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NCAE’s Averted Gaze
Let’s not be diverted from the important issues at hand. That’s the surprising response of officials at the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) to a report released last week by the Civitas Institute that said from 2006 to 2009 total compensation for NCAE executives increased 24 percent, while total compensation for the average teacher [...]
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NCAE Executive Compensation: Round II
Last night, Channel 11 WTVD ran a story on my article on NCAE executive compensation. In reference to our assertion that NCAE executive compensation has increased 24 percent between 2006 and 2009, NCAE Business Affairs manager Tom Herbert says the figure is accurate. However, Herbert says what’s important is what drives those numbers, which he [...]
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NCAE: Looking Out For Children, Members, or Itself?
Read NCAE Executive Compensation: Round II The North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) portrays itself as concerned with the interests of students and public education. Don’t be fooled by the rhetoric. NCAE represents the interests of approximately 50,000 teachers and public school employees who pay them. NCAE tax documents state the real purpose of its [...]
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House Budget Proposal: Education
Earlier this week Republican lawmakers released their $10.6 billion budget proposal for public education for the coming fiscal year. Budget discussions have been framed by how lawmakers would address the state’s estimated $2.4 billion budget deficit. In the end, lawmakers sought to roughly balance the reductions across all three components of public education. The overall budget [...]
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Accreditation: Outlines of a Problem
Recent actions by school accrediting giant, Advance Education Inc. (AdvancED), have set off a firestorm of public discussion about accreditation, its value and how it is awarded. The interest has been fueled by AdvancED’s decision to place Burke County Schools on probation, and assign Wake County Public Schools – the state’s largest public school system [...]
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We Need a New Way to Pay Teachers
Revenue shortfalls and the state government’s need to balance the budget have raised the possibility of massive teacher layoffs at the local level. While the economy is partly to blame, the way North Carolina hires and pays teachers has also contributed mightily to the current problems. Last year North Carolina spent approximately $2.9 billion to [...]
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Does $45 Million Buy Accountability?
Increased access to higher education is one of the UNC system’s guiding goals. Moderate growth estimates project UNC enrollment will grow by another 20 percent in the next seven years and reach approximately 265,700 students.
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We Need a Better Way to Pay Teachers
The education budget remains the center of an ongoing battle between Democratic Gov. Perdue and the Republican-controlled House and Senate. Discussions are framed by how best to adequately fund the public schools and also address North Carolina’s $2.4 billion budget deficit. While these discussions are important, viewing these efforts as an exercise in developing the [...]
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Answering Charter School Critics
Opponents of bill (SB-8 ) to expand the number of charter schools in North Carolina are in high gear. In an effort to sway lawmakers and public sentiment, critics of the legislation are circulating several claims which stretch or distort the truth. This article examines a few of the most common claims against the bill. [...]
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SB 169: Pay Now, and Pay Later
Like a bad headache, sometimes bad bills just won’t go away. Such is the case with this week’s Bad Bill of the Week SB 169, introduced by Senator Fletcher Hartsell (R-Cabarrus) and cryptically named Study Innovations/Incentives in Education. SB 169 calls for creation of a study commission “to study the feasibility of offering financial incentives [...]
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SB-8: An Overview of Charter School Legislation
Facts to Consider: 20,000 – Number of students on charter school waiting lists in North Carolina. 100 – Maximum number of charter schools North Carolina can establish under current law. 0 – Number of Charter Schools on state’s “low performing” schools list. During the first week of the new legislative session, Sen. Richard Stevens (R-Wake) [...]
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Flexibility Will Go a Long Way in Resolving School Budget Crisis
The Governor has drawn a line in the sand and said her budget will not reduce funding for state-funded teachers or teacher assistants. The Governor also decided to take a political approach to education spending and ignored the opportunity to fundamentally restructure the current dysfunctional way k-12 education is funded and administered in North Carolina.
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Finding Savings in Obscure Places of the Education Budget
Minimizing the recession’s impact on the classroom is one goal members on both sides of the aisle share. A thorough review of current education spending is one way to accomplish that goal. Three programs where additional savings can be found include the Public School Forum (PSF), North Carolina Center for the Advancement of Teaching and [...]
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Wanted: Long-Term Thinkers
Budget shortfalls, the end of federal stimulus money, declining revenues from state and local property taxes and increased pressures on the public purse for Medicaid expenses are all factors that suggest the current budget situation is the new normal. Because K-12 education comprises about 37 percent of the state budget there is naturally much concern [...]
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Education Tax Credits: An Idea Whose Time has Come
Conservative lawmakers will likely put forth a raft of proposals to help address the needs of kindergarten through 12th grade public education in North Carolina. One idea the new leadership should give serious consideration is some version of tax credits to parents who send their children to private schools.
Weekly Newsletter
@NCCivitas
- NC to Seek Federal Waiver to Pursue Medicaid Reform http://t.co/Uj6pBnDUwF #ncpol
- Why do liberals hate eagles? http://t.co/xCfCb058GK #nccivitas #eaglekillers http://t.co/SSFob4zRCc
- House unveils tax plan – less significant than the Senate plan. http://t.co/7HACM0Q1gx #ncga #ncpol
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