‘Matters of life and death’ The debate at Tuesday’s school board meeting highlights the ongoing cultural wars going on across North Carolina and the nation. It led to state lawmakers adopting the “Parents’ Bill of Rights.” The law’s provisions include barring...
Renee Sekel
North Carolina School Privatizers Are Subverting Democracy
North Carolina was one of the last states to expand Medicaid, delaying for nearly a decade after the federal government made expanded coverage available under the Affordable Care Act. Finally, in 2023, the General Assembly opted North Carolina into the expanded...
Parent’s Bill of Rights moves through legislature
The legislative session in Raleigh is approaching its end, but that doesn’t mean the work of lawmakers is slowing down. Over four months after the State Senate passed the Parent’s Bill of Rights piece of legislation, the House has taken it up. Renee Sekel was at the...
GOP bill to limit topics of discussion in public schools wins state House approval
A controversial bill that would restrict how the state’s public school teachers discuss race, gender and sexuality was approved by the state House by a 68-49 party line vote on Wednesday, and is now headed to the state Senate. Several Democrats from the state’s urban...
Transgender youth: ‘Forced outing’ bills make schools unsafe
When Renee Sekel’s nonbinary teenager first requested a different name on their Christmas stocking, she responded with “absolutely not” in what she now considers “the wrong reaction.” The mother of three and local activist in Cary, North Carolina, said she took about...
It’s Black History Month and NC Republicans Introduced a Bill to Limit Teaching of Black History
Renee Sekel, a Cary mom who works for the NC chapter of Red Wine & Blue, a group that seeks to mobilize suburban moms to get involved in politics, also opposes the bill. “I think most parents—and most kids—want our schools to teach accurate and complete history. ...
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Read This: More Hidden Figures in Black History
You may be familiar with the movie, “Hidden Figures,” based on Margot Lee Shetterly’s book of the same name. It told the true story of Black women mathematicians for NASA who were critical to the success of the U.S. space program, but who had been overlooked by...
Do This: Share These News Literacy Tips
National News Literacy Week may be over, but we have one more action to take to make it a success! An important part of News Literacy Week is sharing its tips and resources with others. Earn your Easy A this week by sharing our 5 Steps to Evaluate News Sources video...
Watch This: 5 Easy Ways to Check a News Source
It’s National News Literacy Week! Led by the News Literacy Project, this week highlights the need to restore trust in news journalism, improve media literacy, and keep us all grounded in facts. News Literacy Week’s website provides tools and resources for parents,...
Read This: Get Ready For National News Literacy Week
The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution says: “Congress shall make no law … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.” Having independent journalists reporting facts and holding people and institutions accountable is a hallmark of our democracy. That’s...
Do This: Name your 2026 Priority
The Heritage Foundation is the extremist architect of Project 2025, and they’ve made their priorities known for 2026. They’ve given us a glimpse at what harmful policies they want the Trump administration to enact this year, so now it’s time to set your priorities,...