Yesterday, Carolina Journal’s Leonard Robinson III reported on a recent report from the N.C. Department of Public Instruction. According to Robinson:

 The report shows more than 80,000 additional students have chosen an educational option beyond their locally assigned district school between 2008 and 2018. Parents cite a variety of reasons to seek educational options beyond assigned district schools. 

These options include private schools, charter schools, and homeschooling. While there are many reasons a parent might choose to pull their child out of public school, Matthew McDill, president of North Carolinians for Home Education, explains the most common:

“There are three common reasons that parents pull out of public schools… Bullying, special needs such as learning or physical disabilities that require special attention, and public schools teaching values that are inconsistent with the religious and political values of the parents.”

The enrollment of children in these alternative schooling programs is expected to rise due to recent developments in this space. As Michael J. Fedewa, Diocese of Raleigh school superintendent, explains in the article:

“We eliminated the cap on public charter schools and we’ve created a trio of private school choice programs, all choices that are breaking down barriers so that families can access the education that they feel is the best fit for their child.”

According to JLF’s Terry Stoops,

“Enrollment figures are trending in favor of home, private, and charter school options,” said Stoops. “I suspect their market share to increase unless lawmakers decide to impose restrictions on schools of choice.”

Read the full story here. Learn more about school choice in North Carolina here.