North Carolina’s win in the Race to the Top federal education grant competition proves surprising to Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina.
From a PEFNC news release:
“From the beginning, the Race to the Top program placed heavy emphasis on the role of charter schools and the importance of supporting high-quality charter school movements,” said Darrell Allison, President of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina. “Rewarding a state like North Carolina, where charter laws are restrictive not only because of the arbitrary cap but also because of inequities in funding and operation, is confusing to say the least.”
Todd Ziebarth, Vice President for Policy with the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, agrees that the decision is not in keeping with the original intent of Race to the Top.“Considering that other states took meaningful legislative action on charter schools to better compete for the federal initiative, we did not expect the U.S. Department of Education to select a state like North Carolina,” said Ziebarth.
