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February 7, 2026

[1]www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org
[2]Facebook [3]Instagram [4]YouTube [5]LinkedIn [6]TikTok

When Someone Says U.S. Schools Are Failing...

When someone says U.S. public schools are failing, you know they haven’t
seen the international testing data.

It’s a testament to the clamor of the anti-public school voices that the
myth of U.S. student failure in international comparisons persists. A
contributing factor is the current federal administration’s promotion of a
national private school voucher program on states as a so-called remedy for
the failures of our public schools.

In fact, U.S. students don’t score anywhere near the bottom on
international assessments. In almost every subject and grade/age they are
in the top 25% or top 50% when compared to students across the globe.

Two of the most widely reported and respected international assessment
programs are The Programme for International Student Assessment ([7]PISA)
and the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study ([8]TIMSS).
Both have been administered to students worldwide for more than two decades
and help countries understand how their educational programs and student
achievement compare to those of other countries.

PISA assesses math, reading, and science every three years. The most recent
results show the U.S. ranking 34th of 81 participating countries in math,
9th in reading, and 16th in science. While there is room for improvement,
especially in math, the scores certainly do not suggest that U.S. schools
are failing.

The U.S. rankings on the 2023 TIMSS results in grades 4 and 8 math and
science are lower, but still in the top half in every subject and as high
as #14 (of 58 countries) in grade 4 science. See our [9]fact sheet for more
details.

So the next time you hear a lawmaker or pro-privatization advocate say the
U.S. public school system is a failing system, call them out for spreading
misinformation. Give them the facts. Our public schools are not
failing—they’re succeeding (with room for improvement) despite persistent
attempts to destroy them. What public schools need is not false reviews but
full funding to ensure adequate teacher pay and classroom resources.

There is so much to be proud of in our country’s educational system.
Instead of starving our public schools through insufficient funding (or no
state budget), we should double-down on what’s working and make them even
better.

Call on Governor Stein to resist the latest effort to defund public
schools. Urge him to OPT OUT of the federal tax credit voucher program. It
is [10]NOT offering free money to states and it will reduce federal funding
available for our neediest schools. If the federal government wants to help
states fund education, they should be increasing support for public schools
especially in rural communities and they should double the resources for
special education programs.

Learn more about the [11]federal tax credit vouchers.

[12]Email Governor Stein

SBE and NCDPI Share Legislative Priorities

This week the State Board of Education voted on a set of legislative
priorities for 2026-27. The NCGA will take up budget negotiations during
the short session this year. It starts on April 21 and typically focuses on
making adjustments to the two-year budget passed during odd-numbered years.
But because lawmakers have failed to pass a budget for this fiscal year
thus far, the coming short session must make up for lost time and funding.

Overall priorities align with the [13]state's strategic plan to make North
Carolina’s public schools the best in the nation:
* Funding for school facility needs in Helene-impacted districts
* Increase teacher and educator pay to highest in the Southeast
* Restore master’s pay
* Reform the principal pay plan
* Address the nearly $13 billion in school construction needs
* Place a moratorium on Opportunity Scholarship program

More detailed legislative requests include specific dollar amounts for
requests for 2025-26 funding and 2026-27 funding.

The presentation also included non-budget legislative requests (subset
below):
* School calendar flexibility
* Eliminate Praxis Core requirement for admission to EPP
* Revise portfolio requirement for individuals seeking principal
licensure
* Revise the Limited English Proficient (LEP) funding formula
* Increase threshold for procurement from $90,000 to federal threshold of
$350,000 to allow child nutrition programs to more easily procure local
agricultural products
* Fund statewide virtual charter schools at the statewide average per
pupil expenditure and not per pupil expenditure for where the office is
located.

See the [14]full presentation.

Legislative and SBE Updates

The NCGA convenes next week with meetings scheduled Monday through
Thursday. Below are a few education-related meetings. Check the
[15]legislative calendar for more meetings and streaming links.

Monday 9:00 a.m. [16]House Select Committee on Oversight and Reform

Tuesday 10:00 [17]Joint Legislative Education Oversight Committee (Stream)

Wednesday 1:00 p.m. [18]House Select Committee on Government Efficiency

The NC Charter Schools Review Board meets Monday, February 9 for its
regular monthly meeting. ([19]Agenda) ([20]Stream)

Join Us in Raleigh on February 11 to Support Public Schools!

Join us on Wednesday, February 11 for our second installment of wEDnesdays
for Public Schools!

We are meeting in front of the NCGA (Legislative Building) to speak up for
NC’s public schools

Bring your signs and your friends and join us! [21]Sign up here (just to
let us know your’re coming - it’s not required)

11 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. See you at the State Legislative Building at 140 E
Jones Street, Raleigh

When States Take Over Education, It Puts Black Children Last in Line, Every
Time

By Janice Robinson-Celeste

President Donald Trump says he is returning education to the states by
[22]closing the U.S. Department of Education. What he really means is that
he is returning to a time when education was a privilege for some and an
afterthought for others.

When he declared in March 2025 that he wanted the Education Department
“closed immediately,” it wasn’t just a sound bite. It was a promise. A
promise to dismantle the one system meant to protect the children this
country has always underserved: Black children. The ink on the Emancipation
Proclamation might be old, but the mindset that fought it never really went
away. It just put on another suit.

After emancipation, freed Black families built schools with their own
hands. They hired teachers, scraped together funds and insisted that their
children would learn to read even if they had to do so in secret. The
backlash was swift and violent. White mobs [23]burned schools,
[24]terrorized teachers, and state lawmakers passed inequitable [25]budgets
that kept Black students in crumbling classrooms with hand-me-down,
tattered books.

[26]READ MORE

Don't Miss Our Webinar!

Wednesday, February 18, 1:00-2:00 p.m.

Join PSFNC and CREED to learn more about the NC voucher programs and their
impact on public schools and communities. Heather Koons (PSFNC) will share
details from our new report, [27]North Carolina School Vouchers: Destroying
Public Education and Jerry Wilson (CREED) will discuss survey results
showing public opinion about vouchers and more. Time will be reserved for Q
and A.

[28]REGISTER HERE

In Case You Missed It

[29]Career and tech education credentials hit record high in NC high
schools

[30]More drugs, fewer weapons found in schools, crime data shows

[31]$4 million pre-K investment in Forsyth County pays off, report says

[32]After almost two-year wait, education advocates call on Supreme Court
to rule on Leandro

[33]The Education Department's efforts to fire staff cost over $28 million,
watchdog says

Did You Know?

When the NC Education Lottery was first established, 35% of the revenue was
to go to education. That requirement soon became a guideline, and in
2024-25, only 16.4% of the revenue went to education!

Check out our [34]fact sheet to learn more.

Mark Your Calendar!

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.

[35]REGISTER HERE

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.
* February 26, 2026
* March 26, 2026

Words to Remember

"When you strip education from federal protection, you don’t get freedom,
you get chaos. You get 50 different versions of what a child is worth,
determined by 50 governors with 50 different agendas. We’ve seen this movie
before."

— Janice Robinson-Celeste, author and media executive, 2026

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.

[36]DONATE HERE

[37]www.publicschoolsfirstnc.org

Questions? Contact us today at [email protected]

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