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My position on issues and my political philosophy are greatly influenced by my life experiences. My parents were both products of the Great Depression and the drought that followed in the Mid West. They overcame poverty though sheer determination; they worked hard, took risks, accepted responsibility, persevered and marveled at their survival and good fortune. They taught us children that America is a great county where anyone can succeed if given the opportunity. They urged us to get a good education and to leave the world a better place. They are the greatest generation, and I cherish the memories of growing up in their family.
Verla Insko was born in 1936 in Decatur, Arkansas to Charles Verne and Leta Trook Clemens. Verla was the third of four children, and a member of the fourth generation of Arkansans descended from William C Derreberry and Rebecca Ann Gilliand Derreberry who moved by wagon train about 1853 from Burke County, North Carolina to settle in the Indian Territory.
Verla’s parents were both farmers. The drought that followed the Great Depression left the family with little food and no source of livelihood. To support the family, her father followed the harvest from Kansas, Nebraska, Colorado and finally to California where he found permanent work.
The family moved to Modesto, California in1941. During WWII, Verla's father served as a medic in the army. He was stationed in France with an advance surgical unit, and was awarded the Bronze star for service at the front lines. After the war, he worked as a city bus driver; her mother worked in a frozen food factory. Together they raised beef cattle on a small farm near Modesto.
Education
Verla attended public schools in Modesto and California State University in Fresno where she earned an AB in Biology. She did graduate work at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary in Mill Valley and received a secondary teaching certificate from the University of California at Berkeley. In 1993, she received a Masters of Public Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill.
Family
Verla and Chet Insko were married in 1961 and lived in Berkeley, California where Verla taught science at Burbank Junior High School and Chet completed his PhD in Social Psychology at UC- Berkeley.
The Insko's moved to Honolulu, Hawaii in 1963 where Chet was a faculty member at the University of Hawaii and Verla taught at the Kamehameha Schools. Their first son, Erik, was born in 1964 in Honolulu. In 1965, Chet accepted a faculty position in the Department of Psychology at UNC-Chapel Hill. Their second son, Kurt, was born in 196 in Chapel Hill. Since 1967, the Inskos have resided at 610 Surry Road in Chapel Hill.
Erik and Kurt both attended the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools. Erik earned a BS in Physics from the University of California at Berkeley and an MA in Physics, a PhD in Biophysics and an MD degree from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a partner in Mecklenburg Radiology in Charlotte. He and his wife Stephanie have a daughter, Lauren and a son, Nathaniel. Kurt attended UNC Greensboro and served as a Deputy Sheriff in Orange County. He is now a police officer at UNC Chapel Hill. He and his wife, Gina, reside in Chapel Hill with their son, Thomas.
While Erik and Kurt were in elementary school, Verla was a full time mother, active in the Orange County Democratic Party and many community organizations.
Political and Community Leadership
Starting out as a precinct officer and campaign worker for local candidates, Verla was elected to Chapel Hill-Carrboro Board of Education in 1977 where she served until 1985. Orange County Democrats elected her to serve as Orange County Chair from 1983-85. She was elected to the Orange County Board of Commissioners in 1990 and served until 1990.
In 1996, when Anne Barnes resigned from her seat in the NC House while a candidate for re-election, Verla was selected by the Orange County Democratic Party to run in Anne’s place. Verla won that race and was sworn in for her first term in the NC House in the 1997-99 session.
Since her election to the NC House Verla has established herself as a leader in education, environment and health and human service. She worked to bring teacher salaries to above the national average, to reduce class size for the primary grades and to reduce the dropout rate. She has been a strong supporter of the UNC System and a champion for UNC-Chapel Hill. She works for responsible coastal development and clean air and water and renewable sources of energy. She was primary sponsor of the bill that created the high-risk health insurance pool and was primary co-sponsor of the mental health parity bill. As Chair of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Health and Human Services, she has increased funding for child-care subsidy, early childhood education, health care for children birth to age 19 and services for mental health, developmental disabilities and substance abuse services. She supports keeping Medicaid provider rates high enough to attract good providers while demanding accountability for the expenditure of public dollars.
Career Focus
In 1982, Verla accepted the position of Coordinator of the Orange County Commission for Women, a department of Orange County Government. Following the election of Congressman David Price in 1986, she took a position as staff assistant in his Raleigh district office and served there through 1987. From 1988-1994, she was a health program administrator at the UNC School of Medicine in the UNC Comprehensive Sickle Cell Program. From 1994 until 1999, she was an organizational development consultant and worked with non-profit and government agencies.
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