Independent journalist Jeff Bryant takes a look at some of the patterns developing among the folks who want to dismantle public education and sell off the parts.
In what is being touted as the “Golden Age of School Choice,” the option that is most popular with American families—to fund and attend their local public schools—is gradually being made less viable.
Take North Carolina, for instance. For years, the Republican-dominated state legislature has chosen to cut the state’s funding for public schools, resulting in a decline in inflation-adjusted per-student funding of about 13 percent since 2003, according to the NC Budget and Tax Center. The Education Law Center’s (ELC) 2025 national ranking of state education funding, “Making the Grade,” report shows that the Tar Heel State is dead last out of 51 states in school funding effort—a measure of PK–12 public education funding as a percentage of the state’s overall economic capacity (its GDP). “North Carolina spent $12,193 per student during the 2022–23 school year. That’s $5,660 less than the national average,” states WRAL News, citing the report. The state also ranks 46th in teacher pay.
A decades-long legal struggle to bring North Carolina’s school funding levels in line with its constitutional requirement, resulting from a state Supreme Court ruling in the Leandro v. State of North Carolina case in 1994, culminated in a decision by the current court. The state’s Supreme Court was “taken over” by a Republican majority and dismissed the Leandro ruling on procedural grounds with no possible recourse. “The court held that the trial court lacked the authority, or subject matter jurisdiction, to rule on this much more expansive case,” according to EdNC.
North Carolina lawmakers have also ramped up efforts to redirect taxpayer dollars for education to private operators through charter schools and private schools that opt into the state’s school voucher program.
Thanks to the legislature’s efforts to ease the process for opening and expanding charter schools, the percentage of students enrolled in charters has steadily increased, surpassing 10 percent since 2022–2023, raising the state’s rank for charter school growth to fourth in the nation, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools 2025 Enrollment Brief.
There’s lots more. Read the full article here.