Entrepreneur High making public appeal for survival

When the state Board of Education voted to revoke the charter of the all-but-defunct Entrepreneur High, it left only a small sliver of possibility for the school to ever reopen.

It's unclear whether the charter school's board is going to pursue it, but that hasn't stopped its leaders from launching a public opinion campaign in favor of the school.

This is the school that reported having only $14 in the bank while holding classes. Entrepreneur High ended up closing its doors last month. When the state board voted to revoke the charter, it afforded them 11 days to appeal the decision. By my count, that window expires this week.

The state Office of Charter Schools told me that they haven't received any word from the school on an appeal.

But it sure looks like the school's chairman, Robert Hillman, has been laying the groundwork. He set up a petition in favor of reopening the school that has gotten 300 signatures so far. He's also coordinated a letter-writing campaign that's filled my inbox with notes from parents and students at the school and targeted the state school board.

Here's an example:

Click to enlarge

Hillman has not responded to my requests for comment on whether the school will appeal.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: The school has appealed. Read the story here.

N.C. moving toward online charter schools

The state Board of Education will get a report Wednesday on virtual charter schools, a venture other states have tried with mixed results.

The report suggests that the state legislature clarify rules for charter schools that have no physical location,  and that the state consider starting with a pilot authorizing about three virtual charter schools.  It also suggests a different funding formula than that used for most charter schools. While counties are required to pass along per-pupil funding for those schools,  the report suggests making it optional for online charters.

State education officials,  Public Impact consulting firm and advisers from charter schools, districts,  higher education and homeschoolers crafted the plan,  which will go to the Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee if the state board approves it.

Virtual education is hardly a new concept,  as the report notes.  The state has already created its own Virtual Public School,  and several districts,  including Charlotte-Mecklenburg,  Iredell-Statesville and Union County,  also offer their own online courses.

"This trend is quickly growing across the state, even attracting homeschoolers in some districts and being used for dropout recovery in others. These locally based digital academies are largely using a
blended model, which provides education both virtually and in-person,"  the report says.

The question is whether North Carolina can ensure quality,  which has been a challenge in states that moved more quickly to let other providers offer online education at public expense.

Providers are eager to jump in.  Connections Academy,  a Baltimore-based virtual school company that is part of Pearson,  is holding meetings around North Carolina this month to drum up support for an eventual online charter program for grades 6-12.

Who's behind "thank a teacher" campaign?

You may have seen the full-page ad in today's Observer directing people to thankstoateacher.com.  "It's a tough time to be a teacher,"  the copy says.  "With virtually no raise for five years,  looming larger class sizes,  the loss of many teaching assistants,  the end of salary increases for advanced degrees,  and the continual charge to do more with less,  it's more important than ever to express appreciation for those who labor in our classrooms.

The web page asks people to write and post short tributes to teachers who changed their lives. Neither the ad nor the web site says anything about who's behind it,  other than to credit The Creative Stack for designing the web page.  But Heather Johnson at Creative Stack gave me the answer.

Turns out John Tate,  a longtime Charlotte education advocate who's a member of the N.C. Board of Education,  started talking to people this summer about  "ways to say thanks because we couldn't give them money."  He says about 130 people wrote checks for the campaign to let teachers know how much of a difference they make.  Jennifer Appleby,  president of Wray Ward advertising agency,  created today's ad and another that's slated to run Sunday,  which Tate says is "poignant."

Tate

Tate wanted to highlight the challenging conditions that are emerging in our state, but he says there's a reason he didn't make his name prominent.  "I worked hard to depoliticize this ad.  It is not a backhand swipe at anybody,"  Tate said.  "It's designed very simply just to say thanks and let the teaching ranks know there are a lot of people who support them."

Tate declined to say how much the campaign is costing.  And he said he won't know for a few days how many views and testimonials the site is generating.

School board competition coming?

Halfway through filing,  we have exactly one candidate signed up for each of the six Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board district seats.

Surely that will change in the coming week.  Uncontested school board races are a rarity.  Four years ago,  five of the six district races had competition,  with District 3 pulling nine candidates.  In 2011,  14 people signed up for the three at-large seats.

Let me apologize in advance for temporarily ignoring anyone who files next week. I'll be off and will catch up on the race when I return July 22.

A couple of leave-behinds for all that free time you'll have without reading my blog:  First, I almost overlooked this interesting report from the N&O's Lynn Bonner on the state Board of Education trying to figure out the best way to use the new state exams.  Many of us will be eager to see what they come up with in August.

