RALEIGH — North Carolina’s state pension plan is prepared to weather another recession, a Pew Charitable Trusts stress test says. 

So far this decade, North Carolina’s economy — as measured by inflation-adjusted gross domestic product — has expanded by an average of 1.7 percent a year. That’s a bit faster than the Southeastern average but slower than the national one.

I remember when the inherent boredom of redistricting was a laugh line.

The latest ratings of highway systems are out — and for North Carolina, the news is mixed. In general cost-effectiveness, our state’s roads and bridges rank a bit better than average. We fare well on some measures. But when it comes to the safety of rural roads, North Carolina comes in next-to-last.

RALEIGH — The Senate approved a plan to return millions in surplus tax revenue to taxpayers, despite complaints from some Democratic lawmakers who wanted to use the money for education or infrastructure.

As a policy analyst and opinion journalist, I have spent much of my career advocating the expansion of choice and competition in education. I purposefully use both of those terms, because I think that families making choices and schools competing for students are distinct but mutually reinforcing mechanisms for improving educational outcomes.

While election scandals, national issues, and candidate announcements for 2019 and 2020 races have dominated the political headlines, North Carolina is continuing to head in the direction of greater freedom. That’s welcome.

RALEIGH — The state panel that determines how much money North Carolina can prudently borrow over the next 10 years rejected an appeal Wednesday by Gov. Roy Cooper’s budget director to triple the state’s debt ceiling from $2.03 billion to more than $6 billion.

RALEIGH — A group of House Republicans got an early start to the new General Assembly session by re-introducing a bill Wednesday to propose a state constitutional amendment restricting eminent domain.

As state superintendent of North Carolina’s public schools, I often hear from other leaders that standardized tests help hold students, teachers, and schools accountable. Accountability is important for our schools but also for our leaders. The testing system that the education-industrial complex built over the past decade forces our students and teachers to endure too many high-stakes tests layered on by federal, state, and local authorities. 

It must stop.