Education
UNC System announces search committee for new chancellor at NC State
UNC System president Peter Hans did not waste any time in appointing the committee that will recommend a replacement for NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson. Woodson, the longest serving chancellor in the University of North Carolina System, announced on Thursday that he will retire at the end of June of 2025 after 15 years leading […]
Federal court ruling temporarily halts Title IX changes in dozens of NC schools
A federal court ruling in Kansas that temporarily restricts implementing a series of Title IX changes advanced by the Biden administration affects 43 schools in North Carolina. More than half of all U.S. states (all represented by Republican attorneys general) joined or filed lawsuits against the Biden administration’s new rules that would ban sex-based discrimination […]
NC Board of Education advances plan to end testing requirement for entry into teacher prep programs
North Carolina has focused for years on how to retain its best and brightest in the classroom. But it has also been struggling to increase the number of professionals who are entering the educator pipeline. North Carolina had more than 2,800 vacancies in K-12 teaching positions at the start of the 2023-24 school year, according […]
GOP plan to reverse final Title IX rule passes U.S. House, but Biden says he’d veto
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House on Thursday passed a measure to reverse an Education Department rule seeking to extend federal discrimination protections for LGBTQ students, though President Joe Biden has vowed to veto the legislation should it land on his desk. House passage of the resolution on a party-line vote, 210-205, is part of a […]
The courts have decided on school calendar flexibility; why are legislative leaders fighting it?
A decades-long battle over school calendars is now playing out in the courts. On one side are public schools. According to WRAL, “About 27 of the state’s 115 school systems are expected to start their upcoming school year before” the August 26 start date laid out under the state’s General Statutes. Education versus vacation These schools […]
NC lawmakers question their $500 million investment in a private nonprofit
Members of the House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform on Tuesday grilled the president and CEO of NCInnovation, a private nonprofit that was awarded $500 million in the 2023 biennial state budget despite a widespread lack of understanding among lawmakers as to how the money would be used or how the projects would be […]
First tenants move into Bertie County Schools workforce housing
The first tenants of a new 24-unit housing complex for public school and local government employees in Bertie County began to move in this week. Bertie County Schools officials hope the housing complex will help recruit and retain effective teachers. The district had the second highest attrition rate in the state during the 2021-22 school […]
NC Child’s Erica Palmer Smith on child well-being and the 2024 KIDS Count data book
For several years now, researchers at the national Annie E. Casey Foundation have measured and documented how well each U.S. state is doing when it comes to the well-being of its children. The annual KIDS Count report looks at several important indicators in fields like economic well-being, educational achievement and health, assesses whether states are […]
Don’t give up on the FAFSA, advocates for student financial aid urge
WASHINGTON — Though the new version of the form to apply for federal financial student aid has had its fair share of highly publicized hiccups, U.S. Under Secretary of Education James Kvaal says the department has made a lot of progress in the past couple of months. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid — […]
Dueling GOP budgets: NC House Repubs advance proposal that Senate counterparts say is too generous
Republicans in the state House were hit from all sides Wednesday as they gave preliminary approval to their $31.7 billion budget proposal. Their House Democratic colleagues condemned the budget for proposing to spend about $500 million on private school vouchers — money they said could be better used to increase public school teacher pay, give […]
N.C. House budget calls for $135 million in childcare stabilization grants
The N.C. House released a proposed budget update Monday that would allocate $135 million for childcare stabilization grants to help soften the landing for childcare centers as federal COVID-pandemic money run out. The House’s proposal, however, is $165 million short of the $300 million emergency allocation childcare advocates requested during a rally at the Legislative […]
More money for raises and private school vouchers in the NC House budget proposal
The budget state House Republicans want would increase beginning teacher pay to $4,400 a month and add $248 million for private school vouchers. House budget writers said the state is facing increased competition for new teachers, particularly from bordering states. North Carolina ranks 42nd nationally in beginning teacher pay, the News & Observer has reported. […]