June 14, 2025

[1]www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org
[2]Facebook [3]Instagram [4]YouTube [5]LinkedIn [6]TikTok

Legislators Send Mixed Messages on Student Safety

Bills moving through the North Carolina General Assembly send mixed
messages about student safety.

On the one hand, lawmakers seek to establish statewide rules requiring
criminal background checks on public school educators/administrators. On
the other hand, they passed a bill making it easier to obtain and carry a
concealed handgun, a move that is likely to endanger more students across
the state.

Senate Bill 50 "[7]Freedom to Carry NC" allows people who are 18 or older
to purchase and carry a concealed firearm without obtaining a permit or
complete a firearms training course. Current law limits concealed handgun
carry permits to people 21 or older who have obtained a permit. The
permitting process involves passing a criminal background check.

Rep. Morey pointed out during debate that while the bill makes it easier to
obtain and carry a handgun, it clearly recognizes the increased danger the
bill poses for law enforcement and other public officials (e.g.,
firefighters, probation officers) in its provisions to provide more
compensation for those harmed by gun violence (including scholarship funds
for their children).

Morey’s amendment to reinstate the requirement to obtain a permit failed
along party lines.

However, in the [8]final vote on Senate Bill 50, two Republicans voted
against it and ten Republicans had an excused absence. All Democrats voted
against it or had an excused absence. If Governor Stein vetoes the bill,
there may not be enough votes in the House to override his veto. This is a
bad bill.

If this bill passes into law, it will increase the likelihood of
18-year-old students purchasing and carrying handguns with no training on
how to properly use or store the weapon. North Carolina currently ranks
[9]16th in the nation in rate of school shootings. This law may push the
state even higher in the rankings.

House Bill 775 "[10]Criminal History Checks for School Positions" is still
making its way through committees. It would establish a state law requiring
criminal background checks on charter school board of directors and any
person who applies for a North Carolina teaching license.

Currently, state law requires all school districts to establish a policy
regarding criminal background checks for school personnel. Charter schools
within the attendance area of the local district must follow the local
district’s policy.

However, the law does not address initial members of a charter school’s
board of directors or teaching license applicants. Another loophole pointed
out by bill sponsors is that some small districts do not have a strong
policy on criminal background checks, so staff at the district and at local
charter schools may have been hired without one.

In contrast, some large districts conduct criminal background checks on a
daily basis to ensure that all staff meet the district’s safety policy.

Missing from House Bill 775 is any mention of private schools. Current
state law requires that only one staff person—the one with the highest
decision-making authority—pass a criminal background check.

A change to include private schools that accept state funding via tuition
vouchers in the criminal background check requirement is a common-sense
addition to the bill.

The bill passed through the House Education K-12 Committee in a voice vote
on Tuesday and now heads to the [11]House Judiciary 2 Committee where it is
scheduled for discussion on June 17.

Please contact committee members to urge them to add private school staff
to the criminal background check requirement. Private school students
deserve as much protection as public school students!

Charter School Report

Have you seen our recent report on charter schools: North Carolina Charter
Schools: Undermining Quality Education for All? We take a close look at
charter schools in North Carolina, showing how they have failed to meet
legislated goals and have evolved to become a separate system of pseudo
public education at odds with state constitutional mandates.

North Carolina has participated in a three-decade charter school
experiment. This report explores the original justifications for charter
schools, analyzes the pedagogical and operational differences among charter
schools, considers the mechanisms through which charter schools evade
accountability measures that apply to public schools, and discusses the
mixed student academic outcomes.

The report also identifies and analyzes four problematic features of
charter schools that should trouble taxpayers, parents, and lawmakers:
racial segregation, exclusionary student discipline, the rate of school
closures, and the financial mismanagement. These features suggest that,
despite the public funding for and growth of charter schools, heightened
scrutiny by taxpayers and policymakers is warranted.

[12]Read the Charter School Report!

Watch our webinar with Barbara Fedders, Director of Clinical Programs, UNC
Law and Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools Board Member as we discuss the
impact of charter schools.

[13]video

NEW REPORT!

Public Schools First NC has released a new report:[14] NC K-12 Private
Schools 2024-25: A Review of Curriculum!

This conclusion from a study done at the beginning of the school voucher
program ([15]North Carolina School Vouchers: The First Three Years) remains
true and is the motivation for the current curriculum review: “Because
voucher programs, like the one in North Carolina, are supported through tax
revenues, the public has a stake in knowing whether the money spent
represents a sound investment. In addition, because attendance at a private
school meets the state’s compulsory education requirement, the state has a
stake in being assured that the education offered meets basic standards."

North Carolina’s lawmakers have spent nearly 1.5 billion taxpayer dollars
on private school vouchers since the program’s launch in 2014, but they
still require no oversight of the curriculum taught by the schools that
receive state funds.

This lack of academic accountability is in sharp contrast to public
schools, which must select curriculum aligned to the North Carolina
Standard Course of Study, a rigorously developed and reviewed set of
content standards created by education experts designed to prepare students
for postsecondary college and career options.

