Lisa Miller

The state advisory council which monitors charter schools has decided to give Kennedy Charter in south Charlotte another chance, despite the school’s low test scores.  That decision hinges on a plan to move the school to the campus of Johnson C. Smith University. 

Every few years, charter schools in North Carolina have to go before a group of charter school administrators, board members, and educators.  They have to make their case for why they should be allowed to continue to operate. 

Duke and Progress Energy will not have to clean up seepages from fourteen coal ash ponds, according to a ruling from the North Carolina Environmental Management Commission.  Several environmental groups including the Riverkeeper Foundation say the utilities are breaking state rules by not stopping their coal ash ponds from leaking into ground water.   

Commission chairman Steve Smith says the vote was 9-to-2 in favor of Duke and Progress.

North Carolina has no online charter schools, but the state is getting ready for them.  The state board of education is considering a list of policies to guide these schools.  It includes paying them less per student than a regular charter and capping the student to teacher ratio.

Online charters are not your typical schools.  For one, there’s often no schoolhouse.  You can do all your learning from a screen at home.  Science, Math, English classes are all online. There are teachers, but usually class sizes are much larger than at a regular brick-and-mortar school. 

Those who regularly battle traffic on the southern stretch of I-485 have some good news.  The interstate will grow to three lanes in each direction by the end of 2015.  That’s a full year ahead of schedule. 

The southern section of I-485 from I-77 to Rea Road can be a headache at rush hour.  Tim Timmerman knows it well since he lives nearby. 

“It’s bumper to bumper and your fair share of bumper jumpers and little accidents and everything,” says Timmerman.   

Just when you thought the political ads were over, there’s this TV ad that features U.S. Senator Kay Hagan. 

“Senator Kay Hagan can make energy a big part of improving our economy. She can choose economic growth and American jobs, not slow them with job-killing energy taxes,” says a female voice as images of workers interspersed with shots of Hagan appear on the screen.

An African American woman who helped Charlotte navigate the turbulent times around school desegregation and busing died last week at the age of 87.  Kathleen “Kat” Crosby was with Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools for forty years.  She started with the district as a teacher and rose up in the ranks to become assistant superintendent before she retired in 1986. 

Teachers regularly evaluate their students.

Now, the tables are turned. Students evaluate their teachers.

Last year was the first in which students throughout North Carolina completed official evaluation forms of their teachers. In fact, evaluations by students in high school, middle school and even elementary school have picked up steam across the country.

The concept is the brainchild of a Harvard professor named Ron Ferguson. In this report, WFAE’s Lisa Miller talks to him about how the surveys work.

The Catawba Riverkeeper has identified a handful of places where water from Duke Energy’s coal ash ponds are seeping into Mountain Island Lake and Lake Wylie. 

Catawba Riverkeeper Rick Gaskins has found four leaks, or what are called seepages, into the two lakes that provide drinking water to the Charlotte area.  The seepages bubble up from the ground. 

“The ones that are the easiest to spot have generally an orange-ish color to them,” says Gaskins. 

Pat McCrory says he’s moving quickly in preparations to take over the governor’s office.  He plans to announce his transition team tomorrow. 

North Carolina will soon have a Republican governor and Republican majorities in the state house and senate. 

At a press conference Wednesday, McCrory said he’ll reach out to leaders of both parties.