K-12
Class-size “fixes” likely to come up short
According to a recent report, members of the General Assembly are “in serious negotiations to work out a deal” to address the self-inflicted class-size fiasco. As a refresher, under current law, General Assembly members are requiring school districts dramatically reduce class sizes in grades K-3, but have failed to provide the necessary funding. To meet […]
See for yourself: The math clearly shows that 2018-19 class size requirements remain unfunded
Somehow, legislative leaders remain under the false notion that they have fully funded the 2018-19 K-3 class-size requirements. Recently, Sen. Phil Berger has claimed that since 2014, local school districts have received roughly $222 million to lower class sizes, and that this additional investment is sufficient to meet next year’s smaller class sizes. Senator Berger […]
Legislator sends inaccuracy-riddled email to Charlotte school parents
Yesterday, Rep. Scott Stone sent a email concerning education issues to parents with students in Charlotte’s Polo Ridge Elementary School that includes several glaring inaccuracies. The email purports to separate “facts” from “fiction” – yet nearly every one of the statements in the email is demonstrably wrong. Let’s debunk his points, one by one: “In […]
Top 10 class-size chaos talking points
The General Assembly returns to Raleigh on Wednesday, January 10. Public school advocates across the state will be pressing for leadership to bring an end to the class-size chaos inflicted upon North Carolina school districts via the General Assembly’s unfunded class-size mandate. As most readers know, the General Assembly has passed a law requiring school districts to […]
Final budget plan ignores past promises and irresponsibly underfunds teacher salary plan
North Carolina’s General Assembly leadership likes to tout its record of “fiscal responsibility.” A closer look at the 2017 budget’s teacher pay plan, however, shows that the salary plans are dangerously underfunded. Under-funding a $5.3 billion line-item is the opposite of fiscal responsibility. The General Assembly has budgeted $101.7 million to implement its 2017-18 salary […]
House Budget fails to fully fund its unambitious teacher salary plan
After much waiting, the House finally unveiled the full details of its budget last night, including its plan for teacher pay. Unfortunately, the plan is disappointingly unambitious, failing to provide the significant pay raises required to attract and retain the best possible candidates into the teaching profession. Astonishingly, the House fails to fully-fund this unambitious […]
House leadership should seize opportunity for ambitious teacher pay proposal
With the delayed release of the House budget proposal, legislative leaders have had ample opportunity to address the many shortfalls of the Senate budget proposal. Ideally, House leadership will take a more responsible approach towards funding future class-size requirements, resisting expansion of unaccountable voucher programs, and the dismantling of the Department of Public Instruction. However, […]
Senate teacher pay proposal fails both beginning and experienced teachers
The North Carolina Senate released its proposed FY 2017-18 teacher salary schedule this afternoon. Remarkably, the proposal is bad news for both beginning teachers and experienced teachers. As compared to the plan released earlier this spring by Governor Cooper, all teachers would fare worse under the Senate proposal. The Senate proposal, described as providing current […]
General Assembly must still provide $293 million in teacher money to settle class-size debate
On April 27th, the General Assembly passed, and the Governor signed, House Bill 13, bringing a temporary reprieve to North Carolina’s great class-size debate. The bill delayed the unfunded class-size requirements by one year, preserving elementary school students’ access to “enhancement courses” such as art, music, technology, and physical education for the 2017-18 school year. […]
Governor Cooper is underselling his teacher pay plan
Amidst the clamor over the General Assembly’s unfunded class-size mandate, Governor Cooper’s teacher pay plan has fallen from the North Carolina education headlines. However, teacher pay will certainly return to the forefront over the coming months as the North Carolina Senate and House release their budget proposals. As a result, it’s important to have a […]
Senate’s new and poorly-designed voucher program would expand avenues for educational fraud
Last week, Senators Barefoot, Clark, and Lee introduced SB 603, a bill creating a new voucher program that would provide approximately $9,000 per year to students with disabilities going to nonpublic schools. Known as “education savings accounts” or ESAs, these new types of vouchers differ from traditional vouchers in that parents may spend the money […]
Do General Assembly policymakers know everything they need to know about education policy?
If meeting agendas are any indication, General Assembly leaders apparently think they know everything they need to know about education policy. The General Assembly has effectively dismantled the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee (Ed Oversight) in recent years, and this year they’ve made unprecedented changes to the joint meetings of the House and Senate Education […]