Education

Tamia Sanders’ voice trembled as she looked out on a large rally crowd from the steps of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Wilson Library in April. She was there to talk about the ongoing opposition to the return of the “Silent Sam” Confederate monument and the mistreatment of student activists by the campus police.

The state Charter School Advisory Board (CSAB) on Monday unanimously stood by its approval of two charters schools Wake County school officials deem are not needed. CSAB members agreed Wake officials’ concerns about Wake County Preparatory Academy and North Raleigh Charter Academy appear to reflect “philosophical” differences about the value of charters rather than fear of school re-segregation or charter saturation.

Teachers would get an average 3.5 percent pay raise over the next two years under a biennium spending plan released Tuesday by state Republican leaders. The plan calls for spending $23.9 billion during the 2019-20 fiscal year, and it increases spending on public education by $1.3 billion over the next two years.

The chuckles usually come before a question about the viability of an online preschool can be completed. There’s just something about the concept that makes people want to giggle.

Restoring the "Silent Sam" Confederate monument to its original place at UNC-Chapel Hill is "not the right path," UNC Board of Governors Chairman Harry Smith said Wednesday. His thinking has undergone an evolution, Smith said at a press conference following a full meeting of the board of governors.

At its meeting next week, the UNC Board of Governors was scheduled to unveil a new plan for the future of the Confederate monument known as “Silent Sam.” But late Tuesday afternoon, board Chairman Harry Smith released a statement saying the board has decided to again postpone it.

You can hear the anger rising in Yevonne Brannon’s voice as she talks about the state’s controversial school voucher program. Brannon, a spokeswoman for Public Schools First N.C., a K-12 advocacy organization, thinks it’s outrageous that a family with an annual income of more than $71,000 could receive state tax dollars to help pay for private school tuition.

At their May 21-22 meeting, the UNC Board of Governors is scheduled to hear a long-delayed plan for the future of the “Silent Sam” Confederate monument, which was toppled by protesters last August. As students, staff and faculty continue to oppose the statue’s return to campus of UNC-Chapel Hill and rally for changes in on-campus policing, we take a by-the-numbers look back at the “after action report” on the toppling commissioned by UNC and released early this year.

Downtown Raleigh came alive Wednesday with thousands of North Carolina educators filling the streets to demand lawmakers increase funding for public schools.

On Wednesday more than two dozen North Carolina school systems will be closed for the day as thousands of teachers and other education supporters from across the state descend on Raleigh for the NCAE’s Day of Action. This week's Monday numbers column examines some of the factors that have helped to spur on this year's rally.

Republican teacher marches to a different drummer on matters of public education Angela Coffman is a registered Republican and Southern Baptist. But on matters of public education, the Durham elementary school teacher who supports the May 1 teacher protest, falls squarely into the camp one state GOP leader critically described as “far-left teacher strike organizers.”

On Wednesday afternoon students at UNC-Chapel Hill will leave their classes for a day of protest action at the foot of the campus’ Wilson Library. The move comes after what students say has been months of antagonism and brutality from police toward anti-racist protesters while white supremacist and neo-Confederate groups have been shown deference – even when carrying guns on campus.

Kenneth Dodge, one of the nation’s preeminent scholars on early childhood education, says North Carolina’s four-year-olds would be better served by more preschool seats than an online school.

Greear Webb and Myles Cyrus would have made great student advisers to the State Board of Education (SBE). The high school seniors have impeccable academic credentials, are well spoken and can command a room like seasoned trial lawyers.

A hearing to decide whether to allow one of the state’s two virtual charter schools, N.C. Connections Academy, to sever ties with its management firm turned ugly this week during a Charter School Advisory Board meeting.

Superintendent Mark Johnson can’t seem to win for losing. Johnson was part of big press conference Wednesday at the state Legislative Building during which he and State Sen. Andy Wells, (R-Catawba) partnered to announce their proposal of a new program to give the state’s 94,000 licensed teachers $400 a year each to buy classrooms supplies.