By John Tate III CHARLOTTE (August 23, 2023) – Why do we let our General Assembly dismantle K-12 public education as we have known it, to the detriment of our community’s kids and our economy? It is our fault, you know. We are empowered as a people to change those who govern. We either just… READ MORE
Lawmakers show what they mean by school choice
RALEIGH (June 1, 2023) – State legislators are moving to dramatically expand vouchers to attend private schools this year, lifting income limits on who qualifies and raising state spending on vouchers to more than half a billion dollars a year by 2032-33.1 Make no mistake – budgets are about choices. And state legislators are choosing… READ MORE
4,400 invisible teachers
RALEIGH (September 1, 2022) – More than 1.3 million students started the public school year in North Carolina this week. Yet more than 4,400 teachers who should have been at the front of those children’s classes weren’t there, because school officials couldn’t fill the vacancies. And 3,600 more teachers across the state still aren’t fully… READ MORE
$6.2B NC surplus: Make education a priority again
RALEIGH (May 18, 2022) – As the NC General Assembly reconvenes today with a $6.2 billion state budget surplus, it’s time to make education a priority again in North Carolina. Officials announced last week that the state will take in $4.24 billion more than projected in the budget year that ends June 30 – a… READ MORE
2021: Return to not quite normal
RALEIGH (December 29, 2021) – 2021 was slightly less chaotic than 2020, with distribution of vaccines that temporarily calmed the coronavirus pandemic before new variants began to emerge. The state also saw its first new budget in three years, with much-needed raises for higher education faculty and staff and generous investments in capital projects. It’s… READ MORE
Leandro: A quarter-century of bickering
RALEIGH (November 15, 2021) – Robb Leandro was an 8th-grader at West Hoke Middle School in 1994, when the lawsuit over funding for poor North Carolina school districts that bears his name was filed. Twenty-seven years later, he’s 42 years old, with a family and children of his own, and practices law in Raleigh.1 Burley… READ MORE
Dreaming of more teachers of color
CHAPEL HILL (November 4, 2021) – It’s so important to have someone who looks like you at the front of the class. That’s what the DREAM program – Diverse and Resilient Educators Advised through Mentorship – aims to provide in the Durham Public Schools. DREAM is a partnership between the School of Education at UNC-Chapel… READ MORE
Becoming better teachers
Each fall, UNC Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz co-teaches a seminar for graduate students – professors of the future – called ‘The American Professoriate.’ The class focuses on the role of public universities. This year, he teaches with Matt Springer and Buck Goldstein from the School of Education and Dean Suzanne Barbour of the Graduate… READ MORE
2 + 2 = Teachers!
RALEIGH (August 27, 2021) – State education leaders sealed an agreement this week to expand a program for aspiring teachers to start their education at a North Carolina community college and finish at one of the state’s public universities. Thomas Stith III, President of the NC Community College System, and UNC System President Peter Hans… READ MORE
CEOs: A moral obligation to our youngest readers
CARY (April 14, 2021) – In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and learning losses among the state’s most vulnerable students, North Carolina needs to double down on early-childhood education and literacy, a group of prominent CEOs said today. “COVID learning losses have impacted our youngest students the hardest – and particularly our students of… READ MORE