Tony Tata raised eyebrows recently when he resigned abruptly as secretary of the N.C. Department of Transportation. Carolina Journal’s Rick Henderson analyzes Tata’s accomplishments at DOT and discusses speculation about the former Army general’s political future. Next, parents across the state are celebrating, now that the N.C. Supreme Court has upheld the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program. It gives low-income families a voucher to send their kids to private schools. The group Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina recently celebrated the ruling. You’ll hear reaction from PEFNC’s Darrell Allison and Raleigh parent Delicia Hare. Much of the discussion about improving public education focuses on teachers. Some state lawmakers want to place a new emphasis on better school principals as well. They recently debated legislation that aims to help boost the number of good principals across North Carolina. The General Assembly also voted recently to end “protest petitions,” a device neighbors had used to help block development proposals in cities across North Carolina. As a state House debate on the measure showed, the split for and against protest petitions did not break down along strictly ideological lines. Next, the John Locke Foundation’s Terry Stoops, director of research and education studies, assesses the potential impact of the Supreme Court’s voucher ruling.
DOT Secretary’s Abrupt Resignation Leads to Questions
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