Popular Government

This article examines trends in violent crime in the United States and in North Carolina. It explains some basics of crime measurement and investigates the discrepancy between violent crime as measured by surveys of crime victims and violent crime as officially reported by police. The article concludes with a discussion of some possible explanations for the drop in the violent-crime rate.

As the number of students educated at home continues to rise, so does the number of potential conflicts between home school families, the state, and the public school system. This article addresses an important facet of that complicated relationship: the legal interaction between North Carolina public school boards and home school families when home school students wish to enter or reenter the public school system. The article first reviews the law governing home schools in North Carolina. It then discusses what the law allows or requires for home school transfers. Finally, in the absence of comprehensive statewide data, it describes the current practices of some North Carolina school boards with regard to home school transfers.