Steve Ford has lived in North Carolina since 1981, when he moved here to join The News & Observer of Raleigh. He retired in late 2012 as the paper’s editorial page editor. In that job, he supervised the opinion pages, wrote editorials and wrote a weekly column.
Steve grew up in Northern Virginia. He graduated from Yale University and served in the U.S. Army as a photographer, including a year in Vietnam. He and his wife, Jeanne, who is an attorney, live in Cary and have three grown sons. He began volunteer work with the N.C. Council of Churches in the spring of 2013, helping to keep an eye on state government and writing about public policy issues.
In his spare time, Steve enjoys outdoor activities, taking road trips (back roads, especially) and playing the piano. He and Jeanne are members of Christ the King Lutheran Church, Cary.
Veto Showdowns and Voter ID (1/19/2023) - The N.C. General Assembly gathered on Jan. 11 amid trappings of ceremony and good cheer to kick off its 2023 session. Then reality reared its head: At least in the […]
High court faces school funds switcheroo (11/14/2022) - The N.C. Supreme Court – or at least a slim majority of its members – invoked its solemn duty to uphold constitutional rights when it agreed in a Nov. 4 […]
Who decides on ‘sound basic’ spending? Stay tuned (8/11/2022) - Like it or not – and there are plenty of reasons to worry amid the familiar end-of-summer bursts of excitement – another school year will soon get under way. The […]
‘Independent’ legislature: Fair elections at risk (7/5/2022) - The U.S. Supreme Court, as if rushing to settle old grievances, in recent weeks has thrashed about in a virtual frenzy of “originalism” – never mind the consequences for America’s […]
School Spending, Quality at Stake (4/11/2022) - The colossal dispute over the proper financing of North Carolina’s public schools that has played out over 28 years is heading to a showdown before the state Supreme Court – […]
Map Showdown: Rights on the Line (3/1/2022) - Four months after the N.C. General Assembly enacted a new alignment of the districts in which our state’s congressional representatives are chosen, the gavel has come down: That district map […]
Decision points on districts, schools (1/24/2022) - Among all the issues and challenges confronting North Carolina as 2022 gets under way – overcoming the pandemic, easing rural poverty, alleviating environmental threats, improving access to health care, on […]
Democracy in distress? Check the maps (1/6/2022) - Americans this first week of January are recalling how close to the brink of disaster our nation’s democratic system came one year ago, when a violent mob seeking to keep […]
Help for schools: Courts to the rescue (11/12/2021) - In the rough and tumble realm of politics, it can be a hard call as to whether someone is standing firm on worthwhile principle or simply obstructing out of plain […]
Now at stake: money, schools, power (10/26/2021) - Here in the last week of October, almost four months after a new state budget was supposed to have been in place and with multiple plot-lines coming to a head, […]