RALEIGH — More students face repeating a grade than any time in the past century, says David Stegall, deputy superintendent of innovation at the N.C. Department of Public Instruction.Remote learning is failing North Carolina’s students. Roughly 19% of students aren’t attending classes regularly. State officials predict fewer students would graduate or advance to the next grade.
RALEIGH — In its daily newsletter called “The Morning,” the New York Times had this to say about California voters defeating a proposition that would have reinstated racial preferences in state hiring, contracting, and university admissions:“Polls that ask broadly about affirmative-action programs for racial minorities find most Americans to be in favor of them. Polls that specifically ask whether employers and colleges should take race into account when making decisions find that most Americans say no. These two patterns are contradictory.”
While modern conservatism in America brings together a number of discrete groups, interests, and priorities, one of its unifying themes is maximizing freedom — by which conservatives mean maximizing the right of individuals, families, and private associations to make their own decisions rather than having them overruled by government coercion.
The speaker of North Carolina’s House of Representatives is set to make history next year. As he marks an impressive milestone, he would be wise to learn some valuable lessons from those who preceded him.If all goes as expected, Rep. Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, will bang his gavel on opening day of the 2021 legislative session. It will mark his seventh year in that position. He will start his fourth consecutive term as the state House’s top officer.
by John Hood When the Associated Press and other news organizations asked North Carolina voters for their perspectives on the just-concluded 2020 elections, there was no shortage of disagreement. No surprise there. After all, Donald Trump won the state by just 1.3 percentage po
North Carolina has an opportunity. Meaning North Carolina as whole, but also as a sum of its complex and diverse parts.Gov. Roy Cooper has taken much from us, decisions made and edicts issued because of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve said this before.
by Dr. Terry Stoops The results are in, and voters selected Republican Catherine Truitt , chancellor of Western Governors University N.C., to be North Carolina’s new superintendent of public instruction. She defeated her Democratic opponent, UNC-Greensboro education professor Jen Mangrum, b
By JOHN HOOD Since the beginning of the COVID-19 recession in March, North Carolina policymakers have been watching government revenues and expenditures carefully. How big a hole would the economic downturn poke in the state budget? Would cash-strapped localities come begging for aid? Would la
by Jay Reinstein We are currently in a golden age of biopharmaceutical innovation, and scientists are discovering life-changing cures or treatments that were previously unimaginable. For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has recently approved the first-ever drug fo
by John Hood In 2020, North Carolina Republicans and Democrats took their respective cases to the public. Each party asked voters to put them fully in charge of North Carolina government. The voters said no. Well, to be more precise, the vast majority of voters actually s
A national pandemic. New minimum wage standards. Calls for a “New Deal.”If you didn’t know any better, you might think I was referring to early 20th Century America —when the flu ravaged the nation and President Franklin D. Roosevelt passed unprecedented progressive policies seemingly every day.
by John Hood North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has just been reelected. It’s an outcome his two immediate predecessors, Democrat Bev Perdue and Republican Pat McCrory, were unable to accomplish. A sweet as that victory must taste to the governor and his team, his ability to conver
