McCrory pay plan: What do you think?

Gov. Pat McCrory unveiled a plan to revamp North Carolina's teacher pay scale to predictably mixed reviews Wednesday.  Click here to see the material that was handed out at the announcement at N.C. A&T and here for McCrory's press release.

McCrory with budget director Art Pope (left) and education adviser Eric Guckian

I'm eager to hear what you all think of it.  Here's a sampling of early reactions from around the state.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Superintendent Heath Morrison,  the first speaker after McCrory to tout the plan,  emailed CMS employees Wednesday afternoon voicing support: "I am encouraged about many components of this framework. It allows for more local control in the development of a teacher compensation model and seeks to restore salary supplements for teachers who earn advanced degrees in the subjects they teach.  It also builds on the work we have started at CMS to create a comprehensive teacher compensation model and provide additional professional growth and pay opportunities for our valued teachers. ... It is clear that there are a lot of details about the governor’s proposal that need to be developed.  This proposal is a solid step toward our goal of compensating teachers better but more work will be required."

Jewell

The N.C. Association of Educators offered mixed reviews in a statement from VP Mark Jewell:  "NCAE is glad the Governor has come to share our view that all teachers, not just the newest ones, deserve a pay raise.  But a raise in the range of 2-3 percent as proposed is inadequate, given that teachers’ pay has been frozen for five of the last six years. ... Rather than pit state agencies against each other over an already-reduced budget, NCAE suggests that a better approach would be to delay this year's scheduled $300 million tax cut for the very wealthy and profitable corporations. This would provide at least a 5% raise for teachers. ... With respect to the longer-term plan to revise the teacher salary schedule, for years the NCAE has put forward proposals for pay schedule reform, and the governor’s plan reflects several ideas our staff shared with his staff several months ago.  We look forward to working in support of a fair and workable salary schedule for the future."

Harrison

BEST NC, the coalition of business leaders recently created to advocate for public education,  offered support while acknowledging that important cost questions remain to be answered.  “We finally have a professional compensation plan that allows our most effective teachers to take on leadership roles in their schools and impact more students, without leaving the classroom,”  said Venessa Harrison, president of AT&T North Carolina and BEST NC Board member,  who spoke at the announcement.  Read the full statement here.

State Superintendent June Atkinson,  a Democrat,  voiced support at the announcement.  But the state Democratic party sent out critical statements from the House and Senate Democratic caucuses.

B;ie

From Sen. Dan Blue,  D-Wake:  "The Governor clearly recognizes the need to undo some of the damage that his administration did to education last year. Unfortunately, Governor McCrory and Thom Tillis put teachers in tough spot by cutting an additional half billion dollars from education last year in order to give massive handouts to the wealthy and special interests. It’s time to see action – and not just to relieve some of the hardships teachers have borne thanks to the governor – but a real plan to raise teacher pay to the national average and ensure our students have the best schools in the country.”

Hall

And from Rep. Larry Hall, D-Durham:  "Governor McCrory's plan may make for good political talking points, but it simply does not do enough to begin addressing the teacher pay crisis in North Carolina. ... (The plan) does not provide a dedicated plan to raise teacher pay to the national average.  All Governor McCrory provided today is an unfunded plan that continues to sell North Carolina educators and students short. ... Our students and teachers deserve more than election year rhetoric and short-term band-aids."

Kowal

CarolinaCAN,  which had worked with the McCrory team and posted a plan that included many of the same elements as his proposal,  offered support:  "This is the first time we've seen a comprehensive proposal that addresses both low base salaries and the state's outdated salary schedule,"  said Executive Director Julie Kowal.  Read the statement and get a link to the group's proposal here.

Ebert

N.C. Chamber President Lew Ebert called McCrory's plan a step in the right direction:  "For many years, the NC Chamber has worked to advance education priorities to position North Carolina as the leading state in talent development. As such, we have previously supported Governor McCrory’s push to raise teacher pay to the national average. ... Legislative leaders have also developed innovative ways to compensate our best teachers and we support this approach to make teaching an attractive career path for young people in North Carolina. We commend them for their efforts and hope this sort of innovative education reform will continue."

And Progress NC's Gerrick Brenner panned the plan as an election-year gimmick lacking details on how to pay for raises:  "Because of radical tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations, the state already faces a $445M shortfall.  McCrory's new teacher pay plan could add another $100M in expenses, on top of his $200M plan for better pay for new teachers, and $45M for better pay for state employees.  McCrory's shortfall could add up to an eye-popping $790M. In his short tenure as Governor, McCrory already has a track record of offering up promises which don't pan out.

