Public Funds Public Schools Research Website
Rankings Information (See Statistics and Rankings below for more)
More Research and Resources
Budget and School Finance/Funding
- 2026 Highlights of the North Carolina Public School Budget, March 2026, Office of State Budget & Management
- 2025 Highlights of the North Carolina Public School Budget, March 2025, Office of State Budget & Management
- Making the Grade 2024: How Fair is Funding in Your State? full report December 2024, Ed. Law Center
- Making the Grade 2023: How Fair is Funding in Your State? December 2023, Ed. Law Center
- 2023-35 Budget (Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2023, a.k.a. HB259), September 2023, NC General Assembly
- Joint Conference Committee Report on the Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2023 (a.k.a. Money Report), September 2023, NC General Assembly
- 2023-25 NC Senate Budget Proposal and Conference Report, May 2023, NC General Assembly
- 2023-25 NC House Budget Proposal, April 2023, NC General Assembly
- 2023-25 Governor’s Budget Recommendations, March 2023, Office of State Budget & Management
- 2023 Highlights of the North Carolina Public School Budget, March 2023, NCDPI
- Making the Grade 2022: How Fair is School Funding in Your State?, December 2022, Ed. Law Center
- SL 2022-74; HB 103; Current Operations Appropriations Act of 2022, July 2022, NC General Assembly
- North Carolina Budget Report 2022, April 2022, NC Budget & Tax Center
- Financial Trends in Local Schools’ Covid-Aid Spending, February 2022, FutureEd
- NC Open Budget Information, 2022, The State of North Carolina
- Making the Grade 2021: How Fair is School Funding in Your State? October 2021, Ed. Law Center
- Highlights of the North Carolina Public School Budget, February 2021, NCDPI
- Highlights of the North Carolina Education Budget, May 2020, NCDPI
- Local School Finance Study, February 2020, Public School Forum of North Carolina
- 2019 Legislative Expansion Budget Proposal, March 2019, State Board of Education
- Highlights of the North Carolina Public School Budget, March 2019, North Carolina Department of Public Instruction
- 2019 Local School Finance Study, February 2019, Public School Forum of North Carolina
Charter Schools
- Report to the NC General Assembly: 2025 Annual Charter Schools Report, June 2026, NCDPI
- Report to the NC General Assembly: 2024 Annual Charter Schools Report, June 2025, NCDPI
- NC Charter Schools: Undermining Quality Education for All, May 2025, PSFNC
- Real Estate and Charter Schools: A Growing Industrial Complex, November 2023, In The Public Interest
- In Fact or Fallacy? An In-Depth Critique of the CREDO 2023 National Report, July 2023, NPE
- As a Matter of Fact: The National Charter School Study III 2023, June 2023, CREDO
- A Sharp Turn Right: A New Breed of Charter Schools Delivers the Conservative Agenda, June 2023, NPE
- Report to the NC General Assembly: 2022 Annual Charter Schools Report, June 2023, NCDPI
- Virtual Charter Students Have Worse Labor Market Outcomes as Young Adults, May 2023, Yoo, P. et. al., Annenberg EdWorkingPaper
- Chartered for Profit II: Pandemic Profiteering, January 2023, Network for Public Education
- How Charter Schools Undermine Good Education Policymaking, November 2022, Ladd, H., National Education Policy Center
- How Do Charter Schools Affect the Supply of Teachers from University-Based Education Programs? October 2022, Harris, D. & Penn, M., REACH
- Local Budget Stress: Charter Schools & Fixed Costs Stranded in Public Schools, 2022, Black, D., Public School Partners
- Another Day, Another Charter Scandal, 2022, Network for Public Education
- Report to the NC General Assembly: 2020 Annual Charter Schools Report, June 2021, NCDPI
- Chartered for Profit: The Hidden World of Charter Schools Operated for Financial Gain, April 2021, Network for Public Education
- 2018-19 Charter Schools Performance Framework Report, August 2020, NCDPI
- Broken Promises: An Analysis of Charter School Closures from 1999-2017, August 2020, NPE
- Report to the NC General Assembly: 2019 Annual Charter Schools Report, February 2020, NCDPI
- Still Asleep at the Wheel: How the Federal Charter Schools Program Results in a Pileup of Fraud and Waste, December 2019, NPE
- Charter School Effects on School Segregation, July 2019, Urban Institute
- State Charter Statutes NEA Report Card, May 2019, National Education Association
- Scoring States on Charter School Integration, April 2019, The Century Foundation
- Charter Schools and Labor Market Effects, March 2019, Dobbie, W., Fryer, R.G.
