Opinion Roundup: Lessons still to be learned on education, the economy

JOHN REPLOGLE: We pay principals the wrong way in N.C. (Charlotte Observer column) -- As a business leader, I know the value of great leadership on my executive teams, and in our public schools. That’s why a top priority for me as a member of BEST NC has been to encourage substantial and sustained investments in principal compensation. Investing in our principals is a fundamental principle of investing in our schools and our children.

FERREL GUILLORY: Lessons from a North Carolina embarrassment (Greensboro News & Record column) -- a new report from the Urban Institute ranking states in their spending on children. The report, “Unequal Playing Field?,” does not place North Carolina last, but rather fifth from last among the 50 states — embarrassing enough.

Stefanik: Currituck teachers exit for more pay (Elizabeth City Daily Advance column) -- Despite a teacher’s claim to the contrary, the superintendent of the Currituck County Schools is standing by his assertion that higher pay in neighboring Dare County and Virginia is a major reason teachers leave the school district.

MARK BARRETT: HAVE NC TAX CUTS BOOSTED ECONOMY? EXPERTS SAY IMPACT MIGHT COME LATER, COULD BE NEGATIVE. (Asheville Citizen-Times) -- State legislators who say tax cuts adopted this decade have dramatically boosted North Carolina's economy might have slept through a few sessions of Economics 101, comments from some who teach the subject suggest. North Carolina legislators over the next month will piece together a 2017-18 budget bill to send to Gov. Roy Cooper. On taxes, the question most legislators are wrestling with is not whether to cut them, but by how much. A recent analysis by legislative staffers says tax cuts approved by the Senate would result in budget deficits topping $600 million a year in two years' time.

RICK SMITH: NC budget writers target startups, Biotech Center for cuts (WRAL-TV column) -- Another budget, another chance to cut money targeting job creators in North Carolina. That's the takeaway from The Skinny's viewpoint. Budget writers in the North Carolina General Assembly have targeted startups and the N.C. Biotechnology Center for cuts in the near-$23 billion spending plan under debate in Raleigh. But the head of the Commerce Department vows to fight cuts in his department, and the Biotech Center 's "optimistic" it will escape a slashing.

State is healing from HB2; ill winds blow trouble our way (Fayetteville Observer) -- Merit: For the diminishing fallout from now-repealed House Bill 2. The latest bit of healing is the announcement that the 2019 NBA All-Star game will be held in Charlotte. The game had been slated for the city this year, but the NBA moved it to New Orleans because of the law that restricted the rights of LGBT people who might have participated in professional basketball’s festive weekend.

JANET ADAMY & PAUL OVERBERG: Rural America Is the New ‘Inner City’ (Wall Street Journal column) -- An analysis shows that since the 1990s, sparsely populated counties have replaced large cities as America’s most troubled areas by key measures of socioeconomic well-being—a decline that’s accelerating.

MICHAEL ADAMS: Please don’t beat on my reporters (Fayetteville Observer column) -- In the wake of the unfortunate incident on the eve of the Montana election, I have a request: If you are an election candidate or public officeholder and an Observer reporter asks you tough questions or annoys you or someone with whom you are acquainted, please don’t beat on him or her. Yes, I know sometimes we can be irritating. Sometimes it’s just the nature of the job. Sometimes you might end up having to defend difficult positions.

CELIA RIVENBARK: Another big Trump scoop by media (Wilmington Star-News column) -- CNN worked itself into an Ol’ Yeller rabid lather recently when it was reported, at a White House dinner, that President Trump was served two scoops of ice cream with his pie while his guests were given a single scoop. “Time” magazine reported Trump was given an extra dish of sauce for his chicken

D.G. MARTIN: North Carolina writers vie for Southern Book Prizes (Winston-Salem Journal column) -- On July 4, SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Association) will announce the winners of its Southern Book Prizes.