| Legislative Update from Bryan Holloway We are quickly approaching the short session that will begin in late April. The only education action that is occurring during this brief interim is in the Education Oversight Committee. The committee had its second meeting last week on March 6th. The committee continued to discuss child nutrition, and then transitioned to discuss Perkins Reauthorization and Career and Technical Education. NCATA has been working beyond just attending oversight meetings. This work includes visiting education committee chairs and committee members in their respective districts to discuss how the budget stalemate continues to negatively hurt our children, schools, and educators. Thus far we have spoken to: Representative Jeffrey Elmore, Education Appropriations and Policy Chair Representative Craig Horn, Education Appropriations and Policy Chair Senator Deanna Ballard, Education Appropriations and Policy Chair Representative Graig Meyer Representative Ashton Clemmons In addition to meeting with legislators, NCATA attended the Eggs and Issues breakfast hosted by Public School Forum. The issues and priorities presented were: Priority 1: Redesign our school finance system to dramatically improve adequacy, equity, and flexibility. Priority 2: Overhaul educator compensation, recruitment, and professional development strategies. Priority 3: Revamp our school accountability model and eliminate or revise the A-F school grading system. Priority 4: Support a major state investment to fully fund North Carolina’s $8 billion school infrastructure needs. Priority 5: Establish a plan to monitor progress toward Leandro compliance. https://www.ncforum.org/ Again, NCATA knows that this school year has been challenging. The lack of a budget has meant a lack of funding for our schools, no pay raises for teachers, and a failure to make our legislative priorities law. We will continue to do our best and let lawmakers know how this is impacting you. |
| NCATA & NAAE Award Winners Thank you to our current President, Jennifer Broadwell, and our fellow members that aided in the judging of our award applications. We are thankful for their hard work evaluating and selecting our award winners. We appreciate their time and effort! Thank you to our applicants. You are all valuable to our association and to our students! We acknowledge the hard work you put into your job each and every day. Here are our award winners: Eric Godwin Scholarship: Heather Shea, NERSBAOutstanding Early Career Teacher Award: Caroline Tart Warmack, West Craven High School Outstanding Teacher Award: Jillian Ford, Richlands High School Outstanding Middle/Secondary Program: North East Carolina Prep School with Amber Nead Ideas Unlimited Award: Cathy Berrier, Ledford High School Teachers Turn the Key Scholarship Application: Sarah Lawrence, Bear Grass Charter School Teacher Mentor Award: Al Jones, Richlands High School We will be communicating with our award winners about the next phase of the award process. Please wish them luck as they advance to regional and national judging! |