By Deanna Townsend-Smith, Ed.D. RALEIGH (March 6, 2024) – Black History Month was an opportunity to reflect on the past and to imagine the possibility and benefits of maintaining a diverse society. It was also a month when the N.C. Supreme Court heard – for the fifth time – arguments over whether the state of North… READ MORE
Leandro: Remember the children
RALEIGH (February 22, 2024) – In a lawsuit that’s lasted almost 30 years, lawyers argued before the NC Supreme Court today about lofty concepts like jurisdiction and who has authority to spend state dollars. Meanwhile, after decades of lawyers arguing, 69% of North Carolina children in 3rd through 8th grades don’t read at the level… READ MORE
The ‘root cause’ of NC school troubles? Pay
DURHAM (February 15, 2024) – The tragic closures of Durham schools in recent weeks forced a superintendent and a CFO to resign, infuriated parents and damaged trust in the schools. Worst of all, it hurt more than 31,000 students in Durham Public Schools. But newly appointed Interim Superintendent Catty Moore put her finger on the… READ MORE
Brad Wilson to NC teachers: “Thank you.”
RALEIGH (February 7, 2024) – Blue Cross CEO Emeritus Brad Wilson has had a remarkable career in law, government, health care, academia and the nonprofit sector. Wilson’s dad was a state trooper – and he occasionally was transferred as Brad made his way through school. So he experienced several North Carolina school systems – and… READ MORE
BRAD WILSON: ‘Avenues of opportunity … for everyone’
RALEIGH (January 17, 2024) – To former Blue Cross Blue Shield CEO Brad Wilson, public education is simply fundamental – as a moral responsibility to our fellow citizens, to workforce development, and to our economy. Wilson has worn many hats in public education in North Carolina. He served as general counsel to Gov. Jim Hunt…. READ MORE
Wilson on vouchers: ‘We need to be very careful’
RALEIGH (January 17, 2024) – State legislators like to shovel public dollars to private schools at the same time they short public schools. In the long-running Leandro case on state support for public schools, a judge ruled last April that the 2021-23 state budget fell $677.8 million short of the plan for PreK-12 education spending… READ MORE
A generous boost to become teachers
RALEIGH (January 10, 2024) – After North Carolina started this school year with 3,500 teacher vacancies – only because schools hired 1,400 more unlicensed teachers than the year before1 – the state struggles to refill its teacher pipeline. But a state commission just gave 130 students a generous boost to become teachers. The NC Teaching… READ MORE
Hopes for 2024
RALEIGH (January 4, 2024) – The 2024 elections will be important to America – and to the future of American democracy. But they also will be vitally important to the future of North Carolina and its children. From governor to state legislators to local school boards, the state’s voters will make critical choices up and… READ MORE
2023: The chaos continues
RALEIGH (December 28, 2023) – It might seem strange to complain about underfunding of public education in a year when North Carolina had a $4.8 billion budget surplus.1 But it’s true. In a year when: North Carolina ranked 50th of 50 states in the percentage of GDP it devotes to K-12 public education, The state… READ MORE
Don Martin: Fund vouchers, but fund public education first
By Don Martin WINSTON-SALEM (December 7, 2023) – In 2011, I served as Superintendent of the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. At that time, the school district focused on developing every school and the central office into a learning organization. The Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School district’s aspiration was for all students to meet their expected growth (as determined… READ MORE