NC Senate approves millions more for opportunity scholarship, Democrats push back

Less than a month into the N.C. General Assembly short session and Republicans are already making headway with one of their top ticket items: Increasing funding for private school vouchers.

Last week, the Senate approved around $460 million in extra funding for the opportunity scholarship to be used in the 2024-25 school year, which is outlined in HB 823 – Eliminate School Choice Program Waitlists. The vote was 28-15.

The scholarship provides state funding for families to use on private school education. Its funding was already increased last session while also expanding eligibility to more economic brackets.

But the original expansion wasn’t enough, House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland, Rutherford) told reporters at the beginning of the short session, calling for more funding to shorten the waitlist.

Around 72,000 applications were filed this year, a demand the program was unable to meet the needs of with the current funding.

Many Democratic legislators have been steadfast opponents of the expansion saying they want more money for teacher raises and public schools instead.

Rep. Lindsey Prather (D-Buncombe) said it’s not the job of the government to fund private schools with taxpayer money.

“You don’t walk into a public library and demand a gift card to Barnes and Noble,” Prather said. “You don’t walk into your local police station and demand that they pay for private security.”

The governor has also been fighting against these decisions. Declaring 2024 as the “year of public schools,” Gov. Roy Cooper has been traveling to the state’s public schools to show their importance and to call for a moratorium on private school vouchers until public schools are fully funded.

On Monday, the governor along with House Democratic Leader Robert Reives (D-Chatham, Randolph) and Senate Democratic Leader Dan Blue (D-Wake), held a press conference announcing legislative action against the scholarships.

They filed two bills, one in the Senate, SB 853, and another in the House, HB 993.

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The bills call for a moratorium on the opportunity scholarship and for accountability measures to be reported by private schools. Reives is a primary sponsor and said taxpayers’ money should be looked after.

“Elected officials have a duty to be good stewards of your tax dollars and ensure that money is well-spent,” Reives said in a press release from the governor's office. “We are calling for commonsense oversight and accountability for private schools receiving taxpayer money."

As of now, North Carolina private schools are not required to report things like student performance, teach curriculum based on state standards, provide resources for students with disabilities or hire licensed teachers among other things, according to the governor’s website.

Prather, a former public school teacher, said Democrats’ attempt to require accountability measures has been incessant since the first time an increase in funds was brought to the legislators.

“We filed amendment after amendment after amendment to require various accountability measures for these schools and they shot every one down,” Prather said.

Prather said she doesn’t believe the Democratic-sponsored bill will have much success in the General Assembly, but it is still an important action to take.

“It sends the message to North Carolina voters and parents and families that at least one of the parties is listening to them,” Prather said.

Most recently, the Republican-sponsored bill which calls for an increase in funding for the scholarship was referred to the House committee of rules, calendar and operations. It will later face approval from the governor if it passes through the legislature. Even if it is vetoed by Gov. Cooper, the General Assembly holds a super majority that could override his opposition.

Despite Republican support for the program’s expansion, Prather said she will continue to fight for transparency.

“At a bare minimum we need to have those accountability measures to make sure that the money is actually being spent on a quality education,” Prather said.

This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: NC Senate approves millions for school vouchers, opportunity scholarship