Education
The Republican-led North Carolina General Assembly’s latest bill to swiftly reopen schools falls flat in ensuring students across North Carolina have access to a safe and healthy learning environment. Senate Bill 37 leaves out various safety measures including funding to ensure health personnel are at each opened school, social distancing guidelines and funding for substitute…
Read MoreLast week, N.C. House lawmakers approved a bill for K-12 school districts to offer partial in-person instruction, but the Senate did not agree to send it to the governor due to recent changes made to the proposal. The changes included allowing educators to receive special accommodations that could allow them to continue teaching remotely if…
Read MoreLast Thursday, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper laid out his budget recommendations for COVID-19 relief spending, which includes one time bonuses for teachers and school personnel, recovery for businesses and further efforts to stop the spread of the virus. Cooper’s budget recommendations for allocating federal funding comes as the Republican-led General Assembly already passed an…
Read MoreLast week, North Carolina Republican lawmakers announced that they are working on drafting legislation to reopen schools. From WRAL: The bill would likely require all public school districts to offer in-person learning but also give parents the option of virtual learning if they choose. Such a measure would attempt to force Gov. Roy Cooper’s hand,…
Read MoreIn 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…
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