This time of year, most people are getting ready to celebrate the Christmas holiday season. All the joys and happiness of family gatherings and celebrating a hopefully-better new year. Unfortunately, the Wake County family of a Southeast Raleigh High School student, Devin Ferrell, will not be celebrating this holiday season; they will instead be celebrating...
There is an aphorism that every movement starts as a cause, becomes a business, and devolves into a racket. The recent disclosures regarding Ibram X. Kendi, the avatar of antiracism; and the institute founded under his auspices at Boston University, indicate that antiracism may well be into its third phase. On his way to monetizing...
A new book argues that Marxists have taken over American public schools. An education reformer doubts anyone could take them over.
Friction between parents and school boards has illustrated yet another argument for creating more districts: it may ensure a better alignment of values.
Tuition freezes are gaining popularity across the country. Earlier this year, university systems in Virginia and Pennsylvania announced tuition would not rise in the next academic year, saving students and parents millions. Purdue University started the tuition-freeze trend in 2013. Under the leadership of its president, Mitch Daniels, Purdue instituted a freeze on all tuition...
In May, about 19,000 North Carolina teachers gathered in Raleigh to “Rally for Respect,” an event organized by the N.C. Association of Educators. The choice of the word “respect” was important. It implied attendees felt disrespected. By whom? The Republican-led General Assembly, of course. You can select all sorts of statistics, but many important ones aren’t consistent with NCAE’s argument. For example, we...
Recent cases from North Carolina suggest that community college governance may be in need of an overhaul. Consider Martin Community College. In 2014 an anonymous letter allegedly written by a group of concerned students, faculty, and staff was sent to the state’s community college system, the school’s board of trustees, and lawmakers. It claimed, among...
There is no reason why North Carolina students, families, educators, and policymakers must live with the negative consequences of past political decisions.
University of North Carolina schools should do more than just prepare students for today's careers.
Here we are, well into the 21st century, with a set of governance policies for North Carolina education that confuse the public and confound effective management.
RALEIGH -- When I joined the Pope Center three years ago, I thought I knew a fair bit about higher education. In addition to reading widely to prepare for the job, I’d spent more than 20 years as an editor working with academic scholars — and I am married to an emeritus professor and former department head.
