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Rep. Tricia Cotham’s party switch gives the House GOP a veto-proof majority

BY: - April 5, 2023

Rep. Tricia Cotham formally announced she is switching parties to become a Republican, giving the GOP a veto-proof majority in the state House.  Cotham bashed Democrats at a news conference Wednesday morning where Republicans welcomed her to the GOP. Cotham said Democrats had bullied her, shunned her, tried to tell her what to do, and […]

Boy in a classroom

State data: Black students suspended from NC public schools at four times the rate of whites

BY: - March 30, 2023

Black and American Indian students are suspended and expelled from schools at dramatically higher rates than their white peers, according to recent state data. During the 2021-22 school year, these groups had the highest rates of short-term suspensions, according to data compiled in the NC Department of Public Instruction’s Consolidated Data Report 2021-22.

COMMENTARY

North Carolina GOP legislators promote ignorance for partisan gain

BY: - March 30, 2023

If social scientists who study inequality agree that white people enjoy more favorable treatment, relative to Black people, in the labor market, schools, the health care system, and the courts, and if this pattern of advantage is well documented by solid research, should a group of non-expert legislators be able to keep this knowledge from students because it might cause discomfort?

UNC System faculty, staff bristle as legislature targets Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts

BY: - March 29, 2023

When the General Assembly’s Joint Legislative Commission on Government Operations sent a recent detailed request to the UNC System seeking information about any Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility (DEIA) training programs employed by the system and its 17 campuses, Professor Jelani Favors wasn’t surprised.

Report: Some incarcerated people don’t trust NC’s prison grievance system

BY: - March 29, 2023

Fear of punishment, concerns that prison staff thwart attempts to submit grievances cited A new report on North Carolina’s prison grievance procedure found that some incarcerated people do not think the policy resolves their complaints and fear they will be punished for raising an objection about their confinement.

Despite signs of progress in hurricane recovery, ReBuild NC continues to struggle

BY: - March 28, 2023

Leoni entered this world on Jan. 23, a daughter of Donnie Red Hawk McDowell and his wife, Humming Bird, hurricane survivors and members of the Tuscarora Nation.  In March, Leoni, her 3-year-old sister, Dyani, and their parents moved to a room on the second floor of an Extended Stay America in Fayetteville while their new mobile home was installed near Maxton.

COMMENTARY

Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina needs to remain a public asset

BY: - March 28, 2023

Twenty-five years ago, when a powerful state Senator quietly and suddenly advanced a bill that would have allowed the leaders of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina to transform the giant and successful health insurance nonprofit into a for-profit company, advocates, consumers, average citizens, and ultimately, the full General Assembly, took a stand.

COMMENTARY
NC Newsline staff

NC Policy Watch is becoming NC Newsline and you’re going to like the changes that are in store

BY: - March 27, 2023

For nearly two decades, people who care about North Carolina’s most vulnerable, who relish understanding the people and politics that factor into the state’s policies, and who have strong opinions about what our state should look like in the 21st Century, have been loyal and supportive readers of NC Policy Watch.

Monday numbers: As national conservatives target schools, a look at the new wave of book banning

BY: - March 27, 2023

Last week the U.S. House passed H.R. 5 -- a federal “Parents Bill of Rights” that's part of a conservative wave of similarly named legislation that targets books and speech on topics like race, gender and sexuality in schools and would compel teachers and school staff to out transgender children to their families.

States are learning on the fly about sports betting addiction

BY: - March 24, 2023

As North Carolina moves closer to legalizing sports gambling, cautionary tales -- especially for young men -- emerge in other states    NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The states that have legalized sports betting are reporting record levels of wagering and revenues, but with that growth comes questions about gambling addiction and whether regulators and sportsbooks are doing enough to fight it.

Lawmakers mull letting cities, counties post public notices online, rather than in newspapers

BY: - March 23, 2023

The oft-debated subject pits the decline of local newspapers against the public’s access to information. The fourth generation of his family to publish a newspaper, Lockwood Phillips has a reporter's sensibility for offhandedly recalling moments when journalism served its local community.

GOP bill to limit topics of discussion in public schools wins state House approval

BY: - March 23, 2023

Parents, Democratic lawmakers decry censorship and "chilling effect on education" A controversial bill that would restrict how the state’s public school teachers discuss race, gender and sexuality was approved by the state House by a 68-49 party line vote on Wednesday, and is now headed to the state Senate.