New data on the academic performance of North Carolina public schools is giving us a snapshot into the challenges our state faces to ensure we’re producing educated young men and women. But Dr. Terry Stoops, the John Locke Foundation’s director of research and education studies, says there wasn’t much change in the new scores, which means those hoping to bash education reformers won’t have ammunition to do so, and education reformers hoping to tout big gains won’t have ammunition either. Despite the new data, there’s one thing all can agree on: great public schools require great school leaders. That’s the philosophy that motivates Peggy Smith, professor of education at Campbell University and a Johnston County school board member. Smith is also a retired elementary school principal. She discusses the keys to ensuring that public schools have great leaders. Next we turn to a look at state fiscal concerns. As N.C. legislators haggle over details of the next state budget, one long-term budget issue that’s attracting little attention is the state’s liability for government retirees’ health benefits. A legislative committee recently discussed a report on that multibillion-dollar obligation. Then we turn to the continuing legal battle over new election maps. The N.C. Supreme Court upheld maps used for the state’s congressional and legislative elections in 2012 and 2014. Now the state’s highest court is reviewing those maps again in light of an order from the U.S. Supreme Court. That order stems from a case dealing with election maps in Alabama. You’ll hear highlights from oral arguments about whether the Alabama case should force N.C. legislators to redraw this state’s election districts. And finally, Carolina Journal Managing Editor Rick Henderson explains the case of a northeast North Carolina wind farm the U.S. Navy originally opposed, but which it has given the thumbs-up to. Henderson details the project and discusses the concerns the Navy had in mind.