School Choice Gaining Ground as Number of NC Charter Schools Set to Pass 200

RALEIGH – The Left purports to be the champions of education, but under careful examination it is revealed that what they really want is control. They aggressively attack attempts to expand school choice, because the more choices parents and students have for education, the less top-down control purveyors of Big Government have. The good news, though, is that in the Old North State school choice seems to be winning that battle as educational choices proliferate.

Despite Democrats attempts to demonize alternatives to the standard, bureaucratic public school system, the number of charter schools in North Carolina is set to pass 200.

From WRAL:

“The State Board of Education has approved 10 new charter schools to open during the 2020-21 school year, including three in Wake County. Thursday’s vote means the state has now approved more than 200 charter schools since the program began in 1996.

Charters, which are publicly funded and privately run schools, have been booming in North Carolina with more than 109,000 students currently enrolled at 184 schools across the state. Twelve more charters will open this fall, followed by 10 the next year – putting the state’s count at 206 charter schools. […]

New charter schools approved to open in 2020-21 school year

• • CE Academy (Wake County)
  • Doral Academy of North Carolina (Wake County)
  • Wendell Falls Charter Academy (Wake County)
  • Alamance Community School (Alamance County)
  • Revolution Academy (Guilford County)
  • Robert J. Brown Leadership Academy (Guilford County)
  • Achievement Charter Academy (Harnett County)
  • MINA Charter School of Lee County (Lee County)
  • Wilmington School of the Arts (New Hanover County)
  • Elaine Riddick Charter (Perquimans County)

The Wake County Public School System planned to enroll 1,900 new students this school year but only grew by 42 students, or roughly two classrooms. A Wake schools’ spokeswoman attributed the slowdown to fewer children being born in Wake County, the aging of the county’s population and parents having more school choices, including charter schools.

The latest charter schools annual report showed charter enrollment in North Carolina has increased more than 200 percent in the past 10 years. State funding for them has grown from about $16.5 million in 1997, when there were 34 schools, to more than $580 million last school year, a 3,415% increase. Of the $8.93 billion in state funding for public education last school year, 6.5 percent was allotted to charter schools. […]”

The Wake County numbers indicate that, when allowed choices in education, alternatives to the traditional public school system are popular. It follows that attempts to stifle school choice expansion really only serves to trap students in government run school systems – control.

If certain Democrats really cared about quality education in line with their talking points, they would celebrate school choice, including private schools, charter schools, and home schooling. That being said, the school choice trend in North Carolina is a great one for students and parents who want the most for their children educationally.