Heritage Foundation Leadership for America

Background/Footnotes: North Carolina's charter school law was passed in 1996.[1] Under this legislation, any individual, group, or nonprofit corporation can apply to open a charter school. The state, the University of North Carolina, and local boards of education may grant charters. Local and university chartered schools must be approved by the state board of education. The number of five-year charters is capped at five per district per year, with a maximum of 100 charter schools allowed in the state.[2]

A Manhattan Institute study released in 2000 compared the academic achievement of recipients of privately funded vouchers in Charlotte with that of students who remained in the public schools. Since all students in the study had applied for the scholarships and recipients were determined by lottery, the researcher had both a control group and a "treated" group to compare. After one year, the students who had received vouchers had improved their scores on national standardized math tests by 5.9 to 6.2 national percentile ranking points and their reading scores by 5.4 to 7.7 national percentile ranking points. In addition, parental satisfaction and student satisfaction were higher for those in voucher programs. The author of the study, Jay P. Greene, found that "choice parents were also nearly twice as likely to report being 'very satisfied' with virtually all aspects of their children's school."[3]

A surge of charter school applications in 2001 resulted in an attempt by legislators to remove the limit on the number of charters allowed. Three new charter schools were approved in February 2001, bringing the total to 97; however, 33 additional applications had been submitted that year as well.[4] Four bills (House Bills 1207, 25, 26, and 29) were introduced to increase or remove the cap on charter schools, but all died in committee.[5]

In November 2001, a highly anticipated study of North Carolina charter schools was released. Researchers concluded that "wide variations in performance render any analyses that combine all charter schools together for the purpose of making comparisons largely unhelpful in estimating the 'effects' of charter schools on student achievement." The study found that charter schools, like public schools, "vary considerably among themselves," making it "difficult to speak of these schools as if they were a single entity." However, it also found that, in general, charter schools were smaller, had greater student turnover, and "served students who, for a variety of reasons, were not thriving in their regular placements." Because most charter schools were smaller than public schools, students received more personal attention. Also, parents were more likely to be involved in a student's education at a charter school.[6]

Gaston College Preparatory School, which was highlighted in a New York Times commentary, provides an example of the potential of charter schools. The commentary noted that, "In the year before they attended Gaston, only 53 percent of the first class of fifth-graders had passed the North Carolina statewide reading test. After one year at Gaston, 93 percent passed, including 82 percent of the special-education students."[7]

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district (CMS), the 23rd largest in the nation, implemented a limited district wide school choice system for the 2002-2003 school year. Court cases delayed enactment of the school choice program until 2002. In April 2002, the Supreme Court of the United States declared CMS "unitary," which means that the district has met desegregation standards. This ruling ended a conflict that ran nearly 40 years in the courts over the district's desegregation strategies of race-based busing and magnet schools.[8] Under a new student assignment plan adopted by the board, the district was divided into four "geographic choice zones, allowing students to attend any of the schools in their assigned zone" if space was available.[9] The plan "guarantees availability of a 'home' school assignment choice for every student."[10]

On the 2003 National Assessment of Educational Progress Trial Urban District Mathematics and Reading Reports, Charlotte-Mecklenburg students performed on par with or exceeded the nationwide average in 4th and 8th grades. Their rates of proficiency were higher than other large city school districts.  Thirty-one percent of Charlotte-Mecklenburg 4th graders were proficient in reading, compared to 30 percent of students nationwide. Thirty percent of 8th graders in Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools were proficient in reading, equal to the national average. They exceeded the national average in math proficiency in the 4th grade (41 percent to 31 percent) and in the 8th grade (32 percent to 27 percent).[11]

In 2003, the school choice advocacy group Assignment By Choice proposed that a program similar to that of CMS be enacted in Wake County, the state's second largest school system, which still uses "forced busing."[12]

In April 2002, $1.5 million was donated to the Children's Scholarship Fund-Charlotte by Julian Roberts, who had founded the scholarship fund in 1999 with a donation in the same amount.[13]

Several bills to raise or eliminate the cap on charter schools were introduced. H.B. 31, which would have raised the cap to 110, passed in the House but received no further action.

In May 2004, Representative Rex Baker (R-91) introduced H.B. 1770,which would match federal funds received under the State Charter School Facilities Incentive Grants Program with appropriated funds in the state reserve. The bill did not receive consideration in the 2004 session.[14]

In the 2005 legislative session, several bills were introduced to expand the state's charter school program. S.B. 213, introduced by state Senator W. Edward Goodall (R-35), would remove the cap on the number of charter schools. The bill would also allow counties to levy property taxes to support operational and capital expenses for charter schools. S.B.490, introduced by state Senator Larry Shaw (D-21), would raise the cap on the number of charter schools that could be authorized. The bills stalled in committee.[15] Another attempt to raise the cap was made in an amendment to the state budget (S.B. 622), but the provision was removed.[16]

A survey of 3,000 Durham parents and public school employees found that they want more math, science, and technology, gifted and talented, visual arts, and accelerated learning programs in the district's nine magnet schools and five year-round schools. The system's executive director for choice programs said the results of this "choice schools" survey reflect the importance of choice and reform in the current educational landscape.[17]

In July, a survey conducted by the John William Pope Civitas Institute found that 52 percent of state residents support charter schools. Forty-six percent felt the cap on the number of charter schools in the state should be removed (36 percent were opposed and 18 were unsure). In addition 91 percent agreed that low and middle-income families should have the same educational choices as wealthy families, and 45 percent said that school choice makes all schools better by making them compete for students.[18]

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