Leandro funding
Casualties of the culture wars
I don’t recognize North Carolina today. It is not the state I’ve loved and lived in all my life. We’ve changed from being “where the weak grow strong, and the strong grow great” to a state where we select the ones we choose to hate. We are casualties of the culture war, both here and […]
Newsline reporter Greg Childress on the start of the new school year and the rise in book banning
We’re now six weeks into North Carolina’s new state fiscal year and across the state, public school students and teachers are preparing to return to class. Indeed, in some schools, they’re already back. Unfortunately, neither of these facts has served to spur Republican state legislative leaders to come to an agreement on a new state […]
Governor Cooper allocates $3 million in federal funding to help aspiring NC teachers
After touring Garner Magnet High School on Thursday, Gov. Roy Cooper announced that the state of North Carolina will be allotting $3 million in federal funding to the group TeachNC to help aspiring teachers. The funds are intended to cover the costs of licensure exams and exam preparation for those entering the profession in North […]
Public school advocates rally against vouchers, demand adequate funding
Democratic state lawmakers and members of Every Child NC on Tuesday demanded that the Republican-led General Assembly fully fund Years Four and Five of the Leandro Comprehensive Remedial Plan and stop a proposal to allow North Carolina’s wealthiest families access to the state’s controversial school voucher program. In a news conference, Sen. Rachel Hunt, a […]
Proponents of massive school privatization scheme owe us answers
If legislative leadership has their way, our public schools will be radically transformed by the 2023 legislative session. Bills targeting Black students and trans students threaten to make our schools increasingly hostile for many children. They are seeking to radically overhaul school funding in ways that harm rural students, students with disabilities, Black students, and […]
House budget proposal falls woefully short of what our students and educators deserve
North Carolina’s public schools face many challenges. In November, the Supreme Court ruled that the current level of school funding is so low that it violates the constitutional rights of the state’s 1.5 million public school students. Student performance on state tests is improving but remains below pre-pandemic levels and opportunity gaps have grown. The […]
Superior Court Judge James Ammons could decide Leandro funding issue in two weeks
Superior Court Judge James Ammons, who is overseeing the long-running Leandro school funding case, could decide in two weeks how much money the state must turnover to North Carolina’s public schools to pay of years two and three of a school improvement plan. On Friday, Ammons listened to attorneys in the decades-old case debate the […]
Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget would fund Leandro comprehensive remedial plan
Gov. Roy Cooper’s recommended budget for 2023-25 provides $677.8 million to pay for years two and three of a court-ordered school improvement plan stemming from the state’s long-running Leandro school funding lawsuit. Superior Court Judge David Lee, who oversaw the case until March 2022, ordered the state in 2021 to transfer $1.75 billion to pay […]
Cooper stresses support for education in State of the State speech
Education as a key to expanding the state’s skilled workforce and maintaining its economic competitiveness was a central theme in Gov. Roy Cooper’s State of the State speech Monday night, a speech that included references to priorities in his next budget. He encouraged investment in the “education pipeline” that begins in early childhood. “A great […]
Facing legislative headwinds, State Board will ask lawmakers for funds to implement Leandro plan
Request enjoys bipartisan support, but state Superintendent is notably silent The State Board of Education has agreed to ask lawmakers to support the “full implementation” of a court-approved school improvement plan during 2023 budget deliberations. The state board and other supporters of the Comprehensive Plan believe it can transform North Carolina’s system of K-12 education and nudge the state toward its constitutional mandate to provide children with sound basic education.
