Three issues generated publicity this week for Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation Director of Education Studies. The first involves the State Board of Education’s plans to gut most pre-1877 American history from the state curriculum. Concerns about this proposed change helped earn Stoops an appearance on Fox News, including a quotation in a Fox News blog. Stoops’ comments also ended up in an Associated Press report credited to Brett Baier of Fox News’ “Special Report.” Stoops also discussed this issue with both the N.C. News Network and WPTF Radio’s Bill LuMaye. Even the Ethiopian Review took interest in the story. The week’s second major story focused on charter schools. Stoops’ latest Spotlight report demonstrated that stringent new state charter school standards would end up closing more than 150 traditional schools if applied equally statewide. Stoops discussed his report with Matt Mittan on both WBT and WWNC Radio. The Lincoln Tribune republished a CJ exclusive on the report, the Beaufort Observer and Baysboro County Compass picked up the story, and the Salisbury Post based an editorial on Stoops’ findings. EducationNews.org also publicized Stoops’ research, leading to an Alliance Defense Fund Alliance Alert. The third issue centers on North Carolina’s refusal to lift the state’s cap of 100 charter schools, even if that means sacrificing federal education dollars. Stoops wrote an op-ed on the topic for the News & Observer. That piece generated a response letter from an education researcher. The Wilson Daily Times also published Stoops’ separate Carolina Beat on the same issue. In other news, both the Clay County Progress and Smoky Mountain Sentinel published reports recently highlighting Stoops’ 2009 finding that the Clay County public schools are the most “parent-friendly” in the state.