Governor McCrory's 2013 budget proposal included a 1% raise for teachers, but that never happened."

Education activism gears up

After last year's legislative session brought sweeping changes to public education,  no one wants to get caught napping this year.  Here's a sampling of groups that will be pushing their causes and offering reports as local governments and the General Assembly begin their 2014-15 budget talks.

Moral Monday protest last July

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators and Mecklenburg ACTS,  along with teacher associations from surrounding counties,  are sponsoring a rally for teachers and public education at noon Saturday at Marshall Park.  The goals appear to be broad,  such as  better pay and respect for teachers,  as well as undoing "damage done"  last year.  Click here for details.

Meck ACTS is also pushing for changes in the state Read to Achieve program and a reduction in standardized testing.

MeckEd is pushing a  "Get on the Bus"  advocacy campaign that's focused on Mecklenburg and state budgets. The group's online toolkit includes stats that can be used for making points,  tips and contacts for lobbying elected officials and a #onthebusNC hash tag for social media.

CarolinaCAN,  the relatively new NC offshoot of 50CAN,  has posted a 2014 policy agenda that includes changes to teacher pay and the charter school system.  The group carries weight with some of the GOP leaders who will be making decisions in Raleigh.

The Raleigh-based Public School Forum of North Carolina keeps tabs on the state legislature and is pushing teacher compensation proposals that are also backed by the state PTA,  Professional Educators of North Carolina,  N.C. Association of Educators,  N.C. Association of School Administrators,  N.C. School Boards Association and the N.C. Justice Center.

Local families rally for teachers in November

Meanwhile,  NCAE has a  "We Heart Public Schools"  campaign going and is planning a  "day of action"  for May 14,  when the legislature convenes.

Mecklenburg teachers and parents are among a new coalition of  "teachers and their allies"  following legislative actions on TruthforTeachers.org.

CMS lawyer Jonathan Sink says he also plans to revive and update his legislative blog once the session cranks up.

Some will note that this list is heavy on critics of the budget passed by the GOP majority last year and may see that as a sign of my personal agenda.  In fact,  it's more about the nature of these things:  The folks who have power use it and the folks who don't try to sway things their way.  It looks like we'll get competing GOP visions for boosting teacher pay today.  I'm heading to Greensboro to hear one from Gov. Pat McCrory,  while my colleagues at the News & Observer will check in on one coming from Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and Sen. Jerry Tillman at a legislative committee meeting.  Stay tuned.

Let's talk about teacher pay

Education looks like the hot topic for this year's legislative session,  with a special urgency about teacher pay and treatment.  The Observer and PNC Bank are hosting a  "Solving It Together"  forum on May 5,  the week before the session starts,  to talk about teacher compensation.

Cameron

Panelists are Eric Guckian,  the governor's senior education adviser;  CMS Superintendent Heath Morrison;  state representatives Rob Bryan (GOP) and Tricia Cotham (Dem); and Erlene Lyde of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators.  WBTV anchor Paul Cameron will pose questions suggested by the audience and press for answers that go beyond sound bites.

Meanwhile,  I'm working on a package that will try to move the discussion past wheel-spinning and broad generalities to get some discussion going about real options,  what they might cost and where we can find the money.

The forum is from 7-9 p.m. at CPCC's Pease Auditorium.  Click here to register and suggest questions.  I'll be there covering the discussion,  so I hope to see some of you there.

In a separate event,  the N.C. Association of Educators and the Tar Heel Alliance of Classroom Teachers are sponsoring a showing of the documentary  "American Teacher"  at 7 p.m. Thursday,  April 24,  at the CMAE office at 301 S McDowell St., Suite 1200.  The film,  narrated by Matt Damon and sponsored by the Teacher Salary Project,  is part of a national effort to increase teacher pay and respect  (read the list of supporters here).

In North Carolina,  the showing is part of a  "Moral Movies"  series that will run in Charlotte and other cities over the next four months.  The state NAACP and the Wilmington-based Working Films are co-sponsoring the series.

Wake crafts plan to pick top 25 percent of teachers

The Wake County school board got a briefing Tuesday on the superintendent's plan to reward 25 percent of teachers with four-year contracts and $500-a-year raises.

The  "25 percent rule,"  created by state legislators last summer,  is part of a program to phase out career status,  also known as tenure.  It's posing challenges for districts across North Carolina as they try to figure out how to make it work.  The biggest issue is choosing among teachers who meet the mandated requirements for three years' experience and proficient job evaluations.

