2009

RALEIGH — Most public school districts in the region earn fair to poor grades in the John Locke Foundation’s second-annual ranking of “parent-friendly” schools. C and D grades…

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s ongoing struggles with double-digit unemployment raise questions about government claims dealing with economic recovery. That’s the assessment of the John Locke Foundation’s top budget analyst. Click…

In 2004, the legislature went too far in passing a complete and permanent ban on gun possession by all ex-felons. In August 2009, the North Carolina Supreme Court in Britt v. North Carolina held that those changes were unconstitutional as applied to the plaintiff, Barney Britt.

RALEIGH — North Carolina’s continuing struggles with unemployment paint a poor picture of the state’s strategy for attracting new jobs — especially the policy of awarding targeted tax breaks to…

Proposed spending for FY 2010 is $20.4 billion, $775 million more than actual spending FY 2009. Gov. Bev Perdue cut $1.7 billion in spending during fiscal year (FY) 2009 without causing further hardships in the state.

RALEIGH — Legislators need to overhaul North Carolina’s budget process before they force taxpayers to cough up billions of additional dollars in new taxes. That’s the assessment of the John…

RALEIGH — As North Carolina struggles with one of the nation’s worst unemployment rates, Gov. Beverly Perdue plans an Asian trip based on the same misguided economic development policies that…

According to the North Carolina General Statutes, school boards have three broad functions: 1) to maintain general control and supervision of all matters pertaining to the public schools, 2) to enforce and execute the school law, and 3) to ensure that the administration of schools is efficiently and more economically accomplished. To simplify the process of understanding the work of school boards, the John Locke Foundation has developed a checklist for school board candidates and citizens.

RALEIGH — School board candidates across North Carolina will need more than just a standard “for the children” campaign speech this year, thanks to a new, easy-to-use checklist from…

In 2008 the EPA dramatically tightened its standards for defining a high ozone day. Even under EPA’s more stringent new standard, North Carolina — both as a whole and within its major regions — has experienced significant reductions in the number of high ozone days.