RALEIGH — The North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools held its annual advocacy summit at the Raleigh Marriott at Crabtree Valley on Feb. 6. This year’s theme was “Excellence in Education and Advocacy.”
North Carolina Coalition for Charter Schools (NCCCS) Executive Director Lindalyn Kakadelis announced her retirement at the onset of the summit, naming Dave Machado as her replacement.
Machado worked for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s office of charter schools from 2016 to 2020 and was a member of the state’s Charter School Advisory Board before it was revamped as the Charter School Review Board (CSRB). He has been North Carolina’s state superintendent for Charter Schools USA since 2020.
Kakadelis, who has been involved in education policy issues in the state for decades, said it was time she stepped aside and was looking forward to spending more time with her seven grandchildren.
There are currently 208 public charter schools operating in North Carolina serving 153,480 students across 63 of the state’s 100 counties. Collectively, the state’s charter schools report a waitlist of more than 85,000 students.
Charter schools in North Carolina are public schools that are funded on a per-pupil basis like traditional district schools, however, they do not receive facilities funding like their traditional counterparts. Charter schools are free, and any student is eligible to attend.
This year’s summit was kicked off with brief remarks by House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Granite Falls).
“The folks on the other side of the aisle don’t like school choice in general. They don’t like charter schools. They don’t like the private schools at all. And so, for starters, charter schools are public schools,” said Hall. “And it’s a constant fight for us, but I can tell you that in the House Caucus, as well as the Republican Senate Caucus, we’re going to continue to support school choice and, in particular, charter schools across our state because it’s clear that you have to have innovation in every sector, and it’s no different than education.”
Hall said his general philosophy on education is “the parent ought to be able to decide where their kid goes to school.”
“Every child is different, and no one knows better than that parent where their child could be best educated at,” Hall said.
Hall told North State Journal he anticipates the General Assembly will continue to move toward “greater school choice in North Carolina” during the current legislative session.
Discussion topics at the summit covered various charter funding issues, student information systems and public perceptions of charter schools, as well as a panel discussion by members of the CSRB.
A good portion of the student information systems panel discussion was spent on the shift from the state ending the use of PowerSchool this June and switching to a new platform called Infinite Campus. Last December, PowerSchool experienced a data breach that included dozens of states, including all 115 districts in North Carolina. The state has used PowerSchool since 2012.
Cheryl Turner, the superintendent of Sugar Creek Charter School, received a leadership award for her outstanding service to the state’s charter schools.
Attendees also heard remarks from lobbyists on top agenda items for 2025 and from state lawmakers chairing top education committees at the legislature such as Rep. Hugh Blackwell (R-Burke), Sen. Brad Overcash (R-Gaston). Closing out the Summit, Rep. James Roberson (D-Wake) shared thoughts on the state’s charter school movement.
Blackwell and Overcash both said they want to see school choice continue to expand but that the current legislative session would mainly focus on Hurricane Helene funding recovery issues.
“I’m hopeful that we might move further on strengthening parents legal rights in the education of their children so that it’s easier for them to challenge their local school boards and governmental officials when they don’t observe the rights that we have said they have,” Blackwell said on actions that might be taken which won’t require additional funding.
“I think from a charter school perspective, this cycle, one of the things we’re going to need to address is taking a look at our charter school review board and ensuring that that body is not overly incompatible with bureaucracy at DPI and that we’re striking the right balance,” Overcash said of possible legislative actions this session, which the lawmakers agreed could include expanding the role of the CSRB.
On revamping the school accountability model, Overcash said he thinks the Senate will “continue to support the 8% proficiency and the 20% growth” formula used in the A-F grading model.
