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Senate bill would make all students eligible for vouchers intended to help poor families pay for private schools
A senate bill filed Tuesday would remove income eligibility requirements for the state’s so-called “Opportunity Scholarships” created to help low-income families pay private school tuition. Senate Bill 711 was filed by Sen. Ralph Hise, a Mitchell County Republican. Sen. Bob Steinburg, a Republican from Edenton and Sen. Norman W. Sanderson, a Republican from Pamlico County, are co-sponsors. Hise did not respond to an email message about the bill on Wednesday. SB 711 was quickly denounced […]
New budget proposal would delay implementation of Parents’ Bill of Rights law
School districts would get extra time to implement policies required by the so-called “Parents’ Bill of Rights” under the latest version of the state budget. Under a draft version of the budget unveiled Tuesday, districts would have until Jan. 1 to put policies in place required under the new law. Senate Bill 49 required the […]
How much influence should college students have over local elections?
In the waning days of the 2023 legislative session, there seems to be no shortage of ideas of how to reshape North Carolina’s elections. From ballot signature verification to giving the General Assembly appointment power to the State Board of Elections, Republican legislators maintain their changes will instill voter confidence in the system. On Tuesday, […]
Advocates, administrators: ‘Parents’ Bill of Rights’ is a burden for Chatham County Schools
Days before a legal deadline, Chatham County public school leaders are struggling to implement provisions contained in Senate Bill 49, a controversial bill that became state law in mid-August and that requires educators to alert parents if their child changes their name or pronoun at school. It also restricts instruction about gender identity and sexuality […]
‘The lockdown generation’ calls on Republicans to reform gun laws
Students from across North Carolina gathered in front of the Legislative Building Tuesday to demand that Republicans pass bills that tighten people’s access to guns. “Being part of the lockdown generation is not something you want to be a part of,” said Leah Krevat, a 20-year-old who has been a gun reform activist for five […]
NC Gov. Cooper to veto expansive GOP elections bill
Gov. Roy Cooper will veto a sweeping elections bill that would limit ballot-counting and allow partisan election observers to walk freely within polling places. “This legislation has nothing to do with election security and everything to do with Republicans keeping and gaining power,” said Cooper. “It requires valid votes to be tossed out unnecessarily, schemes […]
More GOP political operatives, former lawmakers appointed trustees at UNC System campuses
More Republican political operatives and former lawmakers will join the boards of trustees at UNC System campuses under an appointments bill passed Wednesday. The move comes in the face of renewed bipartisan concerns that the UNC Board of Governors and campus level boards of trustees are too partisan. Jim Blaine, Republican political consultant and former […]
Lawmakers override governor’s vetoes of bills targeting transgender youth
The North Carolina General Assembly overturned a series of Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes late Wednesday, passing into law two bills that roll back rights for LGBTQ youth in the state. House Bill 808 prohibits gender-affirming medical care for those under 18, including treatment advised by their doctors and to which their parents consent. House Bill […]
NC Republicans override vetoes of K-12 education bills
The Republican-led General Assembly on Wednesday overrode Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto of Senate Bill 49, which has sparked controversy because it requires educators to alert parents if their child changes their name or uses a different pronoun at school. SB 49 also restricts instruction about gender identity and sexuality in K-4 classrooms. Critics debating the […]
As the school year starts, districts prepare for onslaught of book challenges by conservatives
North Carolina has become what demographers and political pundits call a minority-majority system of public schools. That means nonwhite students outnumber their white counterparts. This new dynamic, says Michelle Burton, a veteran school library media specialist with Durham Public Schools, has fueled a backlash against what’s taught about America’s racist past, as well as reading […]
Public schools banned from sheltering migrants under bill passed by U.S. House
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Wednesday night passed a bill to bar the use of public K-12 school facilities to provide shelter for migrants seeking asylum in the U.S. The bill, approved 222-201, is known as the “Schools Not Shelters Act” and is a rebuke of the Biden administration’s immigration policy. If enacted into […]
State Board of Education leaders take issue with parts of ‘Parents’ Rights Bill’
State Board of Education (SBE) leaders are concerned that the Parents’ Bill of Rights legislation vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper doesn’t give the state board authority to enforce the recommendations of a hearing officer in disputes between parents and public schools. SBE Chairman Eric Davis and SBE vice Chairman Alan Duncan penned a letter to […]
Weekend reads: A conservative push to remake NC schools, budget stalls, and PFAS river worries
1. As UNC-Chapel Hill announces free tuition, political appointees raise questions, push back Campus Board of Trustees and UNC System Board of Governors weren’t informed, members said By Joe Killian When UNC-Chapel Hill Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz announced last week the university would begin providing free tuition and required fees for students whose families make less […]
Gov. Roy Cooper lets UNC omnibus bill become law without his signature
Gov. Roy Cooper let an omnibus bill dealing with University of North Carolina System campuses become law without his signature Thursday. N.C. Senate Bill 195 made a series of changes to policies governing the state’s universities — none exceptionally controversial. The bill, originally filed in March by N.C. Sen. Amy Galey (R-Alamance) had several prominent […]
July surprise: GOP lawmakers unveil sweeping bill to remake public education in NC
In a sudden and extraordinary flex of political power, Republican legislators unveiled an expansive education bill Tuesday night that would dramatically overhaul and greatly disrupt the way public schools operate in North Carolina, and likely alter forever the state’s approach to K-12 education. The bill, a “committee substitute” to Senate Bill 90, contains many ideas […]
Veteran schoolteacher: Why can’t students use preferred names like NC lawmakers do?
A bill making its way through the NC General Assembly seeks in part to make the first day of school more nerve-racking by requiring parent notification before a school staff member may address a student by any altered name. From SB 49 “Parents’ Bill of Rights” My student rosters after Day 1 are full of revisions as […]