North Carolina welcomes a new state superintendent of public instruction in Republican Catherine Truitt will take the job after serving as leader of the online-only Western Governors University in this state Truitt also served as former Republican Gov Pat McCrory's top education adviser Terry Stoops John Locke Foundation vice president for research and resident scholar assesses Truitt's top priorities in her job at the head of the N C Department of Public Instruction Mention the word environmentalism and many people will think of left-of-center activists who oppose development energy exploration and other economic activity But a recent article in the [... more]

Can Critical Race Theory be used as an analytical tool Length [... more]

Constitution Day earlier this month reminded us of the importance of the United States' governing document Jon Guze John Locke Foundation director of legal studies emphasizes constitutional provisions that protect the nation from damaging policies put forward by elected officials Guze touts the value of these constitutional safeguards Jesse Helms departed the American political scene long before Donald Trump started his campaign for the White House But at least one man who worked for Helms believes the late U S senator would appreciate much of what Trump is trying to accomplish in the White House Marc Thiessen followed his work [... more]

Gov Roy Cooper outlined his priorities for the legislative session during his recent State of the State address Cooper pushed for Medicaid expansion a statewide school construction bond and higher pay for public school teachers The Democrat Cooper also talked about seeking bipartisan solutions Becki Gray John Locke Foundation senior vice president analyzes Cooper's remarks and the response from Senate Republican leader Phil Berger Freedom of religion is the first freedom spelled out in the U S Constitution's Bill of Rights It's also the fundamental freedom that faces some of the strongest attacks in today's America Ashley McGuire senior fellow [... more]

The N C Press Association recently recognized Carolina Journal's excellence with three awards Carolina Journal Online won first-place honors in NCPA's annual competition for Election Political Reporting and Editorials CJ also collected a third-place award for News Enterprise Reporting Editor-in-Chief Rick Henderson discusses the awards and their significance for Carolina Journal's work Thirty years have passed since then-U S Education Secretary William Bennett put forward a theory that increased student aid from the federal government drives up the cost of college tuition President Jenna Robinson of the James G Martin Center for Academic Renewal recently reviewed what has come to [... more]

High Point plans to move forward with a taxpayer-funded downtown baseball stadium despite concerns from some Guilford County commissioners Julie Tisdale John Locke Foundation city and county policy analyst analyzes the latest developments in the debate over devoting tax dollars to baseball in the Triad city Division and debate cropped up to a greater degree than normal in a recent meeting of the University of North Carolina system's Board of Governors The fractious meeting had been sparked by concerns over the way board leaders and system President Margaret Spellings handled a controversy surrounding the Chapel Hill campus's Silent Sam Confederate [... more]