CHAPEL HILL (August 31, 2023) – If the killing of a professor by one of his students Monday at UNC-Chapel Hill tells us nothing else, it tells us how treacherous teaching has become in this country. We still don’t know the shooter’s motives. We still don’t fully know whether the shooter intended to kill more… READ MORE
Why do we let our General Assembly dismantle public education?
By John Tate III CHARLOTTE (August 23, 2023) – Why do we let our General Assembly dismantle K-12 public education as we have known it, to the detriment of our community’s kids and our economy? It is our fault, you know. We are empowered as a people to change those who govern. We either just… READ MORE
Teachers: You can grow your own
DENVER, NC – North Carolina has a severe teacher shortage – the state started the school year more than 5,000 teachers short.1 But some places have learned you can grow your own. In a webinar hosted by Higher Ed Works on May 16, Rachel Frye, the Southwest NC Teacher of the Year at East Lincoln… READ MORE
Lawmakers show what they mean by school choice
RALEIGH (June 1, 2023) – State legislators are moving to dramatically expand vouchers to attend private schools this year, lifting income limits on who qualifies and raising state spending on vouchers to more than half a billion dollars a year by 2032-33.1 Make no mistake – budgets are about choices. And state legislators are choosing… READ MORE
Don Martin: Test Pathways, but give teachers raises
WINSTON-SALEM (March 8, 2023) – While there are always differing opinions about how much teachers should be paid, I believe most North Carolinians agree that having quality teachers in every classroom is important, our students need to perform better, and teachers should be paid more. I wrote a short piece for Higher Ed Works last… READ MORE
4,400 invisible teachers
RALEIGH (September 1, 2022) – More than 1.3 million students started the public school year in North Carolina this week. Yet more than 4,400 teachers who should have been at the front of those children’s classes weren’t there, because school officials couldn’t fill the vacancies. And 3,600 more teachers across the state still aren’t fully… READ MORE
$6.2B NC surplus: Make education a priority again
RALEIGH (May 18, 2022) – As the NC General Assembly reconvenes today with a $6.2 billion state budget surplus, it’s time to make education a priority again in North Carolina. Officials announced last week that the state will take in $4.24 billion more than projected in the budget year that ends June 30 – a… READ MORE
2021: Return to not quite normal
RALEIGH (December 29, 2021) – 2021 was slightly less chaotic than 2020, with distribution of vaccines that temporarily calmed the coronavirus pandemic before new variants began to emerge. The state also saw its first new budget in three years, with much-needed raises for higher education faculty and staff and generous investments in capital projects. It’s… READ MORE
Leandro: A quarter-century of bickering
RALEIGH (November 15, 2021) – Robb Leandro was an 8th-grader at West Hoke Middle School in 1994, when the lawsuit over funding for poor North Carolina school districts that bears his name was filed. Twenty-seven years later, he’s 42 years old, with a family and children of his own, and practices law in Raleigh.1 Burley… READ MORE
Dreaming of more teachers of color
CHAPEL HILL (November 4, 2021) – It’s so important to have someone who looks like you at the front of the class. That’s what the DREAM program – Diverse and Resilient Educators Advised through Mentorship – aims to provide in the Durham Public Schools. DREAM is a partnership between the School of Education at UNC-Chapel… READ MORE