public schools

Gov. Roy Cooper declares ‘state of emergency’ for public education

BY: - May 22, 2023

Gov. Roy Cooper went on the attack Monday, blasting away at Republican legislation that he contends will “choke the life out of public education” in North Carolina. The Democratic governor said that it’s time to declare a “state of emergency” and he urged North Carolinians to contact lawmakers to protest legislation that could irreversibly damage […]

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Republican senators

Public School Forum leader: Senate budget proposal comes up woefully short

BY: - May 18, 2023

The State of North Carolina has money. In 2022, North Carolina had over $6 billion in unappropriated funds. This year, North Carolina is expected to have at least $3 billion more than budgeted in revenue. This is a significant surplus. And yet, the budget speeding through the Senate this week — a proposal based solely […]

students looking at their laptops

North Carolina students make ‘significant strides’ recovering from pandemic learning loss

BY: - April 19, 2023

North Carolina’s school children made “significant strides” during the 2021-22 school year in recovering from lost instructional time that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new N.C. Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) report released Tuesday. On average, students showed signs of academic recovery in every subject, Jeni Corn, NCDPI’s director of research 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.

State House committee advances latest version of anti-Critical Race Theory legislation

BY: - March 17, 2023

Republicans defend bill as promoting equality, while Democrats forecast chilling impact on honest classroom discussions Rep. Ken Fontenot, a Wilson County Republican, vigorously defended House Bill 187 this week, contending that the bill restricting how educators teach about race, gender and sexuality, would prevent educators from teaching racially divisive doctrines.

COMMENTARY

NC schools are struggling to survive while rich people and corporations keep getting tax cuts

BY: - February 27, 2023

In 2013, the North Carolina General Assembly started cutting taxes (mostly for big corporations and wealthy people). Most years since have seen lawmakers continue to divert public funds from things like schools, childcare, broadband, water quality, and public safety, to the pockets of out-of-state corporations and the wealthy few. These cuts also put more of […]

Uncertain future — Second graders Taylor Eatman (right) and Karyme Mendoza read together during a "buddy reading" time. Budget cuts have left teachers like Carter worried about how they will meet their students' needs with limited resources. (Photo by Ricky Leung)

Republican lawmakers to NC schoolchildren and teachers: The attacks will continue until morale improves

BY: - February 7, 2023

In case you hadn’t noticed, North Carolina public schools, along with the children and teachers who inhabit them, are suffering mightily these days. The Public School Forum of North Carolina reports that the number of youth suicides in our state has doubled in recent years and that there’s been a 46% increase in the number of kids who have suffered with one or more “major depressive episodes” since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, thousands of educators are voting on the state of our public schools with their feet.

COMMENTARY

Five steps Gov. Cooper can take to ensure the Leandro ruling benefits students for years to come

BY: - December 9, 2022

In November, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling in the long-running Leandro court case. By a 4-3 margin, the justices ordered the state to provide our public schools, early education providers, and higher education institutions the funding necessary to implement years two and three of the Leandro Comprehensive Remedial Plan. The court ruled that the state continues to violate the constitutional rights of North Carolina’s students to have access to a “sound basic education.”

Report: Confidence in public education has decreased since pandemic

BY: - November 22, 2022

Nearly 50% of voters say their confidence in public education has waned since the pandemic sent public education into a tailspin, according to a national survey of voters and parents released Monday by the Hunt Institute. The Hunt survey also shows that only a quarter of parents believe school district officials, state education leaders and […]

Report: Decline in teachers with traditional education degrees linked to growth in charter schools

BY: - November 2, 2022

As charter schools proliferate across America, there has been a corresponding decline in the number of new teachers earning bachelor’s degrees in education from traditional educator preparation programs, according to a new study from the National Center for Research on Education Access and Choice (REACH). Researchers Doug Harris, the national director of REACH, and Mary Penn, a research partner at the center, found that for every 10% increase in charter school enrollment...

Legislative committee hears from national expert on building and keeping a strong, diverse teacher workforce

BY: - October 5, 2022

Lowering standards to attract people of color to the teaching profession is bad policy, a national education expert told state lawmakers on Monday. Heather Peske, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ), said that relaxing standards for passing licensure exams “perpetuates the myth that racial diversity is equivalent to less skill.”