Tag: teachers

Fayetteville Observer decries state’s teacher pay crisis

March 11, 2013 at 8:31 amCategory:Uncategorized

by

This morning’s editorial in the Fayetteville Observer takes on the subject of teacher pay in North Carolina and gets things pretty much on the money:

“Few things are beyond dispute, but this comes close: North Carolina will never become a mecca for top-flight teachers if teacher pay remains just four slots out of last place.

Fifteen years ago, lawmakers could and did seriously (although unproductively) debate bringing the state’s average up to the national average with a mere 7 percent raise. A decade ago, our average was 21st in the nation. Five years ago it was still in the middle of the pack.

Now it’s 46th. What was that about ‘throwing money at education’?”

Read the rest of the editorial by clicking here.

This morning’s Monday Numbers edition of the Fitzsimon File has all the sobering statistics on this issue.

The assault on public schools continues

March 1, 2013 at 12:01 pmCategory:Uncategorized

by

Two new items of note in Raleigh’s News & Observer highlight the ongoing existential threat to the future of public education in North Carolina posed by the state’s conservative political leadership.

Item #1 is an excellent editorial entitled “Voucher ploy could be disastrous to public schools.” In it, the paper rightfully blasts the legislature’s growing infatuation with privatizing public schools through the introduction of vouchers:

“Now, once again, some in the General Assembly want vouchers. The idea is presented as an opportunity for lower-income people, targeted to them in order to provide them with an educational ‘option.’ But the logic sounds more like a way to get a voucher foot in the door of the public bank. Read More…

Senator Berger outlines the far right plan

January 16, 2013 at 11:51 amCategory:Uncategorized

by

Phil BergerWRAL has video of all 36 minutes of Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger’s surprisingly far-ranging press conference today and today’s edition of the Fitzsimon File will have a thorough analysis shortly.

For those looking for some preliminary quick takeaways, however, here were a few of the highlights/low-lights:

Berger has decided to go all in with the far right agenda and appears to see it as his pathway to seeking the GOP nomination to take on Kay Hagan in 2014. Moreover, his legislative “agenda” was/is an utterly predictable recitation of Locke Foundation/Civitas/Art Pope priorities: Read More…

Budget cuts are not helping this problem

August 21, 2012 at 8:28 amCategory:Uncategorized

by

The folks at Public News Service highlighted an often underreported story this morning that confronts public school administrators at this time of year: the difficulty that schools have in attracting and retaining good teachers — especially in math and science.  The story focuses on the special challenges confronting poorer, rural districts, but as even the folks in bigger urban districts like Wake and Mecklenburg can readily attest, it is a statewide problem.

So, how could this be? Aren’t we in the midst of a prolonged period of high unemployment? Aren’t would-be teachers happy to have any job?

Well, it’s not quite that simple.  Several factors tend to work against stability in teacher employment. These include the following: Read More…

NBC 17 Story Sidesteps Issue of Declining Public School Personnel

February 15, 2012 at 2:15 pmCategory:Uncategorized

by

A news story that aired on Raleigh’s NBC-17 News last night claimed to offer a “reality check” on how budget cuts affected teaching jobs in North Carolina’s public schools.

Unfortunately, the story left viewers with a mistaken impression that North Carolina’s public schools have weathered recent budget cuts without losing many teaching positions. Although the story is correct to note that 534 teachers were laid off this school year, in addition to 1,260 teacher assistants (based on August 2011 data), layoffs are less relevant than positions lost when looking at the impact of budget cuts on North Carolina’s public schools.

According to the latest data from the NC Department of Public Instruction (NC DPI), North Carolina’s public schools (excluding charters) have 15,497 fewer full-time personnel this year compared to three years ago. Just under one in three of those position losses (4,840) occurred in the last year, and seven in ten of those lost positions since 2009 are the result of fewer teachers (5,134) and teaching assistants (5,738). Read More…