Opinion Roundup: Where N.C. teacher pay stands

JESS CLARK: What might teacher pay look like next year? Compare three proposals (WUNC-FM column) -- Now that the state House has released its plan for teacher pay, there are three plans before lawmakers as they continue budget negotiations.

Give the poor another incentive to work (Charlotte Observer) -- South Carolina passed an Earned Income Tax Credit to help the poor. North Carolina Republicans should follow its example.

SIOBHAN HUGHES: Richard Burr Says Deal on Health Care Unlikely This Year (Wall Street Journal column) -- Sen. Richard Burr (R - N.C.) said that the Senate probably won't reach a deal to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act when it returns from a recess next week, in a stark assessment of the party's health-care prospects.

ROSE HOBAN: Complete House budget sees the light of day (N.C. Health News column) -- The House’s health and human services budget creates less pain than the Senate budget and there’s less policy, too. But advocates say there are still shortcomings.

FERREL GUILLORY: An ‘alternative universe’ required to stifle school resegregation (EdNC column) -- Four academic researchers from three public universities have produced fresh documentation of the South’s backsliding on school desegregation. Their array of data sketches out a story of a historic success that has eroded over the past three decades. The upshot imposes a burden on the education systems and civil society of the region’s states and communities.

ERICA L. GREEN: Some hires by DeVos are stark departure from her reputation (New York Times column) -- Jose Viana, an assistant deputy education secretary and the director of the Office of English Language Acquisition, was a much more low-key appointment for Ms. DeVos, but he assumed that position at a time when immigrant students face heightened discrimination, a breakdown of protections and the loss of family members to deportation. Mr. Viana joined the department from North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction, where he spent eight years helping the children of migrant workers — including undocumented immigrants — overcome academic barriers that resulted from frequent moves and a lack of access to essential services such as health care. His job as a recruiter for the North Carolina Migrant Education Program required him to seek out students who could use the federal government’s help to adjust to life in the United States.

Federal choices for Hurricane Matthew aid: Slow or nothing (Fayetteville Observer) -- Hurricane Matthew hit this region 236 days ago. That’s almost 34 weeks. It will be eight months next week. But according to 9th District Congressman Robert Pittenger — who toured Fayetteville’s storm damage for the third time on Wednesday, federal officials are still compiling data and analyzing needs here to determine how much money to allocate and where to send it.

Post the crime, add to the time (Winston-Salem Journal) -- It boggles the minds that some people have posted videos of themselves committing crimes on social media, as if to brag about what they’ve done. A new bill advancing in the state legislature that would give such perpetrators longer prison terms deserves support.

Keep state’s gators off hunting list (Wilmington Star-News) -- The N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission is considering allowing alligator hunting in Southeastern North Carolina for the first time since 1973. We don’t know why.

Place of sanctuary (Greensboro News & Record) -- The congregation and staff of St. Barnabas Episcopal Church should be commended for their incredible generosity in providing sanctuary for a woman in need. They opened their doors to Juana Luz Tobar Ortega, a 24-year resident of the United States who was ordered to leave the country by Thursday.