N.C. K-12 Education News and In-Depth Reporting

‘This Is Work I Will Die For’

Lee A. Williams II, Orange County Schools’ chief equity officer. (Julia Wall for The Assembly)

Lee A. Williams II took over as chief equity officer for Orange County Schools last year amid turmoil over how to address systemic discrimination.

Schoolyard Brawl

Monique Felder in the lobby of A.L. Stanback Middle School. (Julia Wall for The Assembly)

Orange County has been swept up in cultural clashes over education. Superintendent Monique Felder is the latest casualty.

The State’s Looming Constitutional Crisis

Cover Photo by Sam Roberts, AP

The long-running Leandro case has promised transformative investments in K-12 education. As a judge prepares to take action, the state is anticipating a constitutional impasse with enormous consequences for students and North Carolina’s system of checks and balances.

The Untouchable Student Vaccine Mandate

Students arrive by bus for the first day of school at Kernodle Middle School in Greensboro, N.C., on Monday, Aug. 23, 2021 // Woody Marshall/AP Images.

Federal regulators are poised to give full approval to a COVID-19 vaccine for children younger than 16. That would turn the spotlight to an obscure—and seemingly reluctant—state commission in North Carolina that has the power to mandate vaccines for school children and college students.

Egos, Accountability, and High School Sports

A two-year legislative inquiry culminated last week in a bipartisan compromise over the state’s High School Sports Association. The very public fight mirrors a national debate over amateur athletics: Just how big should school sports be? And who gets to benefit?

The Making of a Mask Mandate

Photo by Cornell Watson

A fight over school mask mandates in a GOP county lauded for its high vaccination rate shows just how tough it is to lead a public institution in the midst of a fast-changing pandemic.