Budgets, Backlash, and the Battle for Public Education
Welcome to The RootED Weekly
Deeply Rooted in Education and Equity
Issue 01 | 21 March 2025
A Note from Dayson
Welcome to the very first issue of The RootED Weekly—your new go-to space for unapologetic truth-telling, actionable resources, and reflections rooted in equity, leadership, and community.
Whether you’re a classroom teacher, a district leader, or a changemaker outside of schools—you belong here. Let’s grow together.
– Dayson Pasión
Founder & Principal Consultant, RootED Consultancy
Main Feature: A Budget with Potential—but Equity Requires Intention
Governor Josh Stein’s proposed 2025–2027 budget signals a meaningful pivot toward reinvesting in North Carolina’s public education system. It includes the highest starting teacher pay in the Southeast, average 10.6% raises for current teachers, reinstated master’s pay, and free school breakfast for every student. It also proposes a $4 billion school construction bond to address over $13 billion in documented facility needs.
These investments matter. They signal respect for educators, provide relief for working families, and take initial steps toward safe, modern learning environments for students.
But for those of us rooted in equity work, here’s the real question:
Will this budget just support schools—or will it transform them into places that are welcoming, inclusive, and sustaining for all students and educators?
The budget takes steps by:
Expanding high-dosage tutoring and literacy initiatives across more grade levels
Removing the cap on Exceptional Children funding to better support students with disabilities
Funding more school nurses, counselors, social workers, and psychologists
Pausing voucher expansion, saving $1.3B to reinvest in public education
But despite these positive signs, intentional investment in educator diversity, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and representative leadership remains lacking. While support staff, TA-to-Teacher pathways, and bonuses are mentioned, the budget does not fund or scale the kinds of district- and state-level pipelines necessary to ensure that students see themselves in their teachers and school leaders.
Public education should be more than functional. It should be liberatory.
If we want truly thriving schools, our budgets must align with that vision—not just in salary schedules, but in the soul of the system. RootED will continue to track how these proposals evolve—and how we ensure that equity isn’t just an add-on, but the foundation.
RootED Resource of the Week
If you’re serious about diversifying North Carolina’s educator workforce, you have to read these:
🔗 Governor Cooper’s DRIVE Task Force Final Report and Recommendations
This is the most comprehensive roadmap North Carolina has to improve educator diversity and create more inclusive school leadership. Whether you’re an educator or policymaker, it belongs on your desk.
In the News: Dismantling the U.S. Department of Education—Who Gets Left Behind?
This week, President Donald Trump signed an executive order to begin dismantling the U.S. Department of Education. The action directs Secretary of Education Linda McMahon to "take all necessary steps" to shut the department down “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law.”
The administration claims Title I and grants for high-poverty schools will remain intact. But here’s what’s really happening: the data infrastructure and personnel that make those grants possible are being gutted.
As of this week, nearly all staff at the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)—the office responsible for tracking school district needs and eligibility for these programs—will be placed on leave or laid off. Without NCES, the federal government can’t accurately allocate funds to the schools that depend on them most.
If these plans continue, low-income students and rural communities could see federal support disappear entirely by the 2026–27 school year.
This is not about local control. This is about removing the federal oversight and support that’s kept our most underresourced schools afloat—especially in places like North Carolina, where rural poverty and deep educational inequities persist.
RootED will keep tracking this. Because when equity data disappears, so do the students it was meant to protect.
Equity Spotlight: LatinxEd Fellowship Applications Are Open!
This week, we’re highlighting the powerful work of LatinxEd, a North Carolina-based nonprofit reimagining education with and for Latinx communities.
Their LatinxEd Fellowship is now accepting applications!
If you’re a Latinx educator, advocate, or leader—this is your opportunity to join a statewide network that centers comunidad, culture, and collective transformation.
🔗 Apply here
🗓 Deadline coming soon—don’t wait.
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