Those Are “Our” Kids – About What Happened Near Two Of Our Schools Today On a day where our General Assembly still has made no progress toward a new budget that amply funds public schools, where a state supreme court overturned the dictates of the LEANDRO court decision…

We need to really start looking at all schools as “our” schools. That means actively looking at every school we support with our constitutional obligation as a state as the very school that teaches “our” children.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/20/t...

Reason #23 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – The Need for More Teacher Input in Educational “Reform” You can be either “at” the table or “on” the table. For teachers in North Carolina, there are many other prepositions that could identify the relationship between the legislation process and teache…

You can be either “at” the table or “on” the table.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/18/r...

The “Silent Cuts” In WSFCS That Don’t Get Talked About The cuts that were made in positions in WSFCS this past school year (RIFs, etc.) were drastic, untimely, and harsh. And the most affected were those in EC classrooms and other “student-facing…

And will those positions be refilled? Probably not. They will be “silently cut” so to speak.

Nothing really said about that from Central Office.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/14/t...

Reason #21 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – Too Many of Our Students Live In Poverty in a Gerrymandered State Last year State Superintendent Mo Green and DPI discussed possibly changing the school performance grading system. Again. This is not a new idea. It was talked about in 2024. And now… They don’t ne…

The school performance grading system just needs to be eliminated.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/13/r...

Reason #20 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – Removal of Due-Process Rights and Career Status for Teachers If due-process rights are not restored for new teachers, then the idea of having a rally or a march to advocate for students and schools ten to fifteen years from now would likely never happen. The…

Simply put, veteran teachers’ records prove their effectiveness or they would not have gotten continuing licenses. Teachers with due-process rights actually work to advocate for schools and students without fear of sudden reprisal.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/12/r...

And most of those people do not understand what all is done outside of the classroom by teachers in order to maximize student achievement. Teaching is not a just walk into the classroom at 8, do a job, leave at 4, and leave it all at the school.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/11/r...

Reason #16 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – $1,860 Less A Year In Actual Dollars: Comparing Veteran Teachers With Graduate Degrees From 2008 – 2025/26 Go back a few years – say before the Great Recession. 2008. If you started as a teacher with a 4-year degree you would make 30,430 / year. If you planned on earning a master’s degree you could with…

The North Carolina General Assembly does not want veteran teachers.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/07/r...

Reason #15 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – It’s Been Over a Decade Since Teachers Received Longevity Pay Not long ago (2014) , teachers who served the state for at least ten years would receive what was called “longevity” pay as part of their commitment to public schools. In fact, all full-time state …

Longevity pay does mean that much to veteran teachers. It also means a lot to the NCGA because they used its elimination to help wage a systematic war against veteran teachers.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/06/r...

Reason #14 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – Because The Average Teacher Salary In NC Sucks According to the last annual NEA Report on Educator Pay in 2025: And here is what is reported for NC. $15,000+ below the national average is terrible to begin with and average increases are lower t…

Remember the word “average” is a very easy word to manipulate. Politicians use it well. In this case, the very teachers who are driving the “average” salary up are the very people that the state wants to not have in a few years.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/05/r...

Reason #13 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – What If Teachers Only Worked The Hours They Were Contracted For? Over a course of ten months, North Carolina public school teachers are officially employed for 215 days. Students in North Carolina typically go to school at least 180 days a school year. Most LEA’…

They are "asking" ADs in our system to work for free over the summer.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/04/r...

One Day In A Winston-Salem / Forsyth County School: 4/2/26 Thursday starts with this on the front page of the Winston-Salem Journal. That one photo took up about 20% of the entire first page. From that article: The exodus of one-third of the school distric…

You couldn't write a more dysfunctional script for a movie than what panned out yesterday.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/03/o...

Reason #12 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – What The NC State Supreme Court Did Yesterday From WRAL.com: The court threw out that plan Thursday in a 4-3 decision. The ruling invalidates the last decade’s worth of actions in the case. But instead of remanding the lawsuit for furthe…

Of course there is a Berger (Jr.) involved.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/03/r...

Reason #12 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – What The NC State Supreme Court Did Yesterday From WRAL.com: The court threw out that plan Thursday in a 4-3 decision. The ruling invalidates the last decade’s worth of actions in the case. But instead of remanding the lawsuit for furthe…

Of course there is a Berger (Jr.) involved.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/04/03/r...

Reason #8 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – Because Our Students Deserve Professional HUMAN Teachers & Not Robots No. It’s not an apocalyptic conspiracy theory. From Reuters: The first lady, a former model, described how in the near future a hypothetical humanoid teacher could quickly access classical st…

No. It’s not an apocalyptic conspiracy theory.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/29/r...

Reason #7 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – Over 7,400 NC Teacher Assistants Lost Since 2008 North Carolina has over 7400 fewer teacher assistants than it did over a decade ago. Let me repeat: North Carolina has over 7400 fewer teacher assistants than it over ten years ago. When study…

And nurses for each school and psychologists and other personnel who can help our students.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/28/r...

