Budgets passed with bipartisan support in both chambers of the General Assembly fund a number of provisions in the ongoing Leandro school funding legal case, but critics still contend the money falls short of the mark.
All in Education
Dewey’s Legacy Decimates System
Just about everyone has an opinion about how to improve education, and it’s usually an opinion passionately held and forcefully argued. It’s not hard to see why. After all, schools are the single-largest expenditure of state taxpayers’ funds. Educational mediocrity is the common denominator of many other social maladies. Most folks have spouses, siblings, parents, or other family members in the teaching profession. And everyone has been a student.
$413 million in summer food assistance benefits being issued by NCDHHS to 1.1 million children
The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has begun issuing $413 million in food assistance payments to an estimated 1.1 million eligible children through the Summer Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer food assistance program. Children who are eligible for the summer receive a one-time payment of $375 on their family’s P-EBT card.
NCDHHS to Hold Final Summer Cash and Cash 4 College Drawings on Wednesday
On Wednesday, Aug. 4 at 10 a.m., the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, with the help of the NC Education Lottery, will conduct the final random number generator drawings for the Summer Cash Drawing and Summer Cash 4 College Drawing.
Auditors find clerical errors boosting risk of fraud at community college
State auditors found Roanoke-Chowan Community College issued more than $10.3 million in checks with invalid signatures between August 2019 and August 2020, putting the school at increased risk of fraud.
Merit pay boosts student success
How much say should the public have about public education? Parental revolts against “wokeness” fads in the classroom are all the rage right now, but gaps between public preferences and the practice of public education didn’t suddenly begin a few months ago. They’ve been around for decades.
Suburban, rural schools make masks optional; urban counties keep mandates
Given the freedom to choose whether to mandate masks for students, school boards across the state have begun voting to make face coverings optional for the coming school year.
Early look at task force submissions on CRT raise concern
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson in March announced the launch of a task force to address growing concern grew among public school parents about political and cultural indoctrination in the classroom, specifically related to Critical Race Theory.
N.C. school districts have spent just 13% of federal COVID-19 relief, analysis finds
Public school districts in North Carolina have received about $5.3 billion in COVID-related relief from the federal government. But, on average, school leaders have spent just 13% of that money.
Fewer students major in Humanities
Most students attend colleges or universities primarily to acquire the knowledge, skills, and credentials required to get a rewarding job.
Getting COVID-19 shot is matter of personal choice, conservatives say
The voices of those urging government officials to rely on individual liberty and personality responsibility as the founding principles relate to getting the COVID vaccine are getting louder.
Commissioner decries racism, sexism as H.S. sports overhaul bill advances
The N.C. Senate Finance Committee approved a bill Thursday that would dramatically alter high school sports governance in the state and end 110 years of control by the N.C. High School Athletics Association. The organization’s commissioner, Que Tucker, tells media that she believes the bill is the product of racism.
Cooper to let mask mandates expire, says schools ‘should’ require masks in K-8
Gov. Roy Cooper will allow existing state mask mandates to expire on July 30, but he's recommending required masking for public school students in kindergarten through middle school. Cooper emphasized those changes during a Wednesday afternoon press conference on updated state COVID-19 guidance.
NC High School Athletic Association blasts legislature’s reform efforts
Leaders and supports of the N.C. High School Athletic Association gave a passionate defense of the organization Tuesday night in the wake of proposed legislation that would remove the organization from oversight and management of high school sports in North Carolina.
Overhaul of high school sports governance presented in Senate
On Tuesday, the N.C. Senate Education Committee presented a bill that would effectively end the High School Athletic Association's role in supervising high school athletics, a role the organization has held since 1913.
North Carolina updates StrongSchoolsNC public health toolkit
Today, Governor Roy Cooper and North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D. shared updated public health guidance for K-12 schools to follow in the upcoming school year.
N.C. lawmakers still have plenty of work to do on broadband
The General Assembly may allocate hundreds of millions in federal relief toward closing the digital divide this session, but policy experts says lawmakers still need to reduce regulations to further help the expansion of broadband infrastructure.
Vaccine requirements issued as some college students return to campus
Some universities across the state have announced that they will be requiring the COVID vaccine for students returning to campus. UNC System public universities are not requiring, but encouraging, the vaccine. Some private schools, including Duke and Wake Forest, are requiring it.
NC announces second Your Shot at A Million and Cash 4 College drawing winners
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mandy K. Cohen, M.D. today announced the second round of winners of the state’s Your Shot at A Million Summer Cash Drawing and Summer Cash 4 College drawings at the State Emergency Operations Center in Raleigh.
Berger says he will combat Critical Race Theory 'with everything that I have'
The exclusive teaching of Critical Race Theory in public school classrooms would be outlawed under a bill making its way through the N.C. Senate.