How the Trump administration is helping expand charter schools in North Carolina
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- USDA $7M loan will cover most of Neuse Charter's $9M expansion.
- Administration promotes school-choice via tax-credit scholarships and charter funding.
- NCAPCS got $53M federal grant to help add 28 charter schools over five years.
The Trump administration is helping a Johnston County charter school as well as charter schools across the nation to expand.
On Monday, Neuse Charter School in Smithfield held a groundbreaking for a new elementary school building that will largely be paid for by a $7 million federal loan from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It’s one of the ways the Trump administration is funneling more federal money into charter schools as well as private school voucher programs.
“Strong rural schools are foundational to a strong nation,” Deputy U.S. Agriculture Under Secretary Neal Robbins said in a news release. “President Trump’s focus on rural investment and educational freedom allows communities to grow, parents to choose, and students to succeed.”
The federal efforts to expand school choice have been criticized by supporters of traditional public schools as a diversion of resources from the schools attended by the majority of the nation’s children.
Federal loan pays for JoCo charter school expansion
Charter schools are taxpayer-funded schools that are exempt from some of the rules that traditional public schools must follow. The state provides money to operate charter schools but not to build them.
Neuse Charter School is a K-12 school in Johnston County. School leaders had sought money from groups such as the Johnston County Board of Commissioners to help fund the expansion project.
The school is getting $7 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development’s Community Facilities Loan Program. The $7 million low-interest loan will cover most of the $9 million cost of the expansion project, according to North Carolina Rural Development State Director Robert Hosford.
The funding will help pay for the construction of a two-story, 25,000 square feet academic building serving elementary school students in Neuse Charter’s lower academy. The new building will feature 20 classrooms.
During Monday’s groundbreaking ceremony, Hosford said funding charter schools is within the department’s wheelhouse.
“This investment of taxpayer money aligns directly with the Trump administration’s and (U.S. Agriculture) Secretary (Brooke) Rollins — who is my boss — with their goal and their vision of making communities such as yours stronger,” Hosford said.
NC got record charter school grant
The Trump administration has been promoting school choice programs since taking office.
On Monday. U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahaon urged Gov. Josh Stein to opt North Carolina into the Education Freedom Tax Credit program during a visit to High Point.
The program allows families in participating states to receive up to $1,700 off their federal taxes for contributions made to organizations that give scholarships to students in grades K-12, including private schools Stein had initially vetoed the bill.
The Trump administration also has increased federal charter school funding, including giving $53 million to the North Carolina Association for Public Charter Schools (NCAPCS) to expand the number of charters.
There are currently more than 200 charter schools operating in North Carolina, Rhonda Dillingham, executive director of NCAPCS, told the N.C. Charter Schools Review Board on Monday that they want to use the grant to add 28 charter schools over the next five years.
“It’s the largest federal grant to charter schools in the 30 years of charter schools in North Carolina so we’re very, very pleased and excited about everything that we will be able to do,” Dillingham said.
This story was originally published March 9, 2026 at 5:42 PM.
