RALEIGH — The school choice advocacy group Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina celebrated its 20th anniversary at a gala held at the Angus Barn in Raleigh last Wednesday.
The event, dubbed “two decades of unlocking opportunity,” featured various presentations, awards, video greetings and a fireside chat between Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC) President Mike Long and U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon.
The 300-deep guest list included past and present lawmakers, school choice advocates, parents, students and various school leaders.
Among those delivering video messages were Tommy Schultz, the president of American Federation for Children, N.C. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis and former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.
Tillis was speaker of the North Carolina House when the Opportunity Scholarship program (OSP) was created and the cap on the number of charter schools in the state was lifted.
In addition to paving the way for grants for students with disabilities, PEFNC has been a driving force behind the OSP.
The OSP gives state-funded scholarship grants to eligible families for tuition at the participating private school of their choice. The program was created by the legislature in 2013, and today, more than 90,000 families use the program.
“We go out and we promote it,” Long told North State Journal in an interview ahead of the gala. “We do community awareness programs. We let families know that this is available. And it’s amazing how many of them out there, even right now with this great expansion, still don’t even know about it.
“Our school liaison team is 15 moms, all of whom have benefited from the Opportunity Scholarship, and they’re the ones that help these families. They give them one-on-one service and applying for a scholarship through the portal with NCSEAA.”
Christian Houston, former OSP recipient and current Appalachian State student, told North State Journal the OSP allowed him to “have the opportunity to go to a private school and be able to decide what school I wanted to go to.”
PEFNC was founded in 2005 by former N.C. Congressman and State Board of Education member Bill Cobey, former statehouse Rep. Paul “Skip” Stam and former University of North Carolina Board of Governors member Steve Long, who currently sits on PEFNC’s board of directors.
In his opening remarks, Steve Long laid out more about the history of PEFNC and the work it has done before turning to a video presentation.
He told the audience that “minds and attitudes have changed” about education and school choice expansion. He said that change needed to be tapped into through two means: community outreach and building seat capacity.
Long said “seats are going to run out”with the recent expansion of school choice in the state and PEFNC would be taking up the issue, with a particular focus on rural areas. He also noted that at least 20 states now have universal school choice, with North Carolina being a leader in that field.
“The General Assembly must continue to expand access, to not only meet the needs of North Carolina families, but also accommodate President (Donald) Trump’s vision for school choice,” said Long. “It’s called the Education Choice for Children’s Act, the ECCA, and it’s before Congress right now.”
The ECCA would include a federal tax credit intended to support nationwide school choice options. If passed, PEFNC will undertake aiding the implementation of ECCA provisions in North Carolina.
A fireside chat
The highlight of the evening was a fireside chat between Long and U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon, who was born in in New Bern. Her parents worked as civil employees at Cherry Point Airbase during her early childhood.
McMahon said it was during her work with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) that she met Trump, noting he was a “huge fan” of WWE. After his reelection to a second term, Trump asked McMahon — who served as Trump’s head of the Small Business Administration in his first term, what she would like to do in his second term, and she recounted how he approached her for the job.
“He said, ‘I think I have the absolute perfect job for you,’ and he said, ‘I want you to serve as the last the secretary of Education.’ He said, ‘You will have fully succeeded in that job when you fire yourself,’ said McMahon amid audience laughter. “And how could I turn down an offer like that?”
Upon taking office, Trump had issued an executive order that outlined his vision for dismantling the Department of Education and empowering the states.
McMahon said Trump feels the same way she does about providing every student with a great education and states are better positioned to provide that.
“Parents are better prepared, local school superintendents and teachers are better prepared than bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., to make decisions about your children, your grandchildren’s education,” said McMahon.
McMahon talked about the misconceptions about what the Department of Education does, noting the agency has only existed since 1980 and spent $3 trillion “to watch our national scorecard come down.”
“We spend more money for less results,” said McMahon, noting that other agencies that previously handled the department’s work can do it again.
She added the president “absolutely believes in school choice,” no matter the source, and that no child “should be a prisoner in a failing school.”
Long and McMahon also covered workforce readiness and development programs, which many charter schools offer, with Long mentioning Cristo Rey Research Triangle High School in Durham.
McMahon called that topic her “sweet spot” and spoke of her visit to Wake Tech Community College and its curriculum and partnering opportunities centered around business needs.
“I think today we kind of need to reimagine how we are thinking about education,” McMahon said, referring to past stigmas of attending trade schools instead of four-year colleges.
McMahon also said Trump’s proposed “One Big Beautiful Bill” would expand how the states can use the estimated $10 billion in funds in the bill to expand choice.
