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Letting “Churches Reach The Next Generation” During Public School Hours? | caffeinated rage
One of the more interesting bills filed so far this legislative session is SB 92, the "Released Time Education Act". More about this bill is explained in this report: "The legislation comes as LifeWise Academy, a national organization that offers Bible education to public school students during school hours, has been preparing to expand into North…
About That “False premise that the United States is built upon ‘systemic and structural racism’” Letter | caffeinated rage
The following letter was sent this past Friday (Valentine's Day of all days) to every educational institution that receives any type of funding from the federal government. It comes from Craig Trainor, the acting Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights in the Dept. of Education. In it he states, “Educational institutions have toxically indoctrinated students with…
45% Drop In … | caffeinated rage
... students declaring education as a major in UNC's public university system which is the largest supplier of teachers into our state's public schools. Public Schools First NC continues to be a foundational resource for public school advocates and every year they update their "Fact Sheets" to shed a true light on the state of…
How Local Supplements For Teachers Are Propagandized By Raleigh (Average Teacher Salary Vs. Percentage Raise) | caffeinated rage
Look at the average teacher salary in North Carolina. Then look at the average pay increase that Raleigh may be giving to teachers in a certain budget cycle. Those two values are not looking at the same set of numbers. When politicians and policy makers in Raleigh talk about average salary they are counting in…
North Carolina Still Has a Severe Teacher & Teacher Candidate Shortage That Raleigh Deliberately Created | caffeinated rage
Think of these actions over the last twelve years in North Carolina as far as public education is concerned: Teacher Pay Removal of due-process rights for new teachers Graduate Degree Pay Bumps Removed Push for Merit Pay “Average” Raises Health Insurance and Benefits Changes Attacks on Teacher Advocacy Groups (NCAE) Revolving Door of Standardized Tests …
North Carolina Should Reinstate The 12-Month Installment Pay Plan For Teachers | caffeinated rage
Beginning in the 2021-2022 school year, North Carolina stopped supporting a well-known and highly used program for teachers and other “10-month” educators: installment pay plans. This allowed for educators to receive their salaries in 12 increments so that each month brought a paycheck and keep a financial equilibrium for those who wanted the installment plan.…
Do You Know How Public Schools in NC Are Funded? | caffeinated rage
The Public School Forum of North Carolina’s publication the 2014 Local School Finance Study provides a great history of the state’s practice in funding public schooling which is rooted in the proclamation that all children in the state ages 6-21 are guaranteed a good public education. The publication stated: North Carolina’s first state constitution in 1776 included…
February, 2025: Numbers To Consider | caffeinated rage
The most current numbers for the following: Here is a link to November, 2024 and December, 2024. Average Gas Price Average Milk Price Average Egg Prices Average Bread Price Federal Interest Rate Dow Jones Index Inflation Rate NC Tax Rates NC Minimum Wage Unemployment Rates Unemployment Benefits Number of People Who Enrolled in ACA coverage…
NC Needs The Department Of Education | caffeinated rage
Some quick reminders of how much NC’s public education system relies on funding from the federal government. That is NC in that “top 10” states in federal share of public education funds. And there are a lot of public post-secondary schools in NC. Ten of those institutions are HBCUs. And NC is not very good at…
SB 48 – “Access For All” To Play A Sport At A Public School? | caffeinated rage
This past week Senate Bill 48 was introduced that would " PERMIT STUDENTS WHO ATTEND A PUBLIC SCHOOL, PRIVATE SCHOOL, OR HOME SCHOOL WITHOUT AN INTERSCHOLASTIC ATHLETICS PROGRAM IN A GIVEN SPORT OR PARTICULAR EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THAT ACTIVITY AT A PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL." This ironically named "Access ... for All" bill would…
Now We Trail Mississippi: Another “Badge” For NC’s Treatment Of Teachers | caffeinated rage
Scott Sexton's column in today's Winston-Salem Journal is only repeating what most teachers who have been in our public schools have known for years: North Carolina sucks at paying its teachers. But it is very important to keep informing the public of what is happening. Three specific items he highlights: Per the data, North Carolina…
What If Teachers Only Worked The Hours They Were Contracted For? | caffeinated rage
Over a course of ten months, North Carolina public school teachers are officially employed for 215 days. Students in North Carolina typically go to school at least 180 days a school year. Most LEA’s define a contracted day of work as being eight hours for a teacher. Imagine what would happen if educators only worked…
Does Your School System Have A Stance On ICE (And The DHS Directive)? | caffeinated rage
