North Carolina’s Supreme Court has seven members. All are known as justices, an honor that seems to crystallize their responsibility in our system of government. But as to how elusive […]
July 23, 2015, was a dark day for an enterprise central to North Carolina’s civic well-being: the education of the state’s schoolchildren. Sadly, the path down which the state Supreme […]
First, the good news. As North Carolina’s lawmakers crank up their every-other-year “short” session (well, sometimes it’s not so short), they’ll have the luxury of working with a healthy boost […]
In a political climate less driven by conservative ideology, even within our judicial system’s upper reaches, it might be reckless to forecast how the latest, epic clash over proper funding […]
High on the granite façade of the North Carolina Supreme Court’s headquarters across from the Capitol in downtown Raleigh is engraved what can be seen as an inspiring and enduring […]
We weren’t expecting it to be pretty – “it” being the launch of the N.C. General Assembly’s new session, with freshly emboldened conservatives eager to flex their muscles. The reality, […]
Maybe the change was an inevitable byproduct of our charged and contentious era. Maybe it was naïve to ever think that things were dramatically different in the past. Whichever the […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 – […]
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 […]
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 […]
A momentous clash between North Carolina’s General Assembly and the state’s judicial system looks to be coming to a head. At stake is the ability of the state’s public schools […]
The annual HKonJ (Historic Thousands on Jones Street) Moral March and People’s Assembly 2021 is happening virtually and online this year. Due to Covid, we cannot gather on Fayetteville Street, but there […]
UpdateOn Jan. 21, Superior Court Judge David Lee, who oversees compliance in the Leandro school-quality case, issued an order endorsing the WestEd report’s findings and setting forth steps to address its recommendations […]
Are you supportive public education and want to engage with others in effective advocacy? The North Carolina Council of Churches Public Education Committee and Milford Hills United Methodist Church (UMC) […]
Are you supportive of public education and want to engage with others in effective advocacy? The North Carolina Council of Churches and the Alamance Chapter of the NAACP Public Education […]
Thus says the Lord:For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke the punishment;because they sell the righteous for silver, and the needy for a pair of […]
Introduced Bills CRIMINAL JUSTICE HB 834 – Ban the Box would prohibit the state from asking a job applicant about his/her criminal history until that applicant had been selected for […]
INTRODUCED BILLS CRIMINAL JUSTICEHB 781 – Limitations on Use of Solitary Confinementactually contains several items related to prisons: Solitary confinement couldn’t be used for inmates with serious mental illness unless […]
INTRODUCED BILLS CRIMINAL JUSTICE HB 587 – Repeal Death Penalty would abolish the death penalty, and all prisoners currently on Death Row would be resentenced to life imprisonment without parole. […]
INTRODUCED BILLS CRIMINAL JUSTICE/PRISON REFORM HB 460/SB 545 – Fair Chance Hiring would require state agencies to reduce barriers to hiring people with a criminal history. Specific provisions include: Prohibits […]
INTRODUCED BILLS ECONOMIC JUSTICE HB 422/SB 234 – Healthy Families & Workplaces/Paid Sick Days is similar to the paid sick leave provisions of HB 46. (See RR, February 26.) Introduced […]
The following words were delivered by Executive Director Jennifer Copeland on Friday, March 22 as the opening invocation of the North Carolina Association of Educators State Convention. Gracious and loving […]
INTRODUCED BILLS GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION With the passing last month of the first anniversary of the shooting deaths of 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, the […]
The 2019 Long Session of the General Assembly is now in full swing. As a result of last November’s elections, Republicans maintained majorities in both Senate and House but lost […]
Join the North Carolina Council of Churches next Tuesday, February 12, at 7 pm for a Public Education Forum. We will review the current public education landscape, offer avenues for […]
Closing remarks made by Executive Director Jennifer Copeland at the Council’s Public Education Summit on Friday, January 25. The Council placed a billboard along I-40 last summer, echoing the attention […]
Public education is a critical issue for Christians, and the midterm elections provide a significant opportunity to vote with public education on our hearts – and in our minds. The […]
The Council has long supported public education. This year, we commit anew to support public schools in our communities and to advocate on behalf of public education in our state. […]
Public schools stand in the breach between chaos and a thriving society. Public schools offer our thriving students and our struggling students the challenges, enrichment, and nurture they need to […]
The Council has long supported public education. This year, we commit anew to support public schools in our communities and to advocate on behalf of public education in our state. […]
[registration] Due to high interest and the space limitations of the church we have had to cap registration for the dinner portion of this event. You are still welcome to […]
The Council has long supported public education. This year, we commit anew to support public schools in our communities and to advocate on behalf of public education in our state. […]
The Council has long supported public education. This year, we commit anew to support public schools in our communities and to advocate on behalf of public education in our state. […]
