RALEIGH (August 27, 2021) – State education leaders sealed an agreement this week to expand a program for aspiring teachers to start their education at a North Carolina community college and finish at one of the state’s public universities. Thomas Stith III, President of the NC Community College System, and UNC System President Peter Hans… READ MORE
HELP WANTED: Teachers of Color
RALEIGH – What’s wrong with this picture? Last year, 53% of the public school students in North Carolina were students of color – yet nearly 80% of their teachers were white.1 “North Carolina’s educator workforce has been unable to match this rich diversity,” says a new report from the Developing a Representative and Inclusive Vision… READ MORE
Teachers come first
RALEIGH – Gov. Roy Cooper’s recommended budget for 2018-19 heads in the right direction by prioritizing education over tax cuts and offering an average raise of 8% to North Carolina teachers, whose pay ranked 37th in the country in a recent survey.1 The two-year budget state legislators adopted last year included average raises for K-12… READ MORE
Strong support for raising NC teacher pay
HIGH POINT – A poll released last week revealed overwhelming support among Democratic, Republican and unaffiliated North Carolinians for raising public school teacher pay to the national average. So if it’s a political slam dunk, why don’t legislators do it? The High Point University Poll found that 85 percent of North Carolinians agree that public… READ MORE
What motivates someone to teach?
CHARLOTTE – The pay isn’t much. The working conditions can be rough. Yet some feel driven to teach. “Teaching is one of the most important professions right now,” Dean Ellen McIntyre of UNC Charlotte’s Cato College of Education says in the accompanying video. “There’s really hardly a profession as important and as honorable.” State officials… READ MORE
Cultivating young teachers early
CHARLOTTE – In August, UNC Charlotte launched the first of its kind in the nation – a high school and early college for 9th graders who want to become teachers. As North Carolina and other states confront a shrinking pipeline of future teachers, the Charlotte Teacher Early College is an attempt to find a solution…. READ MORE
‘Anybody who can touch the life of a kid’
CHARLOTTE – North Carolina is now the 9th largest state in America – yet it saw a 30% decline in enrollment in the state’s colleges of education from 2010-2015.1 “There’s a teacher pipeline problem pretty much nationally. It’s pretty acute in North Carolina,” Dean Ellen McIntyre of the Cato College of Education at UNC Charlotte… READ MORE
‘She saw something in me’
CHARLOTTE – Most of us had a favorite teacher – one who made a difference in our lives. Dean Ellen McIntyre of the Cato College of Education at UNC Charlotte talks about her favorites in the accompanying video, starting with her third-grade teacher. “She was so fair. I had had a previous teacher who was… READ MORE
A long-term approach on teacher pay, preparation
CHARLOTTE (Oct. 4, 2017) – North Carolina has made efforts in recent years to raise teacher pay from a low of 47th in the nation in 2013-14.1 Yet enrollment in the state’s schools of education is still down. “I’m having fewer and fewer students, even though we have a fantastic program at UNC Charlotte,” Susan… READ MORE
NC’s disinvestment: More tuition, more debt, fewer teachers
RALEIGH – Continuing our look at North Carolina’s disinvestment in public education, a shortfall in state support has meant higher tuition and more debt for university students and fewer teachers for students in our K-12 public schools. Though higher education is a public good that benefits us all – and our state constitution requires legislators… READ MORE