From Wilmington area reporter Ann McAdams:
WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) – The state legislature lifted the cap on public charter schools last year, which used to limit the number of charter schools to 100.
Charter schools are essentially privately run schools – funded by public dollars. In our area there are four – Cape Fear Center for Inquiry and the Wilmington Preparatory Academy in Wilmington, Charter Day School in Leland, and Columbus Charter School in Whiteville.
Now that the cap has been lifted, dozens of applications to start new charter schools have been submitted. A regulatory board in Raleigh reviews the applications, and then decides which ones get to proceed for final approval by the state board of education.
As this is happening, we are learning some interesting things about how charter schools are selected, and just how much money there is to be made running one.