Keith Poston, President & Executive Director Public School Forum of North Carolina Our nation abandoned “separate but equal” long ago – we don’t need to bring it back in North Carolina. House Bill 514 would allow four towns in Mecklenburg County to run their own municipal charter schools and give preferential access to their residents. […]
Education Matters – NC’s School Building Needs
Topic: NC’s School Building Needs North Carolina public schools have about $8 billion dollars in construction, renovation and repair needs. Cracked walls, outdated inefficient heating and cooling systems and school grounds that look like trailer parks due to the number of mobile classroom units are all too common. And now new school building requirements are […]
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 […]
Friday Report – June 1, 2018
This week in #nced: Education Budget Shocker Could Alter the Fundamentals of NC School Funding; NC ‘School Self-Defense Act’ Would Let Teachers Carry Handguns in School
Education Matters – Principal Pay
Topic: Principal Pay Last year the average pay for a principal in North Carolina ranked 50th nationally. The General Assembly responded with new investments and a new plan for how principals are paid. That plan has drawn a lot of criticism because, if unchanged, it will result in big pay cuts for experienced principals and perhaps […]
Friday Report – May 25, 2018
This week in #nced: For the First Time in Modern NC History, Lawmakers Won’t Allow Changes to Budget; Gov. Cooper: Republican $35M School Safety Plan Not Enough
Friday Report – May 18, 2018
This week in #nced: NC Teacher Marched on the Streets. Now What?; Legislators Promise Average Teacher Salary Will Exceed $53,000 Next Year
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 Raleigh on Wednesday to ask their state’s leaders to do more for public schools. John Fischer, […]
Friday Report – May 11, 2018
This week in #nced: 26 Districts and Counting Close As Teachers Rally for Public School Support; Gov. Roy Cooper Wants to Give Teachers and State Workers a Big Raise
Friday Report – May 4, 2018
This week in #nced: NC Lawmakers Want to Make Sure Cursive Is Taught and That Virtual Charter Schools Stay Open; NC School Board Hires Operator to Take Over Lagging School
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 […]
Education Matters – Setting an agenda for education
Topic: Setting an agenda for education A new commission created last year – My Future NC – wants to develop a broad-based education agenda for North Carolina aimed at making the state more competitive. The cross-sector group representing business, education, government, nonprofits and philanthropy plans to craft key goals for the state, along with policy […]
Friday Report – April 27, 2018
This week in #nced: Lawmakers Say Reworking School Funding Will Take Time; NC Ranks 37th in the Nation for Teacher Pay, 39th in Per-Pupil Spending
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 programs. This new tool, made available for the first time at the 14th annual SYNERGY […]
2018 Roadmap of Need
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, Roadmap of Need 2018, was released today at the Center […]
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, Roadmap of Need 2018, was released today at the Center […]
Friday Report – April 20, 2018
This week in #nced: Gov. Cooper Seeks $130 Million for Safer NC Schools; Is North Carolina Ripe for Big Teacher Protests?
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 […]
Education Matters – Overhauling Public School Funding
Topic: Overhauling Public School Funding A legislative task force created by the General Assembly in 2017 is considering overhauling the way North Carolina funds public schools. This week we talk with the co-chairs of that task force, Senator Michael Lee from New Hanover County and Representative Craig Horn from Union County. We’ll discuss what they’ve […]
Friday Report – April 13, 2018
This week in #nced: NC Lawmakers Say Don’t Rush to Break Up Large School Districts; NC Has Spent More Than $150 Million to Boost Reading. Are These Scores Worth It?
Education Matters – Should NC break up large school districts?
Topic: Should NC break up large school districts? The General Assembly is exploring breaking up the state’s largest school districts. At the same time, a bill introduced last year would allow two communities outside Charlotte to create a system of separate public charter schools for their residents. This week we explore what’s next and the […]
Friday Report – April 6, 2018
This week in #nced: Politically Connected Company Hired to Take Over Low-Performing NC School; Restart Program Gives Some School Officials Flexibility to Think Outside the Box
Education Matters – Spotlight on NC School of Science & Mathematics and NC Lab Schools
Topic: Spotlight on NC School of Science & Mathematics and NC Lab Schools One is a brand new partnership between our state university teacher prep programs and K-12 public schools, while the other started in 1980 in Durham, but is now expanding to Western NC. This week we explore NC Lab Schools and the NC School […]
Friday Report – March 30, 2018
This week in #nced: NC School Leaders Want to Crack Down on School Threats, Which Have Risen 300% in US; Should the National Guard Be Deployed to Protect NC Schools?