To its credit, North Carolina is already taking steps to make parent voices more central. Superintendent Maurice “Mo” Green recently launched a statewide Parent Advisory Council designed to strengthen family engagement, elevate informed family voice, build trust, and give parents a role in shaping the future of public education. Former Superintendent Catherine Truitt’s earlier Parent Advisory Commission also recognized the value of listening across sectors, reserving seats for traditional public, charter, private, and homeschool parents. Her explanation was on point: “If we’re going to be the first choice for families, then we need to understand why some families are choosing not to send their kids to us.”
Homeschool registration offers another opportunity to listen. Where states already require a homeschool notice or registration, they should add a few optional, carefully designed follow-up questions. If a parent reports dissatisfaction with a prior school, ask what drove it: safety, academics, school culture, special education services, lack of flexibility, limited program options, or something else. If a parent reports that a child has special needs or is academically advanced, ask what kind of support or customization the family was seeking.
This type of information could be useful across the education landscape. District leaders would know the precise reasons families are leaving the public sector. Likewise, private schools could learn why some families find their schools unsatisfactory. Charter schools, microschools, and hybrid programs could better understand what families are looking for. Policymakers could identify patterns by region, grade level, and student need. Better data would strengthen the constructive work already underway.
The best public school leaders are not hiding from school choice; they’re learning from it. They are building new public options, highlighting pathways families may not know about, and creating better channels for parent voice. Better homeschool-registration questions would strengthen that work. If families are saying that the public school system does not work for them, system leaders should seize the opportunity to ask why, study the answers, and use what they learn to become more accommodating, more receptive, and more accessible to the families they hope to serve.
