Applications for the Summer Teacher Institute in Raleigh due April 15

The N.C. Museum of History in Raleigh announces its 2011 Summer Teacher Institute, titled Exploring African American Life and Culture Through Primary Sources, from Monday to Friday, July 25 to 29. Applications must be submitted by Friday, April 15. Space is limited, so apply early for this opportunity to explore the contributions of African Americans to the history of North Carolina and the nation. Hear noted scholars, visit three North Carolina historic sites, tour exhibits, and discover resources from the Library of Congress and the N.C. State Archives. Learn how to find and use related primary source documents, artifacts and historic sites.
Appropriate for instructors of all grade levels, the Summer Teacher Institute is particularly relevant to social studies for middle grades and to United States history for high school. Each day of the institute focuses on a different era of the state’s history, from the colonial period to the present. Topics include African Americans and the Civil War, the 1960 Greensboro sit-ins, African American businesses, and craftsmen and artists.
North Carolina educators can earn up to 40 contact hours. A $25 registration fee includes breakfast and lunch each day, parking, field trips and extensive classroom resources. Teachers who live more than 50 miles from Raleigh will receive reimbursement for hotel and dinner at the state rate. Educators within 50 miles of Raleigh will receive a reimbursement of $75 toward travel. All institute requirements must be completed in order to receive the reimbursement.
The Summer Teacher Institute is primarily funded through the grant Teaching With Primary Sources from the Library of Congress Eastern Region Program, coordinated by Waynesburg University. The program’s mission is to build a consortium that fosters collaborations between the Library of Congress and the educational community to increase instructional use of Library of Congress digitized primary sources within K-12 classrooms.
For more information and an online registration form, click here or access the registration form on the website by clicking “education,” then “online teacher workshops.” Look under the heading “teacher workshops.” Or call 919-807-7995 for details.

Obama administration seeks to keep NC teachers working

From the White House:

Obama Administration Presses to Keep North Carolina Teachers Working

WASHINGTON, D.C. – With state and local budget shortfalls threatening the jobs of hundreds of thousands of educators in North Carolina and across the country, the Obama Administration is pressing Congress to approve emergency funding to keep them on the job.

“It is crucial that we keep our teachers in the classroom,” U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said.  “Our teachers are vital to our students’ success, our economy’s success, and our nation’s success.  We must act now to prevent teachers from being laid off and ensure that America’s students have the knowledge and skills to succeed in the 21st century.”

The economic downturn has placed massive strain on state and local budgets.  As education makes up one of the largest single items in state budgets, schools, classrooms, and teacher jobs have been targeted for significant cuts.  Such a massive loss of jobs will impact students through reductions in core class time, overcrowded classrooms, shortened school calendars, cuts to afterschool programming, fewer early childhood opportunities, and reduced access to college counselors and school nurses.

In response, the Obama Administration is pressing Congress to approve $23 billion in emergency support to preserve education jobs across the country.  This funding will keep teachers in the classroom at all levels, including post-secondary, while helping to sustain meaningful and necessary reforms underway in public education.  The President also is urging Congress to approve $1 billion to preserve early childhood education jobs to ensure that young children do not lose services critical to their learning and well-being.

According to provisional estimates by the White House Council of Economic Advisers, this funding will support the jobs of approximately 300,000 educators, including approximately 10,340 in North Carolina.

“As state lawmakers and school districts across the country are finalizing their budgets for the coming year, we must act quickly and responsibly to offer the assistance they need – to keep our teachers teaching, keep our students learning, and keep our economy growing.  Investing in education now will help tens of millions of students become more productive citizens and positively affect America’s long-term fiscal health,” Secretary Duncan said.