BREAKING NEWS: North Carolina Legislature Passes Bipartisan Bill to Lift Charter School Cap

The North Carolina Senate this afternoon passed Senate Bill 8—which would lift the arbitrary cap on the number of charter schools in the state—by a stunning 45-0 margin, followed soon after by a favorable 108-5 vote on companion legislation in the House. The bill now heads to Gov. Bev Perdue's desk to be signed into law.

Here's a statement from Darrell Allison, the president of Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina (PEFNC):

Yesterday, North Carolina families were shackled by the restrictive cap of 100 charter schools, but today we’re moving in a new direction that will loosen those shackles for many of our children. I want to salute our state leaders for moving on this measure in a bipartisan effort. There’s still much work to be done, including equitable funding for charters and creating a better environment in which how charters are governed. But there’s no denying that today was a truly good day and we look forward to Governor Perdue making this a historic day with her signature once the measure reaches her desk. Though we’re happy where we are, we know that we still have more work to be done, particularly with our grassroots campaign calls to our governor in hopes that she will sign the measure soon so that this public school option can be made available to thousands of families across our state.

 Read the full PEFNC release here.

- American Federation for Children | Alliance for School Choice, MAG