Why is DNPE a part of DOA instead of DPI?
For 18 years, a state level non-public school office operated under the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (at the time when North Carolina began officially regulating non-public schools at the state level). After a period of intense legal conflict and then political activity during the 1970’s (involving both the public and non-public school sectors), today’s non-public school laws were enacted transferring the non-public school office in 1979 from the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction to the Governor’s direct control and oversight. While North Carolina’s public and non-public schools are both non-profit in nature, the relationship between the two types of schools is somewhat like competitive businesses. Both exist for the express purpose of providing the same service — academic instruction to children. However, they are by nature in competition with one another in the “educational marketplace.” The North Carolina General Assembly, therefore, decided in 1979
