• Page 2 • THE LOCKE LETTER

Now More Than Ever, We Need Your Support

Unrestricted Gifts and Pledges

Gifts of Cash: Cash is the simplest, mostdirect, and most popular type of charitable gift. Checks shouldbe made to: John Locke Foundation.

Pledges: Donors may make pledge commitments payableover several years.

Securities: Gifts of stocks, mutual funds, and bonds may bemade to JLF. Call JLF at 919-828-3876 to learn how securitiescan be transferred. When gifting appreciated securities youavoid capital gains tax on the appreciated portion.

Closely Held Stock in Business or Partnershipor LLC Interests: Gifting this appreciated property canreduce capital gains taxes while generating charitable income tax deductions.

Real Estate: Gifts of appreciated property can reduce capital gains taxes while generating charitable incometax deductions.

Matching Gifts: Corporate matches count toward a donor’s total giving and may significantly increase the gift’s benefits.

Designated GiftsDonors may designate gifts for a particular program or project at JLF.

Planned GiftsPlanned gifts allow donors to make a significantgift to benefit JLF’s future, typically at the donor’s

or beneficiary’s death. JLF welcomes the opportunity to workwith donors and their legal and financial advisers to arrangeplanned gifts. Planned gifts may offer donors tax advantagesand financial benefits, such as providing current income taxdeductions, removing assets from your estate, and producingincome. Donors should consult with their own advisers as tospecific tax consequences.

Bequests: Bequest provisions in a donor’s will may providefor a specific amount, percentage, or residue of the estate.

Charitable Remainder Trusts: This trust providesincome to the donor or other beneficiaries for life or a term of years, leaving the remainder to JLF.

Life Insurance Policies: A donor may either donate a paid-up policy or designate JLF as a policy owner and beneficiary while continuing to make an annual gift of the premium amount to JLF. The annual gift is eligible to claim as a charitable tax deduction.

IRA and Other Retirement Plans: By naming JLF as the beneficiary, estate and income taxes are completelyavoided on these assets. The donor can designate other, more tax-efficient, assets for children.

www.JohnLocke.org

We will help you connect your goals with effective giving options. To arrange your gift or to find out

more about giving options, call the Office of Advancement at 919-828-3876 or 1-866-JLF-INFO.

WINTER 2010 • • Page 3

In This IssueWe Need Your Help ..........2

Newt Gingrich on theFuture of America ..............4

JLF’s 20-Year Legacy .........6

The N.C. Constitution and Education ....................8

JLF Award Winners ........10

Meet Bob Appleby ..........11

JLF Milestones ..................12

ur namesake, JohnLocke, wrote some ofthe most compelling and

memorable prose in the English language on topics such as individual liberty and constitu-tional government. One of hislesser-known works, however, is worth examining as the JohnLocke Foundation celebrates its20th anniversary.

In an essay titled Philanthropy,Locke urged his readers to “associate ourselves with such as are lovers of truth and virtue,

that we may encourage, assist, and support each other . . . in the preserving” of that truth and virtue. After all, he concluded:

’Tis the greatest charity to preserve the laws and rights of the nation.

Isn’t that a powerful statement? It reminds me of a recent speech by Raleigh businessman and philanthropist Art Pope,who was the driving force behind the creation of the JohnLocke Foundation. Pope referred to the parable that if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, but if you teach aman to fish, you feed him for a lifetime. Not necessarily:

“You have to take it one step further. Teaching a man to fishpresupposes that you have a right to fish and a right to keepthe fish you catch. It assumes that you can take your fish tomarket and sell it, and use the proceeds to buy clothes for your kids. Too many philanthropists don’t even consider that in a just and functioning society, you must have individual liberty with property rights, the rule of law, and limited constitutional government.”

This powerful idea was the motivation for Pope and severalother generous benefactors to found JLF 20 years ago. It explains why thousands of North Carolinians make tax-deductible contributions to help sustain JLF’s research,journalism, and outreach programs. We thank them – andpromise to use their gifts to fight for the principles we share.

John Locke’s Powerful Ideas Still Resonate

John HoodPresident

O

Make Plans to Join UsJournalist and AuthorCal Thomas

Cal Thomas

The American Political SceneTuesday, March 9, 2010Noon

Warwick CenterUNCW601 S. College RoadWilmington, NC 28403

To register, visit www.JohnLocke.org/events or call 1-866-JLF-INFO.

