Displaying items by tag: school choice

RALEIGH — A national anti-school-choice group gives North Carolina an “F” grade and ranked the state 46th out of 50 because of its expansive educational opportunity programs.

RALEIGH — The 2021 governors’ report was released by the free-market-focused American Legislative Exchange Council in late March, and many conservatives were surprised that Democratic N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper received a better-than-average rating on his performance. Cooper had the fourth-best ranking for a Democrat and was 22nd overall among the 50 state governors. But analysts, including ALEC’s chief economist, were quick to point out that in the areas in which he did best, Cooper can hardly claim all the credit. 

RALEIGH — Two of the Tar Heel State’s school choice programs have saved taxpayers between $74.1 million and $154.3 million through fiscal 2018, according to an updated analysis from the school choice advocacy organization EdChoice.

RALEIGH — Many North Carolinians breathed a sigh of relief last week when the GOP-led legislature and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper came to terms on a budget for the new biennium. School choice advocates were among them and have plenty to celebrate in the new spending plan.

RALEIGH — Accountability for publicly funded school choice programs should primarily come through parent empowerment, not regulatory overreach. That’s the assessment of a new report from Notre Dame Law School scholar Nicole Stelle Garnett published by the Manhattan Institute.

FAYETTEVILLE — Without North Carolina’s school-choice scholarships for students with special needs, retired soldier James Martin would have moved his family to another state. That’s how important these scholarships have been to his 11-year-old daughter, Mia. 

RALEIGH — Republicans in the N.C. House are advancing a bill that would expand and strengthen the state’s three school-choice scholarship programs that help low-income children and those with special needs attend a private school.

In North Carolina politics, few issues are as contentious as education. For years, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and the Republican-led General Assembly have locked horns on such issues as funding formulas, teacher pay, and parental choice. More recently, legislators have tried to give all schoolchildren access to in-person instruction, only to be stymied by Cooper’s veto pen — wielded at the behest of the North Carolina affiliate of America’s largest teachers union.

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s lawmakers are moving to advance school choice.

RALEIGH — As North Carolina prepares to celebrate National School Choice Week Jan. 24-30, the cause of educational freedom could see even more advancement during the North Carolina General Assembly’s 2021-2022 session.