The John William Pope Foundation has released a new profile of JLF’s education guru.
The odds have always been against Terry Stoops.
As an advocate for expanding parental choice in education, Terry has been a minority in a world dominated by education bureaucrats. He has faced formidable foes in North Carolina — the education establishment, including the powerful N.C. Association of Educators — that stand against parental empowerment and choice and fight to maintain the status quo.
But Terry has never backed down from the fight, and recently his commitment has produced results.
Since a Republican majority took control of the North Carolina legislature in 2011, Terry has played an even more important role contributing to the policy dialog on schools — and he’s been a leader in reaching common sense reforms.
As Director of Research at the John Locke Foundation, a free-market think tank in Raleigh, North Carolina, Terry has cultivated a simple philosophy: provide more options in education so that families and children may flourish.
“The public school system isn’t going to meet the needs of every child,” Terry said. “Our goal is to ensure that those children who are struggling in their traditional public school have the option to find a school that better meets their needs.”
It’s a unique role in the policy world: bringing a freedom- and choice-centric message to the area of education.
