Unfinished Work: Celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. |
Martin Luther King Jr., and thousands of other Americans fought long and hard to move our nation toward a more equitable, just, and fair society. Since Dr. King’s death in 1968, tremendous gains have been made in civil rights for many groups who had been held back by bigotry (especially racism) and nefarious laws for centuries. Our national holiday to honor the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is always a good time to revisit where we are.
During Dr. King’s lifetime, he saw the U.S. Supreme Court rule in Brown v. Board of Education that school segregation based on race was unconstitutional. But Dr. King also saw private segregation academies emerge across the south as a response to that monumental Supreme Court decision.
If he were alive today, Dr. King would find himself in familiar territory. The school integration gains of the 1970s and 1980s have been eroding for decades as insidious tactics are used to dismantle support for public education and push parents toward private schools.
Although the segregation academies were also declared unconstitutional, today we’re seeing the rise of segregated schools fueled by state-funded voucher programs. ProPublica recently focused on North Carolina’s voucher program’s role in supporting schools that started during the segregation academy era.
For example, in Northampton County, Northeast Academy, a private Christian school founded in 1966, the student population is nearly 99% white even though the county population is about 40% Black. It has received nearly $2 million in state funding through the Opportunity Scholarship voucher program.
Neighboring Bertie County is home to Lawrence Academy, opened in 1968 as part of the segregation academy surge. Its student population is more than 95% white in a county that is about 60% Black. The state has funded it to the tune of about $1.5 million through vouchers over the years.
ProPublica compiled data to examine demographics for private and public schools across the nation. The results show visually how these private schools—supported by state dollars—are still essentially segregation academies.
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Instead of using state dollars to fund private, discriminatory, unaccountable schools, the North Carolina General Assembly should revisit its obligation to support programs that benefit the whole state.
Researchers have provided ample evidence for the benefits of integrated schools to all children (see, for example, Children of the Dream: Why School Integration Works). These include increased economic and social mobility as students are exposed to a wider variety of opportunities and the resources to attain educational goals. The educational benefits directly improve the economic outlook for individuals and the communities in which they live. In short, integration benefits all of society in both indirect and direct ways.
As we celebrate the vision and legacy of Dr. King, let's renew our commitment to the fight for high-quality, free, and integrated schools for ALL students.
For a deep dive into school segregation with a focus on NC, see our Issues/School Diversity page.
Public Schools First NC has created a video series on NC's History of School Diversity to showcase key elements of our state's history. You can access them on our YouTube channel:
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Vouchers: Next Step to Dismantle Schools |
By Kris Nordstrom, Senior Policy Analyst, NC Justice Center
If your goal was to dismantle North Carolina’s public school system, how would you do it?
Would you starve schools of resources?
Real per-student state funding is down 3.8 percent from 2009. North Carolina’s school funding effort (education spending as a share of our state economy) has fallen from 42nd in 2008 to 49th in 2022. If we made just the average funding effort that year, school funding would have been $6.5 billion higher, 43 percent above actual levels.
Would you make the teaching profession as unpleasant as possible?
North Carolina’s starting teacher pay is the worst in the Southeast. In real terms, it’s 7% lower than it was in 2011. Since the 2011 change in General Assembly leadership, North Carolina’s average teacher pay has gone from being 19% below the national average to 23% today. Legislators have taken away career status, master’s pay, funding for National Board Certification applications, longevity pay, and retiree health benefits. Is it any wonder that teacher vacancies have reached record levels?
Would you create an accountability system that unfairly stigmatizes schools as failing?
Currently, public schools are labeled with an A-F letter grade. These grades are highly correlated with student demographics. Further, they fail to help families identify where great teaching and learning are happening. To date, legislators have not used these grades to direct resources to or otherwise help so-called “failing” schools. Nor have they applied this grading system to the private schools accepting state voucher funding. Rather than helping families or students, the grading system stigmatizes public schools to undermine trust and feed a false narrative about their effectiveness.
Would you participate in bigoted moral panics directed at students of color and LGBTQ students?
READ MORE
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Legislative and SBE Updates |
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The 2025 legislative long session started on January 8 with swearing in ceremonies and the election of new leaders. Members return on January 29. Keep an eye on their calendar for updates. |
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Stop Federally Funded Vouchers! |
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The Education Choice for Children program is a voucher proposal that would redirect $10 billion per year of federal taxpayer dollars to fund private school vouchers. Individuals and corporations would receive a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donating to scholarship granting organizations (SGOs) that provide private school vouchers to students. This proposal has been introduced in Congress as the “Education Choice for Children Act.” There are a number of flaws with this legislation.
- It creates a federally funded private school voucher program
- It undermines public schools
- It incentivizes private school voucher programs above donations to traditional charitable programs and organizations
- It allows for broad, unaccountable use of taxpayer funds
- It enables taxpayer-funded discrimination and strips students of rights
- Private school vouchers do not improve academic achievement
READ MORE about the ECCA.
The bill is currently in the U.S. House of Representatives for consideration. Contact your U.S. Rep. and urge them to reject this harmful bill!
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In Bertie County 22% of the students in the county attended private school in 2021-22 and 97% of them were white.
In 15 counties, ZERO PERCENT of the students attended private school in 2021-22. Note that in some cases the zero percent might not mean zero students. It just means too few students to reach 1% of the county's student population.
Using the most recent data available (2021-22) Public Funds Public Schools compiled data on private school enrollment schools across the nation. You can search by state and county to see trends.
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February 6 (Th), 7:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Join us for a conversation with Dr. Rachel White (University of Texas at Austin) and Dr. Rebecca Jacobsen (Michigan State University). Both researchers will share their recent work: Dr. White’s study “The Cost of Conflict,” and Dr. Jacobsen’s upcoming book “The Politics of Disruption.”
Their work details how much the politics of disruption are costing public schools and how the disruption is negatively impacting school boards and eroding community trust. The consequences of our school/education wars are real. Finding ways to resolve conflicts and work together to protect and strengthen our public schools are essential if we want to provide all children a high-quality, free and inclusive public education. There will be time allotted for questions and answers. REGISTER HERE
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Multiple Dates, 7:00-8:30 pm: Resilience and ACES. Learn about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and resilience. Join us for this award-winning, 60-minute film, Resilience: The Biology of Stress & The Science of Hope. This documentary examines how abuse, neglect, and other adverse childhood experiences affect children’s development & health outcomes in adulthood. This powerful movie is a conversation starter and a perspective changer.
REGISTER HERE
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All screenings are on Thursday and include time for discussion. Invite a friend and contact us about setting up a private screening for your school staff, PTA, civic group, church, or synagogue.
- January 23
- February 26
- March 27
- April 24
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Need a speaker for your next event or group meeting? PSFNC welcomes the opportunity to speak to your group or organization on public education-related topics.
We offer our programs virtually to improve accessibility and attendance and therefore extend your reach. Our services are free of charge but may require travel-related expenses if the program is in-person.
Email us at [email protected] for more information.
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Words to Remember
"When done correctly, public schools are one of the only public institutions that foster cross-racial and cross-class solidarity. Such solidarity threatens existing hierarchies."
— Kris Nordstrom, Vouchers: Next Step to Dismantle Public Schools
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Help us support public schools!
Public Schools First NC is a statewide nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused solely
on pre-K to 12 public education issues. We collaborate with parents, teachers, business and civic leaders, and communities across North Carolina to advocate for one unified system of public education that prepares each child for productive citizenship.
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