Yes. They can come into schools without a warrant to arrest undocumented immigrants. They can come into churches and hospitals as well. If there is a church that runs a private school which takes voucher money, then it can be raided to get undocumented immigrants of any age. From the Department of Homeland Security: “This…
So, How Many EC Teachers Does Your District Need? | caffeinated rage
According to this morning's TeachNC recruitment site: And as was reported last week: That WRAL report links to a previous report from last May. "Teacher turnover is wreaking havoc in classrooms across the country — especially as school systems struggle to fill vacancies. Educators say they’re fed up with low pay, increasing workloads and political…
This Is What Happens When You Don’t Fully Fund Public Schools | caffeinated rage
This headline from the end of last week is yet another indication of NC's failure to properly invest in public schools. "New complaints follow years of a worsening shortage of special education teachers that's leaving schools without qualified faculty and students without properly provided services." When a state that sits on a surplus and blatantly…
Teachers Should Have Known More About That PowerSchool “Data Breach” | caffeinated rage
When you as a teacher receive an email like what follows, it can be rather offsetting. I can understand why it was sent, and I can understand that because of the timing and the need for investigation, but it is still unsettling to think that all of that vital info could have been compromised. But…
Public School Coaches Need Much Higher Stipends – ALL OF THEM! | caffeinated rage
If you teach long enough in the public schools, you will be fortunate enough to come across some great individuals who coach sports teams all the while teaching these very players lessons of life and success even in the wake of defeat. And I want to scream that they need to have much higher stipends.…
Post-Helene “Revenue Drop” Will Hurt Schools Even More | caffeinated rage
Remember that our NC General Assembly has refused to fully fund public schools according to the LEANDRO decision. And as it stands, NC ranks near the very bottom of state rankings for funding public schools. Then there is the one-edged sword that the NCGA wields over local LEAs when they dictate mandates for public school…
Character Cannot Be Measured By An EOC Test | caffeinated rage
“We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education."Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. There exists no EOC or standardized test that can measure what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. speaks about in the above quote.
From Common Core To CRT To Woke Politics: Years Of Educational Reform Straw Men In North Carolina | caffeinated rage
Peter Greene, a teacher/writer who writes both a highly regarded blog Curmudgucation and regular column for Forbes.com, had this very good post back in 2021. When is the last time that you heard about Common Core being the downfall of our public schools? Probably when it was a way to gaslight issues to use public schools as a…
A History Of Not Raising Teachers’ Pay In NC: 2006-2024 | caffeinated rage
Below is a table that tallies the top step salaries for teachers with a Master’s Degree in North Carolina without adjustment for inflation. It starts with 2006-2007 school year and ends with the most recently completed school year of 2023-2024. Imagine being a teacher who starts in each of those years looking at the salary…
Are You On The Griffin List? | caffeinated rage
Just do a search on the internet for "Jefferson Griffin challenge" and you will get an ever growing number of sustainable hits on the farce that is Jefferson Griffin's attempt to steal an election to the North Carolina Supreme Court. He is trying to have 60,000 votes thrown out for reasons that still defy the…
So, They Want To Take Away Teacher Pension? | caffeinated rage
One of the best benefits of being a veteran teacher and one of the best ways to help people commit to a full career to the teaching profession is the pension plan. Retirement is based on the average of four highest paid years of a teacher’s career. According to the 2024-2025 salary schedule, the most…
Funding NC’s Public Schools: Attendance Vs. Enrollment | caffeinated rage
Consider that North Carolina has routinely for the last ten-plus years ranked at the bottom of states in the country at funding its public schools. And then consider how much money has been steered into unregulated private school vouchers here in North Carolina, how much corporate taxes have been lowered over the last decade, and…
There Are Other Things FROZEN In NC Such As Teacher Salaries | caffeinated rage
Here is the salary schedule that is in place for the 2024-2025 school year. For those who are not teachers, make sure to pay attention to years 15-24. Frozen. Like that precipitation outside in many NC homes right now. 10 years of the same. There is no longevity pay during these years as well. Someone…
When The Insurance Premiums Teachers Pay Keep Up With Inflation, But Salaries Don’t | caffeinated rage
