NC Charter Schools: Undermining Quality Education for All |
North Carolina Charter Schools: Undermining Quality Education for All—the newly updated and just released report by Public Schools First NC—takes a close look at charter schools in North Carolina. The report shows how they fail to meet legislated goals and have evolved to become a separate, unequal system of public education at odds with state constitutional mandates. North Carolina charter schools are publicly funded elementary and secondary schools operated independently by non-profit organizations, some of which partner with for-profit groups. This report examines the three-decade North Carolina charter school experiment. It explores the original justifications for charter schools; addresses the pedagogical and operational differences among charter schools, including profiteering by charter management companies; considers the mechanisms through which charter schools evade accountability measures that apply to public schools; and addresses mixed student academic outcomes. The report identifies and analyzes four problematic features of charter schools that should trouble taxpayers, parents, and lawmakers: racial segregation, exclusionary student discipline, the rate of school closures, and financial mismanagement. Despite the public funding for and growth of charter schools, heightened scrutiny by taxpayers and policymakers is warranted. The 2025-26 school year began with over 210 operating charter schools, but charter sector turmoil was highlighted as one Guilford County charter school closed within months of opening, leaving parents scrambling to find a new school for their children. In the 2024-25 school year, charter schools received well over $1.18 billion in taxpayer money, even as public-school districts remain grossly underfunded. As a result, North Carolina now has two primary systems of elementary and secondary public schools – a system of charter schools and a system of traditional school systems – despite the state constitutional requirement that the General Assembly provide a “uniform system of free public schools.” Moreover, the growth of taxpayer-funded private school tuition vouchers adds a third system of state-funded education. |
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Background: Charter schools arrived in North Carolina through the “Charter Schools Act of 1996.” Since then, the stated purposes of charter schools – according to Chapter 115C, Article 14A of the North Carolina General Statutes – have been to: - improve student learning;
- increase learning opportunities for all students, with special emphasis on expanded learning experiences for students who are identified as at risk of academic failure or academically gifted;
- encourage the use of different and innovative teaching methods;
- create new professional opportunities for teachers, including the opportunities to be responsible for the learning program at the school site; and
- provide parents and students with expanded choices in the types of educational opportunities that are available within the public school system.
Lawmakers exempted charter schools from various statutes and rules and rules applicable to school districts. These exemptions enable charter schools to filter out certain students, to relax staffing expectations, and to minimize accountability. For example, charter schools are not required to provide transportation or free and reduced-priced meals for students. Charter schools need not follow the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. They can set their own school calendars. They can have whatever class sizes they want. Unlike their public-school counterparts, charter school educators have no specific professional development requirements. They are not required to have governance by citizen-elected school boards. Finally, they are not bound by competitive bidding requirements for contracted services. The report includes many examples of how charter schools have segregated our public school systems, creating schools with high concentrations of White students as well as schools with high concentrations of Black students. For example in 2025-26, Bear Grass Charter in Martin County had 89.3% White students while the closest traditional public school had 24.4% White students and the county average was 31.3% White students. In contrast, A.C.E. Academy in Cabarrus County had 77.0% Black students while the closest traditional elementary school had 16.5% Black students and the county average was 22.9% Black students. |
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Charter schools also drive segregation by family income. Raleigh Charter had just 6.4% of its students eligible for free/reduced price lunch while its closest neighbor had 27.4% and Wake County had 35.6%. |
Charter schools also drive segregation by family income. Raleigh Charter had just 6.4% of its students eligible for free/reduced price lunch while its closest neighbor had 27.4% and Wake County had 35.6%. The number of North Carolina charter schools is likely to grow rapidly in the next few years aided by a $53 million grant from the US Department of Education. State lawmakers should evaluate and revise policy to ensure that the schools live up to their promise to improve options for students instead of undermining quality education for all. |
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North Carolina's Failed Charter School Experiment |
A new publication by North Carolina Justice Center’s Kris Nordstrom takes a close look at what happened to student academic performance in the charter school sector after the school cap was lifted in 2011 and lawmakers moved nearly all aspects of charter school oversight from the State Board of Education to a newly created Charter School Advisory Board (CSAB) in 2013. North Carolina evaluates student growth using a program called EVASS. A positive growth index means that students are making year-over-year academic progress. Charter schools established before the CSAB (and the newer version - Charter School Review Board) was given oversight for charter schools have an overall positive growth index (0.87). Schools approved after the CSAB took over have a negative growth index (-.84). Schools approved in the most recent 5 years have even worse results. Their growth index is a stunningly bad -2.61. |
