Page 11 - Terry Stoops News Today

In the waning hours of crossover week, the N.C. House passed a bill to open new funding sources and add flexibility to charter schools. House Bill 729 passed the House, 63-52. The bill would make several key changes to the state’s charter schools law. “Charter schools have matured to the point where they’re accepted across the state and have earned their place in our educational system,” said Rep. Larry Yarborough, R-Granville, the bill’s primary sponsor. Under current law, when a cha...

Nine of the top schools in North Carolina are, technically, schools of choice, according to recently released rankings of the best schools in the country. These include magnet and charter schools, institutions in which parents and students choose and apply for admission. The annual U.S. News rankings include data on nearly 24,000 public high schools in 50 states and the District of Columbia, U.S. News says on its website.  The Early College at Guilford in Greensboro ranked first in the state a...

A Wake County Democrat spoke out against expanding Opportunity Scholarships and pointed to one private school as a reason. “State dollars should go to public schools,” said Rep. Abe Jones, D-Wake. “Private schools will get their money, believe me. They’ll get it from churches, from big donors. We’ve got some private schools in this county. Ravenscroft: Great school. My kids didn’t go there. I went up there and they quoted me tuition — $32,000 to send my kid to Ravenscroft. Both my...

Education Next At least twenty states have passed or are considering measures related to the science of reading. North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, center, and lawmakers gather Wednesday, March 10, 2021, for a news conference to announce that leaders of the state legislature and the governor have reached an agreement to reopen the state’s K-12 public schools to full-time daily instruction in Raleigh. Gov. Cooper recently signed the “Excellent Public Schools Act” into law. If there’s one...

Henderson County (Apr 12, 2021) - RALEIGH — Public school teachers in North Carolina receive an average annual salary of $53,392 for the current school year, according to the latest figures from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. That puts the state second best in the Southeast — behind Georgia — in average teacher pay.

Two bills sitting on Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk are designed to remediate learning losses for K-12 students left behind by classroom closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The first — House Bill 82, Summer Learning Choice for N.C. Families — would require all public school districts to offer a minimum of six weeks of in-person summer school this year. For K-8 students, the curriculum includes reading, math, science, and at least one enrichment activity — such as sports, music, or the art...

It’s no surprise the number of homeschool families swelled during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, the U.S. Census  Bureau has released new data showing just how significant that growth has been. Nationwide, the number of homeschoolers doubled in 2020. Between April 25 and May 5, 2020, the Census reported 5.4% of all U.S. households with school-age children were homeschooling. That leapt to 11.1% of households by fall. In North Carolina, the increase was from 5% to 9.4%. “It’s clear that in a...

On Monday, March 15, defendants in the long-running Leandro lawsuit, in consultation with plaintiffs in the case, submitted a document called the Comprehensive Remedial Plan to Superior Court Judge David Lee.  The plan was mandated in consent orders Lee issued in January 2020 and September. All parties in the case have agreed to the plan’s components.  Lee will next call a hearing for the case, although details haven’t been decided. Lee, the court-appointed overseer of the Leandro case,...

Even as a bill to reopen schools across North Carolina garnered unanimous bipartisan support and was fast-tracked through the legislature, North Carolina’s teacher’s union released a statement blasting Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and lawmakers from both political parties for the compromise. In a rare instance of bipartisan agreement, Cooper joined with both Republican and Democratic leaders in the N.C. House and Senate at a news conference Wednesday, March 10, to unveil a new school reopenin...

Article updated at Thursday, March 11. to include Senate and House proceedings and governor’s signing. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican lawmakers have reached an agreement on reopening public schools for in-person instruction under a compromise plan that returns most decision-making autonomy to local school boards. The state Senate voted 49-0 to approve the measure after less than 10 minutes of debate. The House on Thursday, March 11, also passed the bill in a unanimous vote. Cooper ...