Tom Ross, former UNC System President and co-chair of North Carolinians for Redistricting Reform, discusses legislation to reform the redistricting process in North Carolina through an amendment to the state constitution that places guardrails on how legislators can draw voting districts.

Peggy Nicholson of the Youth Justice Project discusses her organization’s efforts to bring a measure of racial equity to our schools and end the school-to-prison pipeline. Learn more about the 2019 Racial Equity Report Cards.

Virginia Knowlton Marcus, CEO for Disability Rights North Carolina discusses the work of Disability Rights and the findings of a new study that concludes federal, state and local emergency management officials must do more to ensure the well-being of people with disabilities during natural disasters.

Brandon Garrett, the L. Neil Williams, Jr. Professor of Law at Duke University, discusses new research that concludes North Carolina should end the sentence of life without parole for juvenile offenders.

New data from the Center for Responsible Lending (CRL) shows for-profit college students continue to be less likely to graduate than their counterparts at public or private nonprofit institutions. These student-borrowers carry more debt regardless of whether they graduate, and they default on that debt at higher rates, often because a for-profit college degree does not provide the anticipated access to higher-paying jobs. Kelly Tornow, Director of North Carolina Policy at the Center, discusses the findings. Learn more: The State of For-Profit Colleges.

The momentum to expand Medicaid in North Carolina continues to grow. Brendan Riley with the NC Justice Center’s Health Advocacy Project (HAP) discusses what we have learned from other states that have already taken this important step. Riley also discusses Profiling North Carolina’s Uninsured: How Expanding Medicaid Can Make a Difference.

NC Pre-K (as well as Smart Start) continues to have strikingly positive benefits for children that do not fade out over time. New research from Duke University confirms those benefits last at least through the end of eighth grade. Professor Kenneth Dodge, director of the Duke Center for Child and Family Policy, discusses his latest research.

Five years after the Dan River disaster, environmentalists are still urging Duke Energy to clean-up its coal ash dumps. Ridge Graham, North Carolina field coordinator for Appalachian Voices, discusses the upcoming decision NCDEQ must make regarding Duke’s storage of coal ash at six unlined basins.

NC Child’s Deputy Director Rob Thompson discusses the 2019 legislative session and efforts to lift-up an agenda that benefits North Carolina’s children. Thompson discusses Medicaid expansion, expansion of early childhood education, Raise the Age funding and suicide prevention.

Southern Environmental Law Center attorney Frank Holleman discusses the ongoing effort to clean-up coal ash in North Carolina, five years after the massive ash spill along the Dan River.