The rush to open charter schools after the cap was lifted has produced markedly poor results for students. Nordstrom states: “The data is clear: it’s time for North Carolina to stop creating new charter schools.” At the very least, the legislature should reinstate the State Board of Education as the final word on charter school approvals and renewals. READ MORE |
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| The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law that makes available a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment to all children with disabilities. The law ensures special education and related services to those children, supports early intervention services for infants and toddlers and their families, and awards competitive discretionary grants. The official history of IDEA began on November 29, 1975 when President Ford signed into law the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (EHA). Federal oversight of the law was the responsibility of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1975 to 1979 when it was transferred to the newly created US Department of Education. When the EHA was reauthorized in 1990 it officially became the The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Over the years, amendments were added to expand access to the law’s protections to children with a wider range of disabilities and ages (now birth through 21), increase expectations for teaching and learning, raise standards for educators, add transitional support for students and families, and require school districts to be the first line in handling disputes. However, with this year’s cuts to the US Department of Education, the future of IDEA is at risk. Staff cuts have slashed the number of people in the Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs, leaving few people to oversee state and local compliance. As responsibilities get pushed out to already overwhelmed states, parents and students will have fewer resources to fall back on when legally required services aren’t being delivered. |
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USDE Recategorizes Professions for Loan Purposes |
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| The US Department of Education released a proposal last week that adds limits to which fields will be considered “professions.” People pursuing degrees in fields included on the list of “professions” will have access to larger education loan amounts. Under the new guidelines, “professional” fields meet the following requirements: - Signify that students have the skills to begin practice in a particular profession
- Require a level of skill beyond that of a bachelor’s degree
- Be a doctoral level degree (with the exception of a Master’s in Divinity)
- Require at least six years of academic instruction (at least two of which are post-baccalaureate)
- Involve a profession that requires licensure
- Be included in the same four-digit CIP code as one of 11 professions explicitly mentioned in the regulation
The following degrees are not classified as professions under the new guidelines. Employee shortages in many of the fields listed may become even worse under the new guidelines as students have access to fewer loans. - Nursing
- Physician assistants
- Physical therapists
- Audiologists
- Architects
- Accountants
- Educators
- Social workers
The list of requirements/professions has not been finalized, so there is still time to contact lawmakers to express concerns. Use our email template to create a message that will be sent directly to your US lawmakers. |
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New Fact Sheets and Video! |
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| Multiple Dates, 7:00-8:30 pm: Resilience and ACES. Learn about Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES) and resilience. Join us for this award-winning, 60-minute film, Resilience: The Biology of Stress & The Science of Hope. This documentary examines how abuse, neglect, and other adverse childhood experiences affect children’s development & health outcomes in adulthood. This powerful movie is a conversation starter and a perspective changer. REGISTER HERE |
All screenings are on Thursday and include time for discussion. Invite a friend and contact us about setting up a private screening for your school staff, PTA, civic group, church, or synagogue. - January 22, 2026
- February 26, 2026
- March 26, 2026
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| Need a speaker for your next event or group meeting? PSFNC welcomes the opportunity to speak to your group or organization on public education-related topics. We offer our programs virtually to improve accessibility and attendance and therefore extend your reach. Our services are free of charge but may require travel-related expenses if the program is in-person. Email us at [email protected] for more information. |
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Words to Remember"Millions of families of color as well as poor whites stand to lose as they truly have no choice other than to enroll their children in underfunded, segregated schools, public, private, or charter. Choice has provided a safety net for some but the majority are in peril." — Jon Hale, The Choice We Face p. 165 |
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Help us support public schools!Public Schools First NC is a statewide nonpartisan, 501(c)(3) nonprofit focused solely on pre-K to 12 public education issues. We collaborate with parents, teachers, business and civic leaders, and communities across North Carolina to advocate for one unified system of public education that prepares each child for productive citizenship. |
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