Press Releases

Read news directly from Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina.

Cooper Guts Future Funding for the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship Program

Raleigh, NC – Today, Governor Roy Cooper continued his ongoing assault on school choice in North Carolina. The Governor, in his budget proposal, guts future funding for the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship Program. The Program, deemed as “an expense we should stop in our state” according to Governor Cooper, has grown from serving just over 1,200 students in 2014 to 12,284 students for the 2019-2020 school year, with 15,000 scholarships available to students to enroll in the private school of their parents’ choice this school year (2020-21). Year-in and year-out, thousands of North Carolina families apply for the scholarship program, a trend that the Governor looks to stop in its tracks with his budget proposal.


PEFNC Applauds Institute for Justice and Parent Intervention in Support of Opportunity Scholarships

Today, Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC) praised three North Carolina families for their intervention with the Institute for Justice in defense of the Opportunity Scholarship Program. The parents, who would be harmed if Opportunity Scholarships are ended, are intervening in a recent lawsuit by the NC Association of Educators (NCAE) that challenges the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP).


PEFNC releases NC parent survey on distance learning, school reopenings

PEFNC releases comprehensive survey of NC parent attitudes on distance learning, school reopenings for 2020-2021 school year during COVID-19 pandemic

Parents are evenly split on return to in-person school vs. online or hybrid, while 93% are more inclined to support school choice policies during the pandemic

Raleigh (July 20, 2020) – Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC), the state’s leading school-choice advocacy organization, has released the results of a new survey of 835 NC parents on their experience with distance learning—plus their comfort level with returning to school this year—during the COVID-19 pandemic. See a summary of the data or download the full report.


U.S. Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Families and Education Freedom

In a landmark victory for education freedom, today the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of children and families in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue in a 5-4 decision.


Long: Give families the help and attention they deserve

Mike Long, President of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, today released the following statement on Senate Bill 857 (Private School Families Tax Incentive), a newly introduced bill in the N.C. Senate that seeks to provide assistance to school choice families.


PEFNC denounces N.C. House lawmakers for trying to take Opportunity Scholarships away from low-income families

Mike Long, President of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, today released the following statement regarding House Bill 1129, a newly introduced bill in the N.C. House that seeks to abolish the North Carolina Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP).

“Our state is embroiled in a once-in-a-century global pandemic. People’s bank accounts are being impacted every day, especially those of working-class families in North Carolina. And yet, in the middle of this crisis, a small group of House lawmakers want to take away the Opportunity Scholarship Program, which currently enables 12,283 students in our state to get the education they deserve,” Long said. “Outrageously, this effort to end Opportunity Scholarships is hidden in a broader bill that seeks to respond to recent court decisions on the Leandro case providing ‘a sound basic education’ to all NC children. Our message to sponsors of the bill: You cannot to take away educational opportunity freely chosen by thousands of families. You cannot advance Leandro policy on the backs of these students.”


Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina on the passing of Representative Linda Johnson

Raleigh, NC (February 19, 2020) -- Mike Long, President of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC) released the following statement after the passing of North Carolina Representative Linda Johnson.


To celebrate National School Choice Week, PEFNC hosts free movie screening of “Miss Virginia”

Raleigh (January 27, 2020) – North Carolina’s leading school-choice advocacy organization, Parents for Educational Freedom (PEFNC), is hosting a free film screening for “Miss Virginia” on January 28 at 6:30pm at the Cameo Art House Theater in downtown Fayetteville. Free popcorn and soda will be provided.


PEFNC celebrates National School Choice Week in Charlotte

Raleigh (January 27, 2020) – Students, parents, teachers, and school leaders will celebrate educational access for all at a National School Choice Week rally in Charlotte on Friday, January 31, running from 10am to 11am at the Discovery Place in uptown. Sponsored by Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC), the state’s leading voice for parental choice in education, the event will include a Student Showcase, highlighting the various talents of students in the greater Charlotte area.


2020 applications set to open for North Carolina’s trio of school choice programs

Raleigh (January 27, 2020) – Applications for North Carolina’s trio of school-choice scholarship programs—the Opportunity Scholarship Program (OSP), Children with Disabilities Grant (CWD), and Education Savings Account (ESA)—are set to open this week (applications are officially open on January 31st), reports Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC), the state’s leading voice for school choice.