The State of Teaching
Assessing Education in North Carolina
North Carolina Teens Behind International Peers In Math
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_hidrop] Teens in North Carolina lag behind many of their international peers in math. That’s according to the most recent results of the Program of International School Assessment, which measures math, reading and literacy among 15- year-olds. Students in more than 70 cities and countries around the world took the test last year, the frstthat North Carolina participated. Those scores were posted last month and put the state behind 36 locations in math. In a statement, Brenda Berg, president of business advocacy group BEST NC, called the state’s math results “alarming.” Scores here were roughly comparable with those in Lithuania, Hungary and Croatia, and behind those in Korea, Ireland and Vietnam. “But this PISA analysis is helpful and tells us that equitable access to high-quality educators is important,” Berg said. “To improve our standing in the country and the world, North Carolina must prioritize teacher and principal talent, especially for hard-to- staff subjects like math; and also for high-needs schools and students.” North Carolina’s science and reading scores were on par with those in the United Kingdom, Denmark and Sweden and exceeded results in 40 other regions. Singapore was the top performer in all three subjects tested. North Carolina State Superintendent June Atkinson said in a statement that she is heartened that local students scored roughly in line with national averages on the math, science and reading portions of the test. Massachusetts and Puerto Rico were the only other American regions that participated. “This information will help us as we review content standards and set expectations for the future,” Atkinson said. Click here to view North Carolina Teens Behind International Peers PDF [/vc_hidrop][/vc_column][/vc_row]
To Help New Teachers
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_hidrop] Imagine this scene at a college career fair: As potential job seekers mill about, they notice one recruiting poster that stands out: “Come work in a hierarchical organization where your voice will be underappreciated, where you will have few opportunities for professional collaboration, and your career choices are essentially the same as they were 50 years ago!” The representative at this display begs the soon-to-be graduates to come to her table, saying, “Wait! You will be relentlessly evaluated by systems that don’t accurately measure your true worth, you will have long hours, and the pay is low!” Of course, I exaggerate. But not my much. The U.S. Department of Education’s Teacher Shortage Area reportfor 2015-16 highlights the fact that school districts across the country are having significant difficulty finding and keeping new teachers. And while much has been written about why we are not able to find enough qualified people to teach our next generation of citizens and leaders, we seem destined to continue down a path towards what is truly a national crisis. In addition to the examples I alluded to in my imaginary example above, the reality of inconsistent administrative support, excessive paperwork, pressures of state testing, and inadequate funding are obviously having a major impact on our ability to attract and retain new teachers. Over the past year, I have had the privilege of participating in a number of initiatives that are taking a much needed look at this chronic problem, both for my state of North Carolina, as well as on a national level. This includes working with a team from the Center for Teaching Qualityon recommendations about alternatives to my state’s compensation model, using my role as a TeachStrong Ambassador to highlight ways to modernize and elevate the teaching profession, and most recently, participating in an Innovation Lab hosted by BEST NC, where education stakeholders from across the country were asked to reimagine the PK-12 teacher pipeline. While each of these initiatives was different in overall scope and detail, one overarching outcome was striking: We will never attract and retain enough high quality teachers by simply relying on outdated models that are misaligned with the expectations of the Millennial generation, especially as we move to a gigeconomy. Individuals with the capacity and skill to be highly effective teachers will readily choose to enter and then stay in this profession when they are not only paid a competitive wage, but when they are valued for what they bring to the table from day one; when they have ready access to formal and informal leadership opportunities through which they can take advantage of incentives to foster peer-collaboration and shared expertise; and when there exists a culture of empowerment to drive innovation and creativity throughout every classroom in every school. These are the characteristics of any highly successful organization and it’s well past the time that we should expect them to be embedded in the DNA of every school in this country. Call me naive, but I firmly believe that if we can boldly move away from the top-down models that were designed for a different era and embrace what has been proven to work dynamic organizations both in and out of education, then we will indeed begin bringing more new teachers into a profession that so desperately needs them. It would put a whole new twist on my hypothetical career fair. Sign me up! Ben Owens spent 20 years as an engineer in industry before becoming a math and physics teacher at Tri- County Early College High School in the Murphy, N.C. He is the 2016 North Carolina Science Technology & Mathematics Center’s 9-16 Outstanding Educator, a 2014 Hope Street Group National Teacher Fellow, TeachStrong Ambassador, a Virtual Community Organizer for the Center for Teaching Quality, and a member of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Teacher Advisory Council. Click here to view To Help New Teachers PDF [/vc_hidrop][/vc_column][/vc_row]
2016 Excellence Education Innovation Lab
Reimagining the Pipeline: Preparing PK-12 Teachers for Excellence. Thought leaders from around the state and nation gather to imagine innovative solutions for teacher recruitment and retention in North Carolina.
