Education

Governor Pat McCrory rolled out his plan yesterday to give all teachers a pay raise next year. That’s right, all teachers, not just those in their first ten years on the job as he proposed earlier this year. It also includes a long-term plan to overhaul teacher pay. State lawmakers say it sounds good, but they wonder where all that money will come from. 

Lawmakers have reservations about a draft bill that would allow North Carolina students to attend any public school in the state regardless of where they live.  Members of a joint legislative committee Monday decided to delay its progress until they could discuss it further.

The Common Core could be on its way out in South Carolina. The senate unanimously approved a bill yesterday that would allow the state to replace those standards for students with its own. But the state would still keep the Common Core in place next school year, while those new standards are being developed.

Debbie Elmore with the South Carolina School Boards Association says that compromise makes sense, since it doesn’t pull the Common Core right away, but provides time to assess and change those standards. 

Raising teacher salaries is something Governor Pat McCrory and state lawmakers have agreed is a priority this year. The plan is to boost base pay to $35,000 over two years for teachers in their first ten years on the job. That amounts to raises of $500 to $4,200.  But as legislators begin crafting a budget, they say there may not be enough money to do all of that. 

WFAE’s Lisa Miller joins me now to discuss the likelihood of teacher raises this year. 

Teacher pay in North Carolina has been an increasingly sore subject in the state as our state educators are now among the lowest paid in the US, and as legislators on both sides of the aisle pledge to remedy teacher pay to prevent a mass exodus of qualified teachers from the state. The Charlotte Observer will be hosting a forum in Charlotte on Monday about teacher pay, and in advance of that, we’ll talk with some of the panelists including an educator and politicians to talk about what all of this could mean for teachers and ultimately, for the future of education in North Carolina.

North Carolina school students will have to tackle several hours of standardized tests in a few weeks. State and federal laws mandate that. As the debate over these tests intensifies, many parents wonder if their kids can refuse to take them.  The answer is yes, but it may cost them. 

About 40 groups that had their applications for charter schools rejected may get another chance to make their case to education officials. The North Carolina Board of Education decided this week to allow them another shot at an interview. 

North Carolina lawmakers have taken the first steps to repealing Common Core standards for students in kindergarten through twelfth grades. A committee gave its support to proposed legislation that would do just that. It still needs to go before the full General Assembly.

Beginning next fall, student transcripts are going to look a lot different at UNC-Chapel Hill. They will still include the grades for each class and the overall GPA, but the transcripts will also show the median grade for the class and how the grade ranks. The idea is that this will discourage students from seeking easy classes to boost their grades, and will reward students who do excellent work in more difficult classes. Sociology Professor Andrew Perrin heads the committee that approved this change, and he joined us this morning.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board approved plans Tuesday night to partner with a non-profit to run a pre-k- 8 school on the city’s west side.  It’s in the area once known as Boulevard Homes.  Before it was torn down two years ago, the public housing complex was often in the news for violence.  The Renaissance West Community Initiative is re-developing that area and this school will be at the center of it. 

Laura Clark is executive director of the group.  WFAE's Mark Rumsey asked her why it's important for a school to be part of this neighborhood?