In the past, he complained about school choice draining money from public schools. He claimed that we need to focus on funding public schools before trying school choice.
Meanwhile, anti-school choice advocates seeking to halt expansion of North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Program circulated a post called “Tales of an Educated Debutante.”The post claims that the cost of school choice will be exorbitant and keep our tax dollars away from public education.
But is school choice actually harming public schools? In this week’s edition of Locke Notes, we’ll briefly go over research on this topic, and some suggestions for what the state government can actually do to help North Carolina public schools.
Does School Choice Really Hurt Public Schools?
Well, for the 2021-2022 school year, spending on public schools dwarfed that of the Opportunity Scholarship Program. In fact, spending for this school choice program was only 0.7% of total spending on public schools.
So far, it does not sound like North Carolina school choice is draining public schools of much-needed funds.
Georgetown University’s Marguerite Roza conducted research into the impact of school choice on overall education funding. She found that public dollars flowing to private schools make up around only 1.9% of North Carolina’s total education budget.
While Dr. Bob Luebke, Locke’s Director of the Center for Effective Education, cautions that more complex analyses are needed, this research is still telling. School choice programs are not a drag on North Carolina’s education budget to the detriment of public schools.
So what are some ways that the North Carolina state government can actually help public schools?
Some Possible Solutions
North Carolina’s public education issues have many causes, and no silver bullet legislation exists to solve every problem. However, there are a few ways that the state government can help improve the situation.
Governor Cooper and others should be careful of scapegoating school choice for public education’s woes. There are other steps the government can take to actually improve North Carolina’s public schools.
Disappearing farmland in North Carolina is a big concern for this fast-growing state. About one-fifth of the state’s workforce is employed in agriculture, which is the state’s top industry. A recent report from the American Farmland Trust (AFT) ranked North Carolina second in the nation for threatened farmland from residential development.
A 16-week course required to become a police officer in North Carolina is changing dramatically in 2025 at the lead of the state’s Department of Justice. Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET) is a program offered to citizens over the age of 20 in North Carolina who are looking to go into a career in law enforcement.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has long been the stuff of sci-fi lore. Characters ranging from the iconic C‑3PO of Star Wars fame to HAL 9000 from “2001: A Space Odyssey” and Tony Stark’s brainchild J.A.R.V.I.S. (Marvel Cinematic Universe) have captured imaginations worldwide and raised ethical questions surrounding both the use of AI and its relationship with humanity.
