Thread by @JustinParmenter

Today's merit pay public records release is a March 2022 email from marketing firm Eckel and Vaughan advising DPI, PEPSC, and the Human Capital Roundtable on how to spin the controversial Pathways to Excellence merit pay plan. #nced #ncpol #ExperienceMatters4NC

At last Thursday's State Board of Education meeting, State Superintendent Catherine Truitt and State Board Chair Eric Davis delivered scripted remarks about Pathways to Excellence.

They spoke about our state's difficulty in attracting people to the teaching profession. They spoke about a bunch of teachers who are desperate for a way to climb the ladder without becoming administrators (really?)

...They spoke about licensure reform as the magic cure that will solve all of the problems.

Truitt said “We share this process to show how thorough it is. To show how open it’s been. To show our commitment to seeking feedback, and our desire to improve the final product.”

That's the public-facing side of this licensure-reform effort.

On the private-facing side (which would have stayed private were it not for public records law), here's the advice Truitt's Director of Educator Recruitment and Support Tom Tomberlin and PEPSC Chair Patrick Miller are receiving from marketing firm Eckel and Vaughan:

"Try avoiding phrases that emphasize the plan’s complexity or the burden it may put on districts to manage. It’s in our best interest to always speak about the plan in a positive manner, emphasizing its benefits rather than pointing out possible complications."

Guess who very likely wrote those remarks Truitt and Davis gave last week?

Eckel and Vaughan.

Our districts are facing massive staffing shortages with the first day of school for traditional schools right around the corner.

What we need is policy solutions by our state legislators that will actually help us recruit and retain teachers. What our district leaders need is honest conversations from DPI about proposed policy changes that would completely upend the work that they do.

But it seems unlikely we'll get those things with this state legislature, this leadership at DPI/SBE, or this marketing firm.

Original source document:

drive.google.com/file/d/1xNFsZN…