pm, spend a half an hour with my husband, answer parent emails, fall asleep, and am back at work at seven am the next morning. I have come very accustomed to being disrespected. My students know that no one cares about education because they frequently ask me why I ever made the decision to become a teacher. Honestly, I am running out of answers. Do not misunderstand or misconstrue what I am saying as apathy for my students (I love them more than most adults), but I can no longer defend that North Carolina cares about education because they are not willing to pay for it. It’s a lie and everyone knows it.

“I know that you all will continue talking about how important teachers are and weaving those wonderful words that tax payers love to hear from the people who are “leading” them that make them believe that it isn’t all about the bottom line and that you care about their kids and the public education system. But, I am calling your bluff. If you continue to do nothing even though you can do something, you should be ashamed. I am embarrassed for you. I am embarrassed by you. And, save for my students, I am embarrassed by being a teacher in North Carolina, the doormat of society.”

Sarah Wiles, M.A.Ed.”

She received a response from Senator David Curtis of Denver, North Carolina, which was copied to every other legislator. Note that he addressed her by her first name, which struck me as condescending.

He wrote:

From: Sen. David Curtis

“Date: May 12, 2014 at 9:46:57

“Dear Sarah,

“I have given your e-mail titled “I am embarrassed to confess: I am a teacher” some thought, and these are my ideas. A teacher has an incredible influence on students–for good or for bad. My teachers, coaches, and Boy Scout leaders had a great influence on my decision to go to college which was not a family tradition. My concern is that your students are picking up on your attitude toward the teaching profession. Since you naturally do not want to remain in a profession of which you are ashamed, here are my suggestions for what you should tell your potential new private sector employer:

“1. You expect to make a lot more than you made as a teacher because everyone knows how poorly compensated teachers are.

“2. You expect at least eight weeks paid vacation per year because that is what the taxpayers of North Carolina gave you back when you were a poorly compensated teacher

“3. You expect a defined contribution retirement plan that will guarantee you about $35,000 per year for life after working 30 years even if you live to be 104 years old. Your employer will need to put about $16,000 per year into your retirement plan each year combined with your $2,000 contribution for the next 30 years to achieve this benefit. If he objects, explain to him that a judge has ruled that the taxpayers of North Carolina must provide this benefit to every public school teacher. Surely your new employer wants to give better benefits than the benefits you received as a poorly compensated teacher.

“4. Your potential employer may tell you that he has heard that most North Carolina workers make less than the national average because we are a low cost-of-living- state, private sector workers making 87% of the national average and teachers making 85% of the national average. Tell him that may be true, but to keep that confidential because the teachers union has convinced parents that teachers are grossly undercompensated based on a flawed teachers union survey of teacher pay.

“I support the teacher pay raise but am very concerned that the teachers union has successfully presented to the public a deceptive view of total teacher compensation that is simply not consistent with the facts.

“Sincerely,

“Senator David Curtis”

Categories North Carolina, Resistance, Teachers

GOOD NEWS: NC Court Overturns State Law Ending Tenure

By dianeravitch
May 16, 2014 //
46

North Carolina Superior Court Judge Robert H. Hobgood ruled that the state’s effort to eliminate teacher tenure was unconstitutional.

“Superior Court Judge Robert H. Hobgood ruled this morning that the state’s repeal of teacher tenure, also known as “career status,” and the 25 percent contract system that would award temporary employment contracts to those who relinquish their tenure, are both unconstitutional. Hobgood issued a permanent injunction.

“It’s a great day for teachers in North Carolina,” said Rodney Ellis, President of the North Carolina Association of Educators, following Hobgood’s ruling.

– See more at: http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2014/05/16/breaking-court-rules-that-repeal-of-teacher-tenure-25-contracts-unconstitutional/#sthash.LmEaN7Ii.dpuf

Categories North Carolina, Teacher Tenure

North Carolina: McCrory Proposes to Raise Teachers’ Salaries

By dianeravitch
May 9, 2014 //
13

North Carolina, once seen as the most forward-looking state in the South, has become an educational backwater in recent years, despite winning Race to the Top funding. The governor and legislature have skimped on public schools, cut their budgets, while expanding deregulated charters and introducing vouchers. They even eliminated their own NC Teaching Fellows program to prepare career teachers while spending millions to bring in Teach for America temps. Teachers’ salaries have been flat since 2008, and NC teacher pay dropped from the national average to nearly last in the nation. The state has been experiencing a major brain drain of veteran teachers, under the withering assaults of the legislature and governor.

