RALEIGH (February 22, 2024) – In a lawsuit that’s lasted almost 30 years, lawyers argued before the NC Supreme Court today about lofty concepts like jurisdiction and who has authority to spend state dollars. Meanwhile, after decades of lawyers arguing, 69% of North Carolina children in 3rd through 8th grades don’t read at the level… READ MORE
BRAD WILSON: ‘Avenues of opportunity … for everyone’
RALEIGH (January 17, 2024) – To former Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Brad Wilson, public education is simply fundamental – as a moral responsibility to our fellow citizens, to workforce development, and to our economy. Wilson has worn many hats in public education in North Carolina. He served as general counsel to Gov. Jim Hunt…. READ MORE
Wilson on vouchers: ‘We need to be very careful’
RALEIGH (January 17, 2024) – State legislators like to shovel public dollars to private schools at the same time they short public schools. In the long-running Leandro case on state support for public schools, a judge ruled last April that the 2021-23 state budget fell $677.8 million short of the plan for PreK-12 education spending… READ MORE
Hopes for 2024
RALEIGH (January 4, 2024) – The 2024 elections will be important to America – and to the future of American democracy. But they also will be vitally important to the future of North Carolina and its children. From governor to state legislators to local school boards, the state’s voters will make critical choices up and… READ MORE
2023: The chaos continues
RALEIGH (December 28, 2023) – It might seem strange to complain about underfunding of public education in a year when North Carolina had a $4.8 billion budget surplus.1 But it’s true. In a year when: North Carolina ranked 50th of 50 states in the percentage of GDP it devotes to K-12 public education, The state… READ MORE
Is NC spending enough on public education?
BENSON (November 1, 2023) – Is North Carolina spending enough on public education? The vast divide between conservative and progressive answers to that question was on full display at a recent debate on education funding. The forum at the Benson Civic Center was the final installment in a four-week series of Home Town Debates on… READ MORE
NC teacher pay: ‘My heart breaks’
RALEIGH (October 24, 2023) – “My heart breaks.” That phrase was repeated more than once in a recent discussion of teacher pay and recruitment in North Carolina. The forum at Meredith College was the third in a four-week series of Home Town Debates on education topics sponsored by Spectrum News and the NC Institute of… READ MORE
Leandro judge takes issue with Hood
RALEIGH (November 7, 2023) – In an op-ed piece that appeared in North Carolina newspapers last weekend, conservative columnist John Hood argued that high-poverty schools in the state already get more funds than schools in wealthier districts. The 29-year-old Leandro lawsuit was transformed from an argument that poor school districts were underfunded to one that… READ MORE
$500M in vouchers for private schools
SANFORD (October 10, 2023) – Is North Carolina’s dramatic expansion of vouchers for private schools – with no limits on family income – an effort to find what’s best for each child? Or an effort to undermine and divert funds from public education? A debate on those questions at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic &… READ MORE
7% over two years? Simply not enough.
RALEIGH (September 22, 2023) – It’s simply not enough. At a time when North Carolina children started school with 3,500 teaching positions vacant and with more than 20% of state jobs vacant,1 state legislators approved a budget today – almost three months late – that provides teachers and state employees raises of 4% this year… READ MORE
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