The N.C. Court of Appeals delivered a blow Tuesday to a lawsuit against a 2018 state law allowing some towns to sponsor charter schools. The Appeals Court vacated a trial judge’s order that would have allowed the lawsuit to move forward. The appellate judges’ unanimous decision means the law, S.L. 2018-3, originally known as House...
The legal fight over North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Program focuses now on whether a single judge or a three-judge panel should hear the case. Lawyers for the state and the scholarships’ parent supporters have filed new briefs supporting the three-judge option. Separate filings in the case titled Kelly v. State of N.C. arrived Wednesday at...
For some, our strongest impulse is for government, an inherently coercive institution, to butt out of our private affairs and decisions. For others, the strongest impulse is to butt in.
The N.C. Court of Appeals has agreed to block further pretrial discovery in a lawsuit challenging the state’s Opportunity Scholarship Program. The court granted a request from parents defending the school choice program. Scholarship defenders had complained about the legal tactics employed by plaintiffs challenging OSP. Plaintiffs’ lawyers had been engaging in “extensive,” “burdensome, ”...
Two more documents filed late Friday with the N.C. Court of Appeals take aim at legal tactics employed by opponents of the Opportunity Scholarship Program. The filings also criticize the trial judge who has been overseeing a lawsuit challenging the program. “This appeal is about who will decide whether or not to take away educational...
Legislative defenders of North Carolina’s Opportunity Scholarship Program are asking the N.C. Court of Appeals to block “burdensome” trial court activity in a lawsuit challenging the program. They say trial court discovery should remain on hold until the Appeals Court resolves other issues in the case. In a lawsuit, “discovery” refers to the exchange of...
“’Learning loss’ is a false construct.” Those words came from the Twitter account of Tamika Walker Kelly, president of the N.C. Association of Educators, on March 3, 2021. The NCAE is the state chapter of the national teacher’s union. That sentiment hasn’t aged well a year later, to judge by the results of a new...
Andy Smarick, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, discusses microschooling’s growth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more here: “Microschooling and policy.”
A new poll from a national advocacy group shows 72% of registered voters support the concept of school choice, a big leap from when the COVID-19 pandemic began. The poll, commissioned by the American Federation for Children and conducted by RealClear Opinion Research, showed support for school choice across party lines — 82% of Republicans,...
Parents across North Carolina want their voices heard on what’s best for their children, especially after two years of lockdowns, mask mandates, and changing curriculum. Catherine Truitt, superintendent for the N.C. Department of Public Instruction is giving parents that platform through a new Parent Advisory Commission. “This Commission is focused on giving parents a seat...
Few of us would prefer to live in a community where there’s only one place to buy our groceries or clothing, one restaurant to get a bite, one channel to watch, one doctor to visit, or one lawyer to hire.
