North Carolina policymakers celebrate 25 years of charter school law
(The Center Square) – In 1996, Tim Taylor was a fifth grader transitioning to middle school in the rural town of Arapahoe, when he found out his school would be closed.
That same year, the General Assembly enacted legislation that authorized public charter schools in the state.
Devastated by the news, the close-knit town of more than 500 residents rallied at the state Capitol to launch the Arapahoe Charter School. It serves K-12 students and is now operated through a collaborative effort by Arapahoe residents, which Taylor said was the best part of his learning experience.
“It really creates a family atmosphere, really helps to pull out those gifts that are in those children,” Taylor said.
North Carolina lawmakers celebrated 25 years of freedom of school choice Tuesday.
The Carolina Journal reported that 34 charter schools began operating in 1997. Lawmakers said 126,000 children are attending North Carolina’s 200 public charter schools today. Another 10 charter schools are scheduled to open in the fall 2021 semester.
As North Carolina commemorated a quarter century of its charter school law, a new poll shows widespread support for school choice. The poll from Echelon Insights shows 65% of American voters across party lines support school choice.
“All children, no matter the circumstances of their birth, deserve an education that’s best for them,” Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said. “Real school choice should not be restricted only to the elite who can afford to choose. Ultimately, we must empower parents with the resources to decide for themselves which school they wish their children to attend.”
According to a John Locke Foundation and Civitas poll released in January, a majority of North Carolinians support school choice. The survey results showed 82% of 950 bipartisan voters believe parents should have the ability to select the school their child attends.
The COVID-19 pandemic may have heightened school choice support, the poll shows. Four in 10 North Carolina parents surveyed in January said they have considered changing their child’s school since March 2020. Critics of school choice said advocates use the pandemic to push their agenda.
Despite COVID-19 shutdowns, many charter schools continued operating in-person, reducing learning loss, state Republicans said.
“I think that has caused a lot of folks in the traditional route to take a look and say, you know, ‘the charter schools did it this way, why didn’t we?'” House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, said. “I can tell you that as policymakers, a lot of us have been asking that question, and we’ll continue to do so.”
Critics argue that charter schools, which are public-funded and privately operated, lack transparency and accountability. Others say they promote segregation and absorb funds that should be used for traditional schools.
According to a study by public school advocacy organization The Network for Public Education, one-third of the North Carolina charter schools that received Charter School Program grants in 2018 and reported demographic information have an overrepresentation of white students, or a underrepresentation of Black students compared with the population of their public school district.
Disclaimer: This content is distributed by The Center Square
