Carolina Journal Radio No. 767: Key school choice application date approaches

Feb. 1 marks the opening date for applications involving two school choice programs in North Carolina. Parents can apply for the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which provides funding for low-income families to send their children to private schools. Parents also can apply for the new Education Savings Account program. It provides funding to help defray other education costs for students in low-income families. Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation vice president for research, explains the role of both programs in promoting parental school choice. Nearly 110,000 state regulations help slow North Carolina’s economic growth. James Broughel, research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, delivered that message recently to state lawmakers. Broughel discusses his research and explains how a focus on regulatory reform helps improve state economic conditions. The N.C. State Board of Education and the state Rules Review Commission have been fighting in court since 2014. The school board believes its rules are exempt from rules review oversight. The RRC disagrees. That board’s chairman, Garth Dunklin, recently updated state lawmakers on the current status of the courtroom fight. A panel of the state’s leading economists agrees the new federal tax law should produce significant benefits for North Carolina’s economy. Mark Vitner of Wells Fargo, N.C. Bankers Association economist Harry Davis of Appalachian State University, N.C. State professor Michael Walden, and UNC-Charlotte professor John Connaughton shared their analysis of the federal tax changes during the Bankers Association’s annual economic forecast forum. Policymakers preparing for the next state budget debate should focus attention on reining in government spending. That’s the recommendation from Joseph Coletti, John Locke Foundation senior fellow. Coletti says Gov. Roy Cooper is likely to recommend hundreds of millions of dollars in new government spending. State lawmakers will have to scale back Cooper’s proposals to keep state government operating on a fiscally sustainable path.