Education in North Carolina seems to be in perpetual crisis mode. In all honesty, we have a mess. We still have a class size mandate that is draining our counties of funds and space. We have a dreadful principal pay policy with consequences on the horizon. There are no textbooks in many schools; there are …
Well, here we are. Election Day eve. To the millions of North Carolinians who have already voted, congratulations and thank you! If you haven’t already voted, I would like to lead you with a few closing thoughts: This Democracy thing; it’s hard. It’s a system of government that demands a lot of its citizens. We …
Welcome Michelle Burton our guest blogger! Michelle Burton has been a public school library media specialist for 23 years in the state of North Carolina (Alamance, Durham and Wake counties) She believes all students deserve a high quality, well-rounded education and art, music, P.E. and school libraries staffed by highly educated professionals is apart of …
A child died today in North Carolina, shot at his own school. As of right now, I do not know the circumstances surrounding the shooting, and it would be irresponsible for me to speculate. But I can say, with certainty, that it is a tragedy that a child — any child — had access to …
We finally made it. It’s voting time. It all comes down to this, the vote. We have the opportunity to change things for the better in the state. This is why on many days you’ll find me greeting voters at the poll. I’m assisting a representative that has a proven public education record. I’m also …
Early voting is in full swing, so I’m taking a break from the Amendments (Nix all Six!) to talk a little bit about how to spot pro-public education candidates, from state level legislators down to school board. Nobody (well, almost nobody) ever comes out and says “I do not support public education.” So in general, …
One of my proudest moments as a public education advocate was being on stage for the Rally for Respect on May 16th 2018. My speech was entitled: A Reason to Rally. I still can’t believe that I was there. It was exhilarating and I was honored to speak. The rally seems like it happened so …
I never thought much about other public institutions or why they are important or even how they work in conjunction with our public schools. That is, until I had to use one. My story isn’t unique by any means, but it is important. You see at 18 months, my son didn’t make a sound. He …
Wow, this past week really flew! And now I’m finally getting around to the post I teased last week, about one of the amendments on the ballot that inspired all living former NC governors and all living former chief justices of the NC Supreme Court to oppose it: the judicial appointments amendment. First, a quick …
I had the privilege of attending the Color of Education event this week. I’m still trying to digest everything said by the wonderful Nikole Hannah-Jones. She was blunt and funny about a subject that most people dance around. She spoke about race and integration. I encourage all of you to tune into Public School Forum’s …