• Page 4 • THE LOCKE LETTER

Now, we are in a period of enor-mous change, and it’s caused, inpart, by the economic challenge

of the deepest recession since the GreatDepression. It’s caused, in part, by thevery real existence of people who wouldlike to kill us. And it’s caused, in part, bythe radicalism of the Obama-Pelosi-Reidmachine, which is the most radical politi-cal organization in American history, andwhich has brought Chicago-style corruptmachine politics to the Capitol in a waythat we’ve never seen in our lifetime. Mydaughter, Jackie Cushman, writes a week-ly column, and she wrote … “Peoplevoted for change they could believe inand found they had elected somebodywho wanted to change what theybelieved.” And I think that captures theheart of why the elections of 2010 and2012 will be among the most consequen-tial in American history – because we are moving toward really big choices.

WHO ARE WE?If you go to Washington, and you go tothe first political document of the UnitedStates – the Declaration of Independence– it says we are endowed by our creatorwith certain inalienable rights, amongwhich are life, liberty, and the pursuit ofhappiness. Now there are three key partsto that single sentence. The first is, it saysthat our rights – your rights personally –come from God. So each one of you ispersonally sovereign, and then you loanpower to the government. This is themost radical statement of political organi-zation on the planet and unlike any othercountry. Power doesn’t come to the State,to be defined by bureaucrats and lawyers,to be loaned to the citizens. Power comesto the citizen, to be loaned to the govern-ment. … There’s a second part of that

sentence, in defining who we are. We areendowed by our creator, with certaininalienable rights – inalienable meansthat the government can’t take themaway from you – among which are life,liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Iwant to make two points about pursuit of happiness. The first is, the pursuit ofhappiness was a Scottish Enlightenmentphrase, which actually meant wisdom andvirtue. It did not mean acquisition andhedonism. The Founding Fathers wouldbe appalled at the degree to which we’veallowed this society to decay, and wouldtell us, unequivocally, a society which hasno sense of integrity, and no sense of wis-dom and virtue, will not remain free. Andremember that when Jefferson first wrotethe Northwest Ordinance in 1787, hewrote in there – religion, morality, andknowledge being important, we needschools. That’s the order he listed [them]in; knowledge was third and least, and wehave fundamentally allowed our schoolsto be taken over by people who believe in

a valueless, situation-ethics society of nodiscrimination, no judgment, and nocharacter. And as a result, we’re losingour kids, both in terms of knowledge, andwe’re losing our kids in terms of behavior.And it’s a serious crisis in terms of thefuture of this country.

But there’s another key word there thatdefines Americans – the pursuit of happi-ness. Think about that word “pursuit.” It’san active word. It’s where the work ethiccomes from. Remember that in as early asthe summer of 1607, John Smith is con-fronted in Jamestown with aristocrats –not poor people – aristocrats who say,“We paid our way over here. You need totake care of us.” And he said, “You know,we don’t have the margin of resources totake care of you. I can’t force you to work,but we have a simple deal. If you don’twork, you don’t eat.” Within a day,almost all of the aristocrats had decidedto work, because they thought eating wasan appropriate part of life.

HOW WILL WE COMPETE? If you want America to be the most effec-tive country in the world, economically,you have to reform the education systemuntil it works, and that means every stateshould adopt, I think should ultimatelyadopt, a Pell Grant program for Kthrough 12, so every child has the right totake the money to the school that willbest teach them. At a minimum, youought to adopt a charter school programthat’s open-ended and that builds on thework that [North Carolina charter schooladvocate and founder] Bob Luddy andothers have done, to really give everychild in the state an opportunity to learn.Beyond that, if you’re serious about eco-nomic opportunity, and this is one ofthese we work on at American Solutions,where we have an entire program on jobs– and you can see it at www.americanso-lutions.com – you want to build a pro-gram which maximally helps small busi-ness because that’s where three out ofevery four new jobs are. You want todevelop a program which encouragesentrepreneurs. You want to develop a program which makes American compa-

Editor’s Note: Following are editedexcerpts of remarks made January 13, 2010,at the John Locke Foundation’s 20th anniver-sary dinner in Cary, North Carolina, by former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.To view the entire Gingrich speech, visithttp://cjtv.carolinajournal.com/display_video.php?id=489&type=4

Newt Gingrich

“The Founding Fathers would be appalled at the degreeto which we’ve allowed thissociety to decay, and would tellus, unequivocally, a societywhich has no sense of integrity,and no sense of wisdom andvirtue, will not remain free.”

