Staying Ahead Carolina? What's that?

Ever been to a great party where no one seems to know the host? Saturday's panel on the future of public education felt a bit like that.

McIntyre

I made the rare choice to cover a weekend event based on the timeliness of the topic and the quality of the speakers. The focus was on choices, challenges and change in the Charlotte region,  landing at a tumultuous time when the 2014-15 school choice season is on the horizon.  Ellen McIntyre, dean of the UNC Charlotte College of Education, moderated a panel consisting of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Heath Morrison; state Rep. Rob Bryan, co-sponsor of the N.C. voucher bill and co-chair of a panel on teacher compensation; Eddie Goodall of the N.C. Public Charter Schools Association and Bill Anderson of MeckEd.

The turnout was big enough that the event was shifted from a 100-seat conference room to a bigger auditorium.  I saw many of the usual movers and shakers in the education scene,  plus new faces.

So I was feeling kind of dumb:  Why hadn't I heard of Staying Ahead Carolina, the host organization?

But when I mingled and chatted before the event, I couldn't find anyone else who was familiar with the group.  One person speculated that it was part of CarolinaCAN, a recently-created North Carolina spinoff of a national education reform group.  Someone else said it was  "a front for MeckEd."  Even McIntyre was confused.

Brown

None of the theories were correct.  Sabrina Brown,  who works in marketing,  started the social networking group seven years ago.  There was always a theme of learning more about Charlotte,  she said,  but at first it was mostly about meeting people, making contacts and exploring the city.  Staying Ahead started getting sponsorships to do forums on such topics as arts,  entertainment and health.  It now has more than 500 members and an advisory board,  Brown said,  and the education panel was its first foray into a wider community outreach.  Carolina STEM Academy,  a charter school that has been approved to open in 2014,  and Melange Health Solutions sponsored the Saturday forum.

The discussion was lively and informative enough that I didn't regret giving up a sunny Saturday morning.  I'll look forward to any other contributions Staying Ahead might make to the local scene.

Making sense of an education whirlwind

Reaction to the budget N.C. legislators passed last week has been flooding social media and inboxes this week.

For most of the 11 years I've covered education, educational change at the state level has moved at glacial pace. This year it swept in like a summer thunderstorm, and some educators feel like they got soaked.

Plenty of teachers have penned and posted letters expressing dismay. I thought this  "Dear North Carolina"  letter from first-grade teacher Kayla Moran was a nicely written example of the first-hand emotional reaction.  "North Carolina,  you're breaking my heart,"  she begins.  "I wish you could see the faces of my children,  but they're just numbers to you."

Kowal

Julie Kowal of the newly-formed advocacy group CarolinaCAN posted a three-part (so far) series of budget briefings.  She says the state's first steps toward tenure reform replaces one meaningless reward,  career status,  with a $500 annual raise for top performers that is "just insulting,"  and says the legislature's compensation task force has serious work ahead.

Jo Ann Norris,  president of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, offers a detailed analysis of changes in staffing,  teacher pay,  tenure and the N.C. Teaching Fellows program in a piece titled  "What a Difference a Year Makes."

Norris

 "I do not envy principals, personnel directors, or other administrators seeking to hire teachers in the 115 school systems in North Carolina in the coming years,"  Norris writes.  "It will be a state in all likelihood that will drop to the last ranks in both average teacher salary and per pupil expenditure."

Anderson

Bill Anderson,  executive director of the local advocacy group MeckEd,  pulled together a data-based report on changes in the state's education scene since 2006,  looking at staffing,  teacher salaries,  enrollment growth and academic performance.   Anderson,  a former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools principal,  challenges the notion that legislators are fixing a  "broken"  public education system.  Instead,  he contends,  teachers have helped students make gains despite hurdles imposed by spending limits.

"Reduced funding will only continue to damage our local schools,  reduce diversity,  divide communities,  force more cutbacks in classrooms and extracurricular activities,  and fail to provide each and every child with the education necessary for success in life,"  Anderson writes.

Allison

I did find one rave review for the legislature  --  let me know about others I may have missed  --  from Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, which called the budget a victory for low-income and working-class students and families.  That's because it provides opportunity scholarships  based on income and disabilities to help families send their children to private schools.

"Make no mistake about it that this legislative session, North Carolina’s voice was heard loud and clear around the nation that she intends to chart a more comprehensive educational course in how we will educate our neediest children,"  wrote president Darrell Allison.  "Passage of these two scholarship measures amid continued public charter school expansion means parents will have more options within the K-12 process regardless of their income or zip code.”