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North Carolina General Assembly Archives - North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools

Jun 03
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Meet the Coalition’s Government Relations Team

By Legislation, News

We often encourage school leaders to connect with their lawmakers in the North Carolina General Assembly, and rightly so! Building relationships with legislators is critically important in helping them understand the good work that charter schools do.

But it’s also essential for charter leaders to know which lobbyists are advocating specifically for charter school interests at the General Assembly. With the short session now well underway, we’re sharing an introduction to the Coalition’s expert Government Relations Team.

As part of this introduction, we also asked each of our lobbyists to answer this question: “What spurs your advocacy on behalf of the Coalition and North Carolina’s charter school movement?”

Harry Kaplan, McGuireWoods Consulting

Harry Kaplan has served as a lobbyist at the North Carolina General Assembly for over 35 years. He is a senior advisor with McGuireWoods Consulting’s state government relations group and a partner with McGuireWoods LLP. Harry’s extensive work in the state government relations realm has routinely positioned him at the forefront of public policy developments impacting K-12 education and health care.

Harry first launched his government relations and legal career in 1988, and he has consistently maintained a reputation as one of the most influential lobbyists in Raleigh. In 2017, Harry was awarded the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, the highest honor bestowed by the North Carolina Governor on individuals with a record of service to the state. He was also named to the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Before joining McGuireWoods, Harry ran his own legal and lobbying practice for over a decade.

Harry Kaplan: “School choice is a personal cause for me. My kids would have benefited from attending a public charter school, but we couldn’t get past the lotteries. Demand greatly exceeded supply. My kids, and many others, didn’t have a choice because North Carolina had an arbitrary cap of 100 charter schools statewide. After talking with many parents facing the same situation, I decided to advocate for removing the cap. Lobbying for parental choice in education became a top priority for me. It has been that way ever since.”

Amanda Falkenbury, McGuireWoods Consulting

A vice president on McGuireWoods Consulting’s North Carolina government relations team, Amanda Falkenbury has more than a decade of experience in lobbying and public affairs. She represents clients in the state legislature and the executive branch.

Amanda’s client roster spans industries ranging from K-12 education to real property, manufacturing, and more. She focuses on developing and executing government relations strategies that are carefully tailored to meet each client’s needs.

Amanda Falkenbury: “I’m proud to have spent more than a decade advocating for school choice because no child should be stuck in a school that’s not working for them. I grew up in an area with very few options, and while I was fortunate to have been assigned to some of the best schools in the state, I realize that my story could have been very different. Without public charter schools, many families would have no other option. I’m grateful to play a small part in the Coalition’s work to protect and expand the options available to those families.”

Dylan Reel, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton

Dylan Reel assists clients with lobbying and advocacy before the General Assembly and state agencies, focusing on education, health care, financial services, and more. He has quickly earned recognition for efficacy and influence: In 2023, he was the youngest ranked “Top Lobbyist” in North Carolina by North State Journal. Dylan was also recognized by North State Journal as a “Top 25 Lobbyist” in 2024.

Prior to joining Kilpatrick, Dylan served as the vice president of government affairs for a national public affairs firm, representing clients at the state legislature and executive branch. Dylan also worked as general counsel to the Rules Chairman Destin Hall and the Redistricting Chairman in the North Carolina House of Representatives. In addition, Dylan worked as a research assistant and legislative staff assistant to the Rules Chairman David Lewis.

Dylan Reel: “Growing up in a rural, poor portion of Southern Illinois, I was the negative recipient of what happens when zip codes are outcome determinative for students. Left without any alternatives, my academics suffered. Thus, school choice became one of the main drivers for why I chose a career in politics. Over time, I have been lucky to have been mentored by the original North Carolina school choice lobbyist, Harry Kaplan. After years with working with Harry, and now Amanda and Story as well, my passion for school choice only continues to grow, especially with having three daughters who will begin their education journey soon!”

This spring, Harry, Amanda, and Dylan were named to NC Tribune and Business North Carolina’s inaugural list of the state’s “leading lobbyists.”

Story Oliver, Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton

Story Oliver represents various clients as a dedicated policy analyst and lobbyist working within the Coalition’s Government Relations Team. With a deep understanding of public policy and legislation, Story plays a key role in maintaining client relationships and navigating policy issues. With experience in government relations and public relations, her knowledge is instrumental in advocating for key initiatives and ensuring alignment with governmental priorities.

During her time as a UNC-Chapel Hill student, Story worked as a public relations intern, public relations apprentice, and account coordinator at one of the nation’s largest independently held public relations, advertising, and digital media agencies. She also previously worked at a bipartisan lobbying firm in Raleigh, seeking government solutions for clients and gathering research to support lobbying and marketing efforts.

Story Oliver: “It is an honor to represent the NC Coalition for Charter Schools and to advocate for charter schools in North Carolina. Through conversations with Coalition members and hearing their personal stories, I have heard the significant impact charter schools have on their students’ lives every day. This continues to inspire me to advocate for the school choice movement to ensure students and their families can participate in opportunities that shape their futures.”

Biographical information for our lobbyists has been adapted from their pages on McGuireWoods and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton websites. Headshots courtesy of McGuireWoods and Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton.

