SMITHFIELD – On February 27, Johnston County Public Schools (JCPS) held its second annual teacher signing day. The event, mirrored after a sports contract signing ceremony, recognized and celebrated student teachers who have committed to staying on with JCPS.
This year, six JCPS student teachers signed their one-year contracts in front of friends, family, and teachers, and school district administrators. “We are so excited for them to begin their journey as a teacher with our district next school year,” Director of Talent Acquisition and Retention Maureen Hanahue said.
Superintendent Dr. Eric C. Bracy, Interim Chief of Human Resources Linda Edmundson, 2022-2023 First Year Teacher of the Year Madavia Johnson, and 2023-2024 Assistant Principal of the Year Dr. Tobias Hocutt addressed the group welcoming them to the JCPS family, and sharing words of encouragement and wisdom.
The acquisition of these student teachers each year is one piece of the school district’s continuing initiative to attract the best and brightest educators. “We are honored that these student teachers chose Johnston County Public Schools as a place to start their teaching careers,” stated Edmundson. “We look forward to working with them and supporting them as they grow to become teachers and educational leaders within our school system.”
In an continued effort to increase the volume of educators and professionals throughout JCPS, the school district will offer a job fair on Saturday, March 2, 2024 from 9 AM – 12 PM at Smithfield-Selma High.
I’m surprised there’s even this paltry number. Republicans have ruined public education. Why would any college graduate want to go into this field here in NC? They’d make far more in other fields and wouldn’t get demonized.
Ben Perdue (Dem) stole $600 dollars from teachers back in the day.
You’re not going to find a lot of people willing to teach small children confusing and damaging critical gender ideology, among many other DEI/ESG initiatives. Test scores and performance are abysmal while the board and superintendent do victory laps over some “growth” scores. Yet, it’s what the administration calls for. Hmmmm. No wonder our schools are awful, but it aint the GOP.
Have you been in classrooms and heard gender ideology or whatever bogeyman you’re afraid of actually being taught or are you blindly trusting your preferred news sources?
Teachers teach state standards, as required. Not what some talk radio host told you they teach. Since 2010, the GOP has decimated public education with constant cuts, and dishonest sleights of hand where they restructure the pay schedule, and call it a “raise”. They leave out that veteran teachers get their pay frozen at year 15, a pay freeze they refuse to address. It has nothing to do with Perdue or any other excuse. It’s why there’s a bunch of empty classrooms run by substitutes and a dependence on foreign teachers. Working 30 years to attain 50 K in pay isn’t really appealing to college graduates. Especially when republicans take away their health insurance as they have. 13 years of education being at the bottom of the nation in funding. We be the bestest!
Yea, 6 oughta knock a dent in the 9 pages of openings.
Holy propaganda!
Joyce, you are obviously one of two things:
A Democrat hack, or
Stupid.
Don’t be fooled, both things go hand in hand
@ Mack. Nothing I posted is untrue. Does it hurt to have have to hear what you don’t want to hear?
Here’s a hard “truth” Joyce. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, gets into education for the money or to get rich. I say that as a teacher with over 30 years of public school teaching. Generally, they (we) get into it hoping to make a change in the lives of a child, family, community, state and ultimately society. Unfortunately, liberal policies, poor parents, administrative bureaucracy have made that hope nothing more than a fantasy: not to mention school boards. I could go on and on with stories of unruly behavior from children, parents blaming teachers for their children’s behavior, principals who send kids back to class before the teacher after a referral because they want to be the kids friend or keep the parents happy but I don’t think you would “accept” the reality that public schools are failing because of liberalism. The cold truth is, schools are failing because society is failing and parents have completely abdicated any responsibility to send children prepared to learn. Money has nothing to do with why teachers are leaving. I would have traded money for respect, autonomy in the classroom, support from parents and administrators any day.
