COVID-19 prompted statewide public school closings. Those closings are bound to cause disruptions for teachers, students, parents, and others as the academic year resumes. Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation vice president for research and director of education studies, assesses the challenge schools will face returning to a normal schedule. He addresses the likelihood that students...
The coronavirus scare reminds us about government-erected barriers that stand in the way of an effective response. Jordan Roberts, John Locke Foundation health care policy analyst, discusses policy changes at the state level that would help North Carolina deal better with problems linked to the virus’s spread. Medicaid expansion has dominated the N.C. political debate...
Joe Biden’s win in the Democratic presidential primary topped the headlines, but voters made other significant choices in North Carolina’s March 3 election. Rick Henderson, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, analyzes key primary results. He looks ahead at the potential impact for the general election in November. Government rules can have a major impact on the food...
Carolina Journal recently broke the news that the N.C. Department of Transportation had purchased a former circus train and parked its cars in a wooded area near Spring Hope in Nash County. The CJ story stirred up interest in the transaction among lawmakers who oversee the DOT. It’s just the latest example of the impact...
Gov. Roy Cooper emerged from a recent meeting with business executives and proclaimed that none of them had asked for a tax cut. Cooper used that fact to bolster his opposition to reducing business taxation. The problem for Cooper is that every company cited in his comments about the meeting has taken advantage of targeted...
The John Locke Foundation and a dozen other public policy groups in other states have joined together to support a nationally significant court case designed to protect workers’ rights. The case involves a professor at a northeastern public university campus. He challenges a law requiring him to be linked to a labor union he opposes....
In a matter of weeks, N.C. voters will participate in the Super Tuesday elections. Democrats are likely to face heated presidential and U.S. Senate primaries, Republicans will decide who should face incumbent Roy Cooper in the governor’s race, and members of both parties will see other important races on primary ballots. No one will have...
A judge has asked the parties in the long-running Leandro school funding lawsuit to develop a joint plan. It would implement consultant’s recommendations for major changes in the state’s public education system, including $8 billion of new spending in the next eight years. Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation vice president for research and director of...
The John Locke Foundation will soon begin its fourth decade of work advancing liberty in North Carolina. As it moves forward, Amy O. Cooke will lead the organization as its fourth CEO. Cooke discusses her history with the liberty movement, her return to her family’s N.C. roots, and her hopes for her new role leading...
Kansas’ decision to move forward with Medicaid expansion has placed more pressure on North Carolina to follow suit. Jordan Roberts, John Locke Foundation health care policy analyst, assesses the potential impact of Kansas on the Medicaid expansion debate in this state. Republican legislators, especially in the N.C. Senate, have remained cool to all expansion proposals....
As National School Choice Week approaches, it’s a good time to highlight the growth of parental school choice in North Carolina. Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation vice president for research and director of education studies, sifts through the data. Stoops explains why more and more parents are opting for alternatives to traditional district schools. The...
