Cover

• Is the National Education Association an arm of the Democratic National Committee? A conservative legal foundation in Virginia tells the IRS that it is. Page 1

North Carolina

• State Republicans, as they had threatened, sue their Democrat counterparts over alleged unconstitutional redistricting. Page 4
• The state’s Environmental Management Commission makes a rule so it can maintain control of isolated wetlands on private property. Page 5
• In approving millions in debt for prisons, the legislature sidestepped the constitutional requirement to seek voter approval for such capital projects. Page 5

Education

• School choice programs in North Carolina improve student achievement and increase parental involvement, according to an independent study. Page 7
• Lindalyn Kakedelis, former Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member, writes that families deserve to have their choice in schools. Page 7
• Two reports find that smaller schools improve education, but North Carolina schools are getting larger. Page 8
• Toisnot Middle School in Wilson is one of the best high-poverty middle schools in the state. Page 9

Higher Education

• Former campus radical turned conservative David Horowitz comes to North Carolina, unleashing heavy criticism on UNC-CH for antiwar demonstrations. Page 10
• A former Black Panther leader spoke at Duke University Nov. 15 to an apparently receptive crowd. Page 11
• Duke offered femininity, fantasies, sexualities and dinosaurs as course of the month choices for CJ, but we chose Marxism. Page 12
• Leftists are up in arms over a new report that urges college campuses to teach America’s history and principles. Page 12
• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill may open a business school in the totalitarian country of Qatar. Page 13

Local Government

• Foes of forced annexation and higher taxes turned out their votes and successfully elected their candidates last month. Page 14
• John Charles of the Cascade Policy Institute in Oregon discusses peak-period road pricing as a solution to traffic congestion. Page 15
• Randall O’Toole says federal grant monies for “smart growth” often end up in the hands of lobbyists. Page 16
• An interview with Dare County’s lone Republican commissioner Richard Johnson. Page 16
• Bicycle helmet giveaways in Pittsboro; Cary may spend more taxpayer money on “public” art; and other local news. Page 17

Learning Curve

• A review of Competition or Compulsion? The New Market Economy Versus the New Social Engineering, edited by Richard Ebeling. Page 18
• A review of The New Thought Police: Inside the Leftist Assault on Free Speech and Free Minds by Tammy Bruce. Page 19

Opinion

• Editorials on the DMV’s flawed license issuing policies and local campus antiwar protests. Page 20
• Editorials on subsidized home loans and the expansion of auto emissions inspection fees. Page 21
• State legislators have tried to defend their 2001 session as a successful defense of education, but John Hood says “hogwash.” Page 21
• Richard Wagner says national security trumps any First Amendment rights the media may claim to have. Page 22

Parting Shot

• The real tragedy of the legislature’s departure from Raleigh was that a “Clean Smokestacks” bill wasn’t passed, leaving the state’s mountains in a haze. Page 24