Tag: ncga

TFA vs. NC Teaching Fellows

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June 12, 2013 at 10:11 amCategory:Uncategorized

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WUNC’s Dave DeWitt has a good story this morning comparing Teach for America in NC to the 30-year old NC Teaching Fellows program.

The NC Teaching Fellows program awards $6,500/year scholarships for tuition at an in state college to North Carolina high school students interested in teaching. In return, students must teach for four years in North Carolina after graduation.

According to DeWitt:

The Teaching Fellows program has had a transformative effect on the profession in North Carolina: currently more than 4,000 teachers are Teaching Fellows. And more than three-quarters stay on as teachers past five years.

Despite these results, the Republican-controlled Legislature abruptly cut the program two years ago.

Teach for America, on the other hand, is gaining momentum in North Carolina:

Teach For America will place more teachers in eastern North Carolina than ever starting this fall, and TFA’s political influence has grown here has, as well. Governor Pat McCrory recently named a former TFA teacher as his new education advisor. Nationally, Teach For America has a budget of around $300 million, drawing donors like the Bill and Melinda Gates and Walton Family Foundations.

Fast forward then to last month, and the State Senate’s proposed budget (pdf). For the third straight year, the Teaching Fellows annual budget of $13 million went unfunded, as it did in the Governor’s version of the budget.

Teach For America, meanwhile, is poised to get a new initial allocation of $6 million in the Senate budget.

While the House budget restores the Teaching fellows program, the Senate is on track to support TFA over the native program that trained and retained such a large percentage of its participants over the years.

The House’s final vote on its budget comes this afternoon.

House committee members vote to include $50 million in budget for private school vouchers

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June 11, 2013 at 4:35 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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Members of the House appropriations committee gathered today to debate their proposed budget for 2013-15.

The budget includes all of the language from the school voucher bill, or HB 944 Opportunity Scholarship Act, which would siphon $50 million over two years from public education and funnel that money to private schools.

Rep. Chris Whitmire, a Republican from Transylvania County, put forth an amendment that would have removed the school voucher language from the budget, calling the voucher bill a “Trojan horse” that would have brought the government into private settings and had not been fully vetted by the entire House. Read More…

What’s happening in education this week

April 29, 2013 at 3:33 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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I’ve learned that when the General Assembly is in session, there’s a lot to keep track of – especially this time around. Here’s a roundup of what to expect this week in Raleigh if you’re following education news.

State Board of Education Monthly Meeting
The State Board of Ed meets Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning in the 7th Floor Board Room, Education Building, 301 N. Wilmington Street, Raleigh. Click here for Wednesday’s agenda and here for Thursday’s. Some highlights include:

  • College and career endorsements for HS diplomas;
  • Revocation of charter for Children’s Village Academy;
  • Recommendation to deny charter school enrollment increases; and
  • Presentation from graduate students of Duke’s Terry Sanford School of Public Policy on how to restructure teacher compensation.  Read More…

Is Handwriting a Fundamental Right?

April 25, 2013 at 3:49 pmCategory:Uncategorized

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The cursive bill just passed its third reading in the Senate and it’s on its way to passage.

Is Zaner-Bloser, the firm linked to the bill, is now feeling a little less worried about the possibility of  ”a world without handwriting?”

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After watching this video, I was left to wonder if my son would never be able to communicate with Santa. With this bill, does he have a better shot at getting what he wants for Christmas?

Back to Basics: Time to brush up on your cursive

March 26, 2013 at 11:29 amCategory:Uncategorized

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This morning, the House Education Committee considered HB 146, Back to Basics, which would mandate mastery of cursive by fifth grade and memorization of multiplication tables. House members supported the bill, introduced by Reps. Hurley, Warren and Shepherd, with few reservations.

Rep. Cotham expressed her support for HB 146, emphasizing that many historical documents are in cursive. However, she called for provisions for students with special needs who could not master cursive writing or the memorization of multiplication tables.

Rep. Graham echoed Rep. Cotham’s concerns and noted the opportunity for evaluations and occupational therapy as a result of some students’ inability to become proficient in these areas.

Rep. Stam expressed some reservations about the bill. “What you really want is legible communication. For some that is cursive, for others, that is print. So, what is the point? Do you want communication or a particular format that is not the best communication method for everyone,” said Stam.

Also unclear was how to go about assessing whether or not mastery of cursive or memorization of multiplication tables actually takes place.

The bill passed through committee.

HB 317, Improve Ed. for Children Who Are Deaf, also passed through committee. The bill would provide annual assessments for deaf students to assess their literacy gains, require that residential and day schools for the deaf are part of a spectrum of choices available to parents, and create a database that specifically identifies deaf and hard hearing children to track literacy gains and ensure their literacy achievement.

Prior to discussion of these bills, House members favorably recommended House Joint Resolution 21, which would set the stage for a joint session to confirm McCrory’s six State Board of Education nominees. The joint session will take place at a later date.