- Charters as a Driver of Resegregation, January 2018, UNC Charlotte
- The Fiscal Externalities of Charter Schools: Evidence from North Carolina, April 2018, Ladd, H.F. & Singleton, J. D., Economic Research Initiatives at Duke
- Stymied by Segregation: How Integration Can Transform North Carolina Schools and the Lives of Its Students, 2018, Kris Nordstrom, NC Justice Center
Early Childhood, Child Care & Families (see Pre-K & Preschool)
- Fiscal Facts: The 101 on CHILD-CARE needs that North Carolina should be funding during the pandemic, Logan Rockefeller Harris, October 06, 2020
- Strong and Thriving Families 2019/2020 Prevention Resource Guide, February 2020, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families
- State of Preschool Yearbooks 2018, April 2019, National Research for Early Education Institute
- NC Early Childhood Action Plan, February 2019, NCDHHS
- Want to Grow North Carolina’s Economy? Fix the Child Care Crisis, March 2019, Ready Nation Council for a Strong America
- 2019 Kids Count Data Book, June 2019, The Annie E Casey Foundation
College Readiness & Early College
- Study of Dual Enrollment Opportunities: A report to the North Carolina State Board of Education and the North Carolina General Assembly, July 2022, SERVE Center at UNCG
COVID-19
- Mask Use and Ventilation Improvements to Reduce COVID-19 Incidence in Elementary Schools — Georgia, November 16–December 11, 2020, May 21, 2021, Gettings et.al.; CDC
- A Dreams Assessment: The Dreams of Black Parents, Black Students, and Teachers During Covid and Beyond, April 2021, Village of Wisdom
- California Teachers and COVID-19: How the Pandemic Is Impacting the Teacher Workforce, March 2021, Carver-Thomas, Leung, & Burns; Learning Policy Institute
- Parents welcome additional, post-COVID educational support for their kids, March 2021, NPR/Ipsos poll
- Is it Safe to Reopen Schools? An Extensive Review of the Research, March 2021, Center on Reinventing Public Education
- 2021 Child Health Report Card. Focus on: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on NC families, February 2021, NC Child
General
- Public Schooling in America: Measuring Each State’s Commitment to Democratically Governed Schools, June 2026, Network for Public Education
- Public Schooling in America: Measuring Each State’s Commitment to Democratically Governed Schools, April 2022, Network for Public Education
- Top Education issues for 2021-22, February 2022, Public School Forum of North Carolina
- Top Education issues for 2021, January 2021, Public School Forum of North Carolina
- Top Education Issues for 2020, February 2020, Public School Forum of North Carolina
- Top 10 Education Issues for 2019, January 2019, Public School Forum of North Carolina
- Grading the States: A Report Card on Our Nation’s Commitment to Public Schools, June 2018, Network for Public Education & Schott Foundation for Public Education
Health & Well-Being (Health, Mental Health, Helping Professionals)
- Child Fatality Task Force: Annual Report to the Governor and General Assembly, February 2022, Child Fatality Task Force
- America’s School Mental Health Report Card, February 2022, Hopeful Futures Campaign
- The Role of School Nurses in Student Mental Health May 2021, NC Child
- Children Are Left Behind When States Fail to Expand Medicaid, February 2021, Searing, Corcoran, & Alker; Georgetown University,
- FILLING THE DATA GAP: Recommendations for Population-Level Measures of Young Children’s Social-Emotional Health in North Carolina, April 2020, North Carolina Early Childhood Foundation
- High school students’ feelings: Discoveries from a large national survey and an experience sampling study January 2020, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and Yale Child Study Center, Yale University
- Supporting Healthy Food Access in North Carolina, April 2019, North Carolina Healthy Food Retail Task Force
