Almost a year late, North Carolina is headed toward having a new state budget.
House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger, both Republicans, outlined the deal to reporters Tuesday.
They had been at a stalemate since the summer of 2025, when they failed to reach an agreement on the amounts of tax cuts or raises for teachers and state employees. Hall and Berger are the top lawmakers in each chamber, which are controlled by Republicans.
The deal includes an agreement on average teacher raises; state employee raises; changes to the individual income tax rate; and putting a constitutional amendment on fall ballots that would cap the income tax rate at 3.5%.
It also includes an agreement to provide $208 million for a proposed childrenâs hospital being built by Duke Health and UNC Health.
Leaders said the framework announced Tuesday is a starting point for further negotiations over details.
For more, see the link in our bio.
âď¸Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan
đˇ Kaitlin McKeown
#ncpolitics #ncbudget #ncpol
A new state report shows North Carolinaâs public schools are owed $35.8 million because of students leaving them to use taxpayer-funded vouchers to attend private schools.
The state Department of Public Instructionâs report shows 11.5% of the stateâs106,704 Opportunity Scholarship students previously attended a public school. It confirms the ongoing trend that the stateâs expansion in the voucher program is primarily benefitting existing private school families.
The state has been giving Opportunity Scholarships to help families cover private school costs since 2014. But the program expanded to all families for the 2024-25 school year.
State legislators have said theyâll reinvest in public schools the amount they lost from students leaving to use the private school vouchers.
âď¸T. Keung Hui
đˇRobert Willett
A 10-year-old from Greensboro, worried about pollution harming peopleâs lives, wrote U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx, a Republican from Banner Elk, North Carolina. In his letter, submitted through his fourth-grade teacher, he offered a solution: a $5,000 tax rebate from the federal government for new electric vehicles.
Foxx responded to the student with a strongly worded letter that has gained national attention â and criticism â after the boyâs mother posted the letter on Instagram. Foxxâs response, the mother said, was âhorrificâ and âreprehensible.â She crossed a line, the mother said.
In addition to refuting the boyâs suggestion, Foxx told him that his teachers would not provide him âa good educational experience and help you learn to think as they are too busy indoctrinating you.â
âHow sad,â Foxx wrote.
For more on the situation, see the link in our bio.
âď¸Danielle Battaglia
đˇChip Somodevilla/Getty Images
North Carolina education leaders are warning that the stateâs high school graduation rate could drop this year amid the ongoing federal immigration enforcement actions.
North Carolina saw a record 87.7% high school graduation rate last school year. But state leaders are discussing the possibility that the numbers could drop this year due to fewer Hispanic students attending school.
Attendance dropped sharply in several North Carolina school districts last fall when federal immigration agents began an operation in Charlotte that moved to the Triangle. At one point, Durham Public Schools saw attendance drop by 30% during the enforcement surge.
For more, and what the state superintendent is saying, see the link in our bio.
âď¸T. Keung Hui
đˇTravis Long
Nikki Puckett Bosov still remembers the pair of brakes she bought when she was 20. It was a pricey repair she didnât need. It was lesson that launched her career in the auto-repair industry.
But after stints at a handful of shops, itâs also what fueled her to forge her own path.
On May 16, she will open Fluid Community Garage, Durhamâs first women- and queer-owned body shop. Itâs co-owned and operated by Puckett Bosov and business partner Bear OâBrien.
The garage, on East Rockway Street in northern Durham, aims to scrap the intimidation they say women and gender-fluid people often face in the âboys clubâ of repair shops. And in an industry dominated by men, Puckett Bosov and OâBrien say they want to create a safe haven for people of all identities to be âloud and proud.â
For more, see the link in our bio.
âď¸Faith Wardwell
đˇKaitlin McKeown
#durham #durhamnc #lgbtqbusiness
Theyâve got the need for speed. Tens of thousands of people attended this weekend's air show at MCAS Cherry Point in Havelock, N.C. The two-day event featured flights by the Blue Angels, F-35 Lightning II, the F-16 Viper, the AV-8B Harrier along with many other performers. News & Observer photojournalist Ethan Hyman captured highlights from the day.
The air show is scheduled to return in 2028.
đšEthan Hyman
Thousands of teachers and their allies converged on downtown Raleigh on Friday to demand state lawmakers increase support for public education in North Carolina.
The N.C. Association of Educators mobilized teachers from across the state to march on the Legislative Building to demand higher pay and more school funding, paid for with higher taxes on corporations.
The crowd gathered in Halifax Mall, just north of the Legislative Building, to listen to speeches before marching around the State Capitol.
Visual journalist @travislongphoto captured the protest from above.
âď¸News & Observer staff
đˇ /đšTravis Long
Petey Pablo, North Carolinaâs biggest hypeman, did what he does best Friday afternoon: hyped up the teachers. Pablo, a North Carolina native, performed his 2001 hit âRaise Upâ at the North Carolina teacher rally in Raleigh.
The songâs chorus typically revs up a crowd, and that was no different Friday afternoon. Teachers waved T-shirts above their heads as the songâs chorus demands.
"I appreciate each and every one of you for coming out today,â said @bigpoppapetey , who was inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 2024.
For more coverage of the rally, see the link in our bio.
âď¸ Dawn Baumgartner Vaughan
đˇ/đšEthan Hyman & Robert Willett
#mayday #teacherprotest #ncteachers #ncprotest #peteypablo
A groundbreaking $2 billion investment in Wake County is part of proposed merger between WakeMed and Atrium Health that will create 3,300 new health care jobs, and reshape the stateâs healthcare landscape, the healthcare companies announced Friday afternoon.
The proposed agreement would unite WakeMed, the Triangle areaâs leading community-based health system, with Atrium Health, North Carolinaâs largest health provider.
In addition to the financial commitment, the partnership promises expanded services for 1 million people across North Carolina, and to create North Carolinaâs largest nonprofit mental health network.
Read more at charlotteobserver.com and newsobserver.com.
âď¸: Catherine Muccigrosso & Chase Jordan
A time-lapse video shows North Carolinaâs teacher protest in Downtown Raleigh on Friday as thousands gather to demand higher pay, more school funding and higher taxes on corporations.
For more on the march, see the link in our bio. Follow newsobserver.com for live updates.
đšEthan Hyman
#mayday #teacherprotest #ncteachers #ncprotest #protestsigns
âFirst in flight, last in funding?â
â50th in funding, 1st in excusesâ
âMy 2nd job bought this signâ
âCan you hear my teacher voice now?â
Thousands marched in Raleigh Friday for a protest organized by the North Carolina Association of Educators. The rally was among more than 3,500 events across the nation under the May Day Strong banner.
As school systems across the state canceled classes, teachers and their supporters put their creativity into making clever signs to state their case.
For more on the march, see the link in our bio. Follow newsobserver.com for live updates.
âď¸/đˇ/đšNews & Observer staff
#mayday #teacherprotest #ncteachers #ncprotest #protestsigns
Thousands of teachers, education supporters and other protesters are marching through Downtown Raleigh in whatâs promoted as one of the biggest labor actions in the stateâs history.
The North Carolina Association of Educators has mobilized teachers from across the state to march on the Legislative Building to demand higher pay, more school funding and higher taxes on corporations.
They headed down Wilmington Street with the route passing the State Capitol. They are carrying signs like âFund our schoolsâ and âTeachers would have passed a budget.â
The rally was among more than 3,500 events across the nation under the May Day Strong banner.
For more on the march, see the link in our bio. Follow newsobserver.com for live updates.
âď¸/đˇ/đšNews & Observer staff
#mayday #teacherprotest #ncteachers #ncprotest
