How and where we educate our children is a freedom that North Carolinians hold dear. However, merely professing it doesn’t make it a reality.
Last month, the Carolina Journal-Civitas Poll asked likely voters, “If money was no object, and you could choose any type of school for your child, what type of school would you choose? Of the respondents, 29.5% choose public school, 44.5% choose private school, 8.4% choose charter school, 10.5% home school; .7% virtual school; and 6.3% of respondents were unsure about what type of school they would choose.
How do those hopes compare with reality? According to figures available from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the Office of Nonpublic Education, there are currently. about 1,379,826 children in K-12 public schools. There are 157,653 children enrolled in public charter schools in North Carolina. In addition, in 2024-25, there were 135,738 students in private schools and 165,243 students registered in North Carolina home schools.
All this is to say there is a lot of ground between what type of schools our children have and what type of schools we want for them. While 72.7 percent of students are enrolled in public schools, only 29.5 percent of respondents said they would choose a public school. While 44.5 percent of respondents would choose private schools if given the chance, currently only 7.1 percent of students are enrolled in private schools in North Carolina. Charter schools reflect the closest balance between actual enrollment and preference. A little over eight percent (8.4 percent) of students are enrolled in charter schools, while 8.3 percent of respondents said they would choose a charter school for their child. Finally, as accurate enrollment numbers for virtual schools in North Carolina were not readily avialable, we did not compare percentages of poll respondents who chose virtual schools with actual enrollment.
The disconnect between our hopes and current school enrollment patterns has fueled school reform and school choice efforts over the last decade. More charter schools, private schools, magnet schools, micro schools and virtual schools help parents choose the best educational option for their child and bring that dream a little closer to reality.
