Stein Signs Long-Awaited N.C. Budget The budget funds many of the governor's priorities, but it strips his power to make appointments to several state boards.

N.C. Lawmakers Release Long-Awaited Budget. What’s In and What’s Out? www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

About 62% of the roughly 9,000 tribal members who cast ballots voted no, according to unofficial results from the Lumbee Tribe Elections Board. borderbelt.org/lumbee-tribe...

"A $109,751 transfer with the memo line “baptism” wired to a luxurious Beverly Hills hotel. A lease payment to a BMW dealership for a Rolls-Royce, a car that starts at about $370,000. Millions squirreled away to a family trust fund." www.theassemblync.com/news/health/...

Community Leaders Ignored Red Flags and Gave a CEO Millions to Buy Their Hospital. Now He’s Ghosting Them www.theassemblync.com/news/health/...

One Glenwood parent told the CHCCS board that their closure decision prompted her to consider private and charter schools. “I think you’ll find many families from Glenwood making the same hard decisions and plans, and this may not be the enrollment fix that you hoped." indyweek.com/news/chccs-t...

The amount of money Wake County expects to lose to charters this year is about seven times as much as it was in 2011, when legislators removed the cap on the number of charter schools. indyweek.com/news/wake-co...

The increase in county funding for DPS falls $14 million short of the district’s $28.5 million request. DPS estimated it would take $11 million to maintain operations amid rising costs. It asked for $15 million for new initiatives and $3 million for tech replacement. indyweek.com/news/durham-...

Utah shifted from "containment" to "mitigation" in its measles response earlier this year. Many other states will make the same tough decisions as measles returns. Please check out my story for more on this pivotal chapter in US health history. www.wired.com/story/anguis...

"Could it benefit public school students? Yes, with like the biggest asterisk of all time, it could." www.wunc.org/education/20...

Opportunity for an Audit Dave Boliek confirmed that his office is pursuing an audit of the Opportunity Scholarship program.

We're currently holding our Wednesday All-Access Q&A until 3 p.m.! This week our guest is Bryan Anderson, who covers politics for The Assembly. Bryan anchors the Assembly’s politics newsletter The Caucus. Bryan’s recent coverage has focused on the N.C. legislature’s attempts to pass a budget.

“The property will likely be sold at auction, although the school district has not released any details. At least one organization has expressed interest: BEAM Academy, an agriculture-focused charter school that has been eyeing Bladen County for years.”    borderbelt.org/bladen-count...

The school, then known as Asheville Academy, operated under multiple identities over the years—Solstice East, then Magnolia Mill School. In February 2025, that program merged with Asheville Academy for Girls. www.usatoday.com/story/life/h...

Clarence Henderson wrote in his 2023 memoir that he was looking for people to help fund a “unifying movie” about his life, specifically “investors who are concerned about the true story of America to be told and not rewritten.” www.theassemblync.com/news/educati...

State Lawmakers Revive Push to Exempt Campus Discipline from Public Records Law www.theassemblync.com/news/educati...

N.C. House Votes to Override Stein Veto, Join Federal School Choice Program www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

Under the proposed budget framework, beginning teachers would receive base pay about 17% higher while teachers with 14 to 23 years of experience would see much less of an increase—5.5%. www.theassemblync.com/news/educati...

The former deputy superintendent for administrative, legal, and compliance services is accused of delaying an investigation by Durham police into allegations that an elementary school teaching assistant tied a student with autism to a chair. www.newsobserver.com/news/local/c...

More than 1,700 students in the Border Belt were recipients of the Opportunity Scholarship in 2025-2026, according to data from the North Carolina State Education Assistance Authority. That’s up from nearly 1,300 the previous school year. borderbelt.org/more-nc-stud...

UNC-Chapel Hill Trustees Reject Hiring of Tenured Women’s Studies Professor www.theassemblync.com/news/educati...

"A new Republican proposal would create a work group to study whether North Carolina should overhaul how it funds public schools, and whether another state agency should take over distributing billions in K-12 education dollars now managed by" DPI. ncnewsline.com/2026/05/14/n...

Divided Cumberland School Board Votes to Close 2 Elementary Schools www.cityviewnc.com/stories/divi...

UNC System Turns Attention to Math Instruction After ‘Science of Reading’ Battle It took years for the system’s educator-preparation programs to adopt the required method of teaching literacy. Now they’re looking at math “proactively.”

"The data show former public school students accounted for 11.5% of the state’s voucher students. It confirms the ongoing trend that the state’s expansion in the voucher program is primarily benefitting existing private school families." www.newsobserver.com/news/local/e...

