Critics of North Carolina’s new General Fund budget claim the education portion devastated school districts and put thousands of teachers in the unemployment. But as the new school year begins, numerous North Carolina districts have unfilled teacher and educator positions. John Locke Foundation Director of Research and Education Studies, Terry Stoops, discusses the gap between fact and criticism, tells us where the openings are, explains what is actually in the new state budget for K-12 operating funds, and reflects on why North Carolina’s teacher education schools need reform in order to produce skilled teachers. Next is a look at the U.S. Supreme Court. The health care ruling attracted the most attention, but Supreme Court justices made other significant decisions during their 2012 term. Constitutional attorney Miguel Estrada recently recapped that term’s highlights during a presentation for the John Locke Foundation and the Federalist Society. Then we turn to a look at the debate over our country’s founding. American history students are bound to learn about the Federalist Papers and the Federalists, those who pushed for ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1787-88. N.C. History Project director Troy Kickler says it’s also important to study the Anti-Federalists, who criticized the draft Constitution for a variety of reasons. Kickler discussed the Anti-Federalists’ key role in American history during a recent public presentation. That’s followed by analysis of a nagging society problem and policies that do and don’t work to reduce the number of people using illegal drugs. If you want to reduce illegal drug use, it seems to make sense to ban syringes. But Robert Childs, executive director of the N.C. Harm Prevention Coalition, says laws against syringe use can create more problems than they solve. Childs’ group is spearheading efforts to decriminalize syringes in the state. And finally, we turn to higher education for a look at recent criticism of for-profit colleges. George Leef, director of research for the Pope Center for Higher Education Policy, summarizes a recent congressional study of the for-profit sector and points out its valid concerns related to institutions seeking to maximum access to federal education aid. Leef also discusses, however, that the very same concerns exist for traditional nonprofit colleges and universities, which fail to receive similar criticism. He offers recommendations that would lead to greater scrutiny by students and parents on their choice of college and payment options.