I think it's important for liberals and progressives in NC to lift up our heads on occasion outside of the shennanigans in Raleigh to remind ourselves about the bigger picture.

Don't forget that the Republicans in the NC legislature are taking the state down a path of laws bought and paid for by big money donors pushing the same laws and policies in other states through organizations like ALEC.

If you think it's bad in NC now, take a look at Pennsylvania - NC is headed down the same road. From Slate:

On Thursday the city of Philadelphia announced that it would be borrowing $50 million to give the district, just so it can open schools as planned on Sept. 9, after Superintendent William Hite threatened to keep the doors closed without a cash infusion. The schools may open without counselors, administrative staff, noon aids, nurses, librarians or even pens and paper, but hey, kids will have a place to go and sit.

The $50 million fix is just the latest band-aid for a district that is beginning to resemble a rotting bike tube, covered in old patches applied to keep it functioning just a little while longer. At some point, the entire system fails.

Things have gotten so bad that at least one school has asked parents to chip in $613 per student just so they can open with adequate services, which, if it becomes the norm, effectively defeats the purpose of equitable public education, and is entirely unreasonable to expect from the city’s poorer neighborhoods.

The needs of children are secondary, however, to a right-wing governor in Tom Corbett who remains fixated on breaking the district in order to crush the teachers union and divert money to unproven experiments like vouchers and privately run charters. If the city’s children are left uneducated and impoverished among the smoldering wreckage of a broken school system, so be it.

If you think it can't - or won't - happen in NC, think again.