Our Reports
NC K-12 Private Schools 2024-25: A Review of Curriculum (August 2026)
Our report focuses on the curriculum taught in North Carolina’s K-12 private schools that received vouchers for the 2025-2026 school year. We found that the majority of voucher-receiving private schools use a biblical worldview curriculum that some education experts worry does not have the academic content and rigor required by the North Carolina Standard Course of Study when preparing students for postsecondary options.
North Carolina School Vouchers: Destroying Public Education (January 2026)
Our new report examines North Carolina’s decade-long and failing voucher experiment. It describes the history of voucher programs in the state, explores the original justifications for implementing them, and documents their growth; analyzes the pedagogical and operational differences between public and private schools; considers the mechanisms through which private schools are exempt from accountability measures that apply to public schools; and discusses problems with voucher programs in North Carolina and in other states, including poor academic outcomes.
NC School Vouchers: Using Tax Dollars to Discriminate Against Students & Families (no appendix), July 2025
- APPENDIX for NC School Vouchers: Using Tax Dollars to Discriminate Against Students & Families, July 2025
Our report identifies the many policies and practices used by North Carolina’s voucher-accepting private schools to screen applicants to secure their desired student population. The policies range from exclusions based on religious beliefs of students and family members, to academic performance, disability status, and whether an applicant or family member is part of the LGBTQ+ community. The report provides examples and recommendations for lawmakers.
NC Charter Schools: Undermining Quality Education for All (November 2025)
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. Charter schools first opened in North Carolina in 1997. In 2011, despite evidence of uneven student outcomes, lawmakers abandoned the original statewide numerical cap.
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)