Charter Schools

The number of charter schools in North Carolina has increased steadily since the state lifted the 100-school limit in 2011. But the coming school year will be the first with no growth.

North Carolina's Charter School Review Board approved dramatic expansion Monday for two Charlotte charter schools despite low test scores. That wasn't allowed until the law changed last year.

North Carolina's charter school enrollment is booming, but nine of 12 schools approved to open this August have postponed because of trouble finding buildings and recruiting students.

A decade ago, about 85%of North Carolina students attended their local school district. Last school year, that percentage fell to fewer than 77 percent as more students move to charter schools, private schools and home schools.

The policy is a reaction to a law passed in August that took authority away from the State Board of Education to decide when to open and close charter schools.

The justices declined without comment Monday to hear an appeal from the Charter Day School in the eastern North Carolina town of Leland. A federal appeals court had ruled the school’s dress code violated students' constitutional rights.

Public money for private school tuition would be available to all of North Carolina's K-12 students regardless of income under Republican-backed legislation that began advancing in the General Assembly on Wednesday.

A majority of the full U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals found that the dress code at Charter Day School in Leland violated female students' equal protection rights.

This fall marks 25 years since charter schools first began opening in North Carolina. They now serve almost 9% of all public school students.

The plaintiffs argued the new option for Matthews, Mint Hill, Huntersville and Cornelius would create essentially new town school districts that siphon money from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools.