Education - The Daily Tar Heel

DTH Photo Illustration. House Bill 187 is titled “Equality in Education”.

N.C. Republicans propose bill to bar public schools from teaching about race, sex in certain contexts

By Annika Duneja | Mar. 1

House Bill 187, meant to prohibit teachers from promoting or teaching about race and sex in certain contexts in North Carolina public schools, was filed by North Carolina House Republicans on Feb. 23. Its introduction follows similar efforts by Republicans to combat the teaching of subjects such as critical race theory in other states like Florida and Tennessee.

Posters created by students at the Black Joy event at Culbreth Middle School on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023.

CHCCS holds event to amplify the voices of the CHCCS Black community, celebrate Black joy

By Ginny Dempster | Feb. 26

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools hosted an event celebrating Black joy, highlighting Black achievements and amplifying Black voices in the school community on Saturday. The celebration was held at Culbreth Middle School from 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to commemorate Black History Month. The event featured two panels, arts and crafts, a DJ and free food.

The Orange County Board of Education building, as pictured on Monday, March 28, 2022, is located on East King Street in Hillsborough.

Orange County Schools Board of Education discusses superintendent contract, calendar

By Walker Livingston | Feb. 22

New diversity trainings and referral bonuses for employees of Orange County Schools were discussed by the Board of Education during its meeting on Monday night. The Board was also presented with the findings of a study that compared the amount of central office personnel in OCS to the amount in other North Carolina counties.

Northside Elementary School stands on Oct. 17, 2021.

CHCCS and OCS experience funding disparities, special district tax plays part

By Laney Crawley | Feb. 20

Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools are both pushing for more state funding. Each has a per-pupil spending around $15000, with CHCCS spending about $2000 more per pupil as a result of a district tax.

DTH Photo Illustration. The N.C. State of the Teacher Profession Survey for 2021-22 reveals high rates of attrition and teacher vacancies. Teachers say the job's demands aren't reflected in their paychecks.

Teachers reflect as vacancies, attrition in NC education system continue

By Arwen Helms | Feb. 19

According to recent data from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, teachers are staying in the classroom at rates comparable to previous years. Though teacher vacancies at the beginning and 40-day mark of the school year are higher, the difference might not represent an actual change in vacancy rates, but a change in reporting methods to more accurately reflect the state of the teaching profession.

Students leave East Chapel Hill High School on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022.

Education Omnibus passes state House, would change NCCAT governance structure

By Rushi Kulkarni | Feb. 16

On Feb. 8, the North Carolina House of Representatives passed House Bill 26, the Education Omnibus, in a 75-42 vote. The bill includes changes to the governance of a teaching advancement organization and award a contract to an education company without a bidding process.

Charles Blanchard, principal of Chapel Hill High School, is pictured by the school's tiger mural on Monday, Feb. 13, 2023.

CHHS Principal Charles Blanchard to retire, school begins replacement search

By Annika Duneja | Feb. 15

Chapel Hill High School Principal Charles Blanchard announced his retirement on Feb. 2 in a community message. His last day will be April 1. Valerie Akins, who has over 30 years of experience as a teacher and principal, will take his place as interim until a new principal is chosen.

UNC-CH sophomores Sydney Martin and Megan O'Connor wear masks and hang out in the quad in front of Wilson Library on Feb. 6, 2023.

Column: In defense of the humanities

By Edward Lezada | Feb. 8

"But the humanities don't need to justify themselves with business and science. These enhance their resume but they have inherent virtues. The humanities study people. We are endowed with conscious complexity. We love, feel anger and can convey emotions through the power of art and music. We can create sociopolitical systems, wage wars and more. These are all at the core of our existence."

Orange County Schools employees bring concerns of overcrowding to Board of Education

By Maddie Van Meter | Feb. 8

Patrick Abele, Orange County Schools' deputy superintendent, said overcrowding is a concern for the school district as new growth in the area is leading to class sizes that are exceeding capacity. He said the district is bringing in mobile units to help with the problem.

