Cheryl Caulfield swiveled behind her freshly minted name plate during a Wake County School Board work session. The new school board member who ran on improving learning loss, pulled the microphone close and asked why money earmarked to address COVID shut-down test scores wasn’t being used for tutoring. Caulfield was a “just a mom, not...
The North Carolina State Capitol is a beautiful Greek Revival-styled building whose construction was completed in 1840. It no longer houses the General Assembly and state Supreme Court, but 1 E. Edenton Street is still used as the office of North Carolina’s governor. Anyone who wanders the beautiful, oak-laden grounds of the Capitol will doubtless...
This week, I was talking with a radio host based in Charlotte, and she asked me how North Carolina stacks up when it comes to school choice. My answer: the state has a lot of school choice strengths, but some unusual weaknesses. First, the good news. There are hundreds of public charter and public magnet...
North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) and their parent organization the National Education Association (NEA) increased already exorbitant membership dues on North Carolina teachers for the 2022-2023 school year. Let’s try to put into perspective what NCAE/NEA member dues pay for and the value brought to paying teachers. NCAE/NEA play politics. Contributions and endorsements are...
Have you ever felt that your voice wasn’t loud enough to be heard? On Sunday, the High Point University College Republicans Chapter felt this way as the school canceled our documentary screening event and we received threatening comments. The event, to be hosted by HPUCR president Hayley Hill, who had begun planning the event back...
Freedom and whisky go together. I first heard that line a few years ago at a Burns Night supper in a local pub outside Raleigh. It’s from Scottish national poet Robert “Rabbie” Burns (1759–1796), and the gathering was the annual celebration of his birthday, Jan. 25. I heard it spoken properly — Freedom and whisky...
North Carolina faces many challenges. You and I may disagree with how to rank those challenges, or what to do about them, but we share a belief that our state could be a better place than it is today. This reformist impulse is proper and useful. But we shouldn’t let it make us unduly and...
The Biden administration’s decision to transform his presidential bully pulpit into a weapon used against companies like Facebook and Twitter should raise a red flag for every American who values free speech. Over the long days of the COVID era, the president’s appointees and staff repeatedly sought to tamper with social media companies’ content moderation...
