Advocates celebrate 25 years of charter schools in NC, despite critics concerns Nina Pasquini, The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Jun. 23 RALEIGH Twenty-five years ago, Tim Taylor was entering the sixth grade when he learned that his local middle school in Pamlico County was shutting down.
That was also the year that North Carolina s General Assembly passed legislation authorizing charter schools across the state.
On Tuesday afternoon, as state leaders and charter school advocates gathered at the legislature to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the law, Taylor recalled his experience being a member of the inaugural class of charter schools.
After learning that the middle school was closing, Taylor said, families in his Eastern North Carolina hometown worked together to establish Arapahoe Charter School. He said the school was so community oriented that a local mechanic kept school buses in his backyard, a Sunday School teacher filled in when teachers were
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Gov. Roy Cooper on Friday signed into law a controversial bill requiring a phonics-based approach to teaching students to read.
Despite his veto of similar legislation in 2019, Cooper said in a statement that Senate Bill 387 will help students and teachers.
“Learning to read early in life is critical for our children and this legislation will help educators improve the way they teach reading,” the governor said. “But ultimate success will hinge on attracting and keeping the best teachers with significantly better pay and more help in the classroom with tutoring and instructional coaching.”
Senate leader Phil Berger, (R-Rockingham County) sponsored SB 387. It is supposed to fix deficiencies in the state’s “Read to Achieve” law he championed in 2012 to ensure all students read on grade level by the end of third grade.