According to multiple media reports, there will likely be major efforts during the 2023 session of the North Carolina General Assembly to raise and reform teacher compensation and enact other public-education reforms while also expanding the state’s school-choice programs. Are such initiatives inconsistent? Not at all. One can be in favor both of improving public...
I have strong opinions about education policy in North Carolina and beyond. Maybe you’ve noticed! I’ve also been researching and writing about the subject for a very long time. During my first stint as a newspaper reporter in 1986, I covered raucous debates about a potential merger of school districts in Nash County, Edgecombe County,...
Disruption linked to the coronavirus pandemic prompts new thinking about the way we teach our children.
The May 16 teacher gathering in Raleigh is inspired by teacher demonstrations in other states and is energized by the desire of public school advocacy groups to weaken Republican control of the General Assembly. It’s political mobilization disguised as a “rally for respect.” The N.C. Association of Educators has been unusually forthcoming about the partisan...
Living in Mebane is less expensive than living in Manhattan — so if you don’t properly account for these kinds of disparities, any nationwide comparison of school spending is utterly useless.
The recent appointment of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos exhibited much that is destructive, even demented, about our current political discourse. While objections to her lack of experience in government were understandable, critics went far beyond that to attack her character and question her intentions. She was also subjected to personal threats, both before and...
Teacher compensation once again tops the priority list.
Lawmakers would be wise to stick to the facts, ignore the noise, develop budgets that make incremental improvements to compensation, and advance policies that ensure North Carolina classrooms are great places for public school teachers.
Research is largely on senators' side, though political realities might compel them to rethink some of their proposals.
Lawmakers have an opportunity to build on recent success in North Carolina.
Lawmakers have an opportunity to build on recent success in North Carolina.