Second, I just stumbled across an entertaining self-parody by some Teach For America cadets,  called "S*it TFAers Say"  (thanks to ed blogger Alexander Russo for sharing it).  A few phrases baffled me,  but anyone who spends time around educators will surely get a few good chuckles of recognition.  As Russo notes,  the video "reveals an admirable level of self-awareness."  Enjoy!

Tests, teachers and zombies

The N.C. Board of Education is trying again to turn student test scores into a reliable measure of teacher effectiveness.  At today's meeting in Raleigh,  members will talk about using the new tests that debut this spring to calculate ratings for teacher and principal job evaluations.

According to the online presentation,  this year's teacher evaluations included a rating that combined  the progress their own students made on 2012 tests and the school's overall growth.  That approach was supposed to encourage teamwork and provide ratings for teachers whose students don't take state exams.  But in reality,  the school numbers pulled down about 2,850 effective teachers and bumped up about 2,650 teachers whose individual ratings were low,  the presentation says.

"The inclusion of school-wide growth hurt high-performing teachers working in low-performing schools and discourages high-performing teachers from working in the schools where they are needed most,"  the report says.  For 2013,  the Department of Public Instruction is urging the board to base teacher ratings only on student scores they're directly responsible for.

Value-added ratings created a backlash when Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools tried them three years ago.  This time around,  they'll be based on new, more complicated exams.  And the teacher value is being calculated through a system known as EVAAS,  a proprietary private formula  that can't be double-checked by teachers or districts.  That's raising concerns among local educators,  including Superintendent Heath Morrison.

Meanwhile,  some of the folks who fought the CMS testing are reviving the effort.  Mecklenburg ACTS has launched a "No Testing Zombies" campaign,  with a rally planned before Tuesday's school board meeting. The slogan:  "How are standardized tests like zombies? They're mindless and they just keep coming."  Laurie Smithwick,  a Chantilly Montessori mom who runs a design firm,  created the logo of zombies in a school-crossing sign.  As of Wednesday evening, the group had 579 signatures on its electronic petition urging state officials to put the teacher-rating effort on hold.

There's been some back-and-forth on this blog and in the Observer's editorial section about the number of new tests being rolled out this year,  based partly on whether you define a new version of a previously-tested subject as "new."  I hope to get a more detailed breakdown on Morrison's 177-test tally next week.  In the meantime, MeckACTS has revised its petition to refer to  "more than 100"  new tests.

Teacher pay sparks angst but no action

Emotions ran high when the N.C. Board of Education got a report on the state of teacher pay this week.

WCNC reporter Stuart Watson,  who covered the Raleigh meeting,  told me about a young teacher weeping as she talked about colleagues being forced to leave the profession to earn a living.  Board member John Tate of Charlotte was stewing as he drove home.

Tate

"We're just not treating our teachers right. We're going to lose them,"  Tate said shortly after the meeting closed.

Among the facts presented by Alexis Schauss,  director of school business for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.

* Four years of frozen teacher pay means that 14,550 teachers  --  almost one in five  --  are now at the lowest pay level.  In 2008-09,  a teacher with five years' experience made $35,580 in base pay.   Today,  because experience-based  "steps"  were frozen during the recession,  five-year teachers make $31,220.

* North Carolina's teachers are falling ever further from the national average,  with the state currently ranked 46th.

* N.C.  teachers'  average pay has increased only 8.3 percent from 2002-13 to 2011-12.  All other Southeastern states have seen gains between 16 and 38 percent during those years.  Currently only West Virginia and Mississippi rank below North Carolina in the Southeast.

*It would cost about $420 million to restore the state's 95,000 teachers to the pay levels they should have reached during the frozen years.

Tate noted that not only are teachers getting pinched in the pocketbook,  but they're feeling the burden of jobs cut to save money. Tate voiced his frustration at the large number of young teachers who are being driven out,  not because they're failing to teach children but because they're failing to earn a living.

So what did the state board do?  Nothing.

"We could pass a resolution saying,  'We're screwing our teachers,'  "  said Tate, who has never been one to mince words.  "But the power of the purse string lies in the General Assembly."

Leaders of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have voiced much the same frustration.  Superintendent Heath Morrison and several board members say they want to pay teachers more,  but the district gets its money from county,  federal and especially state government.

Decision-makers in Raleigh are talking about ways to revise teacher pay  (see the end of the presentation linked above).  They're talking about accountability and flexibility for local districts.  But a tax hike to boost teachers'  paychecks?  Not something I've heard.