Location! Location! Location! One of the first rules of creating a successful business is ensuring that it is located in the proper place. While it is, for many reasons, unwise to compare schools to private businesses, location can also mean a tremendous amount in the quality of education a student receives. The renewed [Continue Reading...]

As a mother, I care about my children above all else. I devote nearly every hour and all of my prayers to helping them build strong character and a bright future. I know they’ll make mistakes, and I welcome the opportunity to help them learn from those missteps, pay their dues and move [Continue Reading...]

North Carolina legislators return to Raleigh this month and whether they like it or not, they will make a host of decisions that will have a profound impact on children’s lives. In 2011, lawmakers took several steps that rendered the programs serving our state’s most vulnerable kids even more underfunded and threadbare than [Continue Reading...]

There’s something that the people and special interests pushing to legalize “fracking” in North Carolina don’t want you to know. It isn’t about flammable tap water or carcinogens in fracking fluids. It’s about the supposed rationale for putting our air and water at risk – that is, the claim by politicians and others [Continue Reading...]

On May 8, 2012, North Carolinians will be asked whether to amend the state’s constitution to provide that the only valid and recognized domestic legal union is a marriage between one man and one woman. If Amendment One passes it will harm all unmarried couples, including unmarried women who are victims of domestic [Continue Reading...]

Every day, here at the NC Housing Coalition, we get calls from folks around the state with housing needs. They are working hard to make ends meet, but are coming up short. Some are underemployed or disabled and looking for a decent and affordable place to rest their heads at night. Some are [Continue Reading...]

As the final days of tax season come and go, North Carolinians are likely breathing a sigh of relief that they have fulfilled their duty this year. That responsibility for paying taxes is so rarely considered in the same light as the other civic responsibilities we so cherish as a society: to care [Continue Reading...]

North Carolina has one of the most confusing school funding formulas in the nation. Unfortunately, the bizarre complexities of North Carolina’s funding formula fall hardest on students with disabilities. Anyone who has worked in education has seen cases or heard stories of maltreatment and lack of access to a meaningful education involving special [Continue Reading...]

It’s hard to believe, but Election Day is right around the corner. Early voting starts in just a few weeks. This is also a Presidential election year with emotions running strong and hopefully with a lot of North Carolinians voting. There is clearly cause for great excitement. There is a big problem however. [Continue Reading...]

North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis’s recent strange and controversial statement that gay marriage is a “generational issue” is actually correct. But generational issues signify a change in values, and North Carolina ought to take note of that before meddling with the state Constitution. Tillis’s words struck me, but I should point out [Continue Reading...]

In 1985, when almost all states allowed the use of corporal punishment in the public schools, the North Carolina General Assembly passed legislation giving local school boards the legal authority to approve or ban the practice of hitting students as a form of discipline. At the time, all local districts in our state [Continue Reading...]

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...]

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...]

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...]