Public School Forum

A think-and-do tank committed to North Carolina public schools

by Forum Admin

The Friday Report

December 15, 2017

Forum News

Education Matters: Conversation with Governor Jim Hunt

A one-on-one conversation with the original “Education Governor”, four-term North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt, Jr. We discuss how he made education a priority for the state and what he sees as the challenges and opportunities to bring people together on behalf of NC’s children.​

When and Where to Watch Education Matters

Saturday at 7:30 PM,

WRAL-TV (Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville)

Sunday at 8:00 AM,

FOX 50

(Raleigh/Durham/Fayetteville)

Sunday at 6:30 AM and Wednesday at 9:30 AM, UNC-TV’s North Carolina Channel (Statewide)

The North Carolina Channel can be found on Time Warner Cable/Spectrum Channel 1277 or check your local listing and other providers here.

Education Matters is also available as a podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, PodBean, Overcast and 

Google Play Music.

Online at https://www.ncforum.org/

Eggs & Issues Breakfast 2018

On January 24, 2018, the Public School Forum of North Carolina will host its 4th Annual Eggs & Issues Breakfast at the Marbles Kids Museum in Raleigh.This special event began in 2015 to showcase the Forum’s release of our annual Top Ten Education Issues – our unique take on the state’s most pressing issues in education.

Along with the release of the Forum’s Top Ten Education Issues for 2018, the 4th Annual Eggs & Issues Breakfast will include a special taping of our weekly TV show “Education Matters” hosted by Keith Poston featuring a panel of education leaders. Confirmed panelists to date include:

  • Rep. Craig Horn (R-Union)
  • Sen. Valerie Foushee (D-Chatham, Orange)
  • Lisa Godwin, 2017 NC Teacher of the Year

Presenting Sponsor

Pacesetter Sponsor 

​​

Event Details

Date: Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Time: 7:30 AM to 9:30 AM

Location: Marbles Kids Museum

201 East Hargett Street, Raleigh, NC  

To purchase tickets for this event, click here.

State News

The Way Your Child’s NC Public School Gets Money to Educate Students Could Be Changing

Megan Jackson, an environmental inquiry specialist specialist, left, conducts a hands-on activity with second-graders and worms during an outdoor lesson at Lincoln Heights Elementary School in Fuquay-Varina on Oct. 26, 2017.

Photo Credit: Travis Long, The News & Observer.

State lawmakers could overhaul the way $9.4 billion in public school dollars are spent annually, affecting the way that North Carolina’s 1.6 million public school students are educated.

Legislators are looking at changing how the state funds K-12 education following a highly critical legislative staff report that recommended reforming or overhauling the school funding system. Adam Levinson, chief financial officer at the state Department of Public Instruction, urged lawmakers to show caution before making any major changes, but some legislators say an overhaul is needed.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Hui, K. “The way your child’s NC public school gets money to educate students could be changing.” The News & Observer. 12/14/17.

In This Issue

Public School Forum Programs

Download the Forum’s 2017 Local School Finance Study

Download the Forum’s 2017 Roadmap of Need

Nominate a Leader for Children in Your Community

Do you know a leader in your community supporting our schools and making a difference in the lives of children both in and out of school? The Public School Forum is seeking nominations for individuals to be highlighted on our weekly statewide TV show, Education Matters. Click here for an example of a recent spotlight.

Nominees could be principals, superintendents, teachers, teacher assistants, guidance counselors, parents, students, business leaders, community volunteers, afterschool providers, and the list goes on!

To nominate someone, please fill out the form here.

Class Size Requirements Could Mean Trouble, Rowan Salisbury Schools Warns

Photo Credit: Pixabay, Pexels.

Things look grim for the upcoming school year because of new class size requirements. At the Rowan-Salisbury Board of Education’s Monday business meeting, Chief Financial Officer Carol Herdon reported on the district’s progess to meet strict requirements for kindergarten through third-grade classes.

“We have recently passed over the first hurdle of the new class size requirements, Herndon said,

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

To read more on the class size issue, please see the following article:

As K-3 Cuts Loom, New Hanover Considers School Redistricting

Excerpt from:

Rider, R. “Class size requirements could mean trouble, RSS warns.” Salisbury Post. 12/14/17.

Rowland Yells No to School Closure

Richard Dean Sr., a lifelong resident of Rowland, turns to members of the Robeson County Board of Education on Tuesday to make a plea for Southside-Ashpole Elementary School to remain open. Photo Credit: The Robesonian.

Speaker after speaker implored Robeson County Board of Education members on Tuesday to keep Southside-Ashpole Elementary School open during a public hearing at the school.

More than a dozen parents, grandparents, preachers and elected officials came forward to say closing the school would harm the community and its children. The school board is facing a takeover of the low-performing school by the state’s new Innovative School District or closure of the school and dispersal of its students to other schools.

More than 100 people attended the hour-long hearing, which was required by the state law that created the ISD.

.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Bigelow, S. “Rowland yells no to school closure.” The Robesonian. 12/12/17.

Who is in Charge of North Carolina’s Public Schools? NC Supreme Court Will Decide

N.C. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson talks about charter schools at his office in Raleigh, NC on Feb. 8, 2017. Photo Credit: Chris Seward, The News & Observer.

The State Supreme Court has agreed to hear a court case to decide who should have control over North Carolina’s public schools.