Fact Check: Does average NC teacher really make $50,000
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_hidrop] By Mark Binker RALEIGH, N.C. — No single claim has been used more often by more candidates this election season, or been more often questioned by critics and our readers, than the assertion that the average public school teacher in North Carolina will make $50,000 during the current school year. $50,000,” Republican Gov. Pat McCrory says in one of his most recent televisionads. The Carolina Partnership for Reform, a 501(c)(4) nonprofit group that backs Republicans such as Wake County Sens. Tamara Barringer, Chad Barefoot and JohnAlexander, says, “Now, for the first time, our teachers make over $50,000 a year.” Meanwhile, Democrats such as Attorney General Roy Cooper, who is running against McCrory, air spots and send direct mail decrying the state’s lack of teacher funding. THE QUESTION: Will the average North Carolina teacher make $50,000 in the upcoming year? SUMMARY JUDGMENT: That claim doesn’t appear to be a lie or purposeful exaggeration, but it doesn’t get a green light on our fact-checking scalefor two broad reasons. The first is purely a math question. For reasons outlined below, it’s impossible to say definitively whether average teacher pay will actually top $50,000 for the coming school year, according to both state government sources and outside analysts. But even if one assumes lawmakers hit their mark, teacher pay is complex, and the situation varies among the state’s 115 school districts. Just because the average teacher in North Carolina might make $50,000 doesn’t mean your child’s teacher will or that the average teacher in your local school system does. Boiling teacher pay down to one number papers over those important differences. ABOUT THE AVERAGE: The first thing to note about the average McCrory and other Republicans are putting forward is that it is based in part on rankings and methodology by the National EducationAssociation, which bills itself as “the nation’s largest professional employee organization” and is viewed as more sympathetic to Democrats than the GOP. Using the NEA’s methodology, North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction says average teacher salary was $47,931 in the 2015-16school year. Officials with the department say they won’t be able to calculate an estimated average for the current school year until at least December, when school districts will report a host of data to the state. Certainly, lawmakers have reason to think the average teacher salary will cross the $50,000 mark this year, as they outlined in their budget andrelated announcementsthat touted big raises. But not all teachers, especially those who have been in the profession the longest, will benefit from this year’s round of salary increases. On its website, Carolina Partnership for Reform pegs average teachersalary at a very specific $50,150per year. That number appears to come from the state budget, which says the “expected average salary for educators from all fund sources” will reach over $50,150 in 2016-17. That number is a projection and not a guarantee. Also, there is slight variation between the budget passed by lawmakers and how the administration talks about it. The Office of State Budget and Management says average teacher salaries will be “in excess of $50,000,” rather than $50,150, in its fact sheet on the budget. “We are very confident that teacher pay will get to $50k, taking into account both the teacher universe and teacher turnover,” Andrew Heath, McCrory’s budget director, said in an email. Outside experts suggest the claim is at least close to accurate. “We got pretty darned close to $50,000 when we did the math,” said Brenda Berg, executive director of BEST NC, an education advocacy group backed by large businesses in the state. Although her group’s estimates fell just shy of $50,000, BEST NC’s analyst also cautioned that it wasn’t prudent to make a firm projection until school districts report more information about their workforce, including teacher turnover. TURNOVER: Teacher turnover is an important factor because more experienced teachers make more money. If more senior teachers leave the profession, it will drag down the average salary. As WRAL News reported earlier this year, teacher turnover was close to 15 percent statewide last year. Kris Nordstrom of the liberal North Carolina Justice Center’s Educationand Law Projectand a fact check for WFDD-FM have posited that hitting the pay benchmarks outlined by lawmakers would require zero, or at least very little, teacher turnover. Heath, in an email, said that his office