- Expanding Healthcare to Shrink Poverty: The Safeguard Effects of Health Coverage on Family Financial Stability in North Carolina, May 2019, NC Child
- Toxic Stress and Children’s Outcomes, May 2019, Economic Policy Institute
- COPS AND NO COUNSELORS How the Lack of School Mental Health Staff is Harming Students, March 2019, American Civil Liberties Union,
- Household Gun Ownership and Youth Suicide Rates at the State Level, 2005–2015, January 2019, American Journal of Preventative Medicine
- Healthier Students Are Better Learners: A Missing Link in School Reforms to Close the Achievement Gap, October 2011 Basch, C., Journal of School Health
Integration & Segregation
- States of Segregation, June 2026, The Segregation Tracking Project & Brown’s Promise
- Can Our Schools Capture the Educational Gains of Diversity? NC School Segregation, Alternatives and Possible Gains, May 2024, Ayscue, et. al. The Civil Rights Project, UCLA
- The Unfinished Battle for Integration in a Multiracial America – From Brown to Now, April 2024, Orfield & Pfleger, The Civil Rights Project, UCLA
- Fulfilling Brown’s Promise: A Call to Action to Mark the 70th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education, April 2024, Education Law Center
- Still Stymied: Why Integration Has Not Transformed North Carolina’s Schools, December 2022, Nordstrom, NC Justice Center
- North Carolina School Desegregation & Resegregation Timeline, 2022, Public School Forum
- Assessing Integration in Wake County, August 2022, Carter, et. al. Education Next
- K-12 Education: Student Population Has Significantly Diversified, but Many Schools Remain Divided Along Racial, Ethnic, and Socioeconomic Lines, June 2022, GAO
- Black Segregation Matters: School Resegregation and Black Educational Opportunity, December 2020, Orfield & Jarvie, The Civil Rights Project, UCLA
- Do Parents Really Want School Integration? January 2020, Torres & Weissbourd
- Socioeconomic-Based School Assignment Policy and Racial Segregation Levels: Evidence From the Wake County Public School System, June 2019, Carlson, et. al.
- The New White Flight, June 2019, Wilson, Duke Journal of Constitutional Law & Public Policy
- Harming our Common Future: America’s Segregated Schools 65 Years after Brown, May 2019, The Civil Rights Project UCLA
- Stymied by Segregation: How Integration Can Transform NC Schools and the Lives of Its Students, March 2018, Nordstrom & Dreier, NC Justice Center
- How Racially Diverse Schools and Classrooms Can Benefit All Students, February 2016, The Century Foundation
- Long-Run Impacts of School Desegregation & School Quality on Adult Attainments, January 2011, Johnson, National Bureau of Economic Research
Justice & Equity
- Racial Equity Report Cards, February 2019, Youth Justice Project
- Do All Students Have Access to Great Principals? January 2019, TN Research Alliance
Leandro
- Hoke County et. al v. State of North Carolina et. al (Leandro V Ruling), April 2, 2026, NC Supreme Court
- Hoke County et. al. v. State of North Carolina et. al (Leandro IV Ruling), November 2022, NC Supreme Court
- Data Tool: Leandro Funding Impact by District, September 2021, EveryChildNC
- Leandro Comprehensive Remedial Plan, 2021, NC State Defendants in Leandro Case
- Summary of the Leandro Comprehensive Remedial Plan, June 2021, Commission on Access to a Sound Basic Education, NC Governor’s Office
- Sound Basic Education for All: An Action Plan for North Carolina, December 2019, WestEd
Learning Outcomes & Achievement Gaps
- A Half Century of Student Progress Nationwide, August 2022; Education Next
- Not Too Late: Improving Academic Outcomes Among Adolescents, March 2021, Jonathan Guryan et. al.; National Bureau of Economic Research
- Are Achievement Gaps Related to Discipline Gaps? Evidence From National Data. 2019 Pearman, et. al.