Newt Gingrich Envisions

WINTER 2010 • • Page 5

nies the most competitive in the world.You want to develop a program where itmakes economic sense to build the nextfactory in the U.S., not in India or Chinaor somewhere else. Now, it’s not that wedon’t know how to do this; it’s just thatthe guys currently in charge are, in fact,secular socialists, and their entire model is explicitly wrong. Their model for economic growth is the equivalent of putting eggs in the freezer because youwant hard-boiled eggs. They’re just fundamentally wrong.

SMALL BUSINESS IS KEYOn tax policy, it’s straightforward. If wereally want to start getting out of 10 per-cent unemployment – 17.5 percent if youcount underemployment – the first thingwe ought to do is make life dramaticallyeasier for small business and for workingAmericans, by having a two-year, 50-percent temporary reduction in the SocialSecurity and Medicare tax, both for theemployee and for the employer. You’dimmediately create liquidity in every smallbusiness in the country, and you would payfor it by taking back money out of thestimulus, taking back money out of theTARP program, and selling every private-sector asset that the Obama administra-tion has acquired in the last year so thatyou would actually get the money back topeople. You would also, by having donethat, make every American aware of howmuch taxes they’re paying in the regressivecurrent system. And you would set thestage for two years of developing a funda-mental reform of entitlements, so thatrather than having the tax go back, we’dmove toward a defined-contributionmodel for Social Security, and a defined-contribution model for Medicare, and youwould begin to really have a fundamental-ly healthier, long-term system that couldsustain competition on a worldwide basis.

The second thing we would do is challenge everybody who wants us to –every liberal in America will tell you theywant us to compete head-to-head withChina – fine. Then let’s match theChinese on capital gains – which is zero.The Chinese have no capital gains tax.

If we had zero capital gains tax in theUnited States, the amount of capital thatwould flow in for investment would bebreathtaking. Third, if you really wantAmerican companies to compete world-wide, then we ought to match the Irishcorporate tax rate, which is 12.5 percent.At that point you would find everyAmerican company was among the mostcompetitive in the world, and, suddenly,instead of worrying about jobs going overseas, you’d have jobs flooding backinto the United States.

Fourth, if you really want to help smallbusinesses, we ought to have 100 percentexpensing for all new equipment, so it’swritten off in one year, with a specific goalthat we want Americans to have the mostmodern, most productive, best technologyin the world, so American workers are themost competitive, earning the highestincome. And then we believe in doingthat, you would then also create – re-cre-ate – an American machine-tool industryof enormous proportions, because youwould have created a huge market in theU.S. for us to be consistently at the frontend of all new technologies – for our ownworkers to be the most productive.

And finally, if you really want to send asignal of entrepreneurial behavior, weshould eliminate the death tax so thatevery family has an incentive to work andsave their whole life. Now, for those of youwho think that this is too bold, let me justpoint out to you, back in January, at thevery peak of Obama’s popularity, at thelow point of belief in American business,CBS News asked the question, which doyou think creates jobs more effectively –government spending or business tax cuts?They used the word “business.” Businesstax cuts. It was 59 to 21, in favor of busi-ness tax cuts. If the Republicans had hadthe nerve to offer a $787 billion tax cut,

and they go to the country, and say let’shave a choice. You want to spend $787billion getting out of the recession, fine.We’ll spend it on this level of reducingyour taxes. They’ll spend it on bureaucratsand politicians. You pick.

WHAT ABOUT ENERGY?By the way, 79 percent of the Americanpeople believe it is wrong for the UnitedStates to be at risk in national security,and 79 percent of people believe it iswrong for the United States to be at riskin terms of economic blackmail, bydepending on foreign sources for energy.And the American people are not stupid.

The American people know that bowingto a Saudi king is not a substitute for ener-gy policy. So what do you do? You maxi-mize the development of Americansources of energy. We have an artificialconstraint today because our governmentlimits our ability to use our naturalresources, and then we wonder why we’resending $400 billion or $500 billion a yearoverseas. We’re sending it overseas as adeliberate policy to block the UnitedStates from developing its own energy.Now, if you really want this country toboom again, you keep the $400 billion to$500 billion here. We’re going to be a dra-matically healthier country, a safer coun-try, and, frankly, I’d much rather see thenext building boom in the U.S. than seethe next building boom in Dubai.

The Future of America“The Chinese have no capitalgains tax. If we had zero capital gains tax in the UnitedStates, the amount of capitalthat would flow in for invest-ment would be breathtaking.”

