North Carolina’s public education establishment has offered an ambivalent response — at best — to the growth of school choice since conservatives took control of the General Assembly in 2011 and the governor’s mansion in 2013. So when the chairman of the school board in North Carolina’s largest school district admitted that school choice forces his district to improve its performance, John Locke Foundation Director of Research and Education Studies Terry Stoops trumpeted the news. Stoops’ reaction to the comments from Wake County school board chairman Tom Benton attracted attention from the Cato Institute, Choice Media, and influential national education reform blogger Jay P. Greene.
The Raleigh News and Observer interviewed Stoops for an article about a new study that purports to show Wake County public schools’ economic impact. The N&O‘s “N.C. Insider” promoted that article. The Kernersville News published Stoops’ latest column debunking myths about public school teacher pay.
The Greensboro News and Record published Director of Fiscal Policy Studies Sarah Curry‘s research newsletter on government parks and recreation spending. The Winston-Salem Journal cited Director of Legal Studies Jon Guze‘s recent friend-of-the-court brief in a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s Map Act.
The News and Observer interviewed Vice President for Research and Resident Scholar Roy Cordato about a new state industrial rate discount approved by the N.C. Utilities Commission. The Lumberton Robesonian published Cordato’s column on solar energy myths and Health and Human Services Policy Analyst Katherine Restrepo‘s column on direct primary care’s positive impact on health care costs.
NCPoliticalNews.com promoted Restrepo’s column on DPC’s benefits for employers and state government, along with Director of Regulatory Studies Jon Sanders‘ research newsletter debunking renewable energy industry claims. N.C. Senate Republicans’ daily press email promoted Cordato’s column on a piece of global warming alarmism disguised as journalism in a recent edition of Raleigh’s News and Observer.