LGBTQ+ & Gender
- GLSEN: LGBTQ issues in K-12 Education, website resources
- LGBTQ+ People and Substance Abuse: Statistics and Resources, March 2022, Alternative to Meds Center
- National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health 2021, May 2021, Trevor Project.
- Bullying and Suicide Risk among LGBTQ Youth, The Trevor Project, October. 14, 2021
- Suicidality Disparities by Sexual Identity Persist from Adolescence into Young Adulthood. February 2020, The Trevor Project, Green, A.E., Price-Feeney, M. & Dorison, S.H.
- National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health 2019, June 2019, The Trevor Project
- Gender Equity for Students, 2019, Education Civil Rights Alliance
Poverty, Child Poverty & Homeless Children
- We Don’t Have to Accept Childhood Poverty, March 2026, Kirkpatrick, M., Carolina Forward
- We Set People up for Impossible Decisions: Women and Low-Wage Work, December 2022, Hunt & Nichol, NC Poverty Research Fund
- The Status of Women in North Carolina: Poverty and Opportunity, March 2022, Shaw & Mariano; NC Department of Administration
- The Persistent and Pervasive Challenge of Child Poverty and Hunger in North Carolina, December 2021, Nichol & Hunt; NC Poverty Research Fund
- Child Poverty Increased Nationally During COVID, Especially Among Latino and Black Children, June 2021, Child Trends
- Federal Data Summary School Years 2015-2016 through 2017-2018. Education for Homeless Children and Youth, January 2020, National Center for Homeless Education
- Child Poverty in North Carolina: The Scope of the Problem, January 2019, NC Child
Pre-K & Preschool (see Early Childhood, Child Care & Families)
- Parents’ Earnings and the Returns to Universal Pre-Kindergarten, October 2024, Humphries, J. et. al, NBER
- Pre-K Enrollments and Teaching Environments in North Carolina Elementary Schools, August 2024, Muschkin, Ladd, & Sauval
- North Carolina 2024 NIEER page as pdf., June 2024, National Institute for Early Ed. Research
- State of Preschool 2024 Yearbook, June 2024, National Institute for Early Ed. Research
- Universal pre-K: The long-term benefits that exceed short-term costs, September 2022, Georgetown Univ. McCourt School of Public Policy
- Strong Foundations: Promoting Diverse and Inclusive Preschool Settings, 2022, The Hunt Institute, The Education Trust and others
- Breaking the Cycle? Intergenerational Effects of an Anti-Poverty Program in Early Childhood, January 2022, Texas A&M, Univ. Notre Dame
- The State of Preschool 2019, March 2020, The National Institute for Early Education Research
- Barriers to Expansion of NC Pre-K: Problems and Potential Solutions, January 2019, The National Institute for Early Education Research
- Evaluation of North Carolina Early Childhood Program among Middle School Students, January 2019, Duke University
Rural Education
- Why Rural Matters 2025, National Rural Education Association
- Why Rural Matters 2023, National Rural Education Association
- STEM Pathways of Rural and Small-Town Students: Opportunities to Learn, June 2021, Saw & Agger
- Why Rural Matters: The Time Is Now 2018-2019, November 2019, A Report of the Rural School and Community Trust
School Performance, Growth & Grades
- School Performance Grades: A Legislative Tool for Stigmatizing Non-White Schools, August 2021, Nordstrom & Tillitski; NC Justice Center
- NC Reform Model Annual Report Summary October 2019, NCDPI
School Privatization & Vouchers
- Education Savings Accounts: Program Evaluation, January 2026, TN Comptroller of the Treasury Office of Research and Education Accountability
- The Myth of Cost Savings from Private School Vouchers, September 2025, Public Funds Public Schools
- Federal Voucher Program – FAQs, August 2025, Public Funds Public Schools
