New York Times: Here in Guilford County, N.C., turnover had become so severe in some high-poverty schools that principals were hiring new teachers for nearly every class, every term. To staff its neediest schools before classes start on Aug. 28, recruiters have been advertising nationwide, organizing teacher fairs and offering one of the nation’s largest recruitment bonuses, $10,000 to instructors who sign up to teach Algebra I.

"We had schools where we didn’t have a single certified math teacher," said Terry Grier, the schools superintendent. "We needed an incentive, because we couldn’t convince teachers to go to these schools without one."

Has this been reported in the N&R?

Comments

[Jon Lowder]

In April, 06 they did a piece on incentives:
http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060416/NEWSREC0101/604160302

I have a feeling that the Times reporter got the lead re. Guilford County from this NPR report last November, and maybe NPR got it from the report in the N&R. Here's the NPR story:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6520435

In April of this year the Winston-Salem Journal had a piece that mentioned the Guilford incentives, but it had to do with Forsyth County worrying about losing teachers to Guilford because of the incentives. Here's the link:
http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ/MGArticle/WSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1173350755122

So to answer your question I'd say that the News & Record did at least touch on it when the incentives were initially discussed. Not sure if they've done anything since then, but it wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility that their original work eventually led to the Times inclusion of Guilford in the overall story.

[John Burns]

Maybe if he would quit intentionally destroying some high schools (Andrews) he wouldn't have this problem.

[Ed Cone]

So, the N&R had a piece of this story in April 06. What about this part: To staff its neediest schools before classes start on Aug. 28, recruiters have been advertising nationwide, organizing teacher fairs and offering one of the nation’s largest recruitment bonuses..."We had schools where we didn’t have a single certified math teacher," said Terry Grier, the schools superintendent. "We needed an incentive, because we couldn’t convince teachers to go to these schools without one." [emphasis added]

That seems like news.

[Jim Caserta]

So the article from this April in the WSJ doesn't count as recent?

How many dedicated education reporter does the N&R have? Go to the NYT Education section on their website and you see more than 10 writers featured.

The issue of teacher recruitment, especially for low-performing schools, is not specific to Guilford, but is nationwide. That is why 4 other states or districts and national statistics were used. The difference I see between the NR article and the NYT is the quote about having not one certified math teacher, which highlights the degree of the problem. I would guess there are other schools and districts with that same problem.

[Jon Lowder]

Oh, I agree. A follow up piece on the original, focusing on the success/failure of the incentive program would seem to be a natural.

[Ed Cone]

JC, it counts as fairly recent, but it doesn't count as a story in the N&R.

Which, when discussing the latest in a string of important local stories on which the N&R has been scooped, and considering the impact of recent staff cuts on the N&R's ability to deliver serious and reasonably complete and timely coverage of local news, is the subject at hand.

[Jon Lowder]

Should point out I was agreeing with Ed in last comment. Jim's point is also valid (i.e. it's a national story), and I think if you look at Jim's comment about the number of education reporters on the Times staff I think you get to the same place that Ed is going (cuts to newspaper staff hurt coverage). I've heard much the same lament re. the Winston paper from other readers here in the western Triad. Too many wire stories and not enough original coverage of local events are what's going to hasten the demise of the newspapers if they aren't careful.

[Morgan Josey Glover]

Ed,
Jennifer and I have done several stories on teacher incentives, including in-depth coverage of Grier's Mission Possible plan from the time it was proposed. I also posted information on The Chalkboard on June 25 that showed teacher turnover in Mission Possible schools appears to have declined from 2005-06. However, because AYP scores were not out yet, there was not enough information to do a full story (answering, among other questions, how many teachers will actually get the bonus). Grier has told me he will present a report on Mission Possible to the board once AYP/ABC results are official (state releases them Sept. 6).

I read the NYT article and there was nothing new in it. Regarding the Aug. 28 reference, the incentive referenced is Mission Possible and teacher fairs have been held for at least a few years. In some of the quotes it looks like Grier is reflecting on how bad teacher turnover has been (when I came to the paper last year I remember him bemoaning the lack of certified math teachers at schools like Hairston in board meetings). But since then he has celebrated the fact that Mission Possible has generated a lot of interest from job applicants in some schools.

It is true that I am the only dedicated K-12 reporter at the paper now. But I would not consider this NYT enterprise story a scoop on the N&R.

[Ed Cone]

Thanks, Morgan, for reading the blog and commenting.

[Jim Caserta]

When two operations with overlapping service areas, limited direct competition, and faced with staff cuts and declining margins, I see coooperation as a logical step. A combined WSJ & NR would be stronger - in terms of more complete coverage and better profits - than the two operating separately.

[Jim Caserta]

Morgan, how often do you collaborate/discuss stories with reporters from the WS Journal?

[Ed Cone]

Two different corporate owners, two markets with some overlap but a lot of differences. Cooperation in some areas may be a good idea, but not a simple matter.

[Morgan Josey Glover]

Jim,
I've never discussed stories with a WS Journal reporter.