News, Op-Eds & Press Releases
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...
read more
Fighting for their students: North Carolina’s teachers descend on Raleigh to ask for more resources
Educators march to the statehouse in Raleigh. Photo Credit: Lindsay Wagner, Public School Forum of NC. By Lindsay Wagner Following a wave of teacher demonstrations across the United States, roughly 20,000 educators from across North Carolina converged in downtown...
read more
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...
read more
New Statewide Map and Database Available to Locate Out-of-School Time Programs for Youth
RALEIGH, NC (April 27, 2018) – With the generous support of the National Conference of State Legislatures and the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, the NC Center for Afterschool Programs [NC CAP] has developed a statewide, searchable database for out-of-school time...
read more
New Report Highlights Where Young People Face the Greatest Obstacles to Success in North Carolina
GREENVILLE, NC (April 26, 2018) – A new report released today by the Public School Forum of North Carolina and its NC Center for Afterschool Programs (NC CAP) highlights large areas of North Carolina where young people are at risk of not succeeding. The report,...
read more
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...
read more
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...
read more
Ann Goodnight to Receive Public School Forum of North Carolina’s Annual Education Leadership Award
RALEIGH, NC (March 8, 2018) – Ann Goodnight was named today as the recipient of the 2018 Public School Forum of North Carolina Jay Robinson Education Leadership Award. The Forum established the award in 2000 to recognize leaders who have demonstrated innovative,...
read more
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...
read more
Keith Poston of the Public School Forum discusses North Carolina’s Top Education issues
Keith Poston of the Public School Forum discusses North Carolina’s Top Education issues on NC Policy Watch's 'News and Views' hosted by Rob Schofield. Click below to listen to the interview....
read more
Public School Forum Statement on Proposed Class Size Fix, Pre-K Investment
RALEIGH (February 8, 2018) — North Carolina’s students, families, teachers and schools badly needed certainty on this K-3 Class Size Mandate issue, which is why we made it #1 in our Top 10 Education Issues for 2018. So we’re very pleased to see the General Assembly...
read more
Report shows urgent need for Southern states to improve K-12 schools for every child
January 30, 2018 In a new report, seven nonpartisan organizations in the South—including the Public School Forum of North Carolina—urge their states to take swifter action to improve K-12 education for every child with an emphasis on support for disadvantaged...
read more
Public School Forum Releases Top 10 Education Issues for 2018
K-3 Class Size Mandate and School Funding Among Top Issues
read more
School Finance Study Confirms Vast Funding Disparities Across North Carolina
By Keith Poston For more than 20 years the Public School Forum of North Carolina has produced an annual school finance study that examines education funding in North Carolina by isolating local spending from state and federal spending to examine the capacity and...
read more
New School Finance Study Confirms Vast Disparities Across North Carolina
RALEIGH, NC (January 9, 2018) – A new study released today by the Public School Forum of North Carolina confirms a chronic and growing gap in public school funding between the highest and lowest-wealth counties in the state. This annual study comes at a time of...
read more
Will North Carolina Schools See a Fix in January for the Class Size Crisis?
By Lindsay Wagner North Carolina school districts counting on a January legislative fix to the class size mandate that’s having a big impact on schools and families may need a plan B. House lawmakers say they are keenly interested in legislative action next month that...
read moreOut of Bounds: Embezzlement and Basketball at North Carolina’s Biggest Voucher School
By Lindsay Wagner Senior Writer When a coach at one of Fayetteville’s top private school basketball programs—a school that also happens to be the state’s top recipient of private school vouchers—pleaded guilty last summer in a Wake County courthouse to embezzling...
read moreJoanna Schimizzi to Lead Public School Forum of North Carolina’s Statewide Beginning Teacher Leadership Network
RALEIGH, NC (November 2, 2017) – The Public School Forum of North Carolina has tapped Joanna Schimizzi as Statewide Coordinator for its growing Beginning Teacher Leadership Network (BTLN). The BTLN expanded into three new counties this school year and now works with...
read more
Public School Forum of North Carolina Urges Congress to Protect Young Immigrants Affected by Decision to End DACA
RALEIGH, NC (October 18, 2017) – In a statement released today, the Board of Directors of the Public School Forum of North Carolina said the decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program was wrong and urged Congress to pursue a path toward...
read more
New Principal Pay Plan Could Result in Steep Salary Reductions for Veteran Principals
Photo Credit: WRAL By Lindsay Wagner State Board of Education members expressed shock this week upon learning just how seriously the General Assembly’s newly enacted principal pay plan could hurt school leaders, particularly those who have devoted decades of service...
read more
WakeEd Partnership and Public School Forum of NC Join Forces to Support Beginning Teachers in Wake County
RALEIGH, NC (August 30, 2017) – The Public School Forum of North Carolina and WakeEd Partnership have teamed up to jointly lead the Beginning Teacher Leadership Network (BTLN) of Wake County for the 2017-2018 school year. The BTLN began as a pilot program of the...
read more
Lindsay Wagner Joins Public School Forum of North Carolina as Senior Writer/Researcher
RALEIGH, NC (August 30, 2017) – Lindsay Wagner is joining the Public School Forum of North Carolina as Senior Writer/Researcher. Most recently, Wagner worked at the A.J. Fletcher Foundation providing research, analysis, and reporting on key education issues with a...
read more
Public School Forum’s Beginning Teacher Leadership Network Expanding to Cabarrus, Carteret and Onslow Counties
RALEIGH, NC (August 30, 2017) – The Public School Forum of North Carolina’s Beginning Teacher Leadership Network (BTLN) that currently works with early-career teachers in Wake, Mecklenburg and Union Counties is expanding to three new counties this school year....
read more
Concerns Voiced About General Assembly’s New Principal Pay Plan
Originally Published in the Public School Forum's Friday Report on 8/11/17 --- A new principal pay plan enacted this year by the General Assembly drew pointed comments and concerns at last week’s State Board of Education’s (SBE) meeting. The 2017 changes dramatically...
read more
Sheronda Witter to Lead North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs
RALEIGH, NC (June 22, 2017) – The Public School Forum of North Carolina has named Sheronda Witter manager of the North Carolina Center for Afterschool Programs (NC CAP). Sheronda has vast experience in program management, analysis, collaboration and youth...
read more