Education
Much-attacked final Title IX rule goes into effect while still blocked in 26 states
WASHINGTON — Though the Biden administration’s final rule for Title IX extending federal protections for LGBTQ students went into effect nationwide Thursday, a slew of legal challenges has temporarily blocked over half of all states from enforcing the updated regulations. After the Department of Education released the final rule in April, 26 states — all […]
NC Board of Education takes a deeper dive into NIL compensation for student athletes
NIL — “name, image, and likeness” — deals are common in college athletics and for a year the N.C. High School Athletic Association allowed it. That was until June when the North Carolina State Board of Education reversed the NCHSAA position, adopting amateur rules for student athletes that prohibit NIL arrangements. But here’s the rub […]
School choice advocates want NC lawmakers to clear voucher waitlist, but vote unlikely until fall
Advocates for school choice called on North Carolina lawmakers Wednesday to clear the waitlist for families seeking scholarships under the state’s private school voucher program. Roughly 55,000 applicants are on the waitlist under the Opportunity Scholarship program for K-12 students. Lawmakers are unlikely to address the waitlist in the immediate future — the House came […]
UNC System President: In rebuilding trust, universities must focus on four-year graduation rates
UNC System President Peter Hans told members of the UNC Board of Governors last Wednesday that nationally there has been a sharp decline in trust towards higher education. “There’s a belief that many universities have drifted far from their core mission, delivering a sound education at a reasonable cost,” said Hans. It’s not the first […]
An unfinished state budget creates operating pains for the UNC System
This is typically the time of year when the University of North Carolina’s Board of Governors would be reviewing the new state budget, assessing legislative gains, and looking ahead to when students return to campus in August. But budget talks in the House and Senate broke down in June. While the House approved a $31.7 […]
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 […]