public schools

The most critical challenge facing Wake County Public Schools is to find the most responsive, cost-efficient, and timely way to provide seats for a growing student population. In this regard, the school system’s proposed $1.056 billion school facilities spending plan falls short.

RALEIGH – The Wake County Public School System has missed the mark in developing its $1.056 billion school facilities spending plan. That’s the conclusion of a new John Locke Foundation…

RALEIGH – The Wake County Public School System could scale back its billion-dollar school construction and renovation plans without harm to student learning. That’s the key finding in a new…

Contrary to the claims of school officials and community leaders in Wake County, students do not necessarily perform better in schools that have fewer mobile units or temporary classrooms, more square feet per student, and more acreage. This finding is consistent with national and international research that found no consistent relationship between school facilities and learning. The Wake County Public School System can scale back their multi-billion construction and renovation plans without harm to student learning.

RALEIGH – More than 60 percent of Wake County voters would reject a school bond referendum that triggers a tax increase, according to a new poll commissioned by the John…

RALEIGH – In the last eight years, North Carolina public schools have increased in personnel by 19 percent, a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight shows. Even school districts that are…

Neither enrollment increases nor federal and state mandates can account for the 19 percent increase in school personnel over the last eight years. The glut of public school personnel hiring is evident in counties that have a declining student population. Despite losing nearly 10,000 students in eight years, these school districts added 819 employees. This shows that school districts actively maintain their bureaucracy even as the amount of work declines.

RALEIGH – Smaller class sizes do not translate into better public-school performance. That’s the key finding in a new analysis from the John Locke Foundation. The idea behind the state’s…

In November, the State Board of Education released the final report of the High Priority Schools Initiative, a four-year, $23 million class-size reduction program targeting low-performing and low-income elementary schools. The report offered no statistical evidence that smaller class sizes raised student achievement. Between the first and final year of the program, fewer schools met their state ABC growth targets and even fewer made Adequate Yearly Progress under the federal No Child Left Behind law. Reduced class sizes failed to significantly increase student performance on state reading assessments. In the future, legislators and policymakers should not fund class-size initiatives because of their expediency or popularity but because they produce measurable gains in student achievement.

A 2003 report from JLF and the NC Education Alliance looked at the availability and use of parental choice in the state. In 69 of 117 districts, parents had no public-school choice options. Eighty-seven percent of students in grades 3 to 8 attended public schools, with about 15 percent of all 3-8 students were enrolled in a public school of choice (including charters). About 6 percent of 3rd to 8th grade students were home schooled, and another 7 percent attended a private school outside the home.