A Wallace couple is heading to federal prison for its role in defrauding the federal government of millions of dollars in phony tax refunds. Carolina Journal has been documenting the tax fraud story of Perfecto Ruano and Walda Luna in a series of articles dating back to February. Editor-in-chief Rick Henderson assesses the resolution of the case, which involved charges of $12 million in refund fraud. People from across the political spectrum want to see improvement in North Carolina’s public schools. Former state Rep. Marcus Brandon approaches that goal now as executive director of the education advocacy group Carolina CAN. Brandon says one key component of the effort to improve N.C. schools involves shifting away from a top-down approach emphasizing state government. Now that North Carolina has paid off a more than $2.5 billion debt to the federal government for unemployment benefits, state leaders are trying to decide how much money to keep in the state’s unemployment reserve fund. That fund holds more than $2 billion now. You’ll hear highlights from a recent legislative debate about the issue. Colleges and universities have touted the value of academic freedom for centuries. But the concept of academic freedom takes on a new dimension during the age of political correctness on campus. The John W. Pope Center for Higher Education Policy recently released a report on the topic, then invited experts from inside and outside academia to debate its merits in New York City. You’ll hear highlights from the program. Few people understand the details of North Carolina’s multibillion-dollar public education budget. The General Assembly’s Program Evaluation Division released a recent report highlighting the lack of transparency in school funding. It also suggested that wealthier school systems are likely to take a higher share of the state’s education funds than their poorer counterparts. Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation director of research and education studies, analyzes the report’s key findings and offers his own recommendations for the best way for lawmakers to address future funding.