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Year in Review: EdNC’s top 10 news stories of 2023

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Images from EdNC Staff and Adobe Stock. Graphic by Lanie Sorrow

This was a big year for public education in North Carolina. The legislative long session saw a slew of bills aiming to do everything from restrict what is taught in history classrooms, to expanding school choice, to allowing Indigenous students to wear cultural items at their graduations.

The state also passed its budget for the next two years, investing nearly $12 billion in our state’s K-12 schools each year.

In response to some of these policies, Gov. Roy Cooper declared a “state of emergency” for public schools earlier this year, calling on the legislature to support funding for public education.

Remember when we all thought that the proposed teacher licensure and pay reform was going to be the big story this year?

As 2023 comes to a close, we’re taking a look back at some of our most read news stories for the year. This year, our readers cared a lot about the budget — but you also cared a lot about teacher vacancies, licensure, and the FAFSA.

Thank you for turning to EdNC in the year 2023 and beyond. It is our privilege to do this work.