Teachers do expect to make a living wage commensurate with their education level. It does matter. The hard truth is that Republicans did dismantle the former pay structure once they took office 14 years ago. They have kept veteran teacher pay frozen that entire time. They did! That isn’t in dispute, and no amount of blame shifting can hide what they did. I’m not either left or right, so your attempt to paint me as a “liberal” doesn’t work. I agree that kids are unruly, and a lot of that does stem from liberal policies, but it also stems from right wing policies and the constant demonization of educators so prevalent on right wing media sources. . As a long time veteran teacher, I can affirm that low pay does make a difference. Every teacher I know says it’s an issue. So do the vacancies. Not sure how any honest person can claim that pay doesn’t matter. Teacher have bills too . There’s a severe shortage of college graduates who don’t even consider the field so its obvious that you’re speaking for yourself and letting your politics do the talking.
I did not claim that pay isn’t an issue. I stated no one gets into teaching for the money. Answer me this question, did you get into teaching because of the money?
Former Teacher take a seat. Of course teachers do not get in the job to get rich but they also do not get into it to barely get by and that is what is happening now if you get into the education system. So apparently only liberals and parents are failing education eh? Please turn off Newsmax and touch some grass today grandpa.
Ahh , personal attacks. The moment when you know you’ve won
Also, I defy you to show me anywhere in my post I attempted to “paint you” as a liberal.
In other words, it’s a combination of low pay, demonization, and poorly behaved students that are making the profession undesirable.
@ Former Teacher. You specifically said that “Money has nothing to do with why teachers are leaving.” That is patently false. Before 20010, I could at least depend on a yearly STEP increase as well as longevity pay. That was quickly taken away. Money is a major issue , as is discipline, demonization, parents, and a whole slew of issues. I got into teaching because I love my subject and I love teaching it, and the pay, while never high, was at least adequate. Now the pay is dismal, the benefits are terrible, I can listen daily to talk radio and right wing media bash public schools and teachers, testing is the only focus, discipline is weak, parents want you to give their kids an “A” no matter how little they do, and the workload is overwhelming. It’s a combination of things and pay is a major issue, and that’s all the republicans fault. They don’t prioritize teachers…ever.
Joyce Junior is spot on. The pay and resources provided to educators in this state is a joke. Why would any young person want to teach in this state with crappy pay, oversized classrooms, and students who seem to be able to get away with more without penalty. F
The problem with a lot of people responding is that they have no experience with which they are talking about. I taught for over 30 years in two counties. With regards to pay, I would ask Joyce Junior, what is the pay you would take to be disrespected, humiliated, bullied, emotionally and sometimes physically ( first hand experience) , over worked, blamed, ? Exactly what is the pay you would take or you feel is appropriate? By the way, there is still “step pay “based on years of experience. True, longevity was removed ( actually put into salary and called “raises “ by shady politicians). If money was the number one factor , why are so many charter and private schools growing? They don’t pay based on state salary schedule. They generally make less and they aren’t struggling to find teachers. In fact, a lot of public school teachers are taking a reduction in pay to go work for them. Perhaps you are willing to sell your self respect and dignity to the highest bidder, I and a lot of former co-workers aren’t. Good day
@ Former Teacher. 1. Pay should be at least around the national average. Better yet, why not aim for the top? It’s undeniable that states with higher pay have better overall results. To reach the national average would require an across the board $12 K boost per year. They had the money, they just chose other priorities. Then there’s the terrible benefits… 2. The Step pay was reworked so that you get stuck in steps for years rather than going up every year. That’s the main issue. They intentionally did this to shortchange teachers. Once you hit year 15, it gets frozen and has been ever since Republicans took over, other than a small boost 10 years later. They merely throw out excuses as to why they don’t value veteran teachers, year after year. Those “shady politicians” are Republicans. 3. Charter schools and private schools don’t require certification. Unlike other public schools, they can take a lot more people who don’t have the required qualifications. Even so, they also have a shortage of teachers, just like other public schools. There are also other variables at play here, such as religion or a lack of unruly students. That there are teachers willing to work there doesn’t mean that pay isn’t a huge issue. It is. I agree that parents/discipline is huge issue but so is the pay and republicans are creating this problem.