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Good evening,

North Carolina thrives when liberty leads — when families, farmers, and entrepreneurs make decisions for themselves instead of being overruled by bureaucrats.

That’s why your support of the John Locke Foundation matters now more than ever. ([link removed])

In 2025 alone, your partnership helped us secure three landmark victories:
* Restoring affordable energy — through the Power Bill Reduction Act, ensuring least-cost energy and protecting ratepayers.
* Defending personal privacy — with the Personal Privacy Protection Act, safeguarding citizens’ right to give freely to causes they believe in.
* Checking government overreach — by requiring legislative approval for high-cost regulations.

But the fight for freedom doesn’t end there. Locke is leading the way in:
* Tax reform, to let families and small businesses keep more of what they earn.
* School choice, to give every child the opportunity to learn in an environment that fits them best.
* Free-market housing reform, to make homes more affordable without government interference.
* Agricultural freedom, to protect the farmers who feed and fuel North Carolina.

These battles take research, advocacy, and persistence — and none of it is possible without you.

Will you stand with us before our End of Year Deadline to protect freedom in every corner of our state? ([link removed])

Your gift ensures that when the government grows too large, someone is there to say, “Enough.”

Donate for Freedom ([link removed])
Esse quam videri,

Donald Bryson
CEO
John Locke Foundation

P.S. – We are so thankful for your support today and every day! Together, we are building a better future for North Carolina.

All the episodes are officially out! Watch/Listen to our NEW PODCAST, “Revolutionary Roads,” on YouTube or anywhere you get your podcasts.
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Check It Out! ([link removed])
RSVP today for the Carolina Liberty Conference!
Join us in Raleigh for the Carolina Liberty Conference, a landmark policy event exploring North Carolina policy, liberty, and innovation — commemorating the 250th anniversaries of both North Carolina and the United States.
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CLC 2026 will take place February 27–28, 2026, at the StateView Hotel in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Register Here! ([link removed])
More from Locke

1) 🚌🚌🚌 Want to pick your own traditional public school in NC? Move ([link removed])
* A 2025 report by the Reason Foundation ranked North Carolina one of the worst states in the country for promoting open enrollment in traditional K–12 public schools.
+ Open enrollment allows students to choose a public school other than the one they are residentially assigned to.
+ North Carolina has no statewide policy on open enrollment, and received a national ranking score of 0/100, tying for last place.
+ The lack of choice affects the three-quarters of K–12 students who attend traditional public schools in the state.
+ Despite the lack of policy, a Carolina Journal poll ([link removed]) in January 2025 showed strong public appetite, with 72% of respondents supporting the concept of open enrollment.
+ The report also found that more than 1.6 million students in 20 states used open enrollment to choose their public schools…
o And participation was greater in states with stronger open enrollment laws.
* Oklahoma continues to be a national leader for open enrollment, thanks for its strong laws, which require all districts to offer both cross-district and within-district transfers.
+ Oklahoma’s laws also prohibit discrimination against transfer students, require districts to publish transparent data on capacity, and allow families to appeal rejected transfer requests.
* In 2025, North Carolina lawmakers did introduce a bill that would have required within-district open enrollment statewide, which would have significantly improved the state's ranking.
+ The open enrollment legislation was later watered down to a study bill, which passed the House, but remains stalled in the Senate.
+ Although a study bill would be a small step in the right direction, it is ultimately unnecessary.
+ States like Wisconsin and Florida are clear examples that already demonstrate the benefits and logistical feasibility of effective open enrollment.

You can read the full report here ([link removed]) .

2) 🇨🇳🇨🇳🇨🇳 How socialism nearly starved out America’s first settlements ([link removed])
* Early American settlers quickly discerned the true consequences of socialism, most of them fatally.
* The story of first Thanksgiving is bound up with the move from socialism to free enterprise.
+ The very first English settlements in America, Jamestown (1607) and Plymouth (1620), initially adopted socialist principles.
+ Jamestown originally held land as a collective asset, where output was shared equally regardless of work contributed.
o This led to widespread laziness, with settlers "shirking" from work and neglecting fishing and growing food, resulting in a cruel famine that killed most of the population.
+ In 1614, Governor Sir Thomas Dale began assigning three-acre plots to settlers for their own use.
+ The move to private ownership instantly improved productivity "at least sevenfold," leading to a transformation from "starvelings" to entrepreneurs energetically growing profitable crops like tobacco.
* The Pilgrims at Plymouth also adopted a system where everyone shared in the work and the produce, resulting in similar problems of famine and a high death toll.
+ In desperation, Governor William Bradford assigned a parcel of land to every family for their own use, moving away from collective enterprise.
+ This change made "all hands very industrious," resulting in much more corn being planted and a quick shift from famine to "plenty."
* The abundance following the move to private property and free enterprise in 1623 is what made the first Thanksgiving celebration possible.

You can read the full article here ([link removed]) .

3) 🦃🦃🦃 Education in NC and Thanksgiving: much to be thankful for ([link removed])
* Thanksgiving, the great American holiday, offers the perfect time to practice what we preach and count our many blessings…
* … So, here are 10 things that make us grateful to write about education in North Carolina:
+ Living in the United States
+ Appreciation for North Carolina
+ Deep Care for Children
+ Access to Key Data
+ North Carolina's "Can-Do" Attitude
+ Educational Choices
+ Success of the Opportunity Scholarship
+ Accountability in School Finance
+ Excellent Teachers
+ Cost-Effective Fixes

You can get the full picture here ([link removed]) .

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