NC Senate Republicans want private school vouchers for families of any income level

North Carolina Senate Republicans want to expand the Opportunity Scholarship program so that any family could get state funding to attend a private school.

Legislation filed this week would remove income eligibility requirements to get a private school voucher. The “Choose Your School, Choose Your Future” legislation would make it possible for a family of four earning more than $250,000 a year to receive $3,246 in state tuition assistance for a K-12 private school.

If enacted, Senate Republicans say it would be the ‘largest expansion of school choice in North Carolina since the Opportunity Scholarship program was created” in 2014. The program was initially promoted as a way to help low-income families escape failing public schools.

“Education is not a one-size-fits-all proposition, and that is why families are clamoring for school choice options,” Sen. Michael Lee, a New Hanover County Republican and one of the bill’s primary sponsors, said in a statement. “While Democrats continue to try to abolish the popular Opportunity Scholarship program, Republicans in the Senate have made it a goal to continue expanding school choice.”

Senate Bill 406 was sponsored by the three chairs of the Senate Education Committee and is being promoted by Senate leader Phil Berger’s office.

House wants to expand vouchers

The Senate proposal could find its way into this year’s legislative budget negotiations.

The proposed House budget keeps in place income restrictions for voucher recipients but adds $56 million in funding. It drops the requirement that students in grades three through eight had to have previously attended a public school to get a voucher.

“We also expanded the eligibility for choice in this budget,” Rep. Jeffrey Elmore, a Wilkes County Republican, said at a news conference Wednesday.

The budget proposal doesn’t incorporate legislation backed by some House Republicans that would make voucher money available to all families, including students who are homeschooling.

Differing views on legislation

The potential expansion of the Opportunity Scholarship program has been cheered by school choice groups.

“This is an incredible approach to funding students over systems,” said Mike Long, president of Parents For Educational Freedom in North Carolina. “Senate Bill 406 empowers families to place their tax dollars into their child’s backpack allowing them to attend the school of their choice.

“It also prioritizes lower-income families to receive the most scholarship assistance. I applaud Senators Lee, Galey and Barnes for sponsoring this legislation and I encourage their colleagues in the Senate, from both sides of the aisle, to co-sponsor this legislation.”

But critics say the expansion of the Opportunity Scholarship program will come at the expense of public schools.

“The Opportunity Scholarship Program allows taxpayer dollars to be transferred to nonpublic schools that do not have accountability and reporting requirements, are not required to provide transportation or free/reduced-price lunch, and have the authority to deny access to students based on their religion, identity, academics and other characteristics,” said Mary Ann Wolf, president of the Public School Forum of North Carolina.

“Expanding the program to make it accessible to all students regardless of income would further shift public dollars to subsidize private school costs for students from families who have never attended public school regardless of income. This would have devastating consequences for our public schools, especially in rural areas, and could impact the access to academic, athletic and cultural opportunities for students and communities.”

‘Encourages school choice’

The program has grown to serve 25,246 students. Last school year, it helped fuel the largest expansion in North Carolina private school enrollment since 1971.

The program was expanded this school year so that a family making 200% of the amount needed to qualify for federally subsidized meals could get funding. That’s an income of $111,000 for a family of four.

Under Senate Bill 406, the income eligibility limits would change to:

▪ A family of four making less than $55,500 would get $7,213 a year.

▪ A family of four making making between $55,500 and $111,000 would get $6,492.

▪ A family of four making between $111,000 and $249,750 a year would get a voucher of $4,328.

▪ A family of four making more than $249,750 would get $3,246. That’s an income that’s more than 450% of the amount needed to qualify for a federally subsidized school meal.

The legislation would also sharply increase funding for the program, eventually reaching $509.5 million a year by the 2032-33 fiscal year.

“Expanding Opportunity Scholarships encourages school choice and broadens the options available to families,” Sen. Amy Galey, an Alamance County Republican, said in a statement. “We must empower moms and dads to make the best decisions for their children.”

‘Siphoned’ from public schools

But Matt Ellinwood, director of the N.C. Justice Center’s Education and Law Project, said the legislation completely removes the veneer that the program is meant to help low-income students lacking educational options.

“A greater share of taxpayer money will be siphoned away from local public and charter schools that educate the overwhelming majority of North Carolina’s children to affluent families who send their children to private schools,” Elllinwood said. “This money should instead be invested in our public school system that has burgeoning needs at the moment.

“We simply cannot afford for the state to continue to take on the funding of the private school system as well.”