Should the state continue to fund driver's ed?

Published September 5, 2015

12824259151862440505car1v_vectorized by Brian Balfour, Civitas Review online, September 4, 2015.

State funding for driver's education reportedly continues to be one of the few remaining sticking points in the ongoing state budget negotiations.

Budget writers may find it helpful to refer to this 2010 Program Evaluation Division report that reviewed NC's driver's ed program. Among the key findings from this report:

  • NC is one of only 8 states that fully funds its driver's ed program

  • 32 states provide no funding at all, while 10 provide partial funding

  • The North Carolina Accountability Report (NCAR), which evaluates gov't programs for efficiency and demonstration of results, gave NC's driver's ed program the lowest possible rating

A follow-up report in 2014 concluded that the driver's ed program – under the purview of DPI – "lacks objectives and quantitative performance indicators for measuring program activity and effectiveness."

Perhaps state government is not the best organization to provide driver's education.

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