The State Board of Education is appealing a lower court ruling in July that upheld a state law that shifts more control over public education operations to State Schools Superintendent Mark Johnson. In an order released Friday, the N.C. Supreme Court agreed to the state board’s request to bypass the state Court of Appeals to hear the case now.

Apply Online for Teaching Fellows Program

Photo Credit: Element5 Digital, Unsplash.

Students interested in pursuing a teaching career in the fields of science, technology, math or special education can now apply online for the N.C. Teaching Fellows Program.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, N.C. State University, Elon University and Meredith College will serve as hosts, beginning in the 2018-2019 academic year.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

For more information, visit https://www.ncteachingfellows.com.

Excerpt from: 

“Apply online for Teaching Fellows program.” The Courier-Tribune. 12/9/17.

NC Kindergartners Will Soon Provide More Data for Parents About Schools

State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Mark Johnson. Photo Credit: Walt Unks, Winston-Salem Journal.

Elementary schools will soon use data from kindergartners to help provide a clearer picture of how schools are progressing.

N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson said last week that he wants to have proficiency indicators for kindergartners.

A system is currently in place to assess kindergartners in North Carolina, called the Kindergarten Entry Assessment, or KEA. Students are evaluated on different parts of their development: Emotional and social, health and physical, and cognitive and learning approach.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:
Newell,  S. “N.C. kindergartners will soon provide more data for parents about schools.” Winson-Salem Journal. 12/12/17.

Shine a Brighter Light to Find All Gifted Children

A fifth-grader at Montlieu Academy of Technology in High Point eagerly raises his hand to answer a question during a math class for intellectually gifted students Monday, Feb. 13, 2017. Photo Credit: Travis Long, The News & Observer.

North Carolina is the home of many distinguished leaders in gifted and talented education and has been a hotbed of innovation in developing academically and intellectually gifted minds.

While at the U.S. Office of Education, predecessor to the U.S. Department of Education, the late Dr. James Gallagher developed forward-thinking policy that advanced supporting individual education needs of children across the ability, aptitude and achievement spectrum.

NC Charter School That Improperly Gave Diplomas Might Restart  High School Program

Students hold signs during a “Save Our School” rally earlier this year in front of Kestrel Heights High School in Durham. Photo Credit: Kaitlin McKeown, The Herald-Sun.

Leaders of an embattled Durham charter school that’s trying to rebuild its image after improperly awarding diplomas to 40 percent of its graduates say they might ask for state permission to reopen the high school program in a few years.

The State Board of Education voted in March to order Kestrel Heights Charter School to close its high school program after the school determined that 160 of 395 students since 2008 had been given diplomas they hadn’t earned. Kestrel was allowed to remain open as a K-8 school but was told it couldn’t ask to restart its high school program for at least three years.

NC Highlight

Apex Teacher Calls on Fellow Educators to Accept Challenges

 Photo Credit: NeONBRAND, Unsplash.

Earlier this year, I spent the weekend in Charlotte at the Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teachers and Teaching (ECET2) Convening with more than 100 passionate educators from across the state. I spent months working with the planning committee recommending and searching for speakers and folks to share resources with attendees.

I was asked by one of the fearless leaders of the planning team, a colleague whom I highly respect as a teacher leader, to give a “Cultivate a Calling” talk. I was hesitant to say the least. As a third year teacher, I’d never shared any insights or inspirational anecdotes in a professional setting. I wasn’t sure if I was ready, but I love a challenge.

National News

Does Preschool Pay Off? Tulsa Says Yes

Image Credit: Chelsea Beck, NPR.

In 2001, not long after Oklahoma had adopted one of the nation’s first universal pre-K programs, researchers from Georgetown University began tracking kids who came out of the program in Tulsa, documenting their academic progress over time.

In a new report published in the Journal of Policy Analysis and Management today, researchers were able to show that Tulsa’s pre-K program has significant, positive effects on students’ outcomes and well-being through middle school.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Sanchez, C. “Does Preschool Pay Off? Tulsa Says Yes.” NPR Ed. 12/12/17.

Schools Helping Minorities Threatened with Less Federal Funding

Rep. Virginia Foxx, chairwoman of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce, speaks outside the White House in Washington. Photo Credit, Al Drago, The New York Times.

Republicans are trying to hard to tie federal funding to graduation rates, a change that schools with large minority populations worry could dramatically reduce the money they get from Washington.

Congressional Democrats and outside advocates blasted the proposed GOP re-authorization of the Higher Education Act as a discriminatory measure that will do more harm than good to institutions that educate and graduate a bulk of the nation’s minority students.

To continue reading the complete article, click here.

Excerpt from:

Douglas, W. “Schools helping minorities threatened with less federal funding.” The News Tribune. 12/12/17.

Opportunities

Grow Your Career Skills with the Kenan Fellows Program

 

The 2018-19 Fellowship application is now open. The Fellowship begins with a summer internship in a higher education lab or industry setting and is supported by 80 hours of professional development that focuses on building leadership capacity and proven instructional strategies.The 2018-19 application period ends Jan. 22, 2018.

Each Fellow is awarded at least a $5,000 stipend, and must develop and implement relevant educational materials and/or programs based on their internship experience. To apply click here.

The Friday Report is published weekly by the Public School Forum of NC and is distributed to Forum members, policymakers, donors, media, and Forum subscribers. Archived editions can be found at www.ncforum.org.

©2017 Public School Forum of North Carolina. All Rights Reserved.

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