The races for president governor and U S Senate have been dominating N C headlines But voters are making other important decisions in the next week Rick Henderson Carolina Journal editor-in-chief assesses recent developments in races for offices such as lieutenant governor superintendent of public instruction state treasurer and labor commissioner North Carolina's popular Opportunity Scholarship program faces a new legal challenge Plaintiffs challenging the scholarships are tied to the N C Association of Educators teachers union Corey DeAngelis director of school choice at the libertarian Reason Foundation analyzed the suit during a recent online forum North Carolina's junior U [... more]

As North Carolina recovers from the negative impacts of the COVID- pandemic the John Locke Foundation is offering help The new Carolina Rebound project is designed to give policymakers ideas that will help the state recover as quickly and efficiently as possible Joseph Coletti JLF senior fellow discusses Carolina Rebound's recommendations for state tax and budget policy The pandemic shut down many N C businesses Even those allowed to stay open had to scramble to adapt their business plans to changing circumstances Ron Joyce of Triad-based Joyce Farms recently explained during a John Locke Foundation online forum how COVID- has [... more]

Health care providers in North Carolina need a government permission slip called a certificate of need before they can add hospital beds build new facilities or purchase major pieces of equipment Health care reforms say scrapping CON requirements would boost health care innovation in this state Jordan Roberts John Locke Foundation health policy analyst discusses legislative efforts to scale back or eliminate state CON restrictions Reformers have been targeting the formula North Carolina uses to fund public schools across the state Aaron Smith education policy analyst for the libertarian Reason Foundation has been watching the debate with interest Smith explains [... more]

The University of North Carolina system recently studied the way its campuses train teachers for the state's public schools The resulting report titled Leading On Literacy draws poor reviews from Terry Stoops John Locke Foundation vice president for research Stoops shares his concerns about UNC teacher training He also offers suggestions for improvement Time is running out for North Carolina's gas tax to play the leading role in funding state transportation projects Adrian Moore vice president for policy at the libertarian Reason Foundation delivered that message recently to state lawmakers Moore explains why he believes now is a good time [... more]

Teachers who left North Carolina public school classrooms in the past year were on average less effective than those who stayed That's one of the key findings of a newly redesigned report on teacher attrition prepared by the N C Department of Public Instruction Terry Stoops John Locke Foundation director of research and education studies analyzes the changes and explains why they might prove helpful in assessing links between state public policy and teachers' willingness to work in the Tar Heel State Education reformers have made great strides in North Carolina in recent years They have scrapped the state's public [... more]