We’re excited to share the recap video from our 2025 Charter Advocacy Summit earlier this month! Please take a look.
This year, 256 attendees, speakers, and sponsors registered for our 2025 Summit, representing 89 North Carolina charter schools. Many thanks to all who participated!
The Coalition’s 2025 Charter Advocacy Summit is a wrap! We had a packed reception honoring state lawmakers at the Merrimon-Wynne House in Raleigh on Wednesday evening. We were so pleased to see so many lawmakers, legislative staff members, and charter leaders turn out!
Dave Machado, the Coalition’s new executive director, addresses the crowd at Wednesday’s reception.
On Thursday, we opened the day-long Summit at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley Hotel with a sold-out crowd. We had more than 230 event registrants for the Summit.
Summit speakers and participants included state lawmakers, policymakers, charter leaders and other stakeholders, industry experts, vendors, and members of the media. We will follow up in the coming days with a deeper dive on coverage–and Summit resources–but we wanted to share a few highlights here.
House Speaker Destin Hall, Aaron Beaulieu, Sarah Crain-McCracken, Erica Nielsen, Matthew Mayo, Rory Spicer, Rep. Hugh Blackwell, Senator Brad Overcash, Donald Bryson, Cheryl Turner, Madeline Hannigan, Matthew Nielsen, Lee Teague, Bruce Friend, John Eldridge, Ashley Baquero, Ben Arcuri, Harry Kaplan, Amanda Falkenbury, Dylan Reel, Matthew Tilley, and Rep. James Roberson. View the final Summit agenda for more information about speakers.
Lindalyn Kakadelis, the Coalition’s outgoing executive director, and Coalition founder Richard Vinroot awarded Cheryl Turner a leadership award (pictured at left). Turner, the superintendent of Sugar Creek Charter School, received the award for her outstanding service to the charter sector. She was also the Coalition’s featured lunchtime speaker.
The Summit featured a packed room of charter leaders and stakeholders, industry experts, vendors, policymakers, and members of the media.
The color guard team from Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy performed at the Summit on Thursday.
Pictured at Thursday’s Summit, from left to right: Coalition lobbyists Dylan Reel (Kilpatrick Townsend), Amanda Falkenbury (McGuireWoods Consulting), Rep. James Roberson, and Coalition lobbyist Harry Kaplan (McGuireWoods Consulting).
Finally, we want to thank our amazing sponsors, who made this event possible and whose products and services benefit the state’s charter sector in so many ways!
We have an exciting roster of speakers and sessions planned for our upcoming 2025 Charter Advocacy Summit! We share our updated agenda below.
As a reminder, the event launches with an evening reception honoring state lawmakers on Wednesday, February 5, at the Merrimon-Wynne House in Raleigh.
The day-long Advocacy Summit begins at 8 A.M. on Thursday, February 6, at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley. Our theme this year is “Excellence in Education and Advocacy.”
8:00 AM: Breakfast Opens
8:30 AM: Welcome
The color guard team from Paul R. Brown Leadership Academy performs. Student members of the Lyra Vocal Ensemble at Longleaf School of the Arts sing the Star Spangled Banner.
8:45 AM: Opening Remarks
Hear from one of the state’s most powerful leaders. The new House Speaker shares his perspectives on K-12 education and public charter schools.
9:15 AM: Just the Facts on Funding—State & Local
What’s working right now with charter funding? What needs to change to achieve accurate funding? One of North Carolina’s leading public school finance experts answers these and other pressing questions.
9:45 AM: Break
9:55 AM: Straight Talk on Student Information Systems (SIS)
Shifting to a new Student Information System (SIS) is never easy. Hear from student data experts about lessons learned—the good and the bad—and what’s next for North Carolina schools.
10:30 AM: Public Perceptions of Charter Schools
Back by popular demand, this session will share the view from the field: What do recent polls show about North Carolinians’ support for charter schools? What have we learned since last year?
11:00 AM: Legislative Leadership and Charters
Influential lawmakers who co-chair key legislative committees on education policy and funding share their perspectives on what to expect on education issues during the 2025 Legislative Session.
11:30 AM: Reflections on Excellence: Lunch with a Longtime Leader
Hear insights about charter innovation and excellence from a transformative leader and 30-year veteran of North Carolina’s charter school movement.
Lunch will be followed by a dessert reception.
1:00 PM: Facility Funding Forecast
Learn about new survey findings from the state’s charter operators, assessing views on facility financing. Understand why charters don’t receive lottery funds. Hear what other states are doing to fund facilities through public-private loan programs—and what that could mean for charter schools here.
1:45 PM: Attaining Excellence: The Charter Schools Review Board Weighs In
What do veteran charter leaders involved in state oversight know about charter school excellence and best practices? Learn what these experts have to say about recent charter school trends and ways to optimize success.
