For Part 1 in our Back To School series click here.

Since 2011, conservative leadership at the North Carolina General Assembly has expanded school choice for all North Carolina families. One of the first bills to become law in the new conservative majority of 2011 was removing the cap on charter schools in North Carolina, which anti-choice liberals had limited to no more than 100. Fourteen years later there are over 200 charter schools in operation in North Carolina, allowing more families to choose schools that best equip their children.

One of the programs at the center of improving educational access for all North Carolina students and families is the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which would help cover the cost of private school tuition for families, based on financial need. (The program awards more funding to lower income families.) In 2023 that program was expanded at the NCGA by over $200 million per year. When demand exploded for the program, conservative leaders again increased the investment by the state, raising the appropriated amount by more than $200 million per year once again. The total investment just for FY 2025-26 went from $206.5 million to $625 million. The number of Opportunity Scholarships awarded rose from 32,549 in the 2023-24 school year to 80,325 in the 2024-25 school year.

Between the doubling of Charter Schools and tripling of the available Opportunity Scholarship funds, North Carolina students and families have never had more options to ensure their children receive the education that best matches the child’s skills and best prepares them for the workforce.

Coupled with the overall increased investment in education discussed in Part 1, this approach to increasing choice stands in stark contrast to the cuts and one-size-fits-all approach prior to 2011.