took turnover into account. However, fiscal analysts with the state legislature use a methodology that assumes no turnover, something they’ve done for the past decade or more. The uncertainty brought about by turnover is one big reason the Department of Public Instruction is unable to verify the $50,000 average. SUPPLEMENTS: Whether the average teacher salary turns out to be just over or under $50,000, it wouldn’t be close to that number without help from local taxpayers. In order to compile national figures that can be compared state-to-state, the NEA methodology figure lumps salary paid by the state together with local salary contributions. “You have to do that,” Berg said. “Most other states mainly fund salaries at the local level.” The reason this is an important is obvious to anyone looking at the statewide salary schedule for teachers. For the coming school year, teachers with a bachelor’s degree and no other certification will earn $35,000 per year. Without additional national board certifications or other salary boosters, teachers on the state salary schedule won’t earn more than $50,000 until their 25th year in the profession. That’s where local supplements come in. Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools, for example, supplements base payby 16 percent in a teacher’s first 19 yearsand pays a 25 percent supplement to those who have been in the profession 25 years or more. In Wake County, a first-year teacher with a bachelor’s degree earned $41,037.50 last year and, even before the last round of pay raises kickedin, would crest the $50,000 mark in his or her 15th year of teaching. That means there’s a big difference in what teachers in relatively large and wealthy school districts earn and what those in […]
NC teachers see broad raises, more bonus chances
[vc_row opacity=”1.00″ padding_top=”0px” padding_bottom=”0px” padding_left=”0px” padding_right=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” bg_type=”theme_default” bg_grad=”background: -webkit-gradient(linear, left top, left bottom, color-stop(0%, #FBFBFB), color-stop(50%, #E3E3E3), color-stop(100%, #C2C2C2));background: -moz-linear-gradient(top,#FBFBFB 0%,#E3E3E3 50%,#C2C2C2 100%);background: -webkit-linear-gradient(top,#FBFBFB 0%,#E3E3E3 50%,#C2C2C2 100%);background: -o-linear-gradient(top,#FBFBFB 0%,#E3E3E3 50%,#C2C2C2 100%);background: -ms-linear-gradient(top,#FBFBFB 0%,#E3E3E3 50%,#C2C2C2 100%);background: linear-gradient(top,#FBFBFB 0%,#E3E3E3 50%,#C2C2C2 100%);” parallax_style=”vcpb-default” bg_image_repeat=”no-repeat” bg_image_size=”cover” bg_img_attach=”fixed” parallax_sense=”30″ bg_override=”0″][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_hidrop] RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – The North Carolina legislature agreed on broad pay raises for public school teachers for the second time since 2014 and is aiming to jump-start again giving instructors even more when they take on additional responsibilities or their students make academic progress. The $22.3 billion budget on Gov. Pat McCrory’s desk for his expected signature purports to increase state-funded teacher and instructional staff salaries on average by 4.7 percent this fall. Budget-writers predict the adjustments will bring average salaries – when local supplements are added – above $50,000 statewide. The budget approved July 1 also directs bonuses to follow in January for many. Teachers would receive $25 or $50 for each student they taught who scored high this past year on Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate and technical certification tests, capped at $2,000.Andthird-gradeteachers whose students showed the best growth in reading skills could receive as much as$6,800. Both programs last two years. There also will be a three-year performance-pay program starting in fall 2017 in which 10 districts will be picked to offer teachers salary supplements of up to 30 percent. Similar ideas have been floated or experimented with over the past 30 years. A former statewide bonus program ended due to lack of funds and questions about effectiveness. “We put a heavy emphasis in this budget on training the teachers, offering teachers opportunities to grow, not just because they can earn more money but so they can take on more responsibility,” said Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union, an education budget-writer. Teachers getting raises would see increases from about 2 percent to 13 percent, depending on where they sat on the salary schedule last year. For example, a 10-year teacher making a base salary of $40,000 will make $41,000 this fall. A 19-year teacher making $43,500 