Yes, Clay Aiken
Your first reaction was probably the same as mine. Clay Aiken? The singer? For Congress? Then I met him. He’s the same person you meet in his announcement video. He’s smart, serious and... Read More
NC Spin Articles
Board of Education approves alternatives to Read to Achieve portfolio
Members of the State Board of Education approved today multiple alternative assessment methods for determining third grade reading proficiency, which were put forth by local school districts in an... Read More
Fact checking ACA job claims
by Mark Binker, WRAL, February 6, 2014. Given the hyper-partisan atmosphere surrounding the Affordable Care Act, what some call "Obamacare," the reaction to this week's Congressional Budget Office... Read More
Lawmakers say government needs to get better with IT projects
State lawmakers received a postmortem Thursday on a failed effort to build a new tax-processing system – the latest government IT project to run into trouble – and said there has to be a better... Read More
Institute tracks human progress
Having authored more than one optimist’s lament in recent years, I am clearly of the opinion that, generally speaking, things are better than they seem — and getting better all the time. We all... Read More
In a bottom-line world let's examine the bottom line
A top executive from a for-profit online education company has been making the rounds lately trying to sell the idea of a virtual charter school to state policymakers. Mary Gifford, who is senior vice... Read More
The anti-government ideologues behind NC GEAR
It’s not unusual for governors to create special committees or blue ribbon commissions to find ways to make state government more efficient. Usually the initiative comes in their first year in... Read More
Cheating teachers
Philadelphia’s public school system has joined several other big-city school systems, such as those in Atlanta, Detroit and Washington, D.C., in widespread teacher-led cheating on standardized... Read More
The diminishing returns of a college education
President Obama is correct in wanting to make higher education more affordable and accessible, but Americans would also be correct in wondering just what they’re paying for. The need for a better... Read More
Lawmakers behaving badly
The scenes read like a script from an off-color sitcom about politics. A top lawmaker shouts down his constituents and trashes the leaders of his own party. Another one puffs his chest and tells a... Read More