Our new report focuses on the curriculum taught in North Carolina's K-12
private schools that received school vouchers. It is modeled on research
completed by the North Carolina League of Women Voters of the Lower Cape
Fear (NC LWV-LCF) in 2017.

[16]Read the Curriculum Report!

Legislative and SBE Updates

The NC House reconvenes Monday, June 16 at 1:00.

Agendas, streaming information, and updated information are found on the
[17]legislative calendar.

See our [18]Week in Review for a summary of bills, bills that made
crossover, and key education bills to watch.

Utah's Vouchers Declared Unconstitutional

In a major win for public schools, Utah's voucher program was struck down
as unconstitutional by a Utah district court judge. The judge made several
key points in her ruling about why the Utah vouchers violate the state's
constitutional requirement to educate all students. One aligns directly
with a major problem in North Carola's voucher programs:

While public schools are required to accept all students, private schools
and other providers participating in the voucher program can impose
admissions criteria.

North Carolina private schools have stringent admissions requirements in
some cases. They discriminate on the basis of religion, ability, lifestyle,
LGBTQ identification, and more. [19]Read our discrimination report here.

Read More

[20]Utah Voucher Program Ruled Unconstitutional

[21]What's next for Utah's school voucher program after judge declared it
unconstitutional? Here's what we know so far.

In Case You Missed It

[22]NC lawmakers lowered high school graduation standards. What are the
consequences?

[23]These NC school districts will defy calendar law. Will they be
penalized?

[24]NC teachers, students say school cellphone policies often don't work.
Here's what they recommend

[25]Faith leaders demand Congress reject private school vouchers scheme

[26]Why the Trump administration grounded these middle schoolers'
drones[27]—and other STEM research

Don't Cut Education Funding!

The proposed federal budget slashes education funding by 15 percent on top
of the $350 million in cuts to student loan programs made by the
reconciliation bill, H.R.1 currently being debated in the U.S. Senate.

Programs slated for elimination include Full Service Community Schools,
English Language Acquisition, and the Teacher Quality Partnership, which
addresses the teacher shortage through deep clinical practice. Funding
would increase in only one area: charter schools.

Please contact your U.S. lawmakers through this [28]convenient NEA email
letter link. Urge lawmakers to halt the education funding cuts!

Calling Western NC Educators

Call for Participants: Oral History Project for WNC Educators Affected by
Hurricane Helene

Dr. Amelia Wheeler (Western Carolina University) and Dr. Morgan Tate
(University of Georgia) are launching a research project titled Beyond the
Storm: A Tribute to Appalachian Teachers and Their Stories. This oral
history project seeks to document the experiences of public school
educators in Western North Carolina who taught during and after Hurricane
Helene.

If you are a K–12 public school educator in the Appalachian region and were
working in a school impacted by Hurricane Helene, you may be eligible to
participate.

Participation includes:
* A one-hour, audio-recorded interview conducted at a location of your
choice in your community
* A $100 gift card as a thank-you
* Optional review of interview excerpts before public sharing or
publication
* A $75 contribution offered to your school district to offset substitute
costs (if the interview occurs during the school day)

Interviews will take place between May and September 2025. The project aims
to honor educators' stories and make visible the critical roles they play
during times of crisis.

Interested in participating? Want to know more?

Please Contact:
* Dr. Amelia Wheeler – [email protected]
* Dr. Morgan Tate – [email protected]

Words to Remember

“Be wary of oversimplified solutions to complex challenges,” Jones advised.
“Invest not only in outcomes, but in the conditions that produce them —
teacher retention, culturally relevant pedagogy, instructional materials
that reflect diverse experiences and perspectives and learning environments
that allow our students to feel safe, both physically and emotionally."

— Kimberly Jones, NC Teacher of the Year 2023-24

Help us support public schools!

Public Schools First NC is a statewide nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit
focused solely

on pre-K to 12 public education issues. We collaborate with parents,
teachers, business and civic leaders, and communities across North Carolina
to advocate for one unified system of public education that prepares each
child for productive citizenship.

[29]DONATE HERE

[30]www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org

Questions? Contact us today at [email protected]

References

1. [link removed]
2. [link removed]
3. [link removed]
4. [link removed]
5. [link removed]
6. [link removed]
7. [link removed] 50
8. [link removed]
9. [link removed]
10. [link removed] 775
11. [link removed]
12. [link removed]
13. [link removed]
14. [link removed]
15. [link removed]
16. [link removed]
17. [link removed]
18. [link removed]
19. [link removed]
20. [link removed]
21. [link removed]
22. [link removed]
23. [link removed]
24. [link removed]
25. [link removed]
26. [link removed]
27. [link removed]
28. [link removed]
29. [link removed]
30. [link removed]
Unsubscribe:
[link removed]
This message was sent to [email protected] from [email protected]

Public Schools First NC
PO Box 37832
Raleigh, NC 27627
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

iContact - Engage, WOW, and grow your audience: [link removed]