Bringing The World Home To You

© 2024 WUNC North Carolina Public Radio
120 Friday Center Dr
Chapel Hill, NC 27517
919.445.9150 | 800.962.9862
91.5 Chapel Hill 88.9 Manteo 90.9 Rocky Mount 91.1 Welcome 91.9 Fayetteville 90.5 Buxton 94.1 Lumberton 99.9 Southern Pines 89.9 Chadbourn
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
WUNC's education coverage is led by reporters Dave Dewitt and Reema Khrais. Dewitt has been with the station since 2003. Khrais is focused on Education Policy Reporting. Browse recent stories here.

Senate Leader Explains Education Plan

Republican Senate leader Phil Berger introduced an education reform package to lawmakers today. Capitol Bureau Chief Jessica Jones reports if passed, it would cost 440 million dollars over five years.

Jessica Jones: Berger explained the legislation earlier today in a committee meeting. It has attracted controversy because it would end teacher tenure, to the chagrin of some educators. Berger says bad teachers should be weeded out. The measure would also require evaluations of all entering kindergarten students.

Phil Berger: The purpose is to make sure we know where those kids are when they start. The side benefit of that is that we should be able to track data on where those kids come from. Have they come out of a Pre-K program. Are they someone that would have qualified for a pre-K program but didn't have one.

Some lawmakers have asked whether the bill should provide more money for the state's pre-K program, which lawmakers cut back last year. The measure is expected to be discussed again next week.

Jessica Jones covers both the legislature in Raleigh and politics across the state. Before her current assignment, Jessica was given the responsibility to open up WUNC's first Greensboro Bureau at the Triad Stage in 2009. She's a seasoned public radio reporter who's covered everything from education to immigration, and she's a regular contributor to NPR's news programs. Jessica started her career in journalism in Egypt, where she freelanced for international print and radio outlets. After stints in Washington, D.C. with Voice of America and NPR, Jessica joined the staff of WUNC in 1999. She is a graduate of Yale University.
More Stories