North Carolina HAD a tax-free school supply weekend but the General Assembly repealed that assistance to working parents of North Carolina school kids in order to give more tax cuts to the wealthy and to corporations. Below is a column I wrote in 2018 in support of working parents as well as an infographic I created in 2014 pushing for the reinstatement of that tax-free weekend.
I started to fight vouchers in 2013 when they were only for children in poverty and the allocation was for $10 million; now the allocation is $192 million for 2024-2025, and over a half of a BILLION for 2025-2026 and millionaires can get money that should be going to Macon County Schools! 
One of the proudest moments in my life as a public education advocate was sitting at a table alongside my 8th grade principal Clayton Ramsey as we confronted NC Senator Jim Davis on the General Assembly's neglect of NC Public Schools.
In 2015, I joined with a few other NC teachers to sue the NC General Assembly for their unconstitutional revocation of career status. We won that fight for veteran teachers on 5th Amendment grounds.

Winning the tenure fight for NC Teachers  in 2015

In the Spring of 2018, Macon County Schools were facing massive cuts. We had been able to sustain ourselves through our fund balance but that well had gone dry for the following year. The Macon County Commissioners offered resistance, so we organized. Molly Mayer Phillips and now-current BOE member Stephanie Laseter organized a fearsome parent group. Jennifer Ralph Love, Kaitlin McLean, and myself organized the teachers. I produced the infographic below which went viral.  Molly and Stephanie produced some fantastic videos. After a few tough meetings, the Macon County Commissioners saw things our way and we received over an additional $1.1 million to fill in the gap of our current operating expense budget.
In 2001 and 2002, several of us got together across the state to fight the new high stakes standardized tests. 
We fought them because:
(1) The design and validation of the tests were exceptionally slipshod.
(2) The tests were designed to measure schools but ended up being used to measure students -- we're still telling students in the third grade that they aren't going to succeed because of these tests, EVEN WHEN THE TEST SAYS THE STUDENT IS "PROFICIENT."
(3) We formed NC Citizens for Democratic Schools and I was the communications director/webmaster for the organization -- you can see a snapshot of the archived website below.

This fight continues and I'll have more to say on the campaign trail and I'll fight this insanity if elected to the Macon Board of Education.
In 2019, I authored a resolution which was presented around the state to various county commissions. We saw Medicaid expansion as a common-sense, bi-partisan issue. Eventually, now State Senator Kevin Corbin came to see it the same way and led the charge at the state level to expand Medicaid which is now helping over 1,000 additional families and their children in Macon County.
Three years ago, I teamed up with veteran Guilford County educator Kenya Donaldson to put a spotlight on the conditions of our schools across the state. This piece ran in over 50 newspapers.
September 27, 2021
I have stood with parents and teachers seeking to maintain and/or expand our essential arts programs at every turn.
May 19, 2021
For five years, I have offered free adult education seminars on philosophical and historical topics. The Righteous Mind seminar outlined below, met 12 times over 24 weeks, with over 30 participants. 
January 3, 2024