The Council has long supported public education. This year, we commit anew to support public schools in our communities and to advocate on behalf of public education in our state. […]
The North Carolina Council of Churches has unveiled our latest billboard. This time we set our sights on Public Education. The billboard is located on I-40 East at Mile Marker […]
North Carolina’s new state budget – now on a fast track to final enactment by the Republican-controlled General Assembly over Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s veto – represents a miserable failure […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director The North Carolina General Assembly re-convened for its 2018 “short session” on Wednesday, May 16. Under terms of last year’s adjournment resolution, the General […]
Hours after teachers marched on Raleigh to talk about funding needs for their schools, their students, and, yes, even themselves, a bill was introduced in the N.C. General Assembly to […]
What will change because of May 16? Because of the Day of Advocacy for Public Education in North Carolina? It was a day born of heart’s work, and bearing […]
On the day Public School educators, administrators, staff, and their supporters gathered to make their voices heard at the North Carolina General Assembly, filling the streets and filling the gallery […]
They suited up in their red t-shirts, hoisted their homemade signs and coursed like a river through the heart of downtown Raleigh. Destination: The headquarters of North Carolina’s General Assembly. […]
The NC Council of Churches has a long history of supporting public education and recently recommitted to both support and advocacy for the state system of public schools. (See statement […]
When the news reporter approached me, I was milling about in the grass, adjusting my pastoral stole, preparing to be present with some of our local teachers at a press […]
“Build a Church, then Build a School.” Chief among the instructions for John Wesley’s itinerant ministers was this directive about education. Methodists are not the only faith group to grasp […]
Narrated by Matt Damon, Backpack Full of Cash explores the growing privatization of public schools and the resulting impact on America’s most vulnerable children. This 90-minute documentary takes viewers through […]
Narrated by Matt Damon, Backpack Full of Cash explores the growing privatization of public schools and the resulting impact on America’s most vulnerable children. This 90-minute documentary takes viewers through […]
When the N.C. General Assembly convenes on May 16, legislators will be “welcomed” by a throng of advocates for high-quality public schools – teachers prominent among them. More power to […]
Public education in North Carolina has its share of challenges, not the least of which has been the state’s ongoing failure to make sure that school systems in poorer communities […]
It was perhaps the N.C. Supreme Court’s finest hour. In 1997, the high court held unanimously that North Carolina public school students are entitled under the state constitution to the […]
2018 is shaping up to the be the Year of the Woman. From the halls of government to stages and theaters from coast to coast, from marches and protest to […]
Sermon delivered by Jennifer Copeland yesterday, Sunday, February 18 at Millford Hills United Methodist Church in Salisbury, NC. The lectionary texts were Genesis 9:8-17 and Mark 1:9-15. 40 days–rain! 40 […]
As the General Assembly wraps up its weirdly timed and generally ill-conceived winter session, it would be nice to think that the grand dispute over class sizes in North Carolina’s […]
Statement on the Public Schools Approved December 5, 2017 by the Governing Board of the North Carolina Council of Churches Because the past decade has brought a new era of […]
For many of us living in the United States, Thanksgiving is a time when we get together with family and friends. We share food, fellowship, and the things that we are […]
Five years ago, President Obama created the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program to enable young people brought to this country as children to come out of the shadows […]
The optics, as they say, are terrible. But in a state whose motto is “To Be Rather Than to Seem,” it’s even more important to look at the substance. And […]
Presented with a new state budget that, whatever its occasional virtues, is mainly about easing tax burdens on the well-off while grinding opponents of legislative Republicans into the dirt, Democratic […]
By now the strategy is familiar – the strategy used by the N.C. General Assembly’s Republican chiefs to try to make a fundamentally flawed state budget appear, well, not that […]
The General Assembly leaders meeting to resolve differences between the House and Senate versions of the budget are working with two deeply flawed proposals. As our friend Chris Fitzsimon at […]
Plenty of analysis is already happening around the 2018 budget proposal out of the White House. The Washington Post provides two helpful graphics here and here. More is being written […]
So, the question as always comes down to one of vision. The elected chieftains who decide how much money North Carolina’s state government will spend, what it will be spent […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [For more information on bills, including committee referrals and re-referrals, texts of bills, procedural histories, and recorded votes, go to the General Assembly website […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [The deadlines for the introduction of most new bills have now passed, and we are in Crossover Week. By the end of the week, […]
Two of the most volatile elements on a college campus are alcohol and hormones. These ingredients contribute to sexual assault (23.1 percent of female and 5.4 percent of male undergraduates), […]
