Opinion Roundup: Aug. 28, 2016 -- Schools and teacher pay; Political meddling and the Parkway

STUART EGAN: About those teacher salaries and raises (Winston-Salem Journal column) – Gov. Pat McCrory claims that the $22.3 billion budget includes an average 4.7-percent pay raise for teachers across the state. He even said that for the first time ever average teacher pay will be more than $50,000 a year including local supplements by counties. There’s even a website dedicated to this initiative complete with a teacher endorsement. McCrory is distorting the truth.

Minority students, white teachers: does it matter? (Charlotte Observer column) -- Half of public school children are minorities, but only 18 percent of teachers are. That’s not ideal, and it’s a hard situation to change.

New school year means hope, promise and danger (Greenville Daily Reflector) -- Public school teachers have to do more with less and still turn out students who are learning and maturing from one grade to the next. Parents need to communicate with teachers frequently, learn how to help and make sure their children show respect.

GOP leaders must play fair on early voting (Wilson Times) -- The chairman of the state GOP has encouraged Republicans on county elections boards to “make party line changes to early voting” by limiting the number of hours and keeping polling sites closed on Sundays during the November elections.

Berger's political meddling (Greenville Daily Reflector) -- There’s nothing wrong with a lawmaker having a conversation with a university leader about offering a forum to more politically diverse opinions on the campus. But there’s a lot wrong with direct meddling in curricula based entirely on politics.

Stacking the deck (Greensboro News & Record) -- A UNC-Chapel Hill environmental research lab funded by environmentally unfriendly Republicans and possibly headed by a man handpicked by Phil Berger.

TIM WHITE: Politics infects, threatens our elections (Fayetteville Observer column) -- There was a protest outside the Cumberland County Board of Elections offices Thursday. More than 100 people rallied to decry what the board had done - actually what it hadn't done.

RAILEY: Sinking my toes in the sand with McCrory and Cooper (Winston-Salem Journal column) -- There I was, walking on the ocean beach in peace and harmony with Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and his Democratic challenger, Attorney General Roy Cooper. Well, we weren’t really on the beach together, but we three do share one common cause with many others: North Carolina must retain full public access to its beaches. I hear horror stories about beaches on the Northern Atlantic coast where access is much more limited than ours. That’s probably one big reason why so many Northern friends come to our North Carolina beaches, where we’re all free to wander and wonder. It’s a sacred and wonderful right that defines the open, liberty-loving spirit our state once trumpeted.

Uncomfortably strong case against Obama’s transgender protections (Charlotte Observer) -- We agree with the administration’s transgender guidelines, which protect students from the very real bullying they face at schools. But that doesn’t necessarily make them legal.

N.C. at center of political storm (Wilmington Star-News) -- Isn't it nice to be loved and not taken for granted? That's what happens when you become a political "swing" state. After not being much in play during the Reagan, Bush I and Bush II years, North Carolina finds itself in the presidential election spotlight.

Don't let Obamacare faults stop Medicaid expansion (Fayetteville Observer) - -As they watch the rising premiums and plummeting insurer participation, North Carolina residents have reason for skepticism about Obamacare's future.

God wants us to fix our broken politics (Charlotte Observer column) -- We complain about the quality of our political leaders, but the main culprit is we the voters.

Boundless parkway (Greensboro News & Record) -- The Blue Ridge Parkway has made one of its most significant gains since adding lands once owned by Greensboro magnates Moses Cone and Julian Price more than 60 years ago.