Eleanore Wood

As NC Utilities Commission Holds Public Hearing in Triad TONIGHT on Duke Energy Rate Hike Request, State Lawmakers Must Return to Raleigh to Pass Legislation to Ban “Coal Ash Rate Hikes”

By Eleanore Wood / January 29, 2020 / Comments Off on As NC Utilities Commission Holds Public Hearing in Triad TONIGHT on Duke Energy Rate Hike Request, State Lawmakers Must Return to Raleigh to Pass Legislation to Ban “Coal Ash Rate Hikes”

So far, the GOP-controlled state legislature has sided with Wall Street shareholders of the Duke Energy power monopoly and utterly failed to protect ratepayers from Duke’s mammoth coal ash clean up costs. GRAHAM, NC – As the North Carolina Utilities Commission will tonight hold a hearing at the Alamance Co. Historic Courthouse at 7pm in Graham…

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GOP State Lawmakers to Public Educators: My way or highway. No compromise and so no pay raise.

By Eleanore Wood / January 21, 2020 / Comments Off on GOP State Lawmakers to Public Educators: My way or highway. No compromise and so no pay raise.

North Carolina is now seven months into a budget year. State lawmakers came back to the General Assembly in Raleigh last week in hopes of finally passing a full state budget. Instead, GOP leaders who control the legislature adjourned after only one day. They refused to compromise on a pay raise for teachers and other…

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King’s words ring true today

By Eleanore Wood / January 20, 2020 / Comments Off on King’s words ring true today

In the days leading up to Martin Luther King Day – the Raleigh News & Observer republished this editorial which was one of the newspaper’s most shared pieces in 2018 and again in 2019. It’s a reminder that the civil rights icon was not as appreciated during his lifetime as he should have been or as he is today.…

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Fox 46: Teachers protest decision not to increase their pay

By Eleanore Wood / January 16, 2020 / Comments Off on Fox 46: Teachers protest decision not to increase their pay

From Fox 46 Charlotte: NC teachers protest for pay raises North Carolina teachers are protesting because they are not getting a pay raise per lawmakers in Raleigh. Teachers in Charlotte protested Wednesday because they’re not getting pay raises from the state of North Carolina. Lawmakers failed to override Governor Roy Cooper’s veto of pay raises.

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The News & Observer 01/14 Letters: Deployment to Middle East will hurt NC towns, families, the economy

By Eleanore Wood / January 14, 2020 / Comments Off on The News & Observer 01/14 Letters: Deployment to Middle East will hurt NC towns, families, the economy

The idea that wars are always good for the economy is simply not true. It is likely that the emotional and economic impact of a war with Iran would be a heavy one, not unlike North Carolina’s experience during previous wars in the middle east. Our state simply can not afford another endless war. From…

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Trump trying to start a war with Iran to distract from impeachment troubles

By Eleanore Wood / January 8, 2020 / Comments Off on Trump trying to start a war with Iran to distract from impeachment troubles

The Trump administration is hell-bent on starting a war with Iran, and North Carolina military families are caught right in the middle. 3,500 soldiers based at Fort Bragg are being sent to the Middle East — part of the rising tensions with Iran created by Trump’s unilateral assassination of an Iranian official. Some military families…

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NC voter ID law put on hold as more gerrymandering evidence comes to light

By Eleanore Wood / January 7, 2020 / Comments Off on NC voter ID law put on hold as more gerrymandering evidence comes to light

NC voter ID law put on hold as more gerrymandering evidence comes to light  North Carolina’s voter ID law is temporarily on hold after a federal court ruling. This comes as new files have been released showing more details on NC Republicans’ plan to rig elections and undermine the will of voters. Last week’s ruling…

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Tessa Pendley: Why teachers blame the GOP legislature for no pay raise before the holidays

By Eleanore Wood / December 29, 2019 / Comments Off on Tessa Pendley: Why teachers blame the GOP legislature for no pay raise before the holidays

Union Hill Elementary School teacher Tessa Pendley speaks out about the budget and the lack of any compromise from GOP leaders in North Carolina’s legislature. From The Greensboro News & Record North Carolina educators don’t have much to be thankful for this holiday season when it comes to the latest meager “raises” offered up by legislative…

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A math teacher does the math on NC teacher pay

By Eleanore Wood / December 27, 2019 /

Wake County math teacher Celia Rowland sets the record straight on teacher pay in North Carolina. From The News & Observer $66,267. No, that is definitely not my salary as a teacher. It’s the total amount I have “lost” from the state thanks to a decade of pay freezes, the loss of longevity pay, and the step…

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Op-Ed: Legislative leaders ignoring the facts on NC education funding

By Eleanore Wood / December 17, 2019 / Comments Off on Op-Ed: Legislative leaders ignoring the facts on NC education funding

The ongoing exodus of veteran teachers, the abuse of new and future teachers, and the defunding of North Carolina’s public schools is the symptom of a legislature that has forgotten the civil purpose and value of public education.

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