public schools
Gov. Roy Cooper vetoes controversial charter school bill
A Republican-backed bill allowing counties to spend local tax dollars on charter school construction projects was vetoed by Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday. Cooper said in a statement that House Bill 219 puts taxpayers’ dollars at risk. “Diverting local resources to build charter schools without clear authority on who owns them risks financial loss to […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Setting politics aside, NC lawmakers approve bill to increase survival from cardiac arrest
“I believe I was saved for many reasons, unknown to me.” It has been 14 years since Representative Becky Carney went into cardiac arrest at her legislative desk. Not a year goes by that she doesn’t think about the ordeal that could have ended very differently for the Mecklenburg County Democrat. “My colleague on the […]
School districts struggle to implement new laws on sexually explicit books
RICHMOND, Va. — Although a new Virginia law requires schools to inform parents when sexually explicit materials are used in the classroom, some districts are using that law as the basis to go further and remove certain books from schools altogether. Book ban requests across the state often have cited the Virginia law, which was signed last year by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin. […]
Gov. Roy Cooper declares ‘state of emergency’ for public education
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 […]
Public School Forum leader: Senate budget proposal comes up woefully short
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 […]
North Carolina students make ‘significant strides’ recovering from pandemic learning loss
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 […]
State data: Black students suspended from NC public schools at four times the rate of whites
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.