Raleigh, NC -- Legislative Republicans’ plan to spend $625 million this year on taxpayer funded private school vouchers instead of public schools will hurt rural communities the most. And school boards and leaders in rural North Carolina are speaking out. Voucher expansion would disproportionately impact rural North Carolina counties, where access to private education is limited and public schools serve as the backbone of communities. Recently, local papers have highlighted this attack on public education in North Carolina.

Read how communities will be affected below:

N&O: Private school voucher expansion is looming in NC. Why Wake schools say that’s bad

T. Keung Hui, September 18, 2024

Wake County school leaders charge that North Carolina’s historic expansion of private school voucher funding will leave public schools underfunded.

State lawmakers have passed a bill that provides an additional $463 million for private school vouchers but less than half of the $200 million requested for public school enrollment growth. During Tuesday’s review of House Bill 10, most Wake school board members said the legislation should be rejected.

Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to veto the bill. But Republicans have a large enough legislative majority to override Cooper to pass the bill into law.

“Not only is it bad for us here in Wake County, It’s bad statewide,” said school board chair Chris Heagarty. “It’s bad because so many of our small school districts don’t even have private school options yet the public schools which are there to serve in those communities are underfunded.”

Read the article here.

Martin County Enterprise: Governor: Voucher program hurts MCS

John Foley, September 18, 2024

Martin County public schools, already suffering from tight budget restraints, could lose substantial funding if the N.C. General Assembly’s move to direct substantial tax dollars towards private school vouchers is successful.

That’s the message from N.C. Governor Roy Cooper.

The action would extend the program to 55,000 students.

“If the General Assembly’s private school voucher plan moves forward, Martin County could lose more than $65,000 in public education funding in just the first year of the expanded program,” Gov. Cooper told The Enterprise last week. “Statewide, the General Assembly could spend nearly $625 million in new funding of taxpayer money for private school vouchers just this year.”

Gov. Cooper was referring to the GOP-controlled Legislature’s vote to approve the increased voucher funding.

“They’re coming back to take hundreds of millions of taxpayer money out of the public schools to give it to private school vouchers for the wealthiest North Carolinians,” the Governor said. “This is devastating for education across the board and we have evidence from other states to prove it.”

Public schools are funded based on how many students are enrolled. For each enrolled student, public schools receive an average of $7,500 in state funding to cover various expenses, such as teacher salaries, instructional materials or transportation, explained Cooper.

Under the voucher program, if a public-school student uses a voucher to attend a private school, the public schools lose that funding. If the General Assembly fully expands the taxpayer-funded private school voucher program, private schools could siphon nearly $100 million in state funding from public schools.

The program will cost the state more than $270 million just in the first year, according to statistics provided by Gov. Cooper.

“Despite the lack of funding, our public schools continue to shine. More than 84 percent of North Carolina’s school-aged children still attend public schools and parents are overwhelmingly satisfied with that choice,” noted Gov. Cooper. “And for good reason. Our public schools are doing amazing things.

“Last year, public school students earned 325,000 workforce credentials, and our public schools have more nationally board certified teachers than any other state in the country,” he continued. “The success of our families and our workforce relies on strong public schools. Private school vouchers will destroy that goal.”

Studies show private school vouchers do not improve student performance. North Carolina private schools also operate under a less regulated educational umbrella. Private schools are not required to hire licensed teachers, they are not required to report on how students are performing, nor are they required to teach a curriculum based on the state’s academic standards or provide services for students with disabilities.

“Vouchers directly undermine strong public education. They take scarce funding from public schools, which serve 90 percent of students nationwide — and give it to private schools. These private schools have no accountability to tax payers for their service and are held to no standards for curriculum, student learning, nor ethical practice,” Martin County Schools Superintendent Dr. Michelle White said. “In addition, private schools choose what students they will accept to educate. Public tax dollars should not be used for chosen students, it should be used for all students.

“Martin County Schools, like all public schools, proudly serve all children. In addition, public school teachers are severely underpaid and often work multiple jobs to make ends meet,” Dr. White continued. “If our legislators would have taken the $463 million dollars they put in vouchers, and invested it in teacher pay, North Carolina teachers would have seen a 2.6 percent pay increase.”

