Survey: Almost half of North Carolina residents disagree with higher taxes for public-school funding

Less than a third of North Carolina residents support the idea of higher taxes to support public schools, according to a recent Catawba College-YouGov survey.

“Just 27% of North Carolinians agree the state should raise taxes to increase public school funding, while 47% disagree,” writes the John Locke Foundation’s Carolina Journal. “Democrats are the most supportive of any partisan group at 43%, but that falls short of a majority. Nearly half of independents, 47%, and two-thirds of Republicans, 67%, oppose the idea.”

Robert Luebke, the foundation’s director of the Center for Effective Education, said the results highlight the “painful and everyday reality” taxpayers are facing.

“North Carolinians are tired of rising prices,” he said. “They see gas and grocery prices going up.”

Against this economic backdrop, saddling families with even higher tax burdens will further damage public education over the long term, according to Luebke.

“The reservoir of good will and trust the public schools enjoyed is eroding,” he concluded. “The growing popularity of charter schools and the Opportunity Scholarship Programs points to that.”

As previously reported by The Lion, the Tar Heel State has noted declining enrollment across its school districts, even affluent ones.

Meanwhile, alternative educational options have reported substantial increases in attendance. For example, the state marked the fourth highest rate for homeschool growth nationwide in 2024.

“People are weary of not seeing good outcomes in education,” Luebke said. “Many are doubtful that a significant investment in tax dollars will result in substantive improvements. And it’s an issue public schools must address.”

For years, the state has steadily increased spending even as enrollment declined, according to the article.

“On a per-pupil basis, state spending has climbed nearly 27% over the past seven years, from an estimated $6,548 per student in 2018-19 to $8,312 in 2025-26.”

‘Sound basic education’

The survey’s findings gain even more significance when considering a recent North Carolina Supreme Court ruling on Leandro v. State of North Carolina.

“The 4-3 ruling ends decades of litigation centered on whether courts could compel the state to fund remedial education plans, returning those spending decisions to the General Assembly,” the Carolina Journal writes.

The case, filed in 1997, sparked numerous conflicts over how the state should provide access to a “sound basic education” for every child, according to the Journal.

“For decades, liberal education special interests have improperly tried to hijack North Carolina’s constitutional funding process in order to impose their policy preferences via judicial fiat,” said Senate Leader Phil Berger in a statement. “Today’s decision confirms that the proper pathway for policymaking is the legislative process.”