Education
In a news conference on Wednesday, North Carolina Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and other top Republicans pushed for Governor Roy Cooper to move to Plan A with fully in-person classes. The move would result in a forced reopening of all schools across the state, being despite the level of COVID-19 spread in their communities.…
Read MoreJust a month ago, current and former faculty from across the UNC system sent a letter to top UNC System leadership and the UNC Board of Governors, urging them to join other university systems in making online instruction the default for the coming Fall semester as the COVID-19 pandemic continues. Despite their concerns, the BOG…
Read MoreJust two days after Trump’s visit to Morrisville, Pence is visiting Thales Academy, a private school in Apex today. The private school reopened last week with in-person learning along with virtual learning. In an effort to continue the Trump administration’s push to reopen schools, Pence will join a roundtable at the academy to discuss how…
Read MoreDecisions on reopening schools is happening across the country as the Trump Administration has pressured governors to reopen schools his fall. With numerous threats to cut school funding for states that do not adhere to Trump’s strong-arm approach, North Carolina was one of many states that announced school plans. For North Carolina, the choice of…
Read MoreSince last week, Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have issued federal funding threats to schools that don’t fully reopen in the fall. On Wednesday, Trump pressured the government’s top health experts to loosen safety recommendations for how the nation’s schools could reopen safely. Trump also threatened to pull tax-exempt status for schools and colleges.…
Read MoreBefore the mandatory Aug. 17 start of the school year, the state House wanted to make changes to a state law that requires all students to be in school, but the Senate, spearheaded by Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, refused to agree on the change. Proposed plans to rotate groups of students between in-person…
Read MoreAs Republicans lawmakers are supporting an Aug. 17 opening date for the upcoming school year, a new poll finds North Carolinians are deeply divided about the best way to send students and teachers back. Currently, the state has required each school district to have three plans with different levels of social distancing. One plan puts…
Read MoreNews & Observer: Judge said NC schools need more money. But Phil Berger says COVID-19 may limit that
Since mid-March, North Carolina’s public schools have been closed due to the pandemic, forcing schools to move to remote learning. The pandemic has put on display the inequities of the state’s education system. Decades of cuts has left the education system without the structure to assist students who are disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak.…
Read MoreTwo weeks after meeting to approve a $1.6 billion package that distributed COVID-19 funds from Washington, the North Carolina General Assembly resumed its annual session on Monday. Republicans in the N.C. Senate unveiled spending priorities on Tuesday for the coming fiscal year, rolling out more than 18 separate bills. The N.C. house has yet to…
Read MoreBy Travis Fain, WRAL statehouse reporter A new coalition of left-leaning groups came together over the last month and a half, and it’s pushing state leaders to address economic inequality as government responds to COVID-19, and longer term. The group, NC United for Survival & Beyond, lists some 200 organizations as members. Many are smaller grassroots operations,…
Read More