Read the article here.

The Yadkin Ripple: Expanded private school vouchers could hurt local school funding

Kitsey Burns Harrison, September 18, 2024

There are no private schools located in Yadkin County, yet an expanded private school voucher program recently passed in the state legislature could lead to lost funding for public education.

Part of House Bill 10, passed by Republican legislators in the N.C. General Assembly last week, aimed at providing “school choice” for students includes an increase in funds for the next 15 years to the Opportunity Scholarship Grant Fund Reserve. A total of $625 million in new funding would be directed to taxpayer-funded private school vouchers in the first year of this expanded program.

According to information from Governor Roy Cooper’s office, “Yadkin County could lose more than $106,000 in public education funding in just the first year of the expanded voucher program, despite having zero private schools participating in the Opportunity Scholarship Program.”

Cooper spoke directly with The Yadkin Ripple to express his concern over how this program could particularly affect public education funding for rural counties such as Yadkin.

“The Legislature wants to take money out of the public schools and give it to private school vouchers, even to the wealthiest of North Carolinians,” Cooper said. “We’re talking about a total amount of $625 million dollars this year. That will be devastating for education across the board. We have strong evidence from other states to prove it. Studies show that private school vouchers do not improve student performance, it’ll only rob public schools of badly needed funding.”

Funding locally for public schools continues to be an issue and something that educators are concerned about. Yadkin County Schools Superintendent Anthony Davis said he was concerned about how this expanded voucher program could negatively affect Yadkin County Schools.

“I understand that the General Assembly has a monumental responsibility to ensure that they are good stewards of taxpayer dollars and that the needs are met across several state-funded agencies and programs. However, I do not agree with utilizing public money to fund private schools,” Davis said. “There are so many needs we have in the public school system that go unrealized due to lack of funding. It has become increasingly difficult to hire quality staff with salary being a major mitigating factor. Chronic absenteeism, mental health support, and behavior concerns continue to be a post-pandemic issue that requires the attention of additional specialized staff like school social workers, school counselors, nurses, and behavior support staff.”

“Our Exceptional Children’s program is only funded at 13% of our population when our actual service numbers well exceed that,” Davis continued. “If the General Assembly would use a fraction of the proposed $825 million they plan to use for vouchers by 2032-2033, all of these programs and staffing needs could be fully funded which would allow us to offer families and staff the support they deserve.”

Read the article here.

Rocky Mount Telegram: Cooper intends to veto voucher bill upon arrival

Eugene L. Tinklepaugh, September 14, 2024

Gov. Roy Cooper stands ready to veto legislation fully funding a Republican-backed voucher program that currently has a waitlist of about 55,000 students.

The Opportunity Scholarships are state-funded vouchers available to families with children attending private schools.

Cooper said Friday in a phone interview with the Telegram that the legislature’s recently approved spending plan will take about $625 million away from the state’s public schools to pay for the program.

“I’m going to veto this legislation, and it’s important for that veto to be sustained, so that we don’t put these private school vouchers permanently in our system with the very wealthiest getting the money,” Cooper said.

“This would be devastating to public schools.,” he said.

The N.C. House voted 67-43 following debate Wednesday to accept the legislation worked out by Republican legislative leaders. The N.C. Senate approved the measure separately Monday during a scheduled session this week.

In the House, three Democrats joined Republicans in approving the measure. N.C. Rep. Shelly Willingham, D-23rd District, was one of the three Democrats siding with the GOP majority on the bill. Attempts to reach Willingham on Friday were unsuccessful. Willingham represents Bertie, Martin and Edgecombe counties.

Cooper noted that rural areas would be hurt the most by this bill, which Republicans have touted as clearing the way for a true universal school choice program.

“Edgecombe County would lose more than $171,000 in public education funding,” Cooper said. He noted that there are no private schools in the county that accept these Opportunity Scholarships.

Nash County stands to lose even more public education funding if the bill becomes law.

“Nash County could lose $811,000,” Cooper said. The two-term governor is a Nash County native whose daughters attended Nash County public schools.

Read the article here.

