For Read Across America Week, I visited my old elementary school, Brunson Elementary, to read to a kindergarten class. I had a wonderful time visiting with students! Thank you for the sweet letters!

Thousands of affluent students now benefit from NC private school voucher expansion. 42%, or 33,853 of the 79,775 recipients, would have been ineligible before this year. 42% of this year's 40,089 applicants also would have been ineligible. newsobserver.com/news/local/edu… #nced #ncpol

We all want a better and brighter future for our children and grandchildren, and no one understands that our children are our future more than educators.  Thank you to the dedicated educators at @NCAE for having NCDPI Superintendent Mo Green and me this morning.

“The work being done here in Asheville is part of a larger movement across this state to elevate educator voices, improve working conditions, and strengthen our public schools.” whqr.org/2025-03-17/ash…

“When your starting teacher pay is lower than Virginia, Tennessee, Georgia, South Carolina — all the states that border us — it makes it a lot harder to recruit teachers into this profession." ednc.org/stein-green-ad…

“We need more than just to be pushed back, pushed out and oppressed. We need our voices heard. We need more money.” rockymounttelegram.com/news/local/bus… via Rocky Mount Telegram

“When I have to apply for food stamps after giving 14 years of service to this district, I have to ask, what is the point of giving my valuable years of service to a school system that doesn't invest back into me?" wfdd.org/story/guilford…

“I Feel Honestly a Little Bit Ashamed”: Durham Legislators Answer to Some of Their Youngest Constituents indyweek.com/news/durham/i-…

“We need to let the county commission make those difficult decisions. Put that ball in their court.” wral.com/news/education…

"The Senate budget prioritizes irresponsible tax cuts over our students, schools and public school families." wral.com/news/education…

"I would say we're very concerned. It seems like there's not a lot of information that's available publicly or to board members who are going to have to potentially vote on a budget next week. And that's concerning." abc11.com/post/members-d…

“Which governing bodies can public school staff, students and parents count on in this political moment to be brave and do what's needed?” ‘Nowhere to cut back’: N.C. schools struggle with budget difficulties spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/triad/news/…

“We’re saying that it’s okay for educators to have a second and third job. What [North Carolina] is saying is that our kids don’t deserve to have people who can focus on being adults in their lives."

"If we're paying people who are working with kids $31,000 then we are saying that we know that we are taking the people who we trust our kids with, and we're forcing them to live below the poverty line," NC drops to 43rd in nation for teacher pay wunc.org/education/2025…

“The challenges we face in staffing our classrooms and providing students with qualified, dedicated teachers and staff are a direct result of our failure to invest adequately in those who educate and care for our children." newsobserver.com/news/local/edu…

“Students should be able to go from any school, from South Garner, to Southeast Raleigh, to Knightdale and see the same vibrant library collection." wral.com/news/education…

“This is a continued disrespect to the people across our state who have committed their lives to the well-being and growth of young people." NC ranks among lowest in country for teacher pay. How are leaders looking to improve those numbers? qcnews.com/news/u-s/north…

“I want to protect every students’ right to see themselves in the library and to see themselves in books, but also tell them if they see something that they don’t like, they don’t have to read it." indyweek.com/culture/hb-636…

A pregnant elementary school teacher in Quincy, Illinois, captured her students’ adorable reaction to her baby kicking in her belly during the school day. abcnews.link/y4KC2BQ