Education

Charter schools have been around in North Carolina for about a decade and a half, and for most of that time, the relationship between charters and traditional public schools has alternated between frosty and hostile.

About 1,000 undergraduates and 600 graduate students received degrees at Wake Forest University's commencement exercises today.  The school's Class of 2013 includes 11 recipients of the prestigious Fulbright Scholarship.  Those students will be taking on post-graduate work ranging from researching regenerative medicine in Sweden to teaching Vietnamese children. 

PBS journalist Gwen Ifill  delivered the commencement address and urged the graduates to keep several promises.

  County School Boards have long since been in charge of school construction. However, the Senate recently passed a bill that would hand over school construction to county commissioners in 10 North Carolina counties. Many people who oppose the bill argue that county commissioners may have experience building prisons but not schools. This is one bill out of many that have been progressing through the Senate recently.

It’s commencement weekend across North Carolina. Thousands of college students will get their degrees and begin their professional lives. This year, they’re not the only ones who will get a fresh start. After five years as the chancellor at UNC-Chapel Hill, Holden Thorp is leaving to become the provost at Washington University in Saint Louis.

If you live anywhere near a college campus and don’t have a compelling reason to attend the half-dozen or so graduations going on in the Triangle and Triad, this might be a good weekend to get out of town. Tens of thousands of family and friends are set to descend on Durham, Raleigh, and Greensboro for commencement events throughout the weekend.