Public School Forum

A think-and-do tank committed to North Carolina public schools

When School Desegregation Mattered in Charlotte

Dorothy Counts, center, tried to desegregate Harding High School in Charlotte on Sept. 4, 1957, but met hostility from white classmates and parents. Photo Credit: UNC library collection.   By Keith Poston An edited version of this article appeared this week in the Charlotte Observer and on the Capitol Broadcasting Opinion page. On October 8, 1984, […]

Color of Education Partnership Forms Guiding Committee

Raleigh-Durham, NC (September 18, 2018) – Color of Education, a new initiative of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, Duke Policy Bridge and the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University, has formed a Guiding Committee to help shape their efforts around race equity and education. The Guiding Committee is co-chaired […]

The Public School Forum’s NC Resilience and Learning Project Expands into Six New School Districts to Create Trauma-Sensitive School Environments

Raleigh, NC (August 22, 2018) – The Public School Forum of NC’s Resilience and Learning Project will expand into six new school districts and continue working in the two 2017 pilot school districts across North Carolina this fall to create safer and more supportive learning environments for students, especially where trauma is prevalent in their […]

Lauren Fox Joins Public School Forum of North Carolina as Senior Director of Policy

Raleigh, NC (August 15, 2018) – Lauren Fox has joined the Public School Forum of North Carolina as Senior Director of Policy. Fox will lead the Forum’s overall education policy analysis and research efforts and promote the Forum’s role in evidence-based policy decisions that promote world-class public education in North Carolina. “Lauren’s deep experience in […]

Gene Arnold, Former State Representative and Former Chairman of the Public School Forum of North Carolina, Receives Order of the Long Leaf Pine

RALEIGH, N.C. (August 14, 2018) – Gene Arnold, former member of the North Carolina House of Representatives and former chairman of the Public School Forum of North Carolina was presented today with the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, one of the most prestigious awards conferred by the Governor of North Carolina, at a meeting […]

Nikole Hannah-Jones to kick-off “Color of Education” in North Carolina

Raleigh-Durham, NC (August 2, 2018) – The Public School Forum of North Carolina, in partnership with Duke Policy Bridge and the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity at Duke University, announced today the first in a series of annual summits and convenings focused on race, equity and education in North Carolina under the banner […]

Steep cuts to North Carolina’s education agency hurt low-performing schools the most

by Lindsay Wagner Lisa* has dedicated her professional life to helping low-performing schools transform into buildings where students can succeed. As she drove to one of those schools in rural North Carolina last week, Lisa described how she and her field-based colleagues who are employed by the Department of Public Instruction’s Educator Support Services division […]

Another embezzlement scandal rocks private voucher school

As taxpayer dollars continue to flow to private schools through a state voucher program that does not include meaningful financial oversight, another North Carolina private voucher school is caught up in an embezzlement scandal. The former headmaster at Rutherfordton’s Trinity Christian School, Tiffany Walker, was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month on 137 […]

The Public School Forum of North Carolina Receives $412,500 from Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust to Create Trauma-Sensitive Schools in Eastern North Carolina

RALEIGH, NC (June 21, 2018) — The Public School Forum of North Carolina is pleased to announce that it has received a grant to support the Forum’s NC Resilience and Learning Project from the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The NC Resilience and Learning Project works to improve the lives of local residents […]

The Good, The Needs Improvement, and The Ugly in the State Budget

The Public School Forum has been closely analyzing this week’s release and imminent passage of the General Assembly’s 2018-19 budget proposal. We bring to you our take: The Good, The Needs Improvement, and The Ugly. THE GOOD Teacher pay. An overall average increase of 6.5% continues important new investments in teacher pay that are desperately […]

New Innovative School District spends big on public relations, applicant reviews in first year

Photo Credit: Southside-Ashpole Elementary, Robeson County Schools.   By Lindsay Wagner This fall, the state’s controversial new Innovative School District (ISD) will oversee the operations of just one 275-student elementary school in Robeson County. A review of taxpayer dollars spent getting the ISD up and running over in its first year of operation reflects efforts to […]

Will the General Assembly fix critical design flaws in new principal pay plan?

By Lindsay Wagner It’s been a year and a half since a legislative committee heard testimony from education and business stakeholders about innovative ways to bring North Carolina principal pay up from its abysmal rank of 50th in the nation. Since then, the General Assembly has enacted a new compensation model for public school principals […]

In North Carolina, Funding Gaps are Shortchanging Students with Special Needs

By Lindsay Wagner Cleveland County Schools’ Exceptional Children Director Nellie Aspel, who is charged with managing all of the moving parts related to the education of her school district’s special needs students, has had to stretch a slim budget in ways that keep her up at night. “We’ve really had to push the limits,” said […]

Public School Forum of North Carolina Announces the NC Center for Afterschool Programs 14th Annual Synergy Conference

RALEIGH, NC (March 5, 2018) – The Public School Forum’s NC Center for Afterschool Programs (NC CAP) will host its 14th annual Synergy Conference on April 25-27, 2018 at the Greenville Convention Center in Greenville, NC. This year’s conference theme is Building Tomorrow’s Workforce Today through Expanded Learning. The Synergy Conference brings together hundreds of […]