Investigative JournalismCarolina Journal’s reputation as a leadinggovernment watchdog began in 1997, when Don Carrington exposed a $21 million slush fund used by legislative insiders for pork-barrel projects in violation of law. The following year, a CJ investigation helped to prompt formerGov. Jim Hunt and lawmakers to enactreforms of the state personnel system.More recently, CJ writers have exposedconflicts of interest and misuse of publicfunds in the Randy Parton Theatre, a natural-gas boondoggle in NortheasternNorth Carolina, Mike Easley’s real-estatedeals and use of friends’ airplanes to fly for free, scandals surrounding formerHouse Speaker Jim Black, and more.

The State BudgetIn 1995 JLF began issuing fiscally conser-vative alternative state budgets. There was an immediate effect as legislators adoptedelements of the plan, resulting in the firstnonrecession year that state spending didnot grow. While North Carolinians haveendured tax hikes over the past severalyears, legislators also adopted some JLF proposals, saving taxpayers tens of millions of dollars per year.

K-12 EducationJLF's earliest policy initiative helped steerthe debate that led to 1991 legislation thatgave back some authority to districts. JLFhas also led the way in urging standardsand accountability for student achieve-ment, in illustrating that N.C.’s testingprogram is inadequate, and in arguing for innovation, competition, and fewerregulations, which resulted in the authorization of the charter model.

Media ExposureHundreds of thousands of people read, see,or listen to JLF ideas every week. JLF’sinfluence has grown due to analyst exper-tise, a growing suite of services, and abrand identity synonymous with intellec-tual honesty and conservative principles.

In 2009, JLF was published or quoted inprint publications nearly 3,000 times.Analysts appeared on TV 1,036 times and on radio 2,060 times. JLF’s Web sites and blogs garnered 700,000 monthlypage views.

Health Care ReformJLF’s yearlong commitment to writingabout, and commenting on, the need forfree-market health care policies made a substantial contribution to raising doubtsabout congressional proposals that put thegovernment in control of the U.S. healthcare system.

Transparency in GovernmentGiving citizens easier, more timely, andmore complete access to government budgets, contracts, and checkbooks was a JLF priority long before recent cases ofhigh-profile corruption. With the creationof www.nctransparency.com, severalmunicipalities have contacted JLF foradvice on how to enhance the public’saccess to information and improve theirstanding on JLF’s grading system.

Home and Sales Tax HikesJLF manned the front lines of an intenseeffort to thwart campaigns by local governments to impose a 0.4 percent land transfer tax on sellers of homes and land,and a 0.25 percent sales tax on all citizens.Armed with information from JLF andallies, an informed electorate defeated thehome tax all 24 times it has appeared onthe ballot, saving taxpayers an estimated$60 million or more. Sales tax hikes havebeen approved in just 10 of 54 cases.

TransportationIn 1991, JLF introduced into the trans-portation debate the innovative options of public-private toll roads. The policypaper gained traction with legislators andtransportation specialists. Over time, some of JLF’s ideas were incorporated into toll projects that are now underwayor in development.

• Page 6 • THE LOCKE LETTER

A 20-Year Legacy: Fighting for

John HoodPresident

Accomplishments and Influence

Edwin Meese Michael Barone

Bob Novak Gov

John Hood chuckles about the earlydays. There were the people who

assumed he must be John Locke. Therewere the hours spent entering namesand addresses into an archaic database.And there were the lawmakers whoasked him to fetch coffee since thefresh-faced Hood resembled the typical legislative page.

It’s been a memorable journey fromjohn-of-all-trades to president andchairman of a premiere state policythink tank. But that’s the road Hoodhas traveled from that day in 1990

WINTER 2010 • • Page 7

Freedom, Truth, Responsibility

“I’m proud that that the LockeFoundation is ever vigilant and onguard to expose the shenanigans ofpoliticians and the largesse of government at all levels. My view –and it is shared by many in the political and pundit world – is thatJLF is the pre-eminent free marketstatewide think tank in the countrytoday. My hope is that it becomes apermanent fixture in the policydebates for years to come.”

Marc Rotterman

Reflections From JLF’s Founding President

when he and founding president Marc Rotterman opened thedoors of the John Locke Foundation. The following year, MarilynAvila signed on as bookkeeper and administrator, and the trioformed the intellectual firepower and energy behind the state’s outspoken voice on behalf of conservative principles and free-market economics.

It wasn’t long before movers and shakers tooknotice. In 1991, JLF’s first alternative state budgetaddressed the state’s economic downturn and thestate’s nearly $1 billion budget hole. John walkedthe halls of the General Assembly, passing out the budget and explaining its components. “There were some people who, pretty quickly,began to be interested in us and our work,” Hoodrecalls. “And not just conservatives – some liberals, too.”

