NC General Assembly to convene next week, and GOP leaders may take up voucher funding
One of the issues left on the North Carolina General Assembly’s 2024 to-do list for Republicans in control is to fund the backlog of private school vouchers in what is known as the Opportunity Scholarship program.
Lawmakers return to session next week, leading to speculation that voucher funding will be up for discussion and putting Democrats on offense.
The House and Senate, both controlled by Republicans, failed to reach a deal earlier this summer on spending about $500 million to pay for more vouchers after the program was expanded to all income levels.
On Thursday evening, CBS 17 obtained a wide-ranging draft bill that would fund vouchers and require North Carolina sheriffs to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — another longstanding GOP priority. The House and Senate had agreed on different versions of a bill requiring cooperation with ICE before the bill stalled earlier this year.
Republican top legislative leaders have not answered questions from The N&O about potential voucher legislation and other funding, or even that there is legislation.
Senate Democratic Leader Dan Blue said earlier Thursday Senate Republican leadership had not officially informed him yet about what they’ll be voting on.
House Democratic Leader Robert Reives added, “Nobody’s talked to us,” about what they’re coming back into session for, but said it sounds like they’re back to “expand this voucher scheme.”
More vouchers but no new teacher raises
Under the 20-page draft bill, the state would provide enough funding to clear the 55,000-student backlog of families waiting for an Opportunity Scholarship. The majority of families on the wait list would not have qualified for a private school voucher before the income limits were removed.
Depending on family income, families will get between $3,360 and $7,468 per child to cover private school costs.
The draft bill calls for providing funding to every Opportunity Scholarship applicant who is attending a private school as of Oct. 1. Private schools would be required to reimburse the tuition previously paid by voucher recipients for the fall semester.
The bill, as of Thursday afternoon, doesn’t include funding for additional teacher raises. House Republicans had previously sought to couple the additional voucher funding with higher raises for teachers this year.
Democrats oppose voucher expansion
During a news conference Thursday, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper criticized the voucher program and said that Republicans are voting on a bill next week to “fully fund private expansion.”
Cooper said he wants the money to give teachers raises, but that funding the vouchers would mean there’s not enough money for both.
“I think revenue is a real problem here,” Cooper said.
State Budget Director Kristin Walker told The News & Observer last week that state revenue remains “steady” but “sluggish revenue growth” is expected because of tax cuts.
“Most of the private schools getting the taxpayer money are in urban areas. Meanwhile, our public schools are struggling to hire teachers, bus drivers and other critical staff,” Cooper said.
“Investments in public schools are for everybody,” Cooper said. “They are for a great workforce. Our great workforce brings better paying jobs to families. It’s like paying a police force or a fire department — we don’t need them every day, but those investments are critical. And plus, our Constitution requires that every child receive a sound basic education.”
Reives said that tax money should only be used “for the greater good,” and that “basic needs” need to be taken care of first.
“I am worried that the next generation of students in North Carolina will have far fewer opportunities than those before them, and that is ridiculous. It is time for us to do the right thing. Stop this expansion of taxpayer-funded vouchers in its tracks,” Reives said.
This story was originally published September 5, 2024 at 3:01 PM.
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