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Justin Parmenter Profile picture
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Aug 17 • 3 tweets • 3 min read
If you saw my public records release yesterday you already know a thing or two about @BestNCorg and how that organization and its CEO are working to pass a merit pay plan that financially benefits @SASSoftware through major expansion of the use of EVAAS. #nced #ncpol #pepsc
BEST NC holds an annual event called the Innovation Lab which in the past has been framed as an opportunity for educators and education stakeholders to brainstorm solutions to some of the problems facing education in our state.
As you can see from the agenda, this year's Innovation Lab is 100% a lobbying event pushing the Pathways to Excellence merit pay plan.

Just in case the conflict of interest wasn't obvious enough, it's even being held on the SAS campus.

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More from @JustinParmenter

Justin Parmenter Profile picture
Aug 16
Today's merit pay public records release is about the cozy relationship between @SASsoftware and @BESTNCorg, two driving forces behind the Pathways to Excellence teacher merit pay proposal.

#nced #ncpol #pepsc #ExperienceMatters4NC
SAS Software was founded by NC's richest individual James Goodnight. He continues to serve as its CEO and his wife Ann Goodnight is the company's Director of Community Relations.
SAS produces EVAAS, the controversial value-added software which claims to be able to determine exactly how much value a teacher adds to a student's learning by using a secret algorithm to analyze student performance on end-of-year standardized testing.
Read 14 tweets
Justin Parmenter Profile picture
Aug 8
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?)
Read 12 tweets
Justin Parmenter Profile picture
Aug 6
Our principals have done heroic work leading our schools, especially over the last 2-3 gruelling pandemic years. Now thanks to the North Carolina General Assembly they could see salary reductions of nearly $20,000. #ncga #nced #ncpol
If that happens, it would have massive repercussions for staffing in our public schools. Strong leadership is key in retaining teachers. If principals begin to leave (and who wouldn't look for alternatives to a $20k pay cut?) then teachers will leave. And they already are.
This issue needs solving ASAP, but there's another reason that teachers need to pay very close attention to what's happening...
Read 7 tweets
Justin Parmenter Profile picture
Jul 19
Today’s merit public records release is about the Human Capital Roundtable (HCR), the group that created and spent two years working on the merit pay plan behind closed doors.

#nced #ncpol #ncga #pepsc
Under the facilitation of @srebeducation, HCR began meeting in early 2019, not long after the NCGA created PEPSC. There was no public notice of HCR meetings, no recordings posted, and no agendas, minutes or any other documentation made publicly available.
In early 2021 the Human Capital Roundtable made a presentation to the State Board of Education which proposed seven levels of licensure and language indicating teachers had to demonstrate effectiveness to move up in the model.
Read 17 tweets
Justin Parmenter Profile picture
May 20
Here’s the school privatizer playbook, North Carolina edition:

Cut taxes and underfund traditional public schools

Uncap charter schools—no lunch or transportation required

Take away pay bumps for advanced degrees

Remove career status

#nced #ncpol #ncga
Cut teaching assistants

Revoke retiree health benefits

Divert millions of taxpayer 💵 to private schools that can legally discriminate based on religion and sexual orientation

More standardized testing

Less instructional autonomy for teachers
Create a school performance grade system that reinforces the narrative that public schools are failing
Read 4 tweets
Justin Parmenter Profile picture
Apr 1
Me: Class, today you’re going to see a video clip about blue whales. But first, who can share something they already know about blue whales?

Student: They explode when they die.

(Chaos ensues)
Me: (Struggling to regain class focus) Who can share a different fact about blue whales?

Student: Whale vomit is used in perfume.

(Chaos returns)
Me: (Struggling to regain class focus) Could someone please share a *positive* fact about blue whales?

Student: They are pretty.
Read 5 tweets

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