Opinion
Average teacher pay critics need remedial math instruction
It's silly to say "many teachers earn less" than the average salary. It's true, of course, but many also earn more.
Opinion
Cooper needs to own N.C.’s entire employment situation
On Monday, May 18, the opinion team for The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer called for Gov. Roy Cooper to take responsibility for North Carolina’s disastrous unemployment insurance system. “NC unemployment delays have been a disaster. Own it, Gov. Cooper,” read the headline for the editorial appearing in both papers. I agree with...
Opinion
National unemployment rate reaches more than 19%
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released “The Employment Situation — April 2020” Friday stating the seasonally adjusted national unemployment rate was 14.7%. But on page three of the report, the agency explains that due to the unique nature of the coronavirus, “the overall unemployment rate would have been almost 5 percentage points higher than...
Opinion
Cooper should bring out jobs expert to explain N.C. employment situation
So, where is the state’s jobs expert? I haven’t seen one. Is it Secretary of Commerce Tony Copeland or one of his employees? Gov. Roy Cooper usually has Emergency Management Director Mike Sprayberry and Health and Human Services Director Dr. Mandy Cohen at his daily coronavirus briefings. Sprayberry talks about emergency response issues, and Cohen...
Opinion
Public records will shine light on Cooper’s response to employment security’s problems
After Gov. Roy Cooper ordered restaurants and bars closed starting March 16 due to the coronavirus, unemployment benefit claims in North Carolina skyrocketed. More than 1 million North Carolina workers have filed claims for unemployment insurance as of May 3, the Division of Employment Security reports. The state’s civilian labor force is roughly 5 million....
Opinion
Placing the ‘national average’ debate in context
If we want N.C. teacher pay to reach the "national average," it makes sense to know how private-sector workers compare to their counterparts across the country.
Opinion
Judging the judge’s response
District Court Judge Pell Cooper of Rocky Mount thinks we got it wrong. We’ll let you, and others, decide. The judge, who’s the brother of Gov. Roy Cooper and has been on the bench since 1999, took issue with a recent Carolina Journal story by Don Carrington. It asserts that Pell Cooper’s role as the...
Opinion
Campaign update: September 20, 2016
• The latest Elon University Poll suggests that House Bill 2 may not be the GOP-killer Democrats expected. While a near-majority of likely voters opposes the “bathroom bill” (49.5 percent against, 39.5 percent for), that opposition hasn’t doomed the re-election prospects of Gov. Pat McCrory. The incumbent Republican leads Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper 49 percent...
Opinion
CJ Editorial: Glitz, Glamour, and Giveaways
The state's tax credit for film production is an egregious form of corporate welfare that drains the state treasury while offering few benefits to North Carolinians.
Opinion
Pursuing the Misguided Goal of the National Average
Why single out public educators for special treatment over every other class of employee?
Opinion
Quest For The National Average Difficult To Justify
Why single out public educators for special treatment over every other class of employee?
Opinion
Obama, The Second-Guesser In Chief
On his bus tour through North Carolina, the president suggested Washington should dictate local school budgets and emergency worker staffing.
