January 2023
Veteran NC teacher questions Board of Ed chair’s good faith on merit pay plan for teachers
December 2022
NC teacher: There’s a teacher pipeline crisis in NC. This plan won’t fix it.
June 2022
The Merit Pay Zombie Rises Again in North Carolina
Emails show NC officials are taking the wrong approach with new teacher pay plan
December 2021
Small bonuses show CMS doesn’t understand the gravity of the teacher exodus
September 2021
North Carolina’s witch hunt over Critical Race Theory
June 2021
Is Mecklenburg failing our schools? Let’s start with this startling figure.
May 2021
April 2021
Hybrid COVID-19 classrooms are not sustainable for NC schools
February 2021
My students need support, not standardized tests. Biden, keep your promise to end testing.
Want more in person classes? Get NC teachers vaccinated
December 2020
Spare us the sanctimonious talk about the pandemic and public education
Diary of a Teacher Day 1: Back in the Classroom
November 2020
Can we stop blaming educators for getting COVID?
The search for silver linings in a disastrous election for NC educators
October 2020
North Carolina can leave the Republican Dark Ages on education
September 2020
Catherine Truitt is just another Mark Johnson
August 2020
Virtual schools are starting. But half a million NC kids don’t have the internet access they need
July 2020
Stop using equity as a prop on school reopening, Senator Berger
June 2020
Goodbye and good riddance to NC school head
May 2020
Students weigh in on the pros and cons of remote learning
It’s not healthy for the county to leave CMS hourly workers behind
April 2020
Lawmakers are out of touch with remote education plan
How Phil Berger could use coronavirus to once again suppress liberal voters
March 2020
In the COVID-19 classroom, less is more
NC State Board of Education votes not to move forward with $1.2 million Istation contract
Is now really the time for North Carolina to give Istation $1.2 million?
NC Superintendent Mark Johnson fails to win a single county in his bid to become Lieutenant Governor
February 2020
New and damning evidence emerges in Department of Public Instruction spying case
Mark Johnson campaign robocall removes any remaining doubt his Common Core stunt is 100% political
Mark Johnson’s sudden Common Core hate is a disingenuous campaign stunt
January 2020
In North Carolina, Education Activists Face an Uphill Battle
December 2019
Leandro report: Principal pay plan harms high-need schools
November 2019
Craig Horn plans to run for state superintendent. Here’s what he’s done to teachers.
NC GOP official disputes account of suffering teacher, gets dunked on by Rep. Deb Butler
North Carolina’s next state superintendent should be a teacher
Educators back Cooper’s pay raise veto, lawmakers must do better
100 days in, Superintendent Mark Johnson still hasn’t turned over my public records request
The truth about the General Assembly’s inadequate educator pay raise bill
October 2019
Effective Discipline: Bringing classroom strategies to a state constitutional crisis
Why Representative Craig Horn would be a terrible state superintendent
How a sales tax increase will benefit our communities
Threats of litigation undermine efforts to hold elected officials accountable
Superintendent Mark Johnson is doling out iPads like Santa Claus
September 2019
Legislators set to add four more schools to floundering Innovative School District
NC reading tool controversy update: More uncertainty, defiance
August 2019
NC House Republicans resort to slimy tricks to prevent decent educator pay raises
NC Superintendent offers iPads to charter schools–but there’s a catch
NC Superintendent addresses iPad discrepancy, promises distribution
3,269 iPads are collecting dust in the NC Department of Public Instruction textbook warehouse
July 2019
DPI’s unreleased public records could shed light on how Istation won NC contract
NC Superintendent cites leaked text message criticizing his failed attempt to influence assessment outcome as reason for cancelling contract process
NC Treasurer Dale Folwell has unexpected encounter with educators harmed by his health plan changes
Action needed: NC legislator to offer amendment which would arm teachers
About Istation’s threats of legal action against NC educators
DPI releases documents showing NC Superintendent Mark Johnson lied about K-3 screener procurement
Court documents allege CEO sought to influence research on Istation
New Istation tool underwhelms for North Carolina’s dyslexic children
New documents show DPI dismissed dyslexia screening deficiency in selecting Istation tool
June 2019
Research shared by Istation deems Istation an inadequate substitute for human teachers
NC Superintendent misrepresented cost of mClass reading tool
Mark Johnson’s Istation ‘delay solution’ is neither delay nor solution
Why did NC’s Superintendent ignore his expert panel on new reading tests?