One of JLF’s earliest public fights over policy came not with progressives but with Republican Gov. Jim Martin, who champi-oned the Global TransPark in Kinston. JLF criticized the project as a misguided use of public funds. Martin stood his ground anddefended the TransPark before a JLF audience. “He made his case,had his charts and everything,” Hood says of that memorable day.

Just a few years later, it was Democratic Gov. Jim Hunt who stoodbefore a 1994 Locke Foundation gathering of fiscal conservatives.In the political wave that swept the country, Republicans hadtaken back the N.C. House – something North Carolina hadn’tseen since the 1890s – and came within a hair of taking over theN.C. Senate.

Members of Hunt’s Cabinet watched from the audience as the governor made front-page news by embracing tax cuts. “Gov.Hunt’s tax cut package was bigger than the one Republicans

had proposed,” Hood recalls. “He perceived that the political envi-ronment in Raleigh had changed, and a good place to repositionhimself as a tax cutter was at the John Locke Foundation.”

Hood believes the development of JLF’s journalism arm representsa key milestone for the foundation. He is proud of Carolina

Journal’s reputation as a relentless governmentwatchdog that invests time and resources intoinvestigative journalism. Executive Editor DonCarrington’s 1997 expose on a $21 million legislative slush fund used for pork-barrel projects was the first in a line of consequentialstories about misuse of public funds and conflictof interest.

“Whether you look at our impact on policy orour journalistic efforts, we’ve had a really remarkable 20 years.”

Hood notes there are still many policy challenges ahead, includingalarmist climate change policies, the stifling of public charterschools, the spend-and-tax habit of state and local officials, weakprivate property rights protections, and local government intrusiondisguised as “smart growth” policies. “We’re already working on allof them,” Hood says.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole Gov. Jim Hunt

v. Jim Martin Ken Starr

“Whether you look atour impact on policy orour journalistic efforts,we’ve had a reallyremarkable 20 years.”

See Back Cover for JLF’s Milestones.

• Page 8 • THE LOCKE LETTER

The North Carolina Constitution

THE PANELISTS:

Dr. John DinanWake Forest University Political Scientist andConstitutional Scholar

Terry StoopsJohn Locke Foundation EducationPolicy Analyst

Robert OrrFormer N.C.Supreme Court Justice,Executive Director of the North CarolinaInstitute forConstitutional Law

THE MODERATOR:

Bill GrahamAttorney

Q: What does the North CarolinaConstitution say about education?

Mr. Stoops: Under the Declaration ofRights in Article 1, Section 15, the consti-tution says that the people have a right tothe privilege of education and it is the dutyof the State to guard and maintain thatright. And under Article 9, Sections 1through 10, there are nine components that are brought out.

Q: How have the courts interpreted thestate constitution, but particularly howhave they interpreted the role of theSuperintendent of Public Instruction in the Atkinson case?

Justice Orr: The Atkinson case, in whichthe Institute for Constitutional Law repre-sented Dr. June Atkinson, is sort of a fasci-nating story of constitutional development.And I can’t really go into all of it, but thebottom line was, back after Gov. [Beverly]Perdue came into office, she appointed Dr. Bill Harrison, superintendent ofCumberland County Schools, to the post of member of the State Board of Education.The Board of Education elected him chair-man and then created a separate position of CEO of education and hired Dr. Harrisonto that position and essentially stripped Dr. Atkinson, who is the duly electedSuperintendent of Public Instruction, of allpractical responsibilities for running thestate’s school system. Dr. Atkinson filedsuit, and the trial court ruled that the gov-ernor’s acts were unconstitutional. TheSuperintendent of Public Instruction is aconstitutional officer. Article 3 of the stateconstitution provides – along with theAttorney General, the Treasurer, and otherCouncil of State positions – that this is aposition that you, the voters, elect everyfour years. And with that designation thereare certain constitutional rights and respon-

sibilities that go with the job. And there’s aspecific duty for the Superintendent, andit’s that she is the chief administrative offi-cer of the State Board of Education. And sothe lawsuit sort of dealt with how you inter-pret that. There was a change of languagewhen the 1971 constitution was adopted.What did it mean? Was the Superintendentmerely an employee of the board, or did theSuperintendent have real constitutionalauthority? Fortunately, the Superior Courtruled in Dr. Atkinson’s favor, and the statechose not to appeal. So the case is nowconcluded, and Dr. Atkinson is vested with all the authority of the duly electedconstitutional officer that she is.

Q: The lottery, or as some may call it, the Education Lottery, was somewhat controversial when it was enacted. …Some thought it was constitutional, andsome thought it wasn’t.

