NC parents ask House GOP to ‘keep your promise’ to fund private school vouchers
North Carolina families hoping to get a private school voucher are ramping up their lobbying efforts to persuade House Republicans to agree on a funding deal.
Republicans in the House and Senate have not been able to agree on a plan to provide nearly $500 million in additional money to clear the 55,000-student waiting list for the Opportunity Scholarship program. Dozens of parents and students who are on the waiting list rallied at the Legislative Building on Wednesday before presenting a petition to House Speaker Tim Moore.
“We are not going to be forgotten,” said Rachel Brady, a Wake Forest parent who organized the rally. “We’re not going to take this lying down. You’re going to see our faces and you’re going to see these students.”
Time is running short for families because many private schools are starting the new school year in August.
House, Senate at odds over when to fund vouchers
Last year, the Republican-controlled General Assembly created what they called universal school choice by eliminating income eligibility limits for getting a private school voucher.
A record total of nearly 72,000 applicants applied in March under the new eligibility rules. But there’s currently not enough money to fund most of the new Opportunity Scholarship applications.
The high demand led GOP leaders, who have a veto-proof legislative majority, to publicly pledge to increase funding to clear the backlog.
In May, the Senate passed a standalone bill to provide $463.5 million in additional voucher funding over the next two years. In June, the House and Senate passed separate budget bills that included the $463.5 million.
The House’s Republican leadership want the increased voucher funding coupled with pay raises for teachers and other increases in public school spending. Senate Republicans want the House to pass a standalone bill in order to prevent further delay.
Moore meets with parents
Moore told reporters after the session on Wednesday that he spoke to some of the voucher families.
”I told them that we will continue to work to try to get that done. I don’t know — it does not appear that we will get this passed prior to when school starts,” Moore said.
“The reality is, is that we know that Gov. (Roy) Cooper would veto it anyway, he’s already signaled. And so as a practical matter, coming back to do a veto override before school starts, it simply isn’t possible,” he said.
Moore said that because the cost is about $500 million, he’d rather do it “in the context of other things” in a budget deal. The General Assembly didn’t pass a state budget adjustment bill before they moved earlier this summer to adjourn except for brief returns like on Wednesday, when the House voted to override three of the Democratic governor’s vetoes. The Senate did not hold a voting session and is unlikely to for some time.
The 2023 state budget is a two-year spending plan, so teachers and other school personnel received planned raises this year, but not an additional bump. Moore said as the session wound down in June that he wanted public education funding in a bill that included funding for the voucher backlog. It is still possible it would pass this fall, perhaps during a post-election November session, if the chambers reach a deal.
Leadership change coming in House
There don’t appear to be any ongoing negotiations. Moore said he hadn’t talked to Senate leader Phil Berger in a couple of weeks, and Berger’s office confirmed that as well.
Moore said he’ll do whatever the House Republican Caucus, which he leads, wants to do. He is leaving the legislature and will likely win his election to a Republican-leaning congressional district this fall.
Moore said he’s already deferring some decisions and consulting with “the leadership crew that’s coming in next year because they’re going to be the ones who are here,” and he doesn’t want to undermine the incoming leaders’ “solid strong negotiating position for the House.”
Republicans won’t vote on a new speaker until after the election, but many in the caucus have already thrown their support behind current Rules Chair Destin Hall for the job.
Families in limbo
Seventy percent of the families on the waiting list would have made too much money to have qualified in previous years. But the waiting list includes more than 15,000 students who would have previously qualified.
Elizabeth Foskey, a Raleigh parent on the waiting list, said getting the Opportunity Scholarship would ease the heavy financial burden of sending two children to a private school.
“The public education system has changed dramatically over the last decade, which in turn has resulted in us parents seeking other opportunities for our children’s education,” Foskey said at the rally. “By passing this bill, my husband and I will be free to select a school of our choosing.”
The lack of a deal is hurting both families and private schools, according to Jason Phibbs, co-founder of Heritage Classical Academy in Albemarle. Phibbs said he’s lost 10% of his enrollment due to families not being to pay the tuition without an Opportunity Scholarship.
“We are hardworking North Carolina families who have taken off work to come and make yet another plea for Speaker Moore and House Republicans to honor their commitment and clear the wait list,” Phibbs said at the rally. “You all committed to this.
“The money is available and the Senate has already approved. There’s no excuses. It’s time to make it right.”
Calls to fund public schools first
But critics of the voucher expansion say state lawmakers should be prioritizing public schools and not private schools
“The median family income for children enrolled in private school is nearly double that of the typical North Carolina household,” the group Every Child NC said in a statement Wednesday. “This voucher expansion hurts families enrolled in NC public schools by slashing school budgets that are already chronically underfunded.
“We oppose any attempt to further divert critically needed resources from our public school system.”
Every Child NC says lawmakers should instead fully fund the Leandro plan. The multi-billion dollar plan developed by an education consultant is meant to help provide every public school student with a sound, basic education.
That sentiment was seconded by Heather Koons, a spokesperson for Public Schools First NC. Koons said the most important promise legislators made is to uphold the state constitution, which requires providing students in public schools with equal opportunities.
“Spending public funds on vouchers is an abdication of their responsibility to citizens and taxpayers of the state, especially while NC public schools are facing record educator attrition rates and consistently low teacher salaries,” Koons said in a statement.
“Discriminatory, unaccountable private schools should not receive state funds, especially when the majority of the waitlist is made up of wealthy families whose income is too high to have qualified in previous years.”
This story was originally published July 31, 2024 at 1:10 PM.