Chapel Hill and Carrboro County School bus drives down Franklin Street on Nov. 28, 2022.

CHCCS works to mitigate student transportation issues amid bus driver shortage

By Carly Breland | Feb. 5

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools district is facing a shortage of bus drivers, resulting in a transportation crisis that affects students on a daily basis. André Stewart, the district’s chief operations officer, said that every day, there are 15 school bus routes that are not covered due to the lack of drivers

NC ranks last in child care cost in new report, state struggles with funding

By Maddie Van Meter | Feb. 3

A recent report published by WalletHub, placed North Carolina 39th overall in family-friendliness. The average cost of child care per year in North Carolina is $9,255 for infants and $7,592 for a 4-year-old.

Data Visualization by Lavelle Wong | The Daily Tar Heel

Chapel Hill and Carrboro preschools report small levels of lead in water

By Harrison Gummel | Feb. 1

As the local community watches as UNC grapples with detectable lead levels in the drinking water of over 125 buildings, some questions have been raised about the safety of other educational institutions. Data from Clean Water for Carolina Kids shows that some preschools in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area are also seeing perceptible levels.

School buses await students at East Chapel Hill High School on Monday, Sept. 12, 2022.

Orange County awarded grant to advance technical education in middle schools

By Audrey Kashatus | Jan. 29

Orange County Schools received $32,265 for modernization in career and technical (CTE) education programs in its middle schools.

New NC data shows youth mental health crisis

By Walker Livingston | Jan. 18

According to data from North Carolina Healthy Schools, 10 percent of high schoolers in the state attempted suicide in 2021. Among students who identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual, 21 percent surveyed said they attempted suicide during the same year.

Orange County Schools Safety Task Force to meet in February, address external threats

By Sam Kornylak | Jan. 16

The Orange County Schools Safety Task Force, which intends to address external threats and help provide a safer learning environment in Orange County Schools, will begin meeting in February. It will be comprised of 18 members, including local law enforcement, school district leaders and community members.

Education programs and survey update: OCS Board of Education's first 2023 meeting

By Olivia Gschwind | Jan. 11

The Orange County Schools Board of Education held its first meeting of 2023 on Monday to discuss Advancement Via Individual Determination program updates, review fall 2022 concussion reports and examine Panorama survey data from families and students.

DTH Photo Illustration. A student prepares for an exam on Nov. 17, 2022

Column: Teachers deserve better than test score-based pay

By Franklin Payne | Nov. 30

"Teachers should not be treated menially with few rewards. They deserve to be paid well and given the autonomy in their classroom to focus on the student as a person rather than an extension of a dollar sign."

Vickie Fornville, 8th Parent Rep/Co-Chair of the McDougle Middle School Improvement Team, poses in the halls of the Chapel Hill middle school on Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2022. Fornville has one message for Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools -- "CHCCS, when you know better, do better. It is long overdue."

'Things we need to address': Parents reflect on achievement gap within CHCCS

By Lucy Marques | Nov. 30

“It’s not about individual people, it's about systems,” CHCCS graduate and parent Vickie Feaster Fornville said. “And if you’re not willing to try to look at those systems and acknowledge the fault that is there and the wrong and harm that has been done, then we won’t get where we need to go — there won’t be any success.”

Masks lie at the entrance to Wilson Library on Jan. 9, 2022.

A look at the COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina: Protocol changes in 2022

By Maddie Van Meter | Nov. 30

North Carolina has seen several changes to COVID-19 protocols in 2022 regarding masks, schools and vaccines.

The Every Child NC rally at Halifax Mall in Raleigh on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, ahead of the Leandro v. State of North Carolina hearing.

The Leandro case: A summary of the ongoing debate about educational funding

By Tori Newby | Nov. 30

This November, after decades of debate over the adequacy and funding of North Carolina’s public school system, the N.C. Supreme Court ruled that hundreds of millions of dollars will be allocated for public schools. The decision in Hoke County Board of Education v. State of North Carolina is the latest development to an adjacent case from 1997, Leandro v. State of North Carolina — also known as "Leandro I."