Look closely at what the new NC State Treasurer says in this recent report. “We are going to have to do a number of uncomfortable things. With a $507 million shortfall, the uncomfortable pieces are now inevitable. The obvious one is premiums. Those have been held flat for a decade, and I commend Treasurer Folwell…
So, How’s The New Health Care Plan Working For You? | caffeinated rage
This is certainly not too surprising given the way this state has treated its social services and its employees. From last August: “The North Carolina State Health Plan may be unable to stay afloat by fall 2026, according to State Treasurer Dale Folwell. Why the state legislature is withholding the funds needed to keep the…
The “Gulf Of America” & The Horrible Civics Lesson Being Taught At The NC Supreme Court | caffeinated rage
Renaming large bodies of water and winners of duly elected offices seem to be on the menu today. First: "The North Carolina Supreme Court issued an order on Tuesday blocking the state from certifying a winner in the race for a seat on the high court." The highest court of law in the state actually…
NC Doesn’t Have To Just Worry About Recruiting Teacher Candidates. It Needs To Worry About Retaining Current Teachers. | caffeinated rage
That “slide” above is from a 2019 presentation about the Teachers’ and State Employees’ Retirement System (TSERS) Retirement Planning. 2019 was before the COVID-19 pandemic. It would be interesting and predictably disheartening to question LEA HR directors about how many calls they are fielding from veteran teachers concerning retirement and early retirement requirements and possibilities. As…
They’ve Had Over 12 Years To “Fix” Public Education. Instead They Have Been Tearing It Apart. | caffeinated rage
Sen. Phil Berger and his cronies have had over 12 years to “improve” our public education system. 12. More than the number of grades in a standard progression through a public school. Here are a few of the actions taken in those 12+ years. 1. Teacher Pay Kept Well Below National Average 2. Removal of Due-Process Rights …
So, Are Public School Teachers State Employees Or Local Employees? (Depends On Who Doesn’t Want To Raise Salaries). | caffeinated rage
If you have been a teacher in North Carolina for at least 20 years, you will remember that public school teachers do not get longevity pay any longer. Similar to an annual bonus, longevity pay is something that all state employees in North Carolina — except, now, for teachers — gain as a reward for continued service.…
How To Track NCGA Education Bills | caffeinated rage
Oftentimes, most of the bills and mandates that get thrown around in Raleigh during the long and short sessions go unseen in the public eye. There is just not enough time and bandwidth to research everything much less know where to investigate. Added to that is the intentional misleading maneuvering that goes into crafting legislation…
We Still Suck At Funding Our Public Schools | caffeinated rage
Remember that the NC Supreme Court failed to act on the LEANDRO court decision... again. Remember that this has been the trend for over a decade. WFAE's report states: The Education Law Center's 2024 report on "Making the Grade" can be found here. The shift in NC's willingness to fund its public schools came as…
The Lumps Of Coal For 2024 | caffeinated rage
As we ready ourselves for another new calendar year and return to begin the second half of our school year, please remember all those people who could have done the right thing and helped public education more. From delaying budgets, betraying voters, to expanding nontransparent vouchers, those who qualify for copious lumps of coal are…
This New Year Is An Opportune Time To Talk About Investing In More Teacher Assistants | caffeinated rage
"We conclude that teacher assistants are a cost-effective means of raising student achievement, especially in reading." North Carolina has over 7400 fewer teacher assistants than it did thirteen years ago. Let me repeat: North Carolina has over 7400 fewer teacher assistants than it did over a decade ago. When study after study published by leading education…
20% Of NC’s State Jobs Are Vacant. And That’s Not Even Counting Teachers. | caffeinated rage
One in five state jobs in North Carolina is vacant. Ned Barnett's op-ed in the News & Observer accurately shows why this is a deliberate problem. "After years of the Republican-controlled legislature handing out stingy raises and short-term bonuses, state employees’ inflation-adjusted pay has decreased, benefits have eroded and job vacancies have soared. Republican lawmakers,…
Merry Christmas And Happy Coup Year From The North Carolina General Assembly GOP | caffeinated rage
“Merry Christmas!” from the GOP constituency of the North Carolina General Assembly. In the spirit of giving, they have reminded all of us that the most precious gifts are the ones you give to yourself at the expense of others especially during the holiday season. Besides nothing is more American than Christmas, except maybe backhanded…
Christmas Eve, 2024: Numbers To Consider | caffeinated rage
The most current numbers for the following: Average Gas Price Average Milk Price Average Egg Prices Average Bread Price Federal Interest Rate Dow Jones Index Inflation Rate NC Tax Rates NC Minimum Wage Unemployment Rates Unemployment Benefits Number of People Who Enrolled in ACA coverage Number of Students in NC Public Schools (K-12) Number of…