This week marks the 16th annual National School Choice Week. Every year, in recognition of National School Choice Week, the Carolina Journal Poll surveys likely North Carolina voters on matters of education. In this year’s poll, voters continued to show strong support for school choice programs, such as open enrollment, the Opportunity Scholarship Program, and charter schools.
The school choice program with the highest level of support was open enrollment. Open enrollment would allow students to transfer from their assigned public school to another public school of their choice, within their district, on a first-come, first-served basis, provided there is space. More than three-quarters (78.8%) of voters support open enrollment — up from 71.5% in January of last year. This strong support is not reflected in North Carolina’s education policy, as the Old North State ranked last in the most recent ranking of open enrollment laws, provided by the Reason Foundation.
“North Carolina ranks dead last on open enrollment laws, even as voter support continues to rise,” said Carolina Journal publisher and John Locke Foundation CEO Donald Bryson. “That gap between what North Carolinians want and our state’s education policy should be a wake-up call for lawmakers.”
When asked the most important reason to support open enrollment, 30.8% said it allows students to attend the school that best fits their needs, 21.6% said it upholds the right of the parents to direct the education and upbringing of their children, 20.1% said it expands access to public schools for families who could not otherwise afford to move to neighborhoods zoned for their desired school, 8.6% said it improves schools and districts by forcing them to compete for students, 1.4% said it provides a solution for declining enrollment in public schools, and 1.2% said it expands choice and extracurricular activities, including sports.
When asked the strongest reason for opposing open enrollment, 24.7% said it complicates student transportation, 14.3% said it leads to budgetary uncertainty within school districts, 11.6% said it promotes athletic recruiting among schools, 6.1% said there are already enough education choices, and 5.9% said it creates administrative or operational burdens for districts.
Regarding student transportation, a strong majority (62.3%) believe that should be the responsibility of the parent if their child does not attend their assigned public school, while 6.7% believe it should be the state’s responsibility, 6.2% believe it should be the receiving school’s responsibility, 0.9% believe it should be the sending school’s responsibility, and 19.7% believing it should be a shared responsibility.
The second most popular school choice program is the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP). The OSP, which provides state funding for families who choose to send their children to a private school, saw 63.7% support and 29.2% opposition. A majority of voters also support charter schools (57.4%); however, approval of charter schools has declined 11.3 points from the high of 68.7% in January of 2023. Support for state funding for charter schools’ capital expenditures is almost evenly divided, with 46.9% support for the state government providing money to charter schools to help them purchase land and buildings, and 47.3% opposition — well within the poll’s ±3.70% margin of error.
Similarly, 41.4% of voters oppose (and 36.4% support) Governor Stein’s veto of the necessary legislation to allow North Carolinians to participate in the Federal Tax Credit Scholarship Program, which would allow individuals to receive a federal tax credit of up to $1,700 for donating to approved scholarship-granting organizations that would use those funds for private school tuition, tutoring, or other educational expenses. Slightly over a quarter of voters (28%) were unsure.
Widespread support for school choice programs makes sense, as 67.8% of North Carolinians said that a child’s parents or guardians are best suited to determine where their child should attend school. By comparison, 17.6% say their local school boards are the best suited, 5.4% say the State Board of Education, and 2.4% say the US Department of Education.
When polled on their schooling preferences, a plurality of 44.5% said they would choose a private K-12 school if money were no object, whereas 29.5% said they would choose a public school, 10.5% said they would homeschool, 8.4% said a charter school, and 0.7% said a virtual school. As for where North Carolinians get their information about their school choice options, 30.9% say they get this information from friends and family, 23.5% say their local school district, 10.4% say education organizations, 9.9% say their current public school, and 5.2% say church or civic groups.
“Voters continue to strongly support school choice in North Carolina. While charter support has leveled off from recent highs, backing for private school options is growing again, showing parents remain committed to choice and focused on what works best for their children.” Bryson noted.
