teachers
National Council on Teacher Quality: Increasing teacher diversity requires a sustained commitment
In North Carolina, there’s a 30 percentage point gap between students of color and teachers of color, according to a new report by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). Students of color are 55% of the state’s public school enrollment and teachers 25% of teachers identify as people of color. The teacher/student diversity numbers […]
Plagued by teacher shortages, some states turn to fast-track credentialing
Faced with alarming teacher shortages, Virginia last month agreed to partner with a for-profit online teacher credentialing company, hoping to get more teachers into classrooms faster and without the higher tuition costs of traditional colleges and universities. While some of the Virginia school board members had qualms about the process, they agreed to give it […]
Research, gubernatorial letter highlight struggles of childcare industry, workers
Research indicates that the early childhood education sphere is still feeling the effects of the pandemic in North Carolina.
Weekend reads: Voting rights take center stage, a glimpse at the issues driving the 2024 elections, and a big infusion of cash to help aspiring NC teachers
In this issue: 1. “A jumbo jet of a voter suppression bill.” NC Democrats denounce Republicans’ proposed voting restrictions. By Lynn Bonner and Chantal Brown Democrats in the North Carolina legislature are rebuking a new Senate bill that would make it harder for voters to cast mail-in ballots that would count toward candidate totals. Legislative […]
‘I’m scared to become a teacher’: Gun violence sparks frank assessment by aspiring educator
“Mike Hill, 61 Katherine Koonce, 60 Cynthia Peak, 61 Evelyn Dieckhaus, 9 Hallie Scruggs, 9 and William Kinney, 9.” Kurstin Howe opened her remarks to the Wake County School Board last week remembering each victim of the Nashville, Tennessee, school shooting in March. Howe is a Meredith College student and part of the future […]
Child care teachers would become eligible for child care subsidy under House Bill 483
A House bill filed Monday would establish a pilot program to allow child care teachers employed full time by a licensed child care program to automatically become eligible to receive a child care subsidy for their preschool-age children. House Bill 483 was filed by Rep. Davis Willis, a Union County Republican. Under the bill, the […]
Senate Bill 202 would restore master pay for ‘certain educators’
A bill filed this week in the Senate would restore master’s pay for certain educators. Senate Bill 202, titled “An Act to Reinstate Education-Based Salary Supplements For Certain Teachers and Instructional Support Personnel. was filed by Sen. Danny Earl Britt, a Republican from Robeson County. North Carolina’s Republican-led General Assembly eliminated additional pay for advanced […]
Legislative committee hears from national expert on building and keeping a strong, diverse teacher workforce
Lowering standards to attract people of color to the teaching profession is bad policy, a national education expert told state lawmakers on Monday. Heather Peske, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), said that relaxing standards for passing licensure exams “perpetuates the myth that racial diversity is equivalent to less skill.”
North Carolina’s teacher shortage: the inevitable result of the General Assembly’s decade-long effort to degrade the profession
While there are many disagreements in education policy, nearly all researchers agree that within the school walls, there’s nothing more important than an excellent teacher. North Carolina’s Supreme Court agrees. In 2004, they established that staffing each classroom with a competent, well-trained teacher is vital to providing students with the “sound basic” education guaranteed under […]
The best editorial of the weekend decries the right’s war on teachers
In case you missed it, be sure to check out the Sunday lead editorial that appeared in the Greensboro News & Record and Winston-Salem Journal. In “A new attack on teachers,” the authors highlight and rightfully decry the most recent efforts by conservative politicians to gin up unwarranted hostility toward the nation’s beleaguered corps of […]