The health and welfare of public education in North Carolina is being challenged on a number of fronts. Public Schools First NC has identified several areas of particular importance and concern. Learning more about these issues will help you advocate for what each child needs to succeed in school and in life.
Private School Vouchers
Private school vouchers use public dollars to fund private schooling, taking resources from our accountable, transparent public education system and sending them to an unaccountable private system. Vouchers come in many forms including the two we have in North Carolina: traditional vouchers and education savings accounts. Traditional vouchers use public funds to pay all or part of the private school tuition for students. Education savings accounts (ESAs) deposit public funds into a personal account managed by a parent or guardian. The funds are intended for use on educational expenses (e.g. tuition, tutoring, technology, curriculum). Learn more.
Teacher Pipeline and Teacher Pay
The teacher pipeline is an interconnected system that extends from recruiting individuals into the profession, developing them as teaching professionals, and retaining them through retirement. Teacher pay is an important aspect of the teacher pipeline and in NC it has failed to keep up with inflation or the rest of the nation. For more than a decade, the teacher pipeline in NC has been shrinking as fewer teachers enter the profession and more retire early or leave to pursue other careers. Learn more.
Charter Schools
Charter schools are publicly funded, tuition-free public schools exempt from most of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to traditional public schools. The 2023-24 school year opened with 211 charter schools located in 63 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. Charter schools served more than 138,000 students in 2022-23, which represents 8.9% of the state’s student population. Learn more.
Privatizing Our Public Schools
Privatization of public schools refers to efforts by policy makers to shift public funds into the private sector. Many think of privatization as the “corporate takeover” of our public schools because well-funded corporations and corporate leaders often lead this coordinated effort that could alter how America’s children are educated. Learn more.
Education Justice
The basis of equality of opportunity is belief that every American child, no matter the circumstances of his or her background, deserves a fair start in life. Public education can give even the poorest child a chance to excel through hard work, individual initiative, and the nurturing guidance of excellent teachers. Learn more.
Schools Our Students Deserve
Schools our students deserve rely on dedicated, experienced, career teachers. Those teachers need better pay, higher per pupil funding for more classroom resources, career protections, and the right to speak freely on behalf of our kids. If we don’t treat teaching as a profession, we won’t have professionals in our classrooms. Learn more.