When asked why they would not send their child to a public school, 19.4% said academic quality, 16.6% said curriculum or educational values, 13% said a preference for private, charter, or homeschooling alternatives, 11.3% said school safety or bullying, 8% said teacher quality or staffing, 2.3% said lack of extracurricular or enrichment opportunities, and 0.3% said transportation challenges. A combined 29.2% did not choose one of these answers, as they were either unsure (5.4%) or said they would send their child to a public school (23.8%).
When asked about the purpose of K-12 education, 25.4% said the purpose is to develop skills for future employment, 22.8% said develop independent thinkers, 19.8% said master core academic subjects, 12.8% said develop good citizens, 6.2% said instill values, moral character, or religious values, 5.8% said improve the quality of the workforce, and 3.3% said learn to address and fix social problems.
A majority of voters (52.8%) said they were dissatisfied with the quality of K-12 education that students receive statewide in North Carolina public schools, compared to 29.2% who said they were satisfied. Local public schools fared slightly better, with a 47.1% dissatisfaction rate and a 34.9% satisfaction rate. When it comes to their local school board members, a plurality (31.8%) said they would grade them a “C,” 17.1% graded them a “B,” 16.5% graded them a “D,” 10.8% graded them an “F,” and only 3.6% graded them an “A.” When asked about the State Board of Education, 67.5% of North Carolinians said they would like to vote for the members, with 20.3% in opposition to electing State Board of Education members.
When questioned on school finances, only 20.4% of voters could accurately identify that North Carolina’s per-pupil spending falls between $10,000 and $14,999. Many voters mistakenly believe that the per-pupil spending is lower, with 21.8% believing it was between $5,000 and $9,999, and 12.2% believing it was less than $5,000. Only 12.9% believed that per-pupil spending was above $15,000. About a third of voters (32.6%) were unsure.
Once respondents were informed that North Carolina’s per-pupil spending is $13,100, a plurality of voters (42.9%) said that was “too little,” while 16.1% said it was “too much,” and 15.3% said it was an appropriate amount.
Many voters also believe that teacher pay should be increased, with a majority (51.3%) stating that higher teacher pay is essential regardless of student outcomes. A little more than a third of voters (34.5%) say teacher pay should be tied to student outcomes, 7.6% say student achievement should take priority over teacher pay, and 1.6% say teacher pay should remain unchanged.
These matters are among the top concerns for voters, as 34.3% state that the most challenging issue facing K-12 education is either a shortage of high-quality teachers (19.8%) or adequate finances (14.5%). In descending order, other top concerns included academic standards (14.4%), preparing students for the workforce (11.5%), curriculum concerns (10.1%), lack of parental involvement (10%), overcrowded classrooms (8.6%), and school safety (7%).
To address financial concerns, North Carolina schools received an influx of $6.2 billion following the outbreak of COVID-19. The major expenditures include salaries and benefits (52%), supplies and materials (21%), and purchased services (11%). Approximately 2% of total expenditures was spent on tutoring. Given this information, 45.4% of voters said COVID-19 education funds were spent poorly, 19.9% said the funds were spent well, and 12.9% said neither well nor poorly.
Almost half a billion of those dollars went to purchase computers, and three-quarters of North Carolina’s school systems say they don’t know how they’ll replace the laptops they purchased for students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, many schools are providing devices on a 1:1 basis, regardless of need. Our survey finds that most voters don’t believe that to be necessary, with 68.2% saying that either laptops should be provided based on educational need (44.5%), that schools should not prioritize laptops (15.3%), or that shared devices should be provided (8.4%). Only 26.5% of voters said that schools should provide laptops to every student.
Regardless of their opinions on how COVID dollars were spent, an overwhelming majority (82.6%) of voters said COVID-19-related shutdowns continue to have a negative impact on student achievement. Less than 5% of voters believed it had no impact, and only 1.6% of voters believe shutdowns had a positive impact.
