There is a war on religion in this country. If you doubt it, just ask Newt Gingrich. Or listen to Rick Santorum. They are convinced that President Obama (you know, the guy who is either a devout Muslim or a godless secularist) is out to destroy the Christian faith because he thinks health [Continue Reading...]
Recent considerations by the NC General Assembly’s House Select Committee on Early Childhood Education Improvement to explore privatizing North Carolina’s Pre-K program could severely limit access to the program in rural, high-poverty areas, a new report cautions. Using county-level data on the location of Pre-K program slots, rural and urban designations of counties, [Continue Reading...]
In recent days, a marketing campaign launched by the Pope Civitas Institute and the Americans for Prosperity Foundation began claiming that last year’s state budget – which cut taxes on the wealthiest while slashing funds for vital public investments – actually increased teacher positions in North Carolina. The following facts from the NC [Continue Reading...]
Recently, the State Board of Education approved nine new charter schools. Without knowing how these schools will impact student body diversity and racial isolation in our public schools, and over objections from local school districts, the State Board voted to “fast-track” the approval of these nine applications. One of if not the biggest [Continue Reading...]
No one of should have to choose between health and a paycheck. Donna Sotomayor didn’t even have that choice. After being diagnosed with Stage 3 breast cancer two years ago, Donna took leave from her job to undergo surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments. The Raleigh teacher’s assistant suffered through a year of illnesses [Continue Reading...]
North Carolina’s Pre-K program and its “at-risk” income eligibility standard The following media release accompanied a new report released this morning by the N.C. Budget and Tax Center: MEDIA RELEASE: Legislative changes would limit at-risk children’s access to NC Pre-K, harm economy in the long-run Lowering income eligibility threshold of NC Pre-K would [Continue Reading...]
One of the hardest parts of the work at the group I’m fortunate enough to lead — Disability Rights NC — is listening to the stories we hear every day. Stories of people desperate for help because of disability-based discrimination. Stories of abuse and neglect. Stories of North Carolinians who have been denied [Continue Reading...]
North Carolina’s public structures and systems – such as its public schools, courts, and parks – have been badly damaged by the Great Recession, high unemployment, and an outdated revenue system, according to a new report released Thursday morning. Without a strategy to improve revenue collections, the state’s public investments in [Continue Reading...]
Almost two years ago, the new federal legislation that starts to fix our health system, the Affordable Care Act, was passed into law. Health care is such a large and complicated part of our economy that beginning the needed fixes has been almost like watching an oil tanker negotiate a three-point turn in [Continue Reading...]
As I was leaving my office on a recent evening, a coworker told me that one of her young nieces had called and asked why she is in love with her fiancé. She had playfully told her that it was because he builds things and likes what she cooks. It was a pretty [Continue Reading...]
A key challenge in an increasingly diverse state such as North Carolina is ensuring that all citizens have equal and unbiased access to the government that represents them. Regardless of sex, race, ethnicity, or religion, all North Carolinians have an equal right to participate in the democratic process without fear of being excluded [Continue Reading...]
North Carolina’s rural communities are far more susceptible to the impact of state and federal budget decisions, according to a new report released Friday morning. Rural counties are significantly less well-positioned their urban counterparts to fund core governmental operations, according to a report by the Budget & Tax Center – a [Continue Reading...]
There are thousands upon thousands of migrant farmworkers in North Carolina throughout the year who maintain and harvest various such as tobacco, sweet potatoes and scores of others. Some of these migrant laborers are in the United States under the H-2A program – a visa program that brings in foreign workers temporarily for [Continue Reading...]
People of different political stripes frequently argue about the best ways to attack child poverty. More carrots? More sticks? Here’s a fact, however, that’s beyond dispute: Research shows that the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is the one of the most effective tools at our disposal for lifting children out of poverty. The [Continue Reading...]
The coming political year: What will happen? What should happen? It looks like 2012 is going to be one heck of a year in North Carolina politics and public policy — maybe one for the ages. Between Governor Perdue’s decision not to seek a second term, the General Assembly’s “midnight madness” fiasco, a statewide vote [Continue Reading...]
