By Amy Cockerham Public Ed Works TARBORO (June 11, 2026) – Edgecombe County Teacher Owen Cole said it wasn’t until he started filling out his personal statement on a medical school application that he realized he didn’t want to be a doctor after all. “Went home and shadowed my AP biology teacher at my alma… READ MORE
Tom Oxholm: When will business leaders wake up?
By Tom Oxholm RALEIGH (April 16, 2026) – There is a crisis in North Carolina of underfunding our public schools (including Charters). Consider these facts: •NC is 50th in the country in average per pupil funding from state and local sources (Education Law Center’s December 2025 report). •Our ~100,000 teachers have the lowest starting pay… READ MORE
Campus to community: UNC Charlotte highlights education partnerships
By Amy Cockerham Public Ed Works CHARLOTTE (April 2, 2026) – UNC Charlotte’s Cato College of Education boasts a whopping 350 community partnerships that were highlighted last week at the Charlotte Urban Institute Community Engagement Showcase. Toye Watson is Director of Community and Strategic Partnerships for the UNC Charlotte Urban Institute. “We know that it… READ MORE
64% increase in Teaching Fellows!
RALEIGH (January 29, 2026) – The NC Teaching Fellows – which offer forgivable loans of up to $10,000 a year to aspiring teachers at our state’s universities – have seen extraordinary growth in the past year despite limits imposed by state legislators. And that’s cause for celebration. The program grew from 575 would-be teachers in… READ MORE
Padilla: Teachers and shortages
By Art Padilla WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH (December 10, 2025) – When the Ida and William Friday Building at UNC–Charlotte was dedicated in 1982, Wilma Thornburg—Bill Friday’s elementary school teacher—sat on the platform between the Fridays as their proud guest. She had taught Bill in nearby Dallas, North Carolina, long before he became UNC’s iconic president. But… READ MORE
NC’s educator pipeline: Urgent need for state action
By Dr. Deanna Townsend-Smith Dudley Flood Center for Educational Equity & Opportunity RALEIGH (December 10, 2025) – In December 2019, North Carolina made a bold and necessary commitment to focus statewide attention on the actions required to recruit and retain a diverse educator workforce. The Developing a Representative and Inclusive Vision for Education (DRIVE) Task… READ MORE
Good news for a change for NC’s teacher workforce
By David Rice Executive Editor Public Ed Works RALEIGH (November 20, 2025) – At last, there’s some good news for North Carolina’s teacher workforce. Enrollment in the NC Teaching Fellows program, which offers forgivable college loans to aspiring teachers who teach certain subjects, continues to climb dramatically. Dr. Ashton Clemmons, Associate Vice President of the… READ MORE
Lessons Learned: NC struggles to recruit and retain teachers
By Amy Cockerham Public Ed Works RALEIGH (September 17, 2025) – Thousands of teachers leave North Carolina classrooms every year – and legislators ignoring the needs of educators could be to blame. Low pay and lack of respect, among other problems, are cited as reasons why school districts have trouble filling teaching positions. The latest… READ MORE
Teaching Fellows build their numbers
RALEIGH (January 30, 2025) – In a state with a severe teacher shortage,1 the NC Teaching Fellows made substantial gains this year, with 107% growth to a total of 575 students who want to become teachers. “We’re very excited about that. That’s a huge celebration for our program,” Dr. Bennett Jones, Director of the Teaching Fellows… READ MORE
4,400 invisible teachers
RALEIGH (September 1, 2022) – More than 1.3 million students started the public school year in North Carolina this week. Yet more than 4,400 teachers who should have been at the front of those children’s classes weren’t there, because school officials couldn’t fill the vacancies. And 3,600 more teachers across the state still aren’t fully… READ MORE