Rick has had a life-long love affair with education. In 1996, he was elected to the Cumberland County School Board and served for six years, two as Chairman. On the School Board Finance Committee, Rick co-chaired a million dollar school bond committee which created eight new schools, renovated 65 schools, and created the extension of 18 schools—all on time and $10 million under budget.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the NC Public School Forum. He was one of only four legislators in the nation to serve on the College Completion Task Force.

Rick is widely recognized as the Voice of Education in the General Assembly. From the time he took legislative office in 2001, he has been an effective fighter for teachers, students and parents.

As Chairman of the House Education Committee (K-12), Rick worked on teacher retention, recruitment and retirement legislation. He spearheaded the School Violence Protection Act (the Anti-Bullying Bill) and the Healthy Youth Act.

As Chairman of House Select Committee on the Education of Students with Disabilities, Rick rewrote, and passed, all of the antiquated legislation for our special needs students with disabilities, including a tax credit for parents of children with disabilities.

He established the North Carolina Financial Literacy Council and introduced a bill for a pilot program to teach our children foreign languages, including Chinese, ensuring North Carolina students can compete in global economic arenas.

He authored and sponsored the several military-education laws, including legislation to provide in-state tuition to children of military families and the National Guard, and sponsored the bill to support the Interstate Military Education Compact, which streamlines the process of transferring children in military families from school to school.

Rick served as Chairman the House Appropriations Committee on Education for four years, where he co-authored dozens of pro-education legislation and North Carolina saw the largest increase of per pupil spending in years.

As Democratic House Minority Whip, Rick Glazier was the leading opponent of the punitive NCAE dues check off bill, and led the fight against the unbridled charter school bill and the attempt to abolish the Racial Justice Act.

For a complete list of legislation Rick sponsored this session click here. Please note, some of the bills listed are still being considered by the legislature. If you have any questions, comments or concerns about these or any other issues please don’t hesitate to contact him.

Rick has a long personal background of neighborhood involvement and extensive public service. He has served on the board of trustees for UNC center for Public Television, Cumberland County Child Advocacy Center, Fayetteville Urban Ministry, and Beth Israel Synagogue, where he taught Sunday school for 10 years.

Rick has been married to Lisë, a former middle school teacher, for 33 years. They have two children; Philip and Megan, who both live in Washington D.C., and are proud ‘parents’ of two Lab rescues, Zoe and Bonner.