Dr. Dinan: The Education Lottery hasraised at least two recent questions. Firstquestion, probably the fundamental ques-tion: Was it created in a constitutional fash-ion? The North Carolina Constitution saysin another article of the constitution, otherthan the education article, it says any timethe legislature wants to raise a tax or pledgethe full faith and credit of the state, essen-tially revenue bills must – are so special –that they must be read by the legislatureand voted on by the legislature on threeseparate days. They don’t want the legisla-ture surprising the people by just passing itone time and then dealing with it. Well,the Education Lottery was not read andvoted on on three separate days. So thequestion that came before the NorthCarolina court: Is the North CarolinaEducation Lottery a tax or revenue bill ofthe kind that needs to be read and voted onthree separate days? The North CarolinaAppeals Court said it’s not a tax or revenue

Editor’s Note: Following are editedexcerpts of the final panel discussion in theNorth Carolina History Project’s State of Our Constitution series, which was conductedin cooperation with the North CarolinaInstitute for Constitutional Law (NCICL). To view the entire event, as well as the forums on taxation and property rights, visit:http://www.northcarolinahistory.org/.

WINTER 2010 • • Page 9

bill and, therefore, it was created legitimate-ly. It went up to the North CarolinaSupreme Court. The Court split 3-3 and,therefore, upheld the Appeals Court ruling.

But a second issue has been raised morerecently, and this is more of a political issue.And that is, the Education Lottery was billedto the public as [a program whose] proceedswould be spent on education. Earlier thisyear, some of that money was spent on matters other than education. Now, there’snothing illegal about that, per se, but itcould be said to violate the original campaign promises that supporters made. So some folks have turned to proposing a constitutional amendment, a change to theNorth Carolina Constitution, that wouldsay, just as Virginia did about a decade ago,that all money and proceeds raised throughthe North Carolina Education Lottery mustbe spent on education and no other way.That’s a proposed constitutional change. It’s certainly not been adopted, but it could be adopted to remedy that problem.

Q: What about [the Leandro] decision and how does that impact us today?

Justice Orr: Well, potentially Leandro wasmaybe one of the most significant decisionsin the state Supreme Court in its 200-plus-year history. It started when a group of low-wealth counties filed a lawsuit on behalf of agroup of parents and students – the lead student, the lead plaintiff, being RobLeandro. And their complaint was that theycame from poor counties where the propertytax rate was such that they could not ade-quately provide the kind of facilities andopportunities for their students that wealthi-er counties – the Wake counties, the Orangecounties, arguably the Rowan counties of theworld – could provide to their students. Andsince the primary funding responsibility forfacilities was at the county level, theybrought a lawsuit challenging it. A group oflarge metropolitan counties intervened, say-ing, “Wait a minute, we’ve got our ownproblems. If the low-wealth counties aregoing to get taken care of, we want to be atthe table.” And so it comes to the SupremeCourt. And the argument was an equal-funding argument. And the Court, or at leastsix of the seven justices, rejected the equal-funding [argument]. I frankly thought theconstitution provided for that, but thenChief Justice [Burley] Mitchell was deter-mined that the Court was not heading down

a funding path, an equal-funding path, andinstead turned to a more, shall we say, eso-teric concept. And that is that the constitu-tion – and if you look at Section 15 ofArticle 1, the Declaration of Rights … thepeople have a right to the privilege of educa-tion, and it is the duty of the State to guardand maintain that right. And the court heldin Leandro that there is a constitutional rightto the opportunity for a sound basic educa-tion and the State has the constitutionalduty to make sure as best it can that all ofour students get this opportunity. And thecase was then sent back to the trial court.[Wake County Superior Court] JudgeHoward Manning was appointed the specialSuperior Court judge for the case, went toHoke County, spent probably a year and ahalf, two years in Hoke County taking evi-dence … compiling thousands of pages ofevidence, wrote a 350-page order in whichhe concluded that the state was violating the rights of the students, particularly at-riskstudents, in Hoke County, and that the statehad to start taking the necessary steps toremedy that.

Q: One of the questions from the audi-ence says, “Why do we have a lottery?Why don’t we just have an education tax?”

Dr. Dinan: I should say there are somestates that actually have, in their constitu-tion, requirements that a certain percentageof the state budget, for instance, must bespent on education. So we do have someprovisions of that kind, and we have otherprovisions where there are certain taxes thatare allotted for particular reasons. One of thechallenges that you get in there is how muchyou want to hamstring and constrain the legislature and how much you want to givethe legislators the chance to make their owndecisions about funding. And to put toomuch of this in the constitution does run the risk of leaving the legislators without thediscretion to say, “Oh, this is a really toughyear. We’re going to have to make some cutssome place.” They are free, if it is not consti-tutionally constrained, to make those deci-sions as they see fit. So that’s one of thedownsides of actually constitutionally making such provisions.