The Daily Advance: School voucher expansion 'devastating' for public education in NC

Chris Day, September 13, 2024

Rural North Carolina’s public schools will suffer because of the state Legislature's decision this week to spend more tax dollars extending private school vouchers to an additional 55,000 students, Gov. Roy Cooper said this week.

“The Legislature wants to take hundreds of millions of dollars out of the public schools and give it to private school vouchers, even for the wealthiest North Carolinians,” Cooper said Wednesday during a phone interview with The Daily Advance. “That’s going to be devastating for education across the board.”

Cooper was referring to the Republican-led General Assembly’s approval this week to add up to $625 million in new funding this year to support Opportunity Scholarships, otherwise known as school vouchers.

Cooper, who is reaching out to media outlets in rural areas of the state, said he wants residents, particularly those in rural North Carolina, to understand the potential downsides of the state spending even more money for families to send their children to private schools that accept vouchers. That’s because 28 rural North Carolina counties have one or no private school participating in the voucher program.

“We’ve got evidence from other states that have done this (expand private school vouchers) to prove that studies show that private school vouchers do not improve student performance,” Cooper said. “We also know and we’ve seen it in other states that rural counties will be hurt the most. Most of the private schools getting this taxpayer money are in the urban areas” of the state.

Read the article here.

The Taylorsville Times: An interview with Gov. Cooper about School Voucher Expansion legislation

Angela Farr King, September 18, 2024

North Carolina House Bill 10, also known as the Private School Voucher Expansion Bill, recently passed in the NC Senate on September 9 and the NC House of Representatives on September 11.

According to The Opportunity Scholarship Impact Analysis sent to The Taylorsville Times by the Governor’s office and created by the Office of State Budget Management (OSBM), “the Opportunity Scholarship Program (also known as the Private School Voucher Program) was created by the NC General Assembly in 2013. Scholarships are awarded based on a family’s household income and can be used to pay the required tuition and fees to attend an eligible K-12 private school.”

The OSBM also states that “The 2023 Appropriations Act SL 2023-134 expanded program eligibility and funding leading to nearly 70,000 new applications for the 2024-25 academic year, a more than 100% increase over 2023-24. 15,805 of new eligible applicants were funded, leaving 54,000 on the waitlist. Additional appropriations proposed in the Fiscal Year 2024-25 NC House and Senate budget bills would fund all remaining 2024-25 eligible applicants.”

According to the Impact Analysis, if the proposed House 10 Bill passes, the current number of new students receiving scholarships to attend private schools of 15,805 will possibly increase by a number of 53,706 for a total of 69,511.

Read the article here.

Jacksonville Daily News: Gov. Cooper urging residents in ENC, to speak up against private school voucher funding

Morgan Starling, September 18, 2024

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is urging residents, specifically those in rural counties like Onslow, Craven, and Lenoir, to contact their legislators in opposition to a program that Cooper says could take around $625 million away from public schools in just the first year.

The General Assembly returned to session last week, passing a supplemental spending bill that approves hundreds of millions more taxpayer dollars for private school vouchers through the Opportunity Scholarship Program.

The House voted 67-43, according to reporting by the Associated Press, adopting the plan that Cooper says will see the legislature spend more than $4 billion in taxpayer funding over the next decade.

“This is devastating for education across the board, and we have evidence from other states to prove it,” Cooper told The Daily News. “Studies show that private school vouchers do not improve student performance. Instead, they rob public schools of badly needed funding. Of course, in North Carolina, we wouldn’t know, because they have provided no accountability for these hundreds of millions of dollars that they’re sending to the private schools.”

Expanding private school vouchers would especially impact rural North Carolina counties, where access to private education is limited, and public schools serve as the backbone of communities, according to Cooper’s office.

In fact, 28 of North Carolina’s 100 counties have no, or just one, private school participating in the voucher program.

Onslow County itself could lose around $1.7 million in public education funding in just the first year of the expanded voucher program, with 12 private schools eligible to participate.

Craven County could lose around $1.5 million with only nine schools participating, Lenoir could lose more than $553,000 with just five schools participating, and Jones could lose more than $102,000 despite having zero schools participating.

Read the article here.