will earn $48,000. Up to 2,700 of the 92,000 instructors funded by the state wouldn’t see any raise, according to the Department of Public Instruction. These teachers have worked at least 32 years in the schools and have been paid at rates separate from the salary schedule since 2014, when the schedule got consolidated. These teachers already make more than the schedule’s top rung of 25 years, increasing this fall from $50,000 to $51,000. Still, critics of Republican education policy are emphasizing how some teachers are being left out. “Again, experienced teachers in North Carolina get shortchanged,” North Carolina Association of Educators President Mark Jewell said. Attorney General Roy Cooper, who is running against McCrory this November, and other Democrats argue additional money for public school salaries and supplies instead are being rerouted to corporate tax cuts and for scholarships for more K-12 students to attend private schools. But Republicans say public education spending is at an all- time high and teacher pay is rebounding after the Great “This budget keeps our promises to support our public schools and raise teacher pay above $50,000,” Senate leader Phil Berger said in a release. The pay proposal likely will increase North Carolina’s average pay ranking in the South from ninth out of 12 states to seventh, according to the Public School Forum of North Carolina. This past year North Carolina was ranked 41st nationally at $47,985, according to the National Education Association. “Until we adopt a plan that brings our teachers to the national average in salaries, we’re going to continue hemorrhaging teachers to whoever the competition might be,” Senate Minority Leader Dan Blue, D-Wake. “It takes more than just keeping a campaign promise.” A budget provision says the Legislature wants a salary schedule in fall 2018 that will reduce the number of years teachers work to meet or exceed a $50,000 base salary from 25 years to 15 years. The schedule would still be capped at $51,000. Brenda Berg, president of BEST NC, a business-oriented education advocacy group, said the move toward paying higher salaries sooner reinforces the need for putting performance-based programs in place now to boost their earnings potential. “We need to give them a lot of real big opportunities to make more money,” said Berg. 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Solutions for low-performing schools
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_hidrop] The June 20 Focus article “How many failing schools are in NorthCarolina?” spent a full page splitting hairs over whether there are 80 or 135 or 299 or 415 or 500 low-performing schools in North Carolina. In fact, as more people chime in from all sides, the debate still seems to be about the numbers. Why so much debate about the number of low-performing schools in North Carolina? The fact that we have any schools in which students are failing to thrive academically is a tremendous problem both for the students and for the economy of North Carolina. We should spend our time and resources looking for solutions to serve the students in these schools. Whether there are 80 or 500 low-performing schools, the consequence is that thousands of students will either not graduate from high school or will graduate without the “sound, basic education” our state constitution promises, ill-equipped to succeed in work and life. What students in low-performing schools need more than anything else are a great teacher and principal each and every year, high expectations matched by rigorous academic opportunities and caring adults to help them tackle life’s challenges. Unfortunately, far too many students are missing at least one of these keys to success. Students in high-poverty schools are nearly half as likely as their more affluent peers to have access to teachers who are National Board Certified or rated as “highly effective.” Instead, they are nearly twice as likely to have a first-year teacher or a teacher who “needs improvement.” With every educator paid the same, regardless of where they teach or the challenges they help their students overcome, it is no wonder that our highly effective teachers and principals get “promoted out” of low-performing schools and into more affluent schools. Students in low-performing schools also have less access to challenging courses that will inspire them and set a positive course for their future. And all too often, students in low-performing schools lack a parent, coach or mentor who can help navigate their academic and personal challenges. These obstacles may seem insurmountable, but there are schools and programs