2008

RALEIGH — North Carolina earns a D grade for its Taxpayers’ Return on Investment, a new measure that compares states’ tax burdens to their performance in education, road quality, health,…

In 2006, in recognition of the need to attract and retain experienced administrators and teachers who teach subjects (Math and English/Language Arts) that are part of the state and federal accountability requirements, Guilford County Schools, the third largest school system in North Carolina, initiated Mission Possible. The program offers recruitment and performance incentives for teachers and administrators who teach in the county’s low-performing and low-income schools.

During the last legislative session, the North Carolina General Assembly voted to reestablish the Committee on Dropout Prevention and add $15 million to the existing $7 million for dropout prevention grants. The purpose of the dropout prevention grants is to raise the graduation rate. Among districts receiving grants last year, 27 of 38 had a declining graduation rate from the 2006-07 school year to the 2007-08 school year.

RALEIGH — More than 70 percent of the school districts that won state dropout prevention grants last year saw their graduation rates decline in 2008. A John Locke Foundation analyst…

RALEIGH — Consumers can blame North Carolina’s price-gouging law for the gas lines and shortages appearing in the wake of Hurricane Ike. That’s the assessment of a John Locke Foundation…

Although many Raleigh and Wake County taxpayers do not realize it, city and county officials knew from the beginning that the new Raleigh Convention Center would require taxpayers to pay for large operational losses and even pay large subsidies to organizations to use the facility. Even before the doors open on September 5, the losses and subsidies have begun to mount.

RALEIGH — Raleigh’s new downtown convention center already has offered almost $2.3 million in room rental discounts to secure convention business, including an average 58 percent discount for events scheduled…

RALEIGH — Clay County tax revenues climbed by more than 40 percent per person over the last five years, a fact that suggests the county does not need a new…

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s next General Assembly can promote freedom and prosperity by limiting government spending, rejecting policies that raise energy costs, and helping more parents make choices about their…

RALEIGH – The current controversy over Duke Energy’s Save-A-Watt program highlights problems linked to all government-mandated energy-efficiency plans. That’s the assessment of a John Locke Foundation analyst whose new…