How many times do we have to say it? Well, it’s worth repeating – especially in the aftermath of recent income tax filing deadlines, when the subject becomes a sore […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director [For the latest committee referrals and re-referrals, go to the General Assembly website www.ncleg.net. There you can also find the texts of bills, procedural […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills BUDGET AND TAXES H 540, Teachers & State Employees Pay Raise, would give annual raises of $2,400 to teachers and other […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Bills are being introduced at a rapid pace as the Senate’s deadline for new bills has passed and the House’s deadline on non-money approaches. […]
For those who could not be with us at St. Mark’s United Methodist Church in Raleigh, video from portions of the day is available on our Facebook page. The morning […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills BUDGET AND TAXATION H 356, Tax Reduction Act of 2017, would increase the standard deduction for state income taxes from $17,500 […]
Thank you to those who have registered for the 2017 Legislative Seminar. We are looking forward to having you join us this Monday, March 27, at St. Mark’s United Methodist […]
They might not care for the image, but Republican members of the N.C. General Assembly act as though they were drunk with power. They have the votes not merely to […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills BUDGET AND TAXATION HB 329, Home School Education Tax Credit, would give a $1,250-per-student-per-semester income tax credit to the parents of […]
The budget blueprint for 2018 released by President Trump on Thursday cuts a wide swath through programs that serve women, people of color, those of low income (for poor women […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills CRIMINAL AND JUVENILE JUSTICE H 233, Ban the Box, would govern how state and local governments could use criminal histories in […]
The political situation at the national level has occupied the time and attention of many faithful progressives. Each day has brought with it more reasons to be concerned for our […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director Newly Introduced Bills ENVIRONMENTAL CARE H 171, Change Exclusion for Solar Energy Systems. Current law provides an 80% exclusion from property taxation for the […]
Sometimes God whispers. Whether through hymns or homilies or kids dancing their way down the aisle to children’s chapel. Sometimes God shouts. Through the amplified suffering of others, known or […]
By George Reed, Retired Executive Director The 2017 General Assembly has begun its work. Elected in November, it came to Raleigh for a day in early January in order to […]
Our friend Rob Schofield over at Policy Watch wrote a column on Tuesday that was as vitally important in its truth-telling as it was hard to read for the future […]
At another time in my life, I would not have spent most of Saturday occupying my tiny square of personal space in the heart of Washington DC, literally shoulder to […]
Dear Mr. Trump, You ARE my president. I did not vote for you, but you were elected, and that makes you my president because I am a citizen of these […]
Groups at the state and national level continue to mobilize around concerns about President-Elect Donald Trump’s stated policy objectives and choices for cabinet posts. The NC NAACP, Interfaith Power & […]
As we watched the egregiously unqualified Donald Trump campaign for and win election to the White House, any good news on the government and politics front was likely to be […]
Looking ahead to 2017, there is much more work for the Council to do than we ever imagined. Please join us. Your financial support helps us continue what began in […]
We are living in unsettling times. Progress we once thought inviolable now feels threatened. One constant is the NC Council of Churches and our commitment to a more just, united, […]
The ugly truth can’t be evaded or denied: North Carolina’s General Assembly, in the grip of an arrogant Republican majority, has plunged ahead with a shocking, shameful abuse of power […]
The NC Council of Churches has never taken peace for granted. Indeed, along with our work in opposition to violence, there has long been the recognition that peace manifests itself […]
We work toward a church that is all-loving. That’s what we’ve always done and that’s what we’re going to keep doing. Stay connected with the Council to learn about opportunities […]
As the 2016 campaign season grinds along the final stretch toward Election Day on Nov. 8 – and with thousands of North Carolinians already having cast their ballots – we […]
A couple of weeks ago, I turned and walked away from our youngest son, got into my car and headed for home without him. I was leaving him to live […]
The N.C. General Assembly’s 2016 regular session, which drew to a sudden close on July 1, will be remembered as much for what didn’t happen as for what did – […]
This past week has been filled with what feels like a continuous barrage of tragic news: the shootings in Orlando and subsequent lack of gun control measures by Congress, World […]
Let’s assume the worst, which for the moment would mean that the N.C. Senate’s version of a new state budget sails through to enactment without change or compromise. The sun, […]
Well, did anyone really expect North Carolina’s General Assembly, in finalizing a new state budget, suddenly to see the light and swerve toward more effective, fairer government? The same General […]
The update is compiled on a volunteer basis by George Reed, the Council’s retired executive director. Weekly Update May 25, 2016 (Legislators’ identifications are listed only the first time they […]
The update is compiled on a volunteer basis by George Reed, the Council’s retired executive director. Weekly Update May 17, 2016 The deadline for introduction of most new bills into […]