Echoing a discussion by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board last month,  Wake board members gave the state-mandated program thumbs down.

“This is a bad way for rewarding teachers,” said Wake board member Jim Martin, according to the News & Observer. “This is a bad way for just about everything.”

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2014/01/07/3513778/wake-schools-grapple-with-end.html#storylink=cpy

Wake's plan creates separate eligibility pools for each school,  dealing with the concern that  districtwide selection could leave some schools shortchanged.  Wake also plans to ask eligible teachers whether they want to participate.  That's a good question,  given that accepting a four-year contract means voluntarily surrendering tenure.  Some teachers say they'll refuse the contract and the raise if it's offered,  and the N.C. Association of Educators is suing to protect tenure.

Once each school has a pool of eligible and willing teachers,  selection will be done based on the highest job ratings in the past two years,  with seniority as a tie-breaker.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools plans to unveil its plan later this month.  The school board discussed  issues and challenges at a December meeting (read the CMS presentation here).

CMS watching the clock, making its list

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials are hustling to name the 25 percent of teachers who qualify for small state raises by the June deadline,  but they say they expect  --  even hope for  --  last-minute changes.

This summer,  the state legislature ordered school districts across North Carolina to select 25 percent of the teachers who meet experience and proficiency standards and offer them four-year contracts and $500-a-year raises.  It's part of a plan to phase out teacher tenure,  or career status,  by 2018.  (Read the CMS presentation here.)

CMS recently polled teachers on options for making the selection and plans to analyze the results before winter break.  In January,  Superintendent Heath Morrison will bring the school board his plan for making the cut,  and in May he'll bring them the list of names as required by law.

Meanwhile,  CMS lawyer Jonathan Sink said he's been talking with legislators about some of the unintended consequences of the mandate,  and they may be willing to tinker and clarify in 2014. But the session doesn't start until May,  which means any state changes would come as local districts are wrapping up their process.

For teachers there's another time pressure:  If they're offered the four-year contract,  they have to decide whether to sign away their rights to career status.  The law passed this summer says that protection will go away for everyone in 2018,  when those four-year contracts expire.  State lawmakers have appointed a task force to look at performance pay and other compensation and recruitment issues. But for now,  nobody knows what will replace the current system.

Waddell

"I've seen many programs come and go.  This is going to come and go just like the others,"  said board member Joyce Waddell,  a retired teacher.

Several teachers have said it would be foolish to sign away career status protection for an uncertain future.  The N.C. Association of Educators is reportedly planning a lawsuit to challenge the elimination of tenure.

Morrison acknowledged the likelihood that a significant number of teachers who get the contract offers will say no.  He said the district's interpretation of the state mandate is that once the teachers who make up the 25 percent are chosen,  the list can't be expanded.  That means the actual number getting contracts and raises could end up well below 25 percent,  he told the board.

CMS has more than 10,000 employees who qualify as teachers under the state definition  (which includes licensed support staff such as counselors and librarians),  and almost 6,000 who meet the state eligibility standard of proficient job ratings and three consecutive years of employment.  According to this week's presentation,  that means CMS will be able to offer contracts to about 1,500 people.

After walk-in, what's the plan?

After a day of signs and cheers and red clothes and pancake breakfasts for teachers, I bet I'm not the only person wondering:  Is anything going to change for N.C. teachers? If so, what's the plan and who's making it?

The Walk-In/Walk-Out day has tapped into what seems to be a widespread sentiment that our state's teachers deserve a better deal,  as teacher pay and per-pupil spending slump toward the bottom of national rankings and the state throws challenges and changes at public educators.

Parents and students at Elizabeth Lane Elementary

But sentiment isn't action.  The build-up to Nov. 4 illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of social media organizing.

It started when the pseudonymous  "Mike Ladidadi"  created a Facebook event called  "Nov. 4th NC Teacher Walkout."  The call for action was couched in broad terms:  "We want more respect for teachers.  Specifically a fair balance between workload, expectations and compensation for our teachers.  Help needs to come from both the state government and from unengaged parents who need to take an active role in their child's education."

As the idea circulated among teachers, administrators, journalists and others,  it morphed into the notion of a  "walk-in,"  bringing parents,  students and community members together to show support for teachers.  While the tone of frustration with recent legislative action was present,  there didn't seem to be any clear agenda here, either.

