A.P. Dillon of North State Journal recently wrote an in-depth story about the challenges and opportunities ahead for the state’s charter schools. Growth in the charter sector has introduced a landscape of both “growing pains” and “possibilities,” she wrote.
Cited experts include Bruce Friend, the chair of the state’s Charter Schools Review Board as well as the head of Pine Springs Preparatory–and Jennifer Nichols, who leads Aspire Trade High School. Both charter schools are members of the Coalition. Pine Springs Prep is located in Wake County while Aspire is in Mecklenburg County.
We share an excerpt from the article below:
RALEIGH — Public charter schools in North Carolina have seen a boom in recent years, with the 2023 report to the General Assembly citing 145,075 students enrolled for the 2022-23 year.
That enrollment number represents more than 10% of the total state enrollment, according to the report. At the time of the report, 210 schools were in operation.
The report also found big waitlists, with 169 charter schools reporting having a waitlist at the start of the 2023-24 school year totaling 85,551 students, a number that could include duplicate names as students are often waitlisted at multiple charter schools.
Read the full article in North State Journal.
Above: Shutterstock photo.
