America has reached its school choice moment. The decades-long fight to create and expand school choice programs accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic and finally played out politically as the eyes of the nation watched the gubernatorial race in Virginia on Nov. 2.
Republicans in much of the country enjoyed significant success during the 2021 election cycle. They elected a GOP governor in Virginia, almost elected one in New Jersey, won several important judicial races in Pennsylvania, and even elected their first Republican candidate to local office in Seattle (city attorney) since the 1980s.
Despite the massive firewall for Democrats in Northern Virginia, their party recently dispatched Barack Obama to rescue Terry McAuliffe’s sinking campaign for governor.
According to the most-recent ranking I can find, North Carolina requires state-approved licenses in more occupations (nearly 200) than most other states do. North Carolina licenses twice as many occupations as Virginia does, and three times as many as South Carolina.
