State Rep. Greg Murphy has won the Republican runoff in this year’s special 3rd District congressional election. He moves on to face Democrat Allen Thomas, plus Libertarian and Constitution Party candidates, in the Sept. 10 general election. Rick Henderson, Carolina Journal editor-in-chief, analyzes developments in this contest and the special 9th District matchup between Republican Dan Bishop and Democrat Dan McCready. A new state law places more emphasis in N.C. high schools on economics and personal financial literacy. Lt. Gov. Dan Forest and colleagues on the N.C. State Board of Education recently discussed the creation of a mandatory high school class on those topics. You’ll hear highlights from their discussion. State lawmakers are helping some school districts fill teaching positions by making it easier to rehire recent retirees. Legislation designed to remove barriers for rehired retirees moved through the General Assembly this year. Some lawmakers continue to push for reform of North Carolina’s certificate-of-need restrictions. You’ll hear debate on the latest version of CON reform moving through the chambers of the state House and Senate. Families continue to turn to homeschooling and private schools as alternatives to the traditional public school system. Terry Stoops, John Locke Foundation vice president for research and director of education studies, analyzes the latest enrollment data for both forms of parental school choice.