Poverty Alleviation

News & Observer editors write frequently about their concern for the poor and the need to provide North Carolinians access to quality educational opportunities — which the Opportunity Scholarship Program meets by providing low- and moderate-income students the opportunity to access a better education. Instead of seeing Opportunity Scholarships as a lifeline for needy students, editors claim the program lacks accountability, diverts much-needed funds away from the public schools, and serves as a vehicle for discrimination. Such claims falter under close review, raising further doubts about the editors’ intentions and more questions about their public embrace of teachers’ unions.

As crime soars and the breakdown of public order takes its toll on our country, analysis from the John Locke Foundation signals it’s time to adopt a different approach to…

Executive Summary Charlotte’s ranking in a 2014 study as 50th of 50 large cities for economic mobility ignited an effort among city leaders to understand the causes and propose solutions.

Learning Loss Education Savings Accounts can remedy the damaging impacts of students being out of the classroom and empower parents to find the educational option that best fits their child’s needs. The American Rescue Plan Act expands the child tax credit to $3,000 or $3,600, depending on the age of the child, and this change can greatly aid the ability of parents to afford private school.

NC's standard in law for electricity provision is least-cost, reliable electricity at the flip of a switch. State electricity policy, however, is too often directed by "stakeholders" whose desires clash with that legal standard, to the detriment especially of poor consumers. House Bill 529 would restore and boost the state's protection of electricity consumers from unnecessarily high costs.

Support for school choice is strong nationally and resulted in new programs and expansions in many states. North Carolina legislation to expand choice programs and grant a tax credit to homeschooling families, if approved, would increase the amount of the assistance as well as the number of people using school choice programs.

The future of public charter schools in North Carolina may depend on who controls the General Assembly and occupies Council of State offices. If you are a charter school parent like me or simply want to ensure that all families have plentiful educational options, it is critical that you consider candidates’ views of charter schools.

In his 2015 book The Conservative Heart, Arthur Brooks argued that conservatives should explain their good intentions and offer policy proposals that would demonstrate them. His suggestions were good…

“There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up,” Booker T. Washington said. We have had a reminder in recent weeks that…

A message from our CEO Amy Cooke: Thomas Jefferson said, “Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty.” All of us at the John Locke…