Q: We have another question from theaudience having to do with special-needsstudents. … [Does the] state constitution say anything about that?

Mr. Stoops: The state constitution doesspecify that every child that is able to beeducated must be educated regardless of theirmental or physical abilities. Well, it saysappropriate age and sufficient mental andphysical ability, but essentially that meansthat, regardless, all children need to be educated. Now, the state does provide quitea bit of funding for special-needs students inaddition to what the federal governmentprovides. … I don’t want to seem like I’m a lawsuit monger, but a lawsuit on the basis that a special-needs student is being ill-served in their local school system and is suing because they are not receiving a sufficient or sound basic education. Now one of the things that the law provides isthat a school system may contract with a private provider for special-needs services. I wouldn’t mind seeing a parent challenge aschool system based on that law, saying thatif you can’t provide a sound basic educationto my special-needs student, then this private provider can.

Q: Would a free-market approach be better than having Judge Manning with his thumb on Halifax County?

Mr. Stoops: In an ideal system the statewould just be the means by which the fundsare collected and then those funds are takenby the parent to the school of their choice.So there’s still a role for the state; the state isstill involved in education. It still can beseen as fulfilling its educational function, but then the parents would also be fulfillingtheir educational function, too, as far as theeducation of their children, sending theirdollars, ultimately tax dollars, to where theyfeel best meets the needs of their child. So afree market in education doesn’t necessarilymean there is no government involvement.It just means that, ultimately, the amount of government involvement is minimal andthat the maximum of choice is given to the parents.

www.northcarolinahistory.org

and K-12 Public Education

• Page 10 • THE LOCKE LETTER

The Hammerbrothers are the creators

of The RhinocerosTimes, the Triad’s conservative alterna-tive weekly newspa-per. From the begin-ning, The Rhinofocused on local news – on theGreensboro CityCouncil, GuilfordCounty Board ofCommissioners, andlater the High PointCity Council. The conservative/libertarian perspective of the reporting was, in the words of one reader, a “refreshing change.”

What has guided The Rhino’s reporting is a belief in the rights of theindividual over the rights of groups, and certainly over government,as well as a desire to let the public know what is being done withtheir tax money, who is benefiting, and how.

The investigative reporting in The Rhino has been instrumental inthe resignation of two sitting elective officials and the withdrawal of a candidate for public office. The paper has been party to lawsuitsover the open meetings law and has been victorious in a lawsuitagainst the Ku Klux Klan. In February 2006, The Rhino was one of the few papers in the country to run some of the Danish cartoonsof Muhammad.

In 1972, the year after he served as statewide president of the North

Carolina Association of CountyCommissioners, Jim won election to the U.S. House ofRepresentatives. He stayed inCongress for six terms, until1984. While on Capitol Hill, he served on the Ways andMeans Committee and as chair-man of the House RepublicanResearch Committee.

In 1984, Jim became only the second Republican in a century to be elected governor of North Carolina, and the first to be elected to a second term. A key campaign promise was that the Martin administrationwould address the state’s inadequate and crumbling infrastructure. North Carolina embarked on a large-scaletransportation improvement program, and in 1990 Martinfulfilled a key campaign promise with the completion ofInterstate 40 all the way from Tennessee to Wilmington.

Coping with an overwhelmingly Democratic legislatureand a political culture in Raleigh biased in favor of government growth was certainly no picnic. There weresetbacks as well as successes. But Gov. Jim Martin set a standard for leadership to which we can all aspire.

It is no exaggeration to say that without Art’s ideas, inspiration, advice, and support, the John Locke Foundation and the larger conservative movement in

North Carolina would be far smaller, far weaker, and far less consequential in the state’s political debate.

Art Pope’s service to North Carolina goes far beyond his work as a founder and funder of the conservative movement. He served in the Martin administration, and four terms in the North Carolina House. He has served on numerous boards

and commissions. Variety Wholesalers,the family business for which he nowserves as CEO, operates hundreds ofstores, employs thousands of people, and provides hundreds of thousands of consumers with quality products ataffordable prices.

Art is also a peerless strategist, a valued counselor, a skilled manager, a caring husband and father. He also isthe namesake for the award he receiveson the 20th anniversary of the JohnLocke Foundation.