“I cannot articulate my rage at the North Carolina General Assembly for what they have done with the erosion of public school funding in this state over the last decade-plus,” said board member Lynn Edmonds. indyweek.com/news/wake-sc...

A Guilford County district court judge who seized a former News & Record reporter’s notes and issued a gag order in 2023 is still obstructing efforts to challenge her rulings, according to a petition filed with the N.C. Court of Appeals. www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

Each year, WCPSS asks the board of commissioners for financial support “because they have nowhere else to turn,” Ellis said. “Without our help, they can’t pay staff sustainable wages or provide student support services.” indyweek.com/news/wake-co...

"All of our attention spans have gotten shorter because of screens, adults’ too. ... Therefore, picture books have gotten shorter. A 1,500-word picture book may have been acceptable in the nineties, but now, a picture fiction book needs to be 500 words or less." greensborothread.com/news/culture...

“Without enough affordable, high-quality child care, employers across the state are missing out on what they need; that’s talent and people,” said Gary Salamido, president and CEO of the NC Chamber of Commerce. www.ednc.org/5-1-2026-bus...

Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page, who beat longtime Senate leader Phil Berger in the recent legislative primary election, attended the teachers' march on Friday and said NC's teachers should be the best paid in the Southeast, the N&O reported. www.newsobserver.com/news/politic...

"Former state Rep. Cecil Brockman won $2M in state funding for a nonprofit in High Point that provides services for people with autism and other disabilities in 2023. Since then, nearly 1/5 of that money went to his predecessor and former boss, Marcus Brandon." www.newsobserver.com/news/politic...

.@micahloewinger.bsky.social investigates how FEMA, the agency tasked with saving America, ended up so distrusted and defunded. : lnk.to/onthemedia/b...

Teachers From Across N.C. Rally for More Pay, Better Funding At least 20 districts closed on Friday as thousands of educators and supporters gathered outside the General Assembly for the “Kids Over Corporations” event.

Charles McNeair Spent His Adult Life in Prison. At 63, He’ll Go Home. With the support of his hometown and the police chief, a man imprisoned as a teenager for a crime he has maintained he didn’t commit has finally been granted parole.

About one-third of the conflicts involving public brinkmanship between hospitals and insurers between mid-2021 and mid-2025 resulted in contracts actually expiring, with patients losing access to care, a Brown University researcher found. www.theassemblync.com/news/health/...

Join us for our All-Access Q&A this Wednesday. This week our guest is @koriedean.bsky.social, who covers higher education for The Assembly. Korie recently wrote about the future of the Dean Dome.

Senate Committee Presses Linda McMahon on Cuts to College Prep, Rural Schools www.the74million.org/article/sena...

Thousands of Teachers to Rally in Raleigh Friday At least 13 districts across the state have canceled classes due to the high number of teacher leave requests.

Cumberland County Schools Faces New Complaints Over Special Education Practices www.cityviewnc.com/stories/cumb...

"The state Supreme Court’s April 2 ruling dismissing the long-running Leandro lawsuit seemed like a final nail in the coffin for the 32-year-old case. But to paraphrase Monty Python and the Holy Grail, it might not be dead yet." www.theassemblync.com/news/educati...

Record Numbers of Durham High Schoolers are Missing School indyweek.com/news/record-...

Rep. Brenden Jones announced a bill that would establish a procedure for investigating and financially punishing NC school districts deemed in violation of the Parents’ Bill of Rights. He named it for CHCCS. indyweek.com/news/chccs-h...

Here's a map (lighter orange=lower prop value). Merging these districts would give kids a more diverse school system with fairer access to local funding--Newton-Conover kids would see their local funding base go up in value by 34%. That matters. For more: www.newamerica.org/insights/red... #edusky

In a state where almost all school districts are county-level, Catawba County contains 3, two of which have a much lower-value property tax base per kid (lighter orange) and substantially higher % of Latino students. Now they're going to merge. (via wfae.bsky.social) www.wfae.org/education/20...

"Let's say there are two strong applicants to NCSSM. ... One lives in Randolph County and the other in Orange County. ... Mathematically, the student in Randolph County is five times more likely to be admitted than the student in Orange." www.wunc.org/education/20...

The Marshall Project and The Assembly obtained testimony from depositions that "revealed shoddy policing, special treatment for a police officer at the scene, and a lack of curiosity about physical evidence that contradicted Collins’ account." www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

NC Gov. Josh Stein proposes raising teacher pay be an average of 11% over two fiscal years, including a 30% increase for starting teachers. www.theassemblync.com/news/politic...

Building new schools is one of the many responsibilities of NC county governments, whose biggest source of funding—property taxes—is now under examination. www.theassemblync.com/news/busines... #ncpol