North State Journal Vol. 6, Issue 6

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VOLUME 6 ISSUE 6

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WWW.NSJONLINE.COM

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WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2021

GERRY BROOME | AP PHOTO

New UNC head basketball coach Hubert Davis, center, laughs with chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, left, and athletic director Bubba Cunningham following a news conference Tuesday announcing him as the successor to Roy Williams.

the Wednesday

NEWS BRIEFING

Cooper says vaccine passports being discussed Gov. Roy Cooper said Wednesday that he is having “discussions” about creating “vaccine passports” which could be used to determine who can enter an indoor location. Cooper acknowledged that app-based passports could be problematic for citizens who don’t own smartphones. State Senate Leader Phil Berger has called vaccine passports “ridiculous” and has said he does not believe the government should mandate vaccinations.

US, Iran to hold indirect nuclear talks in Vienna Efforts to bring the U.S. back into the 2015 deal on Iran’s nuclear program are to step up a gear on Tuesday as Iran and the five world powers remaining in the accord meet in Vienna while the U.S. is due to start indirect talks with Tehran. Friday’s announcement that Washington and Tehran would begin indirect talks through intermediaries was one of the first signs of tangible progress in efforts to return both nations to the terms of the accord, which bound Iran to restrictions in return for relief from U.S. and international sanctions.

Senate parliamentarian boosts Biden infrastructure plan President Joe Biden received a boost for his $2.3 trillion spending plan and tax increases. The Senate parliamentarian greenlighted a strategy that would allow Democrats in the evenly split 50-50 chamber to rely on a 51-vote threshold to advance some bills, rather than the typical 60 votes typically needed. The socalled budget reconciliation rules can now be used more often than expected — giving Democrats a fresh new path around the GOP.

NC COVID-vaccine eligibility opens to all adults on April 7 After a months-long rollout, with different segments of North Carolina’s population receiving vaccines at different times, Gov. Roy Cooper announced that everyone over 16 who wants a vaccine can receive one as of April 7. “We remain focused on getting people vaccinated as quickly and as equitably as possible and continuing to slow the spread of the virus,” said Cooper. “The more people we vaccinate, the more we can safely do.” To date, 5.2 million doses have been given out in N.C., with 39% of adult residents being at least partially vaccinated and 26% having received all necessary doses.

NORTH

STATE

JOURNaL ELEVATE THE CONVERSATION

Excellent Public Schools Act 2021 heads to governor’s desk Bill focuses on literacy and the science of reading, updates state’s Read to Achieve program By A.P. Dillon North State Journal

can finally enact improvements to early childhood literacy,” said Berger in a press release following the bill’s passage. “I’m pleased to see the Senate come together to support our students.” The 14-page bill is divided into multiple parts and draws from a 2019 bill with the same name passed with bipartisan support in the House and unanimous support in the Senate. The 2019 bill was vetoed by Cooper, whose veto message said the Read to Achieve program was “ineffective and costly,” and that the bill tried to “put a Band-Aid on a program where implementation has clearly failed.” The Read to Achieve program was launched in 2013 with the intention of ensuring all thirdgrade students were proficient in reading before being promoted to the next grade. Berger did address Read to Achieve and the veto of the 2019 Excellent Public Schools Act during the bill’s unveiling press conference. “With the extensive learning loss suffered by hundreds of thousands of children during the last year of school closures, I am hopeful politics will be set aside so critical improvements to the early childhood literacy curriculum can finally be enacted,” said Berger. He added that Read to Achieve is “working well in some places and needs adjustments in other.” The current bill expands the definition for the Read to Achieve summer reading camps for third graders to include any second or first grader demonstrating difficulty with reading development. The summer camps are not mandatory and parents make the final decision on attendance. Bonuses will also be offered to teachers in relation to the summer reading programs. Dis-

RALEIGH — North Carolina lawmakers have quickly passed an education bill that has a focus on K-12 literacy and how the state teaches reading. The bill was sent to Gov. Roy Cooper for his signature on April 1. Senate Bill 387, titled the Excellent Public Schools Act, was introduced at a March 29 press conference held by Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden), Sen. Deanna Ballard (R-Watauga) and Sen. Michael Lee (R-New Hanover). Also in attendance was state Superintendent Catherine Truitt. “In this bill you are going to see a lot about what’s called the science of reading,” said Berger at the press conference. “For those of you who may not know, the science of reading is evidence-based reading instruction, practices that address the acquisition of language, phonological and phonemic awareness, phonics and spelling, fluency, vocabulary, oral language and comprehension that can be differentiated to meet the needs of individual students.” Within days of the bill’s introduction, the Senate unanimously passed the measure. On April 1, the House passed the bill by a wide margin of 113-5. The five members who voted no were all Democrats — Reps. Alston, Autry, Insko, Martin and Meyer. “Early literacy is a major determining factor of a child’s future success, so we have to get this right. After extensive learning loss for hundreds of thousands of children during the last year of school closures, it is critical we put our politics aside so we See PUBLIC SCHOOLS, page A2

Hubert Davis hired to coach Tar Heels Former UNC player, longtime Roy Williams assistant chosen By Shawn Krest North State Journal CHAPEL HILL — Former Tar Heel All-American and longtime Roy Williams assistant coach Hubert Davis will become the 19th head coach in UNC basketball history. The Tar Heels hired Davis less than four days after Williams announced his retirement. He becomes the first African American head coach in the program’s history and the first coach hired without previous head coaching experience since another long-

time assistant Bill Guthridge took over for Dean Smith — also hired with no head coaching experience — in 1997. “I am honored and humbled to be given the opportunity to lead this program,’’ Davis said. “I would not be here without Coach Dean Smith, Coach Bill Guthridge and Coach Roy Williams; they taught me so much — and I’m eager to walk their path in my shoes and with my personality.” The vacancy attracted attention from some of the biggest coaching names in college and the NBA, both those with connections to UNC’s program and those outside the “Carolina family.” Davis has strong connections See DAVIS, page A2

Open enrollment underway for NC’s new Medicaid system By David Larson North State Journal

were not known until providers and Medicaid administrators ne-

RALEIGH — A massive overhaul of North Carolina’s Medicaid system, passed in 2015, is finally going into effect, and open enrollment is currently underway. The sign-up process, which started March 15 and ends May 14, enrolls new beneficiaries to a managed care system, as the old “fee-for-service” system will be replaced this summer. “Medicaid Transformation, after several delays, appears to be on track for implementation on July 1,” N.C. Senate Health Appropriations Committee Co-Chair Joyce Krawiec (R-Forsyth) told NSJ in an email on April 5. “We expect results to be better health outcomes, greater access to care and lower costs.” In 2015, the North Carolina General Assembly passed H.B. 372, Medicaid Transformation and Reorganization, now known as Session Law 2015-245. The purpose of the bill, according to its “intent and goals” sections, is to “provide budget predictability for the taxpayers of this State while ensuring quality care to those in need.” The changes were set to go into effect earlier, but a 2019 budget stalemate between the Republican legislature and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper delayed the transition. State budget writers had been complaining for years about the unpredictability of N.C.’s fee-forservice model of Medicaid. There were frequent budget overruns by the program because the costs

See MEDICAID, page A2


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