Gov. Jim Martin

The John William Pope Sr. Award forthe Advancement of FreedomHonorees: William and John Hammer

The James Knox Polk Award for Leadership in Public OfficeHonoree: Gov. Jim Martin

JLF Honors North CaroliniansOn Jan. 13, the Locke Foundation celebrated its 20th anniversary. A highlight of the evening was the

presentation of three awards to four outstanding citizens who exemplify a commitment to liberty and freedom.

William and John Hammer

Art Pope

The Knight of the Right AwardHonoree: Art Pope

WINTER 2010 • • Page 11

Bob Appleby car-ries a copy of theU.S. Constitution

in his pocket, and he ismore than happy to pullit out when he’s withfolks who don’t seem toknow what is – and isn’t– in the document. Forinstance, it came in

handy the time the John Locke Foundation supporterwas in Mexico and found himself in a debate overthe separation of church and state. “It shocked thedaylights out of them” when the group scoured Bob’scopy but couldn’t find the declaration they were convinced was enshrined in the founding document.

For Bob, a love of the Constitution is as natural asbreathing. When he realized the Locke Foundationshares his commitment and values, he knew he’dfound a relationship worthy of his time and support.He’s been attending JLF events for years now, includ-ing many meetings of the Shaftesbury Society. Theinformal luncheon features speakers who share theirknowledge on a variety of topics, including govern-ment, history, public policy, politics, and culture. Thegroup meets every Monday in downtown Raleigh.

Bob also listens to Carolina Journal Radio on CDand is a regular reader of Carolina Journal newspaper.It’s through them that he’s followed the Mike Easleyinvestigation and other debates over the use and misuse of public resources.

“If you live in North Carolina and you are anti-cor-ruption in government, then you really should bereading what the Locke Foundation has put out,” saysBob. “Carolina Journal is one of the few papers that’sdoing in-depth investigative reporting on corruptionin state government. Folks really ought to know

about it. With the LockeFoundation working onthings, you do.”

Bob moved to Durhamin 1986, and after a 30-year career with DuPont,he retired from the 8-to-5 routine. While he’sthankful DuPont provid-ed him with health insurance as a benefit, he thinks the country’shealth care delivery system needs meaningful change. Insurance, he says,shouldn’t be tied to employment. “I am very much infavor of portability. The insurance policy ought tobelong to the person, not to the company. We reallyneed to do something about it,” he says.

Bob also is a staunch supporter of the SecondAmendment and is a member of the NRA. He’sactive in his church, enjoys outdoor sports, and ofcourse, is committed to following news and politics.“It will certainly be an interesting year,” he says.

“If you live in North Carolina and youare anti-corruption in government,then you really should be reading whatthe Locke Foundation has put out.”

Now more than ever, JLF needs your help.

See the inside front cover for details.

Meet JLF Supporter

Bob Appleby

Bob Appleby

• Page 12 • THE LOCKE LETTER

200 W. MORGAN STREET, #200RALEIGH, NC 27601

NON-PROFIT ORG.U.S. POSTAGE

PAIDRALEIGH, NCPERMIT #1766

MILESTONES IN OUR HISTORY

1990 – The John Locke Foundation begins operation.

1991 – First issue of Carolina Journal produced.

1992 – JLF issues major reports on school reform and public-private toll roads.

1993 – UNC-Chapel Hill’s direction questioned in JLF’s Tradition at Risk.

1994 – First major JLF policy conference (on health care) held in Durham.

1995 – JLF releases first alternative state budget at LegislativeBuilding.

1996 – Former Gov. Jim Hunt chooses JLF event to announce a tax cut.

1997 – Carolina Journal exposes secret pork-barrel accounts for legislators.

1998 – Legislature enacts health-plan tax credit based on JLF research.

1999 – JLF moves into current office location in downtown Raleigh.

2000 – JLF predicts state budget woes, says UNC bonds will raise taxes.

2001 – CJ Online redesigned, becomes a top site for state politics & policy.

2002 – JLF’s staff approaches 15, budget first exceeds $1.5 million.

2003 – Carolina Journal Radio debuts, now run on 20 stations.

2004 – JLF appearances in N.C. print media exceed 3,000 per year.

2005 – CJ expands readership to 160,000, begins regional editions.

2006 – JLF’s staff approaches 30, budget first exceeds $3 million.

2007 – Thanks in part to JLF, dozens of county tax hikes fail in referenda across the state.

2008 – JLF exposes faulty data, political motives behind state global-warming commission.

2009 – CJ investigation of Mike Easley’s finances sparks federal corruption probe.

Inside:Read about the Locke Foundation's 20-Year

Legacy of Working For You