Aug 17
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Charter Omnibus & Charter Review Board Bills Become Law

By Legislation, News

Lawmakers voted late yesterday afternoon to override Governor Cooper’s vetoes of six bills, including H.B. 219, Charter School Omnibus, and H.B. 618, Charter School Review Board. As a result, both bills are now law: H.B. 219 has become Session Law 2023-107 and H.B. 618 has become Session Law 2023-110.

H.B. 219/Session Law 2023-107 makes a number of changes to current law impacting charter schools. The new law allows counties to provide funds for charter school capital needs, and limits enrollment caps to low-performing charter schools, among other things. The new law takes effect for this current 2023-24 school year.

H.B. 618/Session Law 2023-110 streamlines the charter approval and renewal process by converting the Charter Schools Advisory Board into a Charter School Review Board with the authority to approve new charter schools or grant renewals. Board decisions may be appealed to the State Board of Education, and the State Board retains its rule making authority. This change is effective immediately.

The Coalition’s direct role in securing passage of charter bills

The Coalition has worked intensively this session to advocate for both of these bills, and we are very pleased they have become law. Getting any bill passed–from the initial idea to actual enactment–is no small feat, requiring tremendous effort and support from numerous stakeholders. Here’s what that looked like this time around:

  • At the Coalition’s request, member schools began providing input on legislative session priorities, beginning in September 2022–almost a year ago.
  • The Coalition Board’s Legislative Committee then began work to develop a comprehensive legislative agenda for 2023.
  • Following deliberations and conversations with member schools, the full Coalition Board approved the legislative agenda.
  • The Coalition’s communications team worked to develop strategy and messaging around legislative priorities.
  • Coalition Counsel Matthew Tilley wrote these charter bills, submitting bill text to the General Assembly’s bill writers.
  • The Coalition’s Government Relations Team (including Harry Kaplan and Dylan Reel of McGuireWoods and Lee Teague of Teague Advocacy) led intensive lobbying efforts at the General Assembly. This is tireless work, and involves walking these bills through all steps of the committee process. H.B. 219, for instance, had five revisions prior to ratification, while H.B. 618 had three revisions.
  • Coalition members and other stakeholders contacted and met with lawmakers to express support for charter bills and to share input around charter interests.
  • Lawmakers in the House sponsored these bills, while additional lawmakers in both the House and Senate voted to support these bills throughout the process.

Finally, Coalition Executive Director Lindalyn Kakadelis was involved all along the way, working with school members, the Coalition Board, the Coalition’s communications team and lobbyists, and other stakeholders.

Lawmaker support for charter bills

We are grateful to the lawmakers who supported these two bills throughout the legislative process.

Both bills received bipartisan support in the House. We want to thank Rep. Cecil Brockman and Rep. Shelly Willingham, two Democrats who joined with Republicans in supporting these bills and voting to override the Governor’s vetoes. Yesterday, 74 House members voted in support of these bills, while 27 Senate members did so.

  • See how House and Senate members voted on the veto override for H.B. 219.
  • See how House and Senate members voted on the veto override for H.B. 618.

Thank you to these legislators–and to the school leaders and charter parents who contacted legislators to express their views on these bills! Thank you also to Jamila Lindsay, a parent at Lake Norman Charter, who provided the voice recording for a Coalition video promoting H.B. 219.

Coalition statement on veto overrides for charter bills

Last night, the Coalition released a statement from Executive Director Lindalyn Kakadelis on the veto overrides for these two bills. Find the Coalition’s press release with that statement here.  ABC 11’s story on the veto overrides included Lindalyn’s statement about H.B. 219, as does this Carolina Journal article.

Work yet to do

The finalized version of H.B. 219 did not include the local funding provision the Coalition drafted and sought. We will continue to push for fair funding for charter schools. Our mission is to protect and promote public charter schools–and we know this is steady, ongoing work.

Jul 25
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Coalition responds to Governor’s veto of H.B. 219, Charter School Omnibus

By Legislation, News

The Coalition yesterday released a response to Governor Cooper’s veto of H.B. 219, Charter School Omnibus. In his veto message, the Governor included some comments that misrepresented the facts. The statements below from the Coalition address those misrepresentations.

Gov. Cooper wrote in his veto message that House Bill 219 “allows more students to attend failing charter schools…North Carolina should continue to cap the enrollment growth of low-performing charter schools until they can show that they improve student outcomes.”

It’s true that House Bill 219 removes enrollment caps for some charter schools – but it explicitly requires caps for low-performing charter schools. It doesn’t eliminate them.

Here’s the exact bill text: “Limit enrollment caps to low-performing schools.”

The bill only removes enrollment caps for public charter schools that aren’t low-performing because there were more than 77,000 student names on waitlists for North Carolina public charter schools for the 2022-23 school year.

Gov. Cooper also wrote, “Diverting local resources to build charter schools without clear authority on who owns them risks financial loss to county taxpayers.”

But current state law says that the assets, including the building, of a closed charter school go to the local school district.

Here’s the statute (G.S. 115C-218.100(b)): “Upon dissolution of a charter school, all net assets of the charter school purchased with public funds shall be deemed the property of the local school administrative unit in which the charter school is located.”

Read the full press release or this Carolina Journal article.