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Robeson County school recommended for Innovative School District

The Innovative School District plans to recommend Southside Ashpole Elementary in Rowland as the first school to take part in the program, beginning with the 2018-19 school year. Southside Ashpole Elementary was part of an original list of 48 low-performing schools in North Carolina eligible as an ISD. The program aims to give charter school...

Lindsay Marchello
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State Board of Education approves teacher pay pilot programs for six school districts

The way teachers are paid may soon change as several school districts begin experimenting with different models. The State Board of Education approved the pilot programs of six school districts to start in the 2017-18 school year. Currently, teacher pay is tied to the number of years a teacher spends in the classroom. Sometimes local school...

News

State education board appeals DPI ruling

The State Board of Education isn’t finished fighting N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson in court. A three-judge Superior Court panel ruled last week in favor of Johnson, but the board is appealing that decision. In a special session last year, a law was passed shifting power from the Republican-led State Board of Education...

Lindsay Marchello
News

Court backs Johnson over State Board in education governance fight

A three-judge Superior Court panel has sided with N.C. Superintendent of Public Instruction Mark Johnson in his court battle with the State Board of Education. The battle stems over a 2016 state law that shifts some powers from the board to Johnson. The panel issued its two-page ruling Friday afternoon. It rejects the appointed state...

CJ Staff
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Top House budget writer talks spending, education, transportation

RALEIGH — Now that all budget proposals are on the table, the negotiations between North Carolina’s House and Senate leaders will get serious. Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, senior chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, sat down with Carolina Journal Thursday morning before the news conference introducing the House budget to discuss successes, priorities, and differences of...

Kari Travis

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Differences emerge in House, Senate education budgets

RALEIGH — The North Carolina House education budget is scratch made, taking few cues from the Senate’s plan, Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union, told Carolina Journal on Thursday. House leaders took a hard look at the $22.9 billion General Fund budget for 2017-2018, putting $8.7 billion in education spending where it made sense, he said. Many...

Kari Travis
News

House will modify Senate’s education budget, Horn says

RALEIGH — Some education items in the Senate budget will remain, House leaders say. But some will go. Rep. Craig Horn, R-Union, chairman of the House Committee on K-12 Education, told Carolina Journal the changes are imminent. Teacher pay gets top billing. The Senate budget provides an average 3.7 percent pay raise for teachers the first...

Kari Travis
News

Cooper picks insiders for State Board of Education

RALEIGH —  Gov. Roy Cooper’s first three picks for the State Board of Education are unlikely to shake up the education establishment, a top conservative education analyst says. Newcomers Sandra Byrd and John Buxton are underwhelming picks by Cooper, said Terry Stoops, vice president of research and education studies at the John Locke Foundation. “Cooper’s...

Kari Travis
News

NCGA roundup: Good fiscal news from legislative analysts

RALEIGH — The General Assembly’s top economist on Tuesday told legislative budget writers that the state had a “steady as we go” economy that is now faring better than most other states. “We now have reached a point where we are now surpassing the average growth of the nation as a whole,” said Barry Boardman...

Barry Smith
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Kestrel Heights high school decision delayed until March

Students at Kestrel Heights high school are no closer to learning if their school will close, leaving them uncertain about what to do or where to go. The North Carolina State Board of Education was scheduled Wednesday to discuss the fate of the Durham-based charter school, which is shrouded in controversy over failure to provide...

Kari Travis
News

State Board of Education not disclosing vote to sue over H.B. 17

The North Carolina State Board of Education last month used a rare exemption to go behind closed doors and vote on a lawsuit against the state. Board members have yet to disclose which members supported and opposed the lawsuit, a move that’s at odds with public meeting standards, said Jonathan Jones, director of the Sunshine...

Kari Travis