Things took some odd twists as the event neared.  I had assumed  "Ladidadi"  was a teacher worried about protecting his job.  But last week a conservative/Libertarian N.C. blogger known as Lady Liberty posted that she traced the name to a Wilmington real estate broker who,  "as far as I can tell,  has no horse in the teacher grievances race other than he himself thinks they aren’t being treated fairly."  (The irony of a pseudonymous blogger unmasking a pseudonymous organizer isn't lost on me,  but Lady Liberty identified herself to me as A.P. Dillon,  a Holly Springs mom who says she doesn't want her school-age child to get caught in the political crossfire.)

Lady Liberty 1885

That's not all:  A group called Organize 2020 emerged as a voice pushing for walk-in events on Nov. 4. You'd be hard-pressed to identify that group from its web site,  but the @Organize2020 Twitter profile describes it as "a member-led group within the NCAE advocating for teachers."  Organize 2020 appears to be the source of a statement saying the North Carolina Association of Educators "affirm(s) the desire and right of educators to use tactics like a walkout or strike,"  which prompted Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger to call for the state's attorney general to intervene.  The NCAE,  which had already publicly declined to endorse the walk-out, removed the link to that statement.

Organize2020.com

So why does a teacher advocacy group need a subgroup to advocate for teachers,  and why are the ties between the two entities obscured?  I've got a call in to NCAE President Rodney Ellis (who came to Charlotte today to speak at a "walk-in" rally at Ranson Middle School)  seeking an explanation.

Bottom line:  The GOP majority in the state legislature translated some prevailing sentiments  (accountability and choice improve education,  the teacher pay system is a failure)  into plans.  The question is whether the folks who don't like those plans have a strategy of their own.  As Superintendent Heath Morrison often notes,  public officials and advocates who say teachers deserve a raise need to be prepared to talk about where the money will come from.

The coming weeks and months will tell whether this was a step toward a real movement  -- and if so, what that movement means.  

Walkout? Contract rejection? N.C. teachers simmering

Talk about a Nov. 4 North Carolina teacher walkout is floating on social media,  but will anything happen?

That's hard to tell.  Five hundred people have clicked "coming"  on the Facebook page for the walkout,  created by Mike Ladidadi  --  a false name,  according to a Huffington Post article on the walkout posted on Ladidadi's page. An unsigned  "NC Teacher Walkout" blog was recently added to the mix.

Online comments and conversations I've had with teachers reflect a tension between the desire to jolt lawmakers and the public and fear that staying home will jeopardize jobs and harm students.

Calabro

 "I am not sure that walking out is the the thing to do, but sure am motivated to do something," said  Beverly Woods Elementary teacher Marie Calabro, who has been trying to rally teachers and their supporters to stand outside schools every Wednesday afternoon to demonstrate support.  "To be honest, I think having a walkout may be a bit premature, and I wish teachers would either join NCAE and/or write their officials."

The N.C. Association of Educators isn't endorsing the walkout,  and is reminding members that striking or taking part in a "sick out"  is risky business in a right-to-work state.

"NCAE understands that this walkout is the consequence of the General Assembly and Governor McCrory for failing to live up to their constitutional requirements to enact budgets and policies that provide for a sound, basic education for all students in North Carolina’s public schools," the group's statement to members says. "NCAE is working within the legal and political systems to hold the politicians accountable for their actions this past year, including replacing them with elected leaders who will stand up for public education."

Judy Kidd, president of the Charlotte-based Classroom Teachers Association, isn't endorsing the walkout either.

But regardless of whether they're willing to take that kind of action,  many educators say they're far from ready to forget about a 2013 legislative session that brought sweeping changes for public education,  from the abolition of tenure and master's degree pay to the perpetuation of a pay scale that's gaining North Carolina a reputation as among the nation's worst places for teachers.

Kidd and Charles Smith, president of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators, say the next battle may come when districts follow the state mandate to offer four-year contracts to 25 percent of teachers for 2014-15.  Those contracts will offer a $500-a-year raise for those four years in exchange for teachers signing away all rights to tenure.  Superintendent Heath Morrison recently told the school board he's trying to figure out how the state expects the selection process to work.

Kidd and Smith say they both expect the tenure changes in this year's budget to be challenged in court.  "I encourage anybody who's offered a four-year contract with a $500 raise to turn it down and let the courts rule,"  Kidd said.

Smith said the NCAE and CMAE haven't taken a position yet on the new contracts. But personally,  he's with Kidd.  Anyone who signs away tenure won't be eligible to get it back if the courts rule against the new system,  he said.

"If you offer me (the four-year contract) I'm going to tell you 'no thanks,' " Smith said.  "To paraphrase the old saying,  you can have my tenure when you pry my cold, dead fingers from it."