Education
College Board data: More North Carolina students taking Advanced Placement courses, passing exams
More of North Carolina high school students took Advanced Placement (AP) courses last school year and more of them performed at a higher level on AP exams than did so the previous year, according to recent College Board data. The College Board is the organization that administers the AP program and exams. Success on AP […]
Cary charter school illegally retaliated against math teacher, federal ALJ rules
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Hearings and Appeals has ruled that Cardinal Charter Academy in Cary engaged in illegal, retaliatory actions when it fired a math teacher who made “protected disclosures,” claiming the school did not provide students with the special education services their Individual Education Plans required. Terri Schmitz’s firing violated the […]
Putting moneyed interests over people
Legislative leaders are knowingly violating the constitutional rights of North Carolina’s 1.5 million public school students in order to help fund tax cuts for the corporations and wealthy North Carolinians who finance their campaigns. North Carolina’s constitution requires the state to provide all students with access to decent schools that provide all students with meaningful […]
Budget sets tight timeline, new specifics for controversial new school at UNC-Chapel Hill
When the General Assembly’s Republican majority revealed and passed a new budget in a whirlwind 48 hours last week, it set an aggressive timeline for an unprecedented new school at UNC-Chapel Hill. The budget provides $2 million in funding in each of the next two fiscal years for the new School of Civic Life and […]
Democrats make a final, unsuccessful push against school voucher expansion
Democratic lawmakers on Thursday vigorously pushed back against a Republican-led effort to expand the state’s school voucher program that will make it accessible to North Carolina’s wealthiest families. It was the last chance Democrats had to change minds about the voucher expansion just ahead of successful House and Senate votes approving a $30 billion state […]
UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees member officially running for state auditor
It’s official: Dave Boliek, member and former chair of the UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees, is running for the GOP nomination for State Auditor. As Newsline reported earlier this month, Boliek changed his voter registration from Democratic to Republican in June as he was considering a run for auditor — his first for public office. […]
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 […]
State Board of Education’s power to withhold charter school funding restricted under state budget proposal
A provision in a state budget draft released Tuesday would limit the reasons on which the State Board of Education can rely to withhold funding from charter schools. Under the provision, the state board can withhold or reduce a charter school’s funding to make enrollment-based adjustments, if a school has violated the term of its […]
Budget draft shows Republican lawmakers standing firm on school voucher expansion
A draft of the state budget released Tuesday shows Republican lawmakers aren’t backing away from plans to expand the state’s school voucher program to allow access to North Carolina’s wealthiest families. Several media outlets obtained the draft budget ahead of a possible vote by lawmakers this week. The budget has been delayed for months while […]
States urged by Biden administration to rectify underfunding of land-grant HBCUs
States engaged in decades of underfunding of land-grant Historically Black Colleges and Universities, leading to a more than $12 billion disparity with comparable white institutions, leaders of the U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday. “Unacceptable funding inequities have forced many of our nation’s distinguished Historically Black Colleges and Universities […]
Vice President Kamala Harris to NC A&T students: ‘When you vote, it scares some folks.’
This is what happens when the vice president of the United States visits Greensboro: Excitable German shepherds, restrained by their military handlers, sniff every duffel, trash can, and bathroom of a terminal at Piedmont Triad International Airport. Poised, yet nervy and as quiet as bats, Secret Service agents in dark suits and sunglasses scan the […]
Teacher has passion for democracy, historical markers and students
Outspoken social studies teacher and historian Rodney Pierce has successfully submitted five applications to the state for historical markers commemorating Black historical figures, events and organizations. Pierce has opposed efforts by the state’s Republican-led General Assembly and others to restrict what he and his colleagues teach students about the nation’s history of racism. Pierce, who […]