that provide struggling students with a more equal opportunity to learn through high expectations, wrap-around services and strategic staffing. School systems like Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Winston-Salem Forsyth have found ways to attract some of their best teachers to teach in the schools where they are needed most. Programs such as Communities in Schools, Citizen Schools, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and the YMCA provide students with caring coaches or mentors to help them thrive in and out of the classroom. Rather than debating the numbers, we should focus on finding ways to scale successful initiatives into every low-performing school in the state. So, the question isn’t how many low- performing schools are there in North Carolina? The question is: What are we going to do about it? BRENDA BERG PRESIDENT, CEO BEST NC (BUSINESS FOR EDUCATION SUCCESS AND TRANSFORMATION IN NORTH CAROLINA) Click here to view Solutions for low-performing schools PDF [/vc_hidrop][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Proposed state Senate budget ups the ante on teacher pay
[vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_hidrop] Posted May 25, 2016 at4:59PMUpdated May 25, 2016 at 5:03 PM By the Associated Press RALEIGH — North Carolina Senate Republicans on Wednesday previewed their plan to pay teachers more than what Gov. Pat McCrory and House members have offered, but didn’t provide many details about how they would pay for it. Senate leader Phil Berger said the chamber is committed to raising average teacher pay— including local supplements — by several thousand dollars to more than $54,200 by the 2017-18 school year. In a frst step, the Senate’s recommended budget adjustments, to be unveiled next week, would raise the state average to slightly more than $51,000 this fall, he said. North Carolina is currently ranked 41st in the nation for teacher pay, with an estimated average salary for the current school year of $47,985, according to the National Education Association. The Senate plan, if implemented, would move North Carolina up to the middle among the states and District of Columbia, Berger said. The effort “will make North Carolina the Southeast’s leader in teacher pay and encourage the best and the brightest in the teaching profession to make a long-term commitment to our students and to our state,” Berger, R-Rockingham, said at a Legislative Building news conference. McCrory’s budget proposes raising the state’s share of teacher pay on average by 5 percent this fall, to slightly more than $50,000. The House budget, approved last week, would raise teacher salaries by 4.1 percent, not quite reaching a $50,000 average, although House Republicans said they would provide more raises next year. One-time bonuses also are included in proposals by McCrory and the House. The two chambers ultimately will work out a fnal agreement for the coming year to present to McCrory. Action on 2017-18 salaries wouldn’t occur until the next session and the next two-year budget. Berger said the Senate’s entire plan would cost $538 million over two years and not require tax increases, relying instead on a stronger economy and healthy state revenues to pay for it. Pressed for what other spending changes, if any, would be needed to carry it out, he responded: “Once you see the full budget, you’ll be able to see the details about it.” Paying for raises this year would appear trickier given that House and Senate leaders have agreed to spend no more than $22.2 billion in the new fscal year starting July 1. Meanwhile, a Senate plan to increase standard income tax deductions, also expected in the budget bill, would reduce revenues by $145 million next fscal year, compared to a reduction of $25 million in the House budget, which phases in the tax break. Under the Senate’s plan, for example, base pay for teachers with 10 years of experience would increase 6.3 percent to $42,500 this fall and to $45,000 the following year, according to a Senate Republican website referred to by Berger. The plan also envisions teachers reaching the current $50,000 maximum on the state-only teacher salary scale at 15 years of experience, compared to the current 25. “The Senate’s proposal for teachers to earn more money, faster will help recruit top talent to the profession, reduce turnover and dramatically increase career earnings,” said Brenda Berg, who runs BEST NC, a business-oriented public education advocacy group. The North Carolina Association of Educators, the state’s largest teacher lobbying group and a critic of Republican legislators, was more suspicious about a plan lacking many details. “Now, because it’s an election year, Senate leaders are trying to play catch up from the destructive swath they created for our public schools,” NCAE President Rodney Ellis said in a release. Teachers have received raises two years in a row, including a signifcant 7 percent average increase for the 2014-15 school year. But the most experienced teachers did not get permanent raises this year. Click to view Proposed state Senate budget ups the ante on teacher pay PDF [/vc_hidrop][/vc_column][/vc_row]