2:30 PM: Grassroots Advocacy, the Federal Landscape, and the 2025 Legislative Agenda
Coalition lobbyists outline the Coalition’s legislative goals for 2025 and share how to become an excellent advocate for charters. Coalition Counsel Matthew Tilley will provide the legal update for charter schools as well as the legislative outlook, while Ben Arcuri will share the federal update.
3:00 PM: Unity Amid Difference: Bipartisanship in the Charter Movement
A Democrat from Knightdale in Wake County, Rep. Roberson will close out the Summit by sharing his reflections on school choice and the state’s charter school movement.
3:15 PM: Final Remarks—Moving Forward
The Coalition’s new leader shares his vision for advocacy in 2025 and beyond.
Learn more about the Summit here. See our official Summit invite here.
Our hotel group rate has expired. We suggest contacting these or other area hotels for potential reservations:
For more information about the Summit, please contact:
Lindalyn Kakadelis, Executive Director, NC Coalition for Charter Schools
Phone: 704.231.9767 | Email: lkakadelis@nc.chartercoalition.org
*This post has been updated since initial publication.
Coleman’s first meeting of the new year, as she relayed in a recent email to the nation’s charter leaders, was a phone call with McMahon.
We had a wide-ranging discussion – from charters and the federal Charter School Program to literacy programs and teacher performance-based bonus laws across the country. We spent a full third of the call talking about her interest in career & technical education programs and other efforts to give students a pathway into the middle class through workforce training. You may recall that I predicted that her personal priority in the role would be to advance these kinds of programs; and based on our call, I think that’s probably what we should expect.
Of course, we talked about the Trump mandate to shrink the footprint of the Department and return decision-making power to the states and schools directly. We talked about how that could, without careful crafting, be a negative for charter schools and public school choice. We talked through how we could create a win-win: both sending decision-making power back to the states while still carving out funds to advance charter growth.
Overall, I was encouraged by the level of detail she brought to the conversation on various topics and her genuine commitment to charters. While I know some of the Trump Administration’s proposed policies will divide the charter community, on charter policy itself, we have a significant opportunity here. We’ve been told the Senate plans to schedule her confirmation hearing quickly – ideally before the end of January.
Once confirmation hearings and the federal budget are done, the U.S. House and Senate will get to work on other legislation. Our team is hustling so that we’re ready to go when they are. In fact, we have already secured bill sponsors in the House for two bills that will dramatically increase the flexibility in the Charter Schools Program. Reps Juan Ciscomani (AZ) & Julia Letlow (LA) will be our lead House sponsors. Their Senate counterparts are also teed up to introduce our bills. We’ll be working with Chairman Bill Cassidy (LA) & Senators Michael Bennett (CO), John Cornyn (TX) and Cory Booker (NJ). Our goal is to always have our bills be introduced with a mix of bipartisan sponsors and 2025 will be no exception.
We’ll share more with you about policy and legislative developments in Washington, D.C., as events warrant. In the meantime, we are honored and delighted to share that the Alliance is sending Director of Government Relations Ben Arcuri to our 2025 Charter Advocacy Summit. Ben will join the Coalition’s own Government Relations Team, providing an overview of the federal landscape for charter schools as well as the U.S. Department of Education. You won’t want to miss this timely and important presentation!
Please plan to join other charter heads of school, board members, senior administrators, industry experts, vendors, and state lawmakers for the Coalition’s third annual Charter Advocacy Summit!
Evening Reception with State Lawmakers
5:30 to 7:30 PM, Wednesday, February 5
The Merrimon-Wynne House, Raleigh, North Carolina
2025 Charter Advocacy Summit
8:00 AM to 3:30 PM, Thursday, February 6
Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley Hotel, Raleigh, North Carolina
We’ll share more about speakers and panel sessions soon!
The Coalition is pleased to welcome GoodLife Communications as a corporate sponsor. GoodLife provided us with critical communications/ audio-visual assistance at last year’s sold-out Charter Advocacy Summit, and they plan to do so again this year. They are an important part of our Summit team! GoodLife can help your charter school as well.
GoodLife Communications knows how state-of-the-art technology can make people’s lives better, safer, and more productive. Whether you need more stable Wi-Fi in your office or want to build a fully interactive classroom, you can count on our highly experienced team to provide you with the best solutions and the finest customer service.
Contact GoodLife Communications today! Reach them at 800.295.7202 or info@goodlifecommunications.com.
Mark your calendars! The Coalition’s third annual Charter Advocacy Summit will take place on February 5-6, 2025.
We’ll launch the Summit in Raleigh with an evening reception on Wednesday, February 5, at The Merrimon-Wynne House. Our day-long Summit will take place on Thursday, February 6, at the Raleigh Marriott Crabtree Valley.
Please plan to join us and share our new flyer below with your school community. More details will be forthcoming soon!
© 2026 North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools.
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