Education

October 15, 2014 - Baker Mitchell is a politically connected North Carolina businessman who celebrates the power of the free market. Every year, millions of public education dollars flow through Mitchell's chain of four nonprofit charter schools to for-profit companies he controls.

August 29, 2014 - The total student population in the U.S. is projected to become majority minority this year, but the South hit this milestone six years ago. Demographic changes have been sweeping Southern schools, introducing new racial dynamics in what has traditionally been a black and white story while progress on racial integration slips.

August 29, 2014 - Groups in favor of and opposed to school vouchers have invested heavily in the North Carolina legislature and the state Supreme Court, which is now being asked to release voucher money despite a recent lower court ruling that the program is unconstitutional.

August 28, 2014 - Last week a North Carolina judge minced no words in his ruling that a law giving taxpayer-funded vouchers to low-income families that want to send their children to private schools was a violation of the state constitution and the public good. Supporters of the program have asked the state Supreme Court to take emergency action to release the money anyway.

August 27, 2014 - Terminated without due process in the chaos that reigned after Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans' unionized public schoolteachers have been fighting back in court -- and winning. After victories in district and appeals courts, they head to the Louisiana Supreme Court next week. Meanwhile, teachers in the charter schools that now control the city's public education system are beginning to unionize.

August 11, 2014 - To mark International Youth Day, a personal finance website looked at living and economic conditions for young people in the United States. The findings do not reflect well on the South.

July 22, 2014 - A new report looks at the well-being of children by state and finds that those living in Appalachia and the South are facing especially difficult conditions, including growing poverty and economic inequality. It calls for smart investments to ensure all children have the chance to live up to their full potential.

July 15, 2014 - In a scathing ruling issued last month, a federal judge in Alabama said she could not "conclusively" determine that the Huntsville City School District wasn't still operating an unconstitutionally segregated system -- so she refused to approve a student assignment plan that had been proposed by the school board.

June 13, 2014 - This week's Moral Monday protest in Raleigh focused on education, in particular the funding crisis for public schools. North Carolina was once known as a leader in public education, but not anymore. What's happening?

May 16, 2014 - A civil rights think tank marked this week's 60th anniversary of the Supreme Court's landmark Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation ruling with reports that find the nation -- and North Carolina in particular -- are backsliding on progress toward greater educational equality.