Senate GOP pitches teacher raise
[vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/1″][vc_hidrop] By Mark Binker RALEIGH, N.C. — Senate leaders say their budget includes a teacher pay plan that ensures educators hit the top of the state’s salary scale in 15 years and raises average teacher salaries to more than $54,000 over two years. “We think this is the right plan for teachers in North Carolina at this time,” Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said. Berger, R-Rockingham, did not say how his chamber would pay for the raises and did not provide a detailed salary schedule. However, he said that tax collections have been on the upswing in recent years and that a generally improving economy allowed the Senate to take up long-delayed priorities. “We put forward where our priorities are,” he said. Along with plans from Gov. Pat McCrory and the state House, this is the third major teacher raise proposal put forward by state government this year, although all three work somewhat differently. The Senate will roll out its entire budget next week, Berger said. When asked how the Senate budget would deal with pay raises for state employees or other areas of spending, he said he was “not prepared” to discuss those items. Referring reporters to a website put together by the Senate Republicans’ political operation, he pointed out that the raises would make North Carolina’s teacher pay the highest in the Southeast and 24th in the country. “This is on top of the teacher pay raises we passed in the 2014 and 2015 budgets,” Berger said. He said the Senate plan would move teachers to the top of the pay scale within 15 years rather than the current 25 years of service needed to max out. Brenda Berg, president of BEST NC, a group of business leaders that have advocated for more education funding, said that faster rise to the top of the salary scale is key to stemming the tide of young teachers leaving the profession due to poor pay. “We know they’re leaving early in their career, and this is why they’re leaving,” Berg said. She said it makes sense to raise salaries quickly over the first decade of a teacher’s career. “These 10 to 15 years are when you’re making the most professional progress,” Berg said. Teacher pay has been a major political issues for years in North Carolina, with school systems and advocacy organizations alike saying that the state is losing teachers to other professions and other states. State government provides a base salary for all teachers across the state. Most, but not all, county school systems also provide a supplement on top of that base pay. That means the actual salary a teacher is paid varies widely across the state. The average salary estimate in the Senate’s pay plan includes those local supplements. Rodney Ellis, president of the North Carolina Association of Educators, said that the “devil is going to be in the details” of any teacher pay proposal. “NCAE has consistently beaten the drum that, for our students to be more successful, we must invest fully in our public schools by increasing the resources they have and by compensating educators as professionals,” Ellis said in astatement. “Now, because it’s an election year, Senate leaders are trying to play catch-up from the destructive swath they created for our public schools. … Last time there was a pay raise, they promised it would get us to 32nd in the country, and here we sit at 41st.” McCrory’s proposed teacher pay plan would raise the average teacher’s salary to $50,000. The House budget proposedslightly smaller raisesin order to make sure there was enough money to give raises to other state employees, something McCrory’s plan did not do. After the Senate passes its budget bill, members of the House, the Senate and the Governor’s Office will negotiate a final plan. If recent history is any guide, none of the teacher raise proposals floated early on the in the process will be precisely what passes into law this summer, although all three make raising teacher salary a priority. Click her to view the Senate GOP pitches teacher raise plan PDF [/vc_hidrop][/vc_column][/vc_row]