- The Effects of Universal Vouchers on Private School Tuition and Enrollment: A National Analysis, September 2025, Harris, D. et. al, REACH
- The Mounting Trouble with Education Savings Accounts, April 2025, Abrams, S.E. National Education Policy Center
- Segregation Academies Across the South Are Getting Millions in Taxpayer Dollars, November 2024, Hawes, J.B. & Simon, M., ProPublica
- The Effect of Taxpayer-Funded Education Savings Accounts on Private School Tuition: Evidence from Iowa, April 2024, Fontana, J. & Jennings, L.A., Annenberg Institute
- Vouchers undermine efforts to provide an excellent public education for all, May 2024, Wething & Bivens, Economic Policy Institute
- The ABCs of NC School Vouchers, April 2024, PSFNC
- NC School Vouchers: Using Tax Dollars to Discriminate Against Students and Families, January 2024, PSFNC
- National Center for Public Education voucher toolkit, 2024, NCPE
- National Coalition for Public Schools voucher information
- New analysis shows many private schools in N.C. have more vouchers than students, June 2023, Nordstrom, NC Justice Center
- Reports: Charters, vouchers bleed traditional public school districts, May 2023, In the Public Interest
- Voucher Expansion Impact Analysis (NC SB 406 / HB 823), May 2023, NC Office of State Budget & Management
- State and local experience proves school vouchers are a failed policy that must be opposed, April 2023, Mast, N., Economic Policy Institute
- How School Voucher Programs Hurt Students, April 2023, Cowen, J., Michigan State University
- The Fiscal Consequences of Private School Vouchers, March 2023, Abrams, S. Koutsavlis, S., Public Funds Public Schools
- Tax Avoidance Continues to Fuel School Privatization Efforts, March 2023, Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy
- Evolving Evidence on School Voucher Effects, November 2022, Lubienski & Canbolat, CEEP
- How Milton Friedman Exploited White Supremacy to Privatize Education, September 2021, MacLean, Nancy
- When Public Dollars Fund Discrimination: How Private School Voucher Programs Harm the Students, March 2021, National Coalition for Public Education
- Legislative changes to voucher program will likely drain $272 million from NC over next decade, December 2020, Nordstrom, NC Justice Center
- School Vouchers in North Carolina 2014-2020, May 2020, Wettach, et. al., Duke Children’s Law Clinic
- A compilation of research showing that private school voucher programs are an ineffective use of public funds. May 2020, Public Funds Public Schools
- School Privatization Policy Brief, June 2019, Southern Education Foundation
- Research Shows Private School Vouchers Don’t Work for Students and Harm Public Schools, March 2020, Public Funds Public Schools
- An Analysis of North Carolina’s Private School Landscape, Dec. 2019 – Jan. 2020, Egalite, A. & Barriga, M. D., NCSU College of Education
- Impact of the Indiana Choice Scholarship Program: Achievement Effects for Students, August 2018, Waddington & Berends
- The Highly Negative Impact of Vouchers, March 2018, Center for American Progress
- More findings about vouchers and school test scores, and they are still negative, July 2017, Brookings
- The Effects of the Louisiana Scholarship Program on Student Achievement After Three Years, July 2017, Wolf, et. al., Ed. Research Alliance
- Evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After One Year, June 2017, Dynarski, et. al., IES
- School vouchers are not a proven strategy for improving student achievement, February 2017, Carnoy, Economic Policy Institute
- Evaluation of Ohio’s EdChoice Scholarship Program: Selection, Competition, and Performance Effects, July 2016, Figlio & Karbownik, Fordham
