As the school year begins, the status of state and federal funding for our public schools remains murky while local funding for school districts seems increasingly fraught.

So how does school district budgeting work? Who holds levers of power to keep our schools operating? And why have school budgets – once something that many of us didn’t think about – become front page news for so many communities in recent years? 

Due South co-host Jeff Tiberii and WUNC education reporter Liz Schlemmer are joined by a local school board member, a school district superintendent and CFO and a county commissioner to discuss how North Carolina schools are funded and the challenges some Triangle school districts have faced recently to keep our schools operating.

Liz Schlemmer, Education Reporter, WUNC

Jamezetta Bedford, Chair, Board of County Commissioners in Orange County

Dr. Anthony Lewis, Superintendent, Durham Public Schools

Tyler Swanson, Vice Chair, Wake County Board of Education

Jeremy Teetor, Chief Finance Officer, Durham Public Schools