Education

This week's edition of WFAE Talks has a newby. He's Money & Influence reporter Tom Bullock. Tom sat in for Ben Bradford, who was getting some sleep after a long and busy day of covering the Duke Energy coal ash spill on the Dan River. Tom, Lisa and Greg discuss the spill, the problems and  uncertainty over implementation of North Carolina's third-grade reading law, and high stakes in this year's state Supreme Court election.

North Carolina school districts can now use reading tests of their own choosing to decide whether a third-grader must go to a summer reading camp or can go on to fourth grade. The State Board of Education approved the districts’ request today. 

The North Carolina Board of Education will vote today on a measure that could ease some of the testing going on under the new third grade reading law. That law requires third-graders not reading at grade level by the end of the year to go to summer reading camps. So far, it’s been rough. Teachers, even lawmakers who voted for the law, admit it needs tweaking. 

Union County Public Schools got word of an unexpected offer last night that could allow the district to avoid a controversial redistricting, at least for now. The county has agreed to give the school district $3 million for mobile classrooms to ease overcrowding. 

Union County might be spared a controversial countywide school redistricting plan after all.

School board chair Richard Yercheck said Tuesday morning he expects his group will accept the county commissioners’ surprise $3 million offer to buy 49 mobile units. Commissioners on Monday said they made the offer to eliminate the need for countywide redistricting, and solve an issue that has been tearing the community apart

Everyone knows that we are living in a digital world but if you visit that average classroom you’ll likely see more pencils, paper, books and chalkboards than monitors or keyboards. There is a school system changing all that and some educators have called them the best school system in America. That school system is right in our backyard. The Mooresville Graded School District introduced a 1 to 1 laptop initiative meaning that every child in their system learns through digital media, from 1st and 2nd graders with digital learning tools to laptops in the hands of every student from 3rd—12th grade. And the results are amazing. We’ll find out how the digital conversion is transforming learning in Mooresville and what the future might be for school kids everywhere.

Two virtual charter schools run by for-profit companies are trying to open schools in North Carolina. In the past, the state board of education has refused to consider these schools. But this year the board appointed a group to figure out how to evaluate virtual charters. The group heard from those two companies this week. They say it’s not fair to compare them to brick-and-mortar schools. 

Take a group of kindergartners and first graders and let them bounce on exercise balls all day instead of asking them to sit still in their chairs.

Sounds crazy, right? Well, it’s happening at Davidson Elementary. 

Governor Pat McCrory headlined a school choice rally Thursday morning in Charlotte. WFAE’s Duncan McFadyen reports the governor used the opportunity to promote his education agenda.

Governor McCrory spoke to a friendly crowd at the Carolinas Aviation Museum ---about 150 people sporting bright orange scarves provided by the organizers. His message was clear: choice makes education stronger.

If you live in western Union County, you’re well acquainted with the words ‘school redistricting.’ For many years the district scrambled to build schools to keep up with all the growth, re-drawing attendance lines as new schools opened. 

Now many schools are filling up again.  The school board is mulling a plan to ease the overcrowding by shifting nearly 6,000 students to different schools.  Many parents are mad.