- Panel Paper: Participant and Competitive Effects of the Louisiana Student Scholarships for Education Excellence Program, First Year Impacts, November 2013, Mills et. al., Univ. of Arkansas
- Life After Vouchers: What Happens to Students Who Leave Private School for the Traditional Public Sector? June 2013, Carlson, D. Cowen, J. & Fleming, D. Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis
- Evaluation of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program: Impacts After Two Years, June 2008, Wolf, et. al, IES
School Safety
- NC S.A.F.E for Schools Resources
- Violence Against Educators and School Personnel: Crisis During COVID, 2022, American Psychological Association
- Trauma at School: The Impacts of Shootings on Students’ Human Capital and Economic Outcomes, 2022, National Bureau of Economic Research
- Report to the North Carolina General Assembly, March 2019, North Carolina Public Schools, State Board of Education, and Department of Public Instruction
- Protecting America’s Schools, 2019, U.S. Secret Service
Statistics & Rankings
- Making the Grade 2025: How Fair is School funding in Your State? Dec. 2025, Ed. Law Center
- K-12 Education Spotlight 2025, Nov. 2025, Reason Foundation
- Rankings of the States 2024 and Estimates of School Statistics 2025, April 2025, NEA
- Making the Grade 2024: How Fair is School funding in Your State? Dec. 2024, Ed. Law Center
- NC Statistical Summary for Private Schools 2024-25, NCDOA, Non-Public Education
- Rankings of the States 2023 and Estimates of School Statistics 2024, April 2024, NEA
- Making the Grade 2023: How Fair is School funding in Your State? Dec. 2023, Ed. Law Center
- NC Statistical Summary for Private Schools 2023-24, NCDOA, Non-Public Education
- Rankings of the States 2022 and Estimates of School Statistics 2023, April 2023, NEA
- Rankings of the States 2021 and Estimates of School Statistics 2022, April 2022, NEA
- Rankings of the States 2020 and Estimates of School Statistics 2021, April 2021, NEA
- Rankings of the States 2019 and Estimates of School Statistics 2020, June 2020,NEA
- Rankings of the States 2018 and Estimates of School Statistics 2019, April 2019, NEA
Teachers, Teacher Pay & Teacher Pipeline
- Teacher and Principal Attrition During the COVID-19 Pandemic in NC: Updated Analyses for the 2021-22 School Year, September 2022, Education Policy Initiative at Carolina
- Prioritizing Strategies to Racially Diversify the K-12 Teacher Workforce, 2022, Rand Corporation
- 2020-2021 State of the Teaching Profession in North Carolina, February 2022, NCDPI
- Stress Topped the Reasons Why Public School Teachers Quit, Even Before COVID-19, 2021, Diliberti et. al.; RAND Corporation
- Do Teacher Assistants Improve Student Outcomes? Evidence from School Funding Cutbacks in North Carolina, February 2021, Hemelt, Ladd, & Clifton
- The Long-Run Impacts of Same-Race Teachers; working paper, February 2021, Gershenson, S. et. al., National Bureau of Economic Research
- Frustration in the schools: Teachers speak out on pay, funding, and feeling valued, August 2019, 51st Annual PDK Poll,
- North Carolina’s “Average” Teacher Pay Myth, May 2019, Public School Forum of North Carolina
- Trends in the Teacher Wage and Compensation Penalties Through 2018, April 2019, Economic Policy Institute
- The teacher shortage is real, large and growing, and worse than we thought, March 26, 2019, EPI
- School Leaders’ Role in Empowering Teachers through SEL, January 2019, National Association of State Boards of Education
Technical Education
- Reports Outline Recommendations for Creating High-Quality Career and Technical Education, October 2021, Chiefs for Change
Vouchers (see School Privatization & Vouchers)