North Carolina Educators Take Part In White House Event

More than 150 Parent Teacher Association leaders from across the country have gathered at the White House. They're being recognized for their work, and getting the chance to hear from and question federal education officials. Debra Saunders-White, a former vice chancellor at UNC-Wilmington, is with the Department of Education's Office of Post-secondary Education. Speaking at today's event, she stressed the importance of Pell grants.

Debra Saunders-White: The North Carolina system said without Pell, they would close 5 schools in the state. They would close 5 schools, that's pretty dramatic. So we are working as aggressively as we can to protect Pell and to even increase it, so you'll see in the President's '13 budget a request for Pell to go up.

As part of Friday's events, the Obama administration honored 12 teachers for their dedication to PTA's. Raleigh's Mandy Patterson is being recognized for her work at Oak Grove Elementary School.