“That’s exactly what it’s all about,” McMahon said of the legislation. “It’s not universal school choice, but it’s helping states that might not be able to afford a school choice plan to have more dollars to do that with. And that, I think, it’s a wonderful opportunity to really expand choice to all over the country.”
The bill now awaits final action by the Senate after it narrowly passed a procedural vote Saturday.
Long and McMahon also discussed the politicization of school choice and the recurring narrative that it steals money from public schools. McMahon said every governor she’s talked to that expanded school choice saw the level of competition rise and, in most cases, public school money stayed where it was.
Long spoke about the savings the OSP has brought to North Carolina, where a current tier one grant offers $7,200 versus the $12,000 to $13,000 public school cost per child.
“That’s a net savings of over $5,000 per child that is on the Opportunity Scholarship,” Long said. “That’s great savings for the state of North Carolina while you are also in the process of providing the best education that a parent chooses for their child.”
At the conclusion of the fireside chat, Long thanked McMahon for coming and presented her with a key “to unlock opportunities.”
School Choice Leader Awards
All three of the founders received a “Pioneer” in school choice award. PEFNC staffers, parents and school leaders were also recognized.
“Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina has accomplished amazing things over the last 20 years,” Cobey said. He closed by saying, “On to 20 more years of success.”
“When we met to form PEFNC at the McKinnon Center, we had no money, no support at the legislature, and we didn’t know how we were going to pull this off,” said Steve Long. “But we had very great leadership, and I will cite Darrell Allison, who built this organization and developed the partners that would help make this school choice cause a success.”
In receiving his award, Stam talked about “busting the charter cap,” which has doubled the number of charter schools and tripled enrollment in them, as well as the advent of the OSP and disability grants.
“I thank Bill Cobey, my political mentor, and Steve Long, my friend, for their political and organizational skills, of which I have little,” Stam said.
Senate Leader Phil Berger (R-Eden) and PEFNC’s Allison also received service awards.
“I want to thank anyone who has any part in PEFNC because it really has been a magnificent ride,” said Berger.
Berger acknowledged legislators in attendance and the hundreds of thousands across the state who had a hand in school choice expansion over the years. Berger gave a special thanks to Allison, describing how they first met to discuss PEFNC.
“I don’t care where you are in this world, this state or even this room, nobody knows better what’s best for their child than their parent,” said Berger. “And that includes what’s best for their education. I am so pleased and so proud to have been a part of where we are, and y’all haven’t seen nothing yet.”
House Speaker Destin Hall (R-Granite Falls) was slated to receive an award and give remarks, but duties kept him from attending.
Allison, who received a president award, thanked PEFNC and other award recipients announced that evening. He also described the legal battle that was won, which challenged the constitutionality of the OSP, and later thanked Hall and Berger, along with other legislators, as leaders in the school choice fight.
“Your work, your collective bold leadership, has launched North Carolina as a national leader,” said Allison. “So much so, we were graced by the United States secretary of Education.”
Allison added, “North Carolina, we may have started from the bottom, but we’re at the top now.”
In closing, Allison applauded PEFNC leadership both past and present, telling them that “you have taken this movement to heights and sights unimaginable,” and he was grateful to have played a role.
Prior to awards being given out, President and CEO of EdChoice Robert Enloe applauded the state’s school choice programs and called PEFNC a “shining example of a state-based educational choice organization.”
Enloe also described the “origin story” of PEFNC and its goal to become a “voice for choice” for parents and to pass a special needs scholarship program.
Takeaways and funding
As the attendees began to depart, North State Journal caught up with a couple lawmakers to ask them what they took away from the event.
Sen. Steve Jarvis (R-Davidson) said he learned about who and how PEFNC started and how the OSP is used “more robustly” outside of his constituency area.
“I knew the history, but hearing who all made the history was very entertaining,” said Rep. Jeff McNeely (R-Iredell) of the event, adding he learned what he needs to go to keep school choice going in North Carolina.
“We’ve got to maintain having these Opportunity Scholarships for the next generation and the next generation,” said McNeely. “It’s got to build.”
The current Senate budget proposal had $750,000 of funds for PEFNC to do its work educating the public about school choice programs like the OSP and the disability grants. The House’s plan did not have that funding.
North State Journal asked McNeely if he thought that the House should look at that funding, considering he now knows PEFNC does.
“I think it will,” said McNeely, who sits on the House Appropriations Committee. “I look forward to where we go — Worthy cause. Definitely, we’ll take a look and see.”
