Webinars

2024 Upcoming Webinars

Our webinars are free and open to the public but you have to register to attend.

Join us for this award-winning, 60-minute film, Resilience: The Biology of Stress & The Science of Hope! This powerful movie is a conversation-starter and a perspective-changer. We have several screenings scheduled throughout the year.

Completed webinars

Back to School: 2024 Legislative Update. Join the NC PTA and Public Schools First as we start a new school year, we invite you to join us for a legislative update! We will review the 2024 legislative actions, future legislative meeting dates, bills still eligible for action this year and more.

The History and Impact of Private School vOUCHers in NC The NC PTA and Public Schools First reviewed the school voucher program and how it has grown over the past decade from a program that provided taxpayer-funded private school vouchers for low and very moderate-income students to one that is available to all families, regardless of income. We discussed program changes and the fiscal impacts they have on public schools and on the overall state budget.

Why the Battle over Diverse Public Schools Still Matters. Dr. Karey Harwood discusses her new book: Wake: Why the Battle Over Diverse Public Schools Still Matters. The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) was once described as a beacon of hope for American school districts. When the school board election of 2009 swept into office a majority who favored “neighborhood schools,” the diversity policy that had governed student assignment for years was eliminated. Wake: Why the Battle Over Diverse Public Schools Still Matters tells the story of the aftermath of that election, including the fierce public debate that ensued during school board meetings and in the pages of the local newspaper, and the groundswell of community support that voted in a pro-diversity school board in 2011.

Schoolhouse Burning: A Conversation with Author Derek Black. Professor Derek Black is a graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law, where he got his first opportunity to work on Leandro v. State—litigation which he continues to support to this day. We discuss this case and his most recent book, Schoolhouse Burning: Public Education and the Assault on American Democracy, which explains the threat that current trends pose not just to public education, but to democracy itself.

Is the NC Supreme Court Poised to Undo Leandro? Legal Experts Weigh In. We hear from guests Jack Boger, formerly UNC Law School Dean, and Jane Wettach, William B. McGuire Clinical Professor Emerita of Law at Duke Law School, to learn more about why they are calling on the NC Supreme Court to abide by the 2022 ruling and fully fund Leandro.

Legislative Update w/Rep. Julie von Haefen and Sen. Lisa Grafstein. We discussed a legislative update with Representative Julie von Haefen, who represents NC’s 36th House district and Senator Lisa Grafstein, who represents NC’s 13th Senate district. We discussed the effects of the recent state budget on public education and our educators and reviewed bills passed in 2023 what’s ahead for 2024. We also talked specifically about public education funding including the status of Leandro ruling.

The Choice We Face: A Conversation w/Dr. Jon Hale We talked with Dr. Jon Hale, author of The Choice We Face. Jon Hale is a professor of educational history at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an advocate for quality public education. Hale’s research is education has been published widely.

School Integration vs Resegregation: A Battle Worth Fighting. Jerry Wilson of CREED and James Carter of the Urban Institute share data that reveals how certain state and local policies are contributing to the trend of resegregation in North Carolina and statistics that highlight the importance of diverse education for everyone. We also discuss the political, economic, and social forces affecting the will of North Carolinians to prioritize and invest in meaningful integration. In this era of school choice and privatization, will we give up on the dream of integrated public education?

School Voucher Expansion Harms Students & Threatens Public Ed Funding. Joshua Cowen describes his research on voucher programs dating back to the early 2000s, what he and other researchers found, what research has shown since, and what’s happening with vouchers across the country now.

Charter Schools and Their Impact on Local School Districts. Our guests are Eastern NC middle school teacher Rodney Pierce and former Wake County school board member Christine Kushner. The webinar provides a brief background on charter schools in NC. Kushner and Pierce discuss the impact charter school growth is having on public schools throughout North Carolina.

Broken Promises: The Hidden NC Teacher Tax. Wake County Educator Kim Mackey and Public Education Advocate Derek Scott present their research on the NC Teacher Tax.

School Psychologists & Community Mental Health Services: What Our Students Need Now! Join us to learn what services school psychologists provide to children in NC’s public schools. Our panelists are a school psychologist in the Wake County school system and a former school psychologist in private practice that currently works with Wake public schools. Panelists will explain the scope of services and programs offered and their impact on K-12 school success.

Parents’ Bill of Rights. We discussed Senate Bill 49, the “Parents Bill of Rights”. What’s in the bill that is already in federal and state law? How will this bill harm LGBTQ+ children? Does this bill have the potential to further erode our teacher pipeline and push some parents to remove their children from public school? We’ll explore these and other questions related to SB49.

Unpacking the 2022 State Budget. (August 17) In the recent short session, the NC General Assembly made several adjustments to the previous budget, and Alexandra Sirota, Executive Director of the NC Budget and Tax Center, walked through the changes that affect education in NC. Where was funding increased, what are the implications of the changes, and where do we still need more effort?

Privatization and the Assault on Public Education. (May 19) In this in-person event at the Hunt Library, NCSU, authors Donald Cohen and Tim Tyson discuss the problems associated with privatizing public goods such as education.

NC Pre-K: Possibilities and Barriers. (May 12) Discussion about NC’s (and federal) Early Childhood Education (ECE) policies and the NC Pre-K program with Elizabeth Byrum, Policy Analyst with NC Child, and Dawn Dawson, Senior Director, Office of Early Learning, Wake County Public Schools.

Special Education: Supporting Students’ Abilities When a Disability Exists. (March 24) Panel discussion with school psychologists, special education teachers, and parents to discuss the current crisis in providing special education services to our students and ways we can improve the system.

Teacher Pipeline: What Are We Going to Do? (March 10) Bryan Proffitt, Vice President of the NC Association of Educators, and Amanda Boshoff, Principal of Salem Middle School discuss NC’s teacher pipeline problem and strategies to address it.

NC School Social Workers in Action. (February 24) The value of school social workers has never been more evident and critical than during the last two years. Learn more about the role social workers play in providing students and their families the services they need to stay in school and be successful.

School Social Workers in NC: Needed More Now Than Ever. (February 7) The value of school social workers has never been more evident and critical than during the last two years with COVID, virtual learning, families losing jobs, homes, and loved ones to COVID, along with the increase in the numbers of students reporting mental health issues.

Overview of School Social Workers in NC & Registration

Child Poverty in NC. (January 20) A conversation with Gene Nichol and Heather Hunt, researchers with the NC Poverty Research Fund at UNC Law School. They discuss sobering data from their new must-read report “The persistent and pervasive challenge of child poverty and hunger in NC.”