NC Senate revives open-enrollment study

A North Carolina Senate committee advanced Sen. Michael Lee's sweeping K-12 bill after amending it to study open enrollment. The same amendment also mandates weekly "released time" for off-campus religious instruction.

State auditor plans to review Opportunity Scholarship Program

North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek plans to conduct the first audit the Opportunity Scholarship Program, the state's voucher program now serving roughly 107,000 students.

Senate completes veto override, opts NC into federal school-choice tax credit

The NC Senate voted 30-19 on June 3 to override Gov. Josh Stein's veto of House Bill 87, completing the override and opting the state into a new federal school-choice tax-credit program. Beginning in 2027, the program lets individuals claim a federal tax credit of up to $1,700 for donations to organizations that fund K-12 scholarships.

Resolution to abolish US Dept of Ed on the move in NC House

An NC House committee advanced a resolution on June 2 urging Congress to abolish the US Department of Education and hand authority back to the states.

NC House Democrats push nearly $1 billion public-safety package

NC House Democrats have unveiled two bills that would add just under $1 billion in recurring spending on pay for correctional officers, troopers, court staff, and behavioral-health treatment.

Raleigh ranks No. 4 among large US metros for small business growth

The Raleigh-Cary metro area is a top large metro for small business performance, according to a new CoworkingCafe study, trailing only Miami, Austin, and Washington, DC.

Bill would mandate NC track if principal trainees take the job

A North Carolina House committee on May 19 advanced a bill to track whether state-funded principal trainees actually become administrators. The measure would also add $5 million a year to the state's Principal Fellows program.

NC House overrides Stein veto of federal school choice tax credit bill

The NC House voted 73-46 Wednesday to override Gov. Josh Stein's veto of House Bill 87, sending the school choice measure over to the Senate.

NC House committee backs attendance pilot as chair faults state board

The NC House Education Committee on May 19 advanced a two-year, $75,000 pilot directing the Department of Public Instruction to pick one school district to test technology that flags chronically absent students and automatically alerts their families.

NC House committee passes amendment to elect State Board of Education

The NC House Education Committee on May 19 advanced a proposed constitutional amendment that would make the elected superintendent of public instruction the voting chair of the State Board of Education and replace 11 governor-appointed seats with members elected from legislatively drawn districts.

NC House Republicans question DPI’s data on student achievement

Republican members of the NC House Education K-12 committee challenged the Department of Public Instruction's framing of student achievement data on May 12, telling officials its metrics may overstate how prepared North Carolina students are for college and careers.

Report: NC math rebounds, but reading scores keep falling

A new Harvard-Stanford-Dartmouth scorecard ranks North Carolina ninth nationally in math recovery since 2022 but just 22nd in reading, with the average student now reading roughly two-thirds of a grade level behind 2019 despite the state's 2021 science-of-reading law.