Last February, the governor announced a pay raise, but only for new teachers. This eases the path for the TFA recruits (the governor’s senior education adviser is a TFA alum).

This week, the governor announced a series of pay raises for all teachers, as well as small increases for textbooks and preschool. He did not explain how he will pay for his proposals. The legislature previously enacted major corporate tax cuts. Some of his proposals involve pay for performance, with increases tied to test scores, a widely discredited approach that has many believers.

Some of the increases fail to restore the previous deep cuts. For example:

“Acknowledging that the deep cuts that have been made to the textbook budget are not good for students, the Governor pledged to double the current textbook budget to $43 million. In 2009, however, the textbook budget was roughly $110 million – the next year it was slashed to just $2.6 million. Early childhood education will receive $3.6 million with the Governor’s proposal, enough for around 700 pre-K slots, which are reserved for low-income children to get a head start on their education. Past years’ cuts in funding have left the pre-K program with significant waiting lists that are in the tens of thousands.”

– See more at: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/2014/05/08/gov-mccrory-unveils-latest-teacher-pay-and-education-reform-plan/#sthash.oasfgXeJ.dpuf

Categories North Carolina

North Carolina May Drop Common Core

By dianeravitch
April 25, 2014 //
83

The North Carolina legislature is deciding whether to back out of the Common Core standards.

As a critic of the Common Core, I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, I would be pleased to see a state that won Race to the Top funding telling Arne Duncan “No, thanks,” we don’t take orders from you.

On the other, the North Carolina legislature is so extremist and so hostile to public education that I fear what might be acceptable to them.

This is what it means to be between a rock and a hard place.

Maybe Jeb Bush and the Fordham Institute will talk them out of it and remind them why conservatives are supposed to love Common Core.

Categories Common Core, North Carolina

Breaking News: NC Judge Blocks Anti-Tenure Law

By dianeravitch
April 23, 2014 //
87

A judge in Guilford County, North Carolina, ruled that the district and Durham Counties do not have to comply with a state law intended to take away tenure.

It’s not yet clear whether e the ruling applies statewide or only to the districts that opposed the law.

But for now, teachers view it as vindication of their claim that the law violates the state constitution.

Districts were supposed to offer $500 a year for the top 25% of their teachers if they abandoned due process rights.

“RALEIGH, N.C. — A Guilford County judge on Wednesday halted a requirement that North Carolina school districts offer a quarter of their teachers multi-year contracts as an enticement for them to give up their so-called “career status” protections.

“Special Superior Court Judge Richard Doughton issued an injunction that allows Guilford County Schools to evade the requirement, which lawmakers passed last year as part of the state budget.

“Durham Public Schools last month joined a lawsuit filed by the Guilford County school district, and more than a quarter of the 115 school districts statewide have expressed opposition to contract requirement.

“Under career status, commonly referred to as tenure, veteran teachers are given extra due process rights, including the right to a hearing if they are disciplined or fired.

“Lawmakers asked school districts to identify the top 25 percent of their teachers and offer them new four-year contracts with $500 annual salary increases. In exchange, those teachers would lose their tenure rights. The provision aims to move North Carolina to a performance-based system for paying teachers instead of one based on longevity.

“A spokeswoman for Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, who initially crafted the tenure elimination proposal, said legislative leaders plan to seek an appeal of Doughton’s injunction.

“It is hard to fathom why a single judge and a small group of government bureaucrats would try to deny top-performing teachers from receiving a well-deserved pay raise,” Amy Auth said in an email. “We will appeal this legal roadblock and continue to fight for pay increases for our best teachers.”

Because if low pay and the legislsture’s attacks on teachers, North Carolina has experienced unprecedented resignations among veteran teachers. The legislature, for example, abolished the respected five-year NC Teaching Fellows program while allotting $5 million to TFA.

Categories North Carolina, Teacher Tenure

Vivian Connell’s Journey: On Her Way

By dianeravitch
April 20, 2014 //
1

You have read here about the courageous journey of Vivian Connell. She lives in North Carolina, where she was a teacher for many years. In 2010, discouraged by the state legislature’s hostility to teachers and low salaries, she left the classroom to enter law school. She graduated last May with honors. Vivian recently learned she has ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease, and she returned to teaching for whatever time remains to her. Her goal right now is to raise $20,000 to take her class to the U. S. Holocaust Museum in D. C.

Read her story here.

You can find the link here to make a donation. Send $5, $10, $25, whatever you can afford.

Let’s help Vivian fulfill her dream.

Do it in the spirit of Easter. Or Passover. Or humanity.

Categories North Carolina, Teachers and Teaching
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