A day to celebrate NC charter schools
Thanks to all who joined us at the General Assembly on Tuesday! We had a great day celebrating the 25th anniversary of North Carolina’s charter law.
Senate Leader Phil Berger, House Speaker Tim Moore, Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, Senator Mike Lee, Superintendent Catherine Truitt, and education researcher Dr. Corey DeAngelis all spoke at Tuesday’s press conference.
Speaker Moore and other lawmakers and leaders at the press conference
Former charter student, Tim Taylor, also addressed members of the media. Now a healthcare operations leader and married father of three, Tim attended Arapahoe Charter School beginning in 1997. Arapahoe was in the first cohort of NC charter schools to open their doors to students the year after the law passed. Tim’s two oldest sons currently attend Arapahoe.
Tim Taylor and his family with Superintendent Truitt
Also joining us at the press conference: Senator Deanna Ballard, Senator David Craver, Senator Tom McInnis, Rep. John Bradford, and Rep. John Torbett, along with State Board of Education member Amy White, and Dave Machado, Director of the Office of Charter Schools.
The Coalition is grateful to all of these leaders for their support of North Carolina charter schools!
A great show of support from the charter community
Outside in the 1300 Court, charter students, teachers, principals, and board members from around the state gathered to show their support. Representatives from 23 NC public charter schools came to be with us. We had a wonderful group of students from Torchlight Academy!
Students from Torchlight Academy with their principal, Dr. Cynthia McQueen
Check out this short video with highlights from the day’s event. If you’d like to watch the full press conference, you can access it here. Find the press release from Senator Berger’s office here or at EdNC.
A deeper dive on coverage from the day
Some of the media coverage from the 25th charter anniversary:
- Lindalyn’s EdNC perspective piece
- A Carolina Journal article about the celebration; CJ’s interview with Dr. Corey DeAngelis
- A Fox 8 segment, interviewing Rhonda Dillingham of the Association
- A News & Observer article about the anniversary
- WRAL’s article about the anniversary and the Principal of the Year announcement
