Every Friday, Spotify hands me the same problem. Release Radar shows me new music from artists I already follow. Which is fine, as far as it goes. But it can’t show me anybody new — that’s not what it’s built for. New Music Friday, on the other hand, is a hundred-track firehose, and most of
I work retail in a small rural town, and a register teaches you something cable news never will. You learn what a week actually costs. Most days I watch somebody run one card, get declined, run another, then try a third. I watch people work a SNAP or EBT balance down to the last few
As Bessemer City unveils an Ella May Wiggins mural 97 years after her murder, the same communist accusations heard in 1929 are resurfacing. Here is the history they leave out.
CBS Mornings has a guy they bring on to talk about AI. His name is Matt Shumer, and the chyron under his name says “CBS News Contributor.” He tells viewers things are moving “way more quickly than anyone anticipated.” Sounds like a neutral expert dropping in to explain the technical landscape, right? Here’s what that
For thirty years, the Leandro v. North Carolina case served as the constitutional North Star for public education in our state, affirming that every child—regardless of their zip code—is entitled to a “sound basic education.” In April 2026, the conservative-majority North Carolina Supreme Court effectively extinguished that beacon, delivering a ruling that prioritized partisan ideology
It is the single most common defense used by proponents of school privatization: “But charter schools are public schools!” On the surface, the claim seems open and shut. Charter schools are funded by taxpayer dollars, they do not charge tuition, and they are legally prohibited from discriminating in admissions or being religious in their operations.
When proponents of the neoliberal education reform movement talk about public charter schools, they rely on a highly polished, market-driven vocabulary. They speak of “educational laboratories,” “competitive pressure,” and “liberating choice.” In theory, charter schools—which are publicly funded but privately operated by independent non-profit boards—are supposed to force traditional public school systems to “up their
The modern conservative push for “school choice” is often presented in a progressive wrapper. Proponents argue that taxpayer-funded private school vouchers are a ticket of liberation, allowing low-income minority students to escape underfunded public schools and attend prestigious private academies. But if you look at the cold, hard data coming out of Raleigh and Gaston
Who Funds Our Schools? A Primer on the Gaston County Budget Crisis In North Carolina, public school funding relies on a tripartite structure: federal, state, and local revenues. With federal emergency pandemic funds (ESSER) completely expiring, the survival of Gaston County Schools (GCS) rests entirely in the hands of two governing bodies: The North Carolina
Every year, millions of North Carolinians purchase scratch-offs or Powerball tickets, comforted by a ubiquitous state slogan: “Supporting Education.” When the North Carolina Education Lottery was established in 2005, it was sold to the public on a simple, comforting promise: net lottery proceeds would directly supplement public classrooms, giving our schools an extra financial boost
