Carolina Journal’s Barry Smith reports on Sen. Phil Berger’s continuing push to reform and improve North Carolina’s K-12 education system.
N.C. Senate leader Phil Berger Tuesday unveiled the second phase of his education reform agenda, calling for an end to teacher tenure, placing a greater emphasis on literacy, pushing for accountability in the classroom, and allowing state employees to volunteer in a public school literacy program for up to five hours per month.
“The days of accepting a broken education system in North Carolina are over,” said Berger, a Rockingham County Republican. “We must continue to demand better and positive change for our kids.”
The proposal includes ending teacher tenure by the end of the 2013-14 school year and replacing it with optional contracts.
Teachers with fewer than three years experience would be given one-year contracts by local school boards. Teachers with three or more years would be given contracts that would last no longer than four years.