A former student just provided me some powerful evidence of transfer
NC virtual Pre-K pilot driven by stereotypes, not data
May 2019
North Carolina’s schools need to quit telling children they have no future
My school’s lockdown drills, active shooter training are security theater. Yours are, too.
NC should pull the plug on virtual pre-K
Red for Ed is about much more than politics for NC educators
Virtual Pre-K back in House budget, no funds for expanding legitimate Pre-K
April 2019
A letter to N.C. students: Here’s why your teachers are marching
NC teachers are getting the message from Republicans
What my students learned–and didn’t learn–from my efforts to teach empathy in Language Arts class
NC school districts working hard to limit teacher leadership on May 1
New power grab by Superintendent Mark Johnson is a recipe for dysfunction
NC educators gearing up to win big for our schools on May 1
NC Superintendent’s School Supply Program is a disingenuous shell game
March 2019
NC teachers prepare to march to restore benefits stripped by legislators
NC lawmakers file bill that would create virtual preschool for children of poverty
NC school employees will converge on Raleigh May 1 to press for much-needed change
February 2019
NC superintendent opts for marketing over substantive change
How CMS can better respond to ICE
January 2019
Why performance pay is the wrong path forward for North Carolina’s schools
(repost Washington Post)
School choice doesn’t happen in a vacuum
NC Superintendent’s testing changes miss the point. The problem is in the stakes.
(repost Washington Post, repost Diane Ravitch)
Five things lawmakers can do for public education in 2019
December 2018
An open letter to Betsy DeVos about arming teachers
(repost Washington Post)
Want your students to be kinder? Try this assignment.
(repost Charlotte Observer)
November 2018
Cultivating kindness in an unkind world
October 2018
Butler shooting shows us where we’ve fallen short
North Carolina’s Voter ID amendment is a 21st century poll tax
September 2018
As Hurricane Florence approaches, Charlotte-area children get a real life lesson in empathy
(repost Washington Post)
August 2018
North Carolina’s principal pay plan does more harm than good
(repost NC Policy Watch)
The myth of school choice in North Carolina
(repost Washington Post)
July 2018
DPI layoffs will hurt North Carolina’s poorest students
June 2018
We need to upgrade our school buildings. The legislature blew it.
Mecklenburg County budget a chance for commissioners to demonstrate priorities
May 2018
How schools are wasting some of their best talent
NC teacher thugs are coming to Raleigh
(repost Diane Ravitch)
For teachers, May 16 about more than paychecks (op-ed version)
For NC teachers it’s about more than the paycheck
(repost Washington Post)
NC Professional Teaching Standards encourage advocacy
(repost Diane Ravitch)
North Carolina teachers ready their megaphones to demand change in priorities
(repost Washington Post)
April 2018
Students need trauma-informed care
March 2018
February 2018
Giving teachers guns won’t make schools safer
The legislature passed a temporary class size fix. But it’s still not enough.
January 2018
Unintended consequences: Legislation deserves the educator’s touch
(repost Washington Post)
A Defense of Creative Writing in the Age of Standardized Testing
(repost Diane Ravitch)
(repost Washington Post)
Catastrophe looms over unfunded class size mandate
Performance pay for educators fails to take into account the true value they add
(repost Washington Post)
December 2017
Peace Corps story translated/published in Albanian (original here)
NC Senate excuses on class size mandate don’t pass smell test
(repost)
November 2017
Cost of NC Senate inaction on class size mandate
(repost)
Impact of standardized testing on writing instruction and ability
(repost)
October 2017
Importance of multiple measures of success in education
(repost, Diane Ravitch)
(repost, Washington Post)
August 2017
Why business principles don’t work in education
(repost, Diane Ravitch)
(repost, Washington Post)
June 2017
Teacher raises don’t move the needle enough
Changes to retiree health benefits will harm teacher recruitment in NC
May 2017
Too much screen time in our classrooms?
(repost)
(repost)
April 2017
Solution to class size legislation debacle just delays the problem for a year
Teacher pay raises are eclipsed by rising health care premiums
(repost)
March 2017
Peace Corps story about eating a raw goat spleen
Class size legislation may reduce arts/PE offerings
February 2017
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools must do more to protect children of immigrants
(repost)
(repost)
December 2016
District plan could weaken award-winning language magnet program
October 2016
Why I stopped assigning homework
August 2016
ESSA may provide opportunity to pay for National Board certification
July 2016
Democracy, not coups, needed in Turkey
June 2016
Background check bill could strip licenses of teachers who protest