Reason #6 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – This State Freezes Teacher Salaries For 10 Years. TEN YEARS! Here is the salary schedule that is in place for the 2025-2026 school year because a new budget was never passed. For those who are not teachers, make sure to pay attention to years 15-24. Frozen. …

If anyone in Raleigh cares to explain how those 10 frozen years of pay is supposed to attract teachers to the profession, then speak up. But it looks blatantly like a ploy to keep people from being career educators.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/27/r...

Reason #5 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – North Carolina Is 1st For Business Because It’s 50th In Funding Effort For Its Schools When a state can make a claim such as this: …then it is worth seeing at what expense it was made to happen.

50th.

Out of 50.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/25/r...

I Ordered A Double-Flipped Berger. One Berger has been flipped. We need to flip another in 2028. Why? Take a look at this video. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Theo Nollert (@theonollert) And this printable fact s…

Only one Berger was flipped.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/25/i...

Great News For NC Public Schools: Phil Berger Is Out; Tricia Cotham Should Be Next Senator Phil Berger has done more to try and dismantle public schools in North Carolina than any other person in this state. In the past fourteen years, Berger has spearheaded as many attacks again…

Senator Phil Berger has done more to try and dismantle public schools in North Carolina than any other person in this state.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/24/g...

Reason #4 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – North Carolina Is Actually Funding THREE Schools Systems (And Giving Less To Traditional Public Schools). This is how a smaller piece of the revenue pie is funding public schools because money is being siphoned off to other “initiatives” such as: Charter Schools Vouchers Tax Breaks to Corporations Suns…

A smaller piece of the revenue pie is funding public schools because money is being siphoned off to other “initiatives.”

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/23/r...

Reason #2 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – NC Is The Only Southeastern State To Do This To The Teaching Profession. Take a look at the states that surround North Carolina. While NC shares a border with 4 other states, it does not take long to travel to some others. Some lawmakers like to construct “favorable” co…

Some lawmakers like to construct “favorable” comparisons to other southeastern states to make the argument that we as a state are fairly treating our teachers.

Hogwash.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/21/r...

Reason #1 To Put #KidsOverCorporations – NC Can Fully Fund Our Public Schools. (If It Wanted To). When a state keeps lowering the corporate tax rate and the amount of state taxes placed upon wealthier people, that affects how much money comes into the state coffers. And look at the amount of mo…

When a state keeps lowering the corporate tax rate and the amount of state taxes placed upon wealthier people, that affects how much money comes into the state coffers.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/20/r...

Only 12% Of Teachers Are “Very Satisfied” With Their Job? Not Surprising. This graph is appearing quite a bit in social media feeds. The original infographic is shown here: Wonder what it would be for NC only considering what all has happened here in the past 15 years. 1…

Wonder what it would be for NC only considering what all has happened here in the past 15 years.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/17/o...

#KidsOverCorporations It’s explained here:  The state supreme court has ignored ruling on LEANDRO. North Carolina is the only state without a new state budget this year. North Carolina has the least regulated unive…

It really is time to do something.

#KidsOverCorporations

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/16/k...

10 Things Everyone Should Know About Public Education In North Carolina In short, many of the people who set policy in Raleigh are banking on the premise that educators in NC are not truly knowledgeable of all the facets of pubic education to really see how matters can…

Primaries are over. The general election is coming soon. Local school board elections may be the most contentious. Know where candidates stand.

Public education is the biggest item of the state budget.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/16/1...

Phil Berger Is Still Losing His Primary. Here’s a Reminder Of His Ideal Job Description Of The North Carolina Teacher. Seems that this state has a lot of classroom vacancies. And if you want to be one of the lucky candidates for any of these positions, remember that there are some “unwritten” but very apparent qual…

Phil Berger is still behind Sam Page after all ballots have been verified and cured.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/13/p...

Pheeling It, Phil? For a man who spent over $10 million to win a primary in a district that he specifically gerrymandered for himself, Berger will not be conceding anything soon. He’s probably willing to drag t…

The fact that Berger is having to go to a revote in his gerrymandered district tells you how important these 2026 elections are.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/12/p...

About That “Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Education” Here In NC Teach in North Carolina for the last two-plus decades and witness what this state has done to public schools and the treatment of educators and a headline like this might make you laugh in a non-hu…

They could start with honoring the LEANDRO decision.

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/11/a...

Carolina Forward On Tuesday, Sheriff Sam Page defeated Phil Berger, the Republican Senate leader, by just 2 votes. There are now provisional ballots to review, and a recount surely to come. Who oversees that...

For a man who spent over $10 million to win a primary in a district that he specifically gerrymandered for himself, Berger will not be conceding anything soon. He’s willing to drag this out for months – like passing a budget for the state or expanding Medicaid.

www.facebook.com/NCForward/po...

Almost $12 Million Spent & 2 Votes Short? The Civics Class Taught By Sen. Phil Berger Something tells me that Phil Berger would have spent another 10-12 million dollars for a couple of more votes. But that would be less money for other cronies around the state to spend in their gene…

Considering that 12 million dollars would equate to around $500 per vote in a primary for a 13-term state senator who makes a base salary of under $14K per annum, that’s a steep price to pay just to stay in office.

Why is that